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Make sure you read this guy over well—there’s a lot to explore on this card. Unlike some figures, Sha’do doesn’t jump right off the page at you and scream “PLAY ME!” But, like the Rogue he is, there’s a lot of hidden potential here.

First let’s take a look at Sha’do’s stat line. With 2 armor, 2 resist, and 7 health, he bears a lot of resemblance to Mojo Shaper Ojo’mon, who has seen tournament play and is certainly no slouch in the defense department. It’ll always take at least two attacks to kill Sha’do, and with an attack cost of only 2 ticks, he can get a lot done in that time. The balance between resist and armor also leaves your opponent without any glaring weaknesses to exploit.

His attack as a 2-for-4 is certainly not bad, but it’s really Sha’do’s crit that makes him a tricky character to finish off. The first time you read it I expect you had to go right back and read it again to assure yourself that it actually does something. His crit is really quite interesting and makes it complicated for your opponent to hunt him down to notch the kill. Every 2 ticks of the game, Sha’do can potentially move up to 4 spaces between standard movement and teleporting with his crit ability! In that sense, Sha’do really fulfills the ideal image of a Rogue I’ve always held: dancing around the opponent as he spins in helpless circles trying to catch up.

The other clear advantage of Sha’do’s crit ability is free moves into terrain or moving closer to VP spots. Teleporting into terrain has always been my favorite way to get there—using 2 move points to get there is for suckers! There’s also the bonus, of course, that you got to stab your enemy in the back on the way. Also, Sha’do can literally leapfrog opponents trying to screen your access to a VP prior to tick 5 or 10, stealing VPs like only a Rogue would.

I mentioned before that at 2 ticks for 4 attack dice, Sha’do’s attack wasn’t bad . . . but it’s sure a lot better when he swings 5 dice for the same cost! Master of deception and stealth combine to make Sha’do a pretty murderous clothie killing machine. For the whole first 10 ticks of the game, Sha’do doesn’t need to go to all the bother of complicatedly setting up stealth. Instead, every 2 ticks, he is up in your face swinging 5 dice and randomly teleporting out of range when you try to send in someone to deal with him. Sure, the teleport isn’t guaranteed, but the potential to suddenly bounce around the board often makes it tactically incorrect to pursue Sha’do. Sha’do really pays off every time your opponent has to waste another action moving to close with you.

Given how Sha’do is most powerful in the early game, you’re going to want to close quickly with your enemies and get his attack going. To that end, Sprint seems like an excellent card to play. Get him into the action as soon as possible! Cold Blood also has some serious merit, making your teleport guaranteed when it’s most necessary to bounce into a scoring zone or avoid an enemy attack.

The other thing to give consideration to, given the master of deception power, is the increased usefulness of cards that require that user to be stealthed. Sap and Ambush, for example, both require their user to be stealthy in order to utilize them. Sha’do can’t be denied the use of those cards due to proximity and thus their versatility increases. Keep an eye out for other “stealth only” action bar cards to utilize with Sha’do in the future—they are just directly better for him than for any other presently available Rogue.

As a parting thought, just remember that our new Rogue friend is a Troll—perhaps he and Ji’lan can be good friends?

Until next time, keep studying cards beyond the first glance,