ENCHANTRESS Until your next turn, the first time
each other player plays an Action
card on their turn, they get
+1 Card and +1 Action instead of
following its instructions.
At the start of your next turn,
+2 Cards 
ACTION-ATTACK-DURATION 
"Most magnificent of titans", the woman purred, stroking a slender hand over one of his massive calves. "I beg you not to harm me...I merely came to offer you a meal; you must be famished after your long watch."
The giant leaned down, nostrils flaring as he sniffed, and his stomach growled. Suddenly he felt as though he hadn't fed in days. "Eat you?" he grunted. His meals weren't usually so cooperative, but he wasn't going to complain. She did smell good.
A lilting peal of laughter filled his ears. "Oh no, sir giant!" The woman gestured toward the side of the road, where a massive cauldron bubbled merrily. A couple of pigs snuffled through the undergrowth nearby, and he thought he caught the scent of roasting pork. "Please, won't you try my stew?" Seeing him eying the pigs, she smiled. "And after you finish the stew, you can enjoy my pigs to your heart's content."
Why hadn't he noticed those before? The question vanished almost as quickly as it appeared, wafting away as the rich aroma of the stew sent his mouth watering. Grunting, he leaned his club against the hillside and lumbered off to enjoy the meal. He could always squash her after dinner.
Enchantress is an Action-Attack-Duration card introduced in Empires, which pairs a unique attack effect with deferred non-terminal draw in the style of Haunted Woods. Channeling the legacy of the Odyssey's Circe, or Arthurian Niviane, the Enchantress negates each other player's first Action card each turn by reducing it to a simple cantrip.
Interactions/Clarifications:
- Enchantress only alters a card's effect at the moment it is played; effects that trigger at other times (on-gain, on-buy, on-trash, while-in-play, etc.) are not affected.
- If an opponent takes multiple turns, each of them is affected by Enchantress.
- Multiple Enchantress attacks do not stack.
- Duration cards subject to Enchantress' effect will be cleaned up at the end of the turn, as they have no pending effect to keep them in play.
- Band of Misfits is affected as any other Action; it gives +1 Card/+1 Action, and does not get to mimic another card.
(Those who prefer not to read detailed strategy tips may skip the following):Enchantress' attack cuts deepest in the early game, when players often only have one Action card to play; countering that action can reduce early $5 turns to $4 or less, or block critical early plays of trashers such as Chapel or Steward. Princes and Summons are quite vulnerable to the Enchantress, since they will usually be your first action play, and Village-based engines have difficulty getting started under her influence. Enchantress anti-synergizes with Looters, as their effects tend to cancel each other out.
As interesting as its attack may be, Enchantress' true power arguably rests in its deferred draw, which allows the player to spend an action on the current turn to start their next turn with extra cards, in a manner similar to Gear. As with other deferred draw cards, alternating plays of two Enchantresses allows a sustained handsize increase, and keeps the enchantment running continuously. The presence of discard attacks makes Enchantress particularly compelling, as such attacks both complement and are countered by her abilities.
Players who see their opponent open with Enchantress may want to plan their opening buys to reduce the chance of an early setback. Silver, while a bit on the boring side, is immune to her charms. Alternatively, opening double-terminal (potentially double-Enchantress) becomes a bit less risky, since an Enchantress in play makes action collision desirable instead of dire. One of the best counters to Enchantress is to simply increase your deck's Action density with sacrificial low-cost Actions, if you have the buys to pick them up; Pawn or Pearl Diver aren't greatly diminished by the enchantment, and Great Hall or Highway counter it completely. If you have some deck manipulation available, tracking your opponents' Enchantresses so that you can avoid getting your best actions countered may be worth the effort. Later in the game, as action densities increase, the effectiveness of Enchantress' attack usually starts to wane, becoming more of an annoyance than a serious hindrance.In summary, Enchantress is a potent card for its low price, working as an effective early-game delaying tactic, while simultaneously providing semi-nonterminal draw to boost your deck's economy and velocity.
EDIT 2016/05/15: Added additional clarifications and observations distilled from this thread.
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Topic: Empires Bonus Preview #4: Enchantress (Read 85637 times)