who the .... is Joseph Trublood, High Cleric ?

[krj]

In FAQ there is said:

Joseph Trublood, High Cleric (Promo Card)
Updated “Staff of Smiting” attack bar: Change “+2 vs. Nonliving and Dark creatures” to “+2 vs. Nonliving or
Dark creatures.” In other words, you cannot gain the +2 bonus twice against the same creature (if it was both
Dark and Nonliving). The bonus applies just once, if the target matches either the Nonliving or Dark
requirements.
 The “Armor +2 against attacks from Nonliving or Dark creatures” applies only for the purposes of calculating
damage to Joseph Trublood from those attacks. He gains the armor during the Damage and Effects Step of that
attack, only to reduce non-critical damage that the attack would deal. It does not apply for any other purpose
(such as resolving Corrode marker effects).

i'v never seen that promo anywhere on the web. Can somebody attach a picture of him or at least specify who is that guy and his stats?

[Zuberi]

I don't know for sure, but from all the talk I've seen regarding him, he just simply hasn't been released yet. There's speculation he will be in the next organized play kit.

[krj]

Thanks, but isn't it a bit weird that they update FAQ of something which wasn't even released?...

[Zuberi]

I think it is weird that rulings on Promo cards are in the FAQ at all. They are not yet official cards. They have not been released for general distribution. I see no reason why we need official rules on them. I actually refuse to play with them. I believe they are simply promotional items meant for collectors, not for actual game play.

But maybe I'm the one who is weird.

[barriecritzer]

there are rules for them because some people like using them in friendly games, all the people I play with are cool with using them unless we are running a tournament

[sIKE]

I have books that play promo's and I have others that are tourney legal. Most of them I can swap in and out of real quick on OCTGN.

[Tim]

I think it is weird that rulings on Promo cards are in the FAQ at all. They are not yet official cards. They have not been released for general distribution. I see no reason why we need official rules on them. I actually refuse to play with them. I believe they are simply promotional items meant for collectors, not for actual game play.

But maybe I'm the one who is weird.

I totally agree with you, Zuberi!
It are promo cards thus it is possible that when the cards are official they may change a bit.
Due to it being promo cards not everybody can collect them like in a core set or something.
When they are available for everybody, that's a different story

[DeckBuilder]

Promo cards... Don't get me onto that subject. Even though I cringe at some of my early posts (I'll no doubt cringe at some of my current posts in the future), here was the thread where I challenged the wisdom of a divisive jealousy-inducing "marketing tool" in a LCG which (unlike a CCG) lets players buy the cards they want.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=12908.0

It includes the important announcement by an AW Director that Shad0w's great crowd-sourcing idea that promo cards allow for beta testing, perfect for a small indie with a fanatical base, is not their function, that all promo cards will be eventually released unchanged!

This prompted me (and Shad0w) to review existing promo cards and highlight the broken-ness of some of them.

http://forum.arcanewonders.com/index.php?topic=12931.0

I highlighted Ballista, Akiro's Favour, Altar of Iron Guard and Sersyrix as over-powered in the current card pool (Ballista even more so with Altar of Peace).

My review of Meditation Amulet was less than complimentary... I hope I'm proved wrong as I want Spawnpoints to work more. The Druid's vine mechanic certainly accommodates it best so far.

Anyway, back to the concept of promo cards. By having promo cards in the FAQ, they are giving them credibility and legitimacy, putting pressure on us peons without promo cards to accept playing someone with them.

Magic has lots of foil or special art promo cards in FNM. But they never ever release unique promo cards card, let alone highly competitive or even broken ones. Discovering it's broken is an unfair wasted gaming experience on those 2 players.

If you must have unique promos, at least make them extremely niche strategies that Johnny-combo players will try to make playable - like Gate to Hell. But even then, it's just plain unfair.

That said, I do wish that instead of having 2 copies of Epic spells, they released 1 copy of Gravikor and Temple of Peace as well as 1 each of Teleport, Regrowth Belt, Dragonscale Huaberk, Enchanter's Ring, Grizzly.

Gravikor and Temple of Peace are game changers. I can't wait for them to arrive.

[Laddinfance]

Anyway, back to the concept of promo cards. By having promo cards in the FAQ, they are giving them credibility and legitimacy, putting pressure on us peons without promo cards to accept playing someone with them.

Most of your feelings on this matter I can understand. Promo cards are something I've been working a lot with lately. However, Bryan added things to the rules update that he felt were important, and needed clarification. There are no strong arm tactics here. We want to ensure that if people have questions, then we're trying to answer them. Yes, we don't catch everything, but we certainly want to answer everything we do catch.

[Shad0w]

Laddin, Heat, & I have talked this over several times before. Bryan has final say and like Laddin said it is better to cover our bases in case of questions. It is nice to sometimes be ahead on things.

[Sailor Vulcan]

If you want promo cards banned from your casual metagame, you should talk it over with your playgroup. I have no doubt that some playgroups like trying out the new cards. Those playgroups are the ones that would benefit from such rules clarifications. It's not meant to pressure anybody, and I don't think it does pressure anyone.

[Zuberi]

I agree. I don't think it pressures anyone. I think it does represent time and effort that could have been better spent elsewhere, but that is my personal opinion. It isn't hurting anyone, and in fact it does help those who do use Promo Cards in their play. For those people, it may represent effort well spent and greatly appreciated. I just am not one of those people. Thus, I am not going to say it is a bad design, just not one I particularly agree with.

To restate my previous post: "I think it is weird." But I suspect I am not representative of the majority on this, in which case, Arcane Wonders made the right choice. Weird, but probably correct.