Card of the Week: Moonlight Raid

By Matt Dicksion

Moonlight Raid
Event
Cost: Asc Asc 0
Until end of turn, target Character you control gains Stealth and you gain 1 Power when that Character inflicts combat damage on the target of its attack.

Moonlight Raid presents a perfect example of a card that's easy to underestimate. The reason is simple: it looks just like Dirk Wisely's Gambit, only less powerful. When SSG was released, I saw Moonlight Raid and thought, that's nice--a half-Wisely Gambit that gives Stealth. And then I moved on. After all, it's not as though it provides anything completely new to the Ascended, who already have Stealth and alternate power in spades. It was only on closer inspection, and in actual play, that the real potential of Moonlight Raid became apparent. Yes, it's less powerful than Dirk's Gambit in some ways, but in other more subtle ways, it's much, much stronger.

Moonlight Raid does fall short of Dirk Wisely's Gambit in three key aspects. Obviously, it only provides half as much power. It also requires twice as many resources, making it quite a bit harder to use in a multifaction deck. And most importantly, it doesn't provide two unBuriable resources for zero power. This last is almost the real point of Dirk Wisely's Gambit--free resources are incredibly valuable in Shadowfist. Moonlight Raid can't compete there.

But if you look closely, you begin to see the ways that Moonlight Raid is the better card. First and most obviously, it actually helps the Raiding character succeed in its attack, by giving it Stealth. Hardly a gamebreaking ability, but much better than Dirk's, which leaves the attacking character to find its own way to the target.

Secondly, Moonlight Raid lets you attack with as many characters as you like. Ascended characters may not provide a lot of mutual support to each other while attacking, but even so, you aren't stuck with making weak solo attacks like you are with the Gambit. Instead, you can launch a much more serious attack and still use the Raid.

Third--and very important--there are virtually no restrictions on when you can play Moonlight Raid. Dirk Wisely's Gambit must be played upon the declaration of the attack, guaranteeing that opponents will pay special attention to the attacking character. But you can delay playing Moonlight Raid until after interception is declared, letting an attacker surprise-Stealth its way to its target. (Adding this element of surprise to basic Stealth makes a huge tactical difference.) Or you can wait until interception ends, and then play the Raid on an attacker that looks like it's certain to reach its target. It doesn't even have to be your attack--just your attacker. You can join someone else's attack and still benefit.

Moonlight Raid also doesn't make you wait until your opponent has four cards. Nor is it Limited. So apart from the element of surprise, it's also usable on turn one--in multiples--with one attacker or with multiple attackers. It's not hard to imagine playing three Moonlight Raids on turn one to generate three power. In terms of speed, Moonlight Raid could beat even Mole Network for early power generation, with no turn restriction and less dependency on what your opponent has in his pool.

Finally, Moonlight Raid lasts all turn long. Unlike Dirk Wisely's Gambit, which only applies to the attack it's played for, Moonlight Raid pays off every time the Raiding attacker hits its target that turn. It's not hard to think of ways to take advantage of this fact.

Now we have a much better understanding of what Moonlight Raid can do. It's not just a mini-Dirk's Gambit. It's a 0-cost, two-in-one, offense and powergen event. It's useful at all stages of the game. In the endgame, its surprise-Stealth capability is certainly useful, and in the midgame it's even better. But Moonlight Raid really shines in the very early game, where every point of power matters, and when there are few characters to have to Stealth past. This combination of abilities makes it a very efficient use of deck slots, leaving more room for other fun cards.

Maximizing the effectiveness of Moonlight Raid is pretty straightforward. Any Ascended deck can benefit from including it, but it will work best in decks that play a lot of characters or have very good penetration. It's an obvious boost for the Bounty deck--in fact, between this and Bandit Hideout, I find that Bounty decks don't really need Bounty anymore. Hood decks can field character swarms that are hard to stop completely, and you only need to get one attacker through for this card to work. Combo with Seedy Dive and you may get more than one power from a single Raid. Moonlight Raid may be an anti-combo with Stealth, but even Stealth decks have some characters without Stealth and can always benefit from the power boost besides.

But it's the trademark speed dueling decks that will get the most out of this card. If you thought Ascended Speed decks were strong before, wait till you see a Pledged deck get a two-power boost on turn two, or a Manchu Officer earn the power to unturn itself--and then earn more power. Such decks tend to be fairly tight, but it's not hard to find room in them for a multi-purpose card like Moonlight Raid.

Hopefully this analysis will help players get the most out of the best Ascended card in Shurikens & Sixguns. Moonlight Raid is by no means broken, but it easily belongs in the top tier of Ascended cards. It stands as an excellent example of good card design--it does little that the Ascended couldn't already do, but it combines faction strengths and improves upon them to open up new strategies for the whole faction. Expect to see Moonlight Raid much more often-- if you haven't already--and be prepared to deal with it when you do.