SP Diao Chan

Clarification:

•      When activating "Soul Surrender," SP Diao Chan can choose to discard either a hand card or an equipped card.

•      When SP Diao Chan gives cards to the target of "Soul Surrender" at the end of her turn, she can choose to give hand cards and/or equipment cards. If she has fewer cards than the target has units of health, she simply gives him all of her cards. 

•      Diao Chan returns the cards to the male before she undergoes her discard phase, and chooses which cards to return to the male. Since both of their hands have been mixed, she can give back cards that were originally in her hand.  

Notable Combinations:

•      Cao Pi - Cao Pi's "Exile" allows him to flip SP Diao Chan face up after she uses "Soul Surrender." 

•      Xun Yu - Xun Yu's "Eternal Loyalty" allows him to refill his hand after SP Diao Chan uses "Soul Surrender" and damages him. 

•      Zhuge Liang - Zhuge Liang's "Empty City" prevents him from being damaged by Attacks and Duels after SP Diao Chan targets him with "Soul Surrender."

Final Remarks:

     Before giving our final assessment of SP Diao Chan, we have a few non-gameplay-related complaints for YOKA. First, it was not necessary to make another SP Diao Chan. As interesting as her Romance of the Three Kingdoms story was, she is a fictional character who is already over-represented in this game. Second, there was nothing wrong with the original to warrant a 2012 remake. The 2012 SP characters were made to tweak old characters who were 'left behind' as new and more complex/useful are introduced. The original Diao Chan holds up very well with the new expansions. Finally, this 'dark' Diao Chan is not consistent with her personality in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The original Diao Chan's 'Sow Discord' perfectly matched her personality in the book. She does not seem to be as malicious as this incarnation makes her out to be.

     All of these gripes aside, SP Diao Chan is a good addition (ability-wise) to the San Guo Sha family. She is mainly useful as a rebel, but she is good enough in this position that she adequately makes up for her lack of usefulness in the other roles. Be sure to only use "Soul Surrender" on an opponent when you are absolutely sure that you can return them fewer cards than they have at the beginning of your turn. Note that if a character has many more hand cards than units of health, you still put them at a disadvantage by targeting them with your power even if you cannot damage them. "Soul Surrender" is best when Diao Chan can deal multiple units of damage to the target via the Scimitar or Crossbow or with damaging tool cards such as Barbarians or Duel.

Alternate Appearances: