Cao Zhi

Eight Cups of Talent 八斗之才

**Fallen Bloom** 落英
Whenever another character discards or flips a judgement card into the discard pile that is a club, Cao Zhi can immediately place this card into his hand.

**Wine Poems** 酒诗
When Cao Zhi is face up, he can choose to flip his character card to use Wine 酒 (applicable situations only). When Cao Zhi takes damage when he is face down, he can flip face up.

**Clarification:**

* Please see Flip Character Card
* "Fallen Bloom" does not allow Cao Zhi to take club cards that are 'used' by other players. For example, if one player *Attacks* another player with a club-suited *Attack*, Cao Zhi cannot pick up this card. Also, character abilities that allow a character to 'use' club cards as other cards are treated in a similar manner. For example, if Yuan Shao uses two club cards to use *Hail of Arrows* as per "Random Strike," Cao Zhi does not get to place these cards into his hand.
* Cao Zhi does not take possession of exchanged *Chains* or cards used during 'compete' via "Fallen Bloom."
* Cao Zhi cannot take possession of his own discarded club-suited cards via "Fallen Bloom."
* When another character replaces a piece of equipment that is of the suit of clubs, Cao Zhi can take it via "Fallen Bloom."
* Cao Zhi can take possession of a card that was discarded by *Break* with "Fallen Bloom."
* "Fallen Bloom" also applies to cards with discarded in the four following situations: cards discarded to activate powers, cards discarded in the discard phase, cards discarded when a player dies, and judgement cards flipped into the discard pile.
* Guo Jia, Yan Liang & Wen Chou, Zhen Ji, and Deng Ai have powers in which they can flip judgment cards that they keep. Cao Zhi cannot use "Fallen Bloom" to 'usurp' these character's abilities, as his power only refers to judgment cards flipped into the discard pile.
* Below is a comprehensive list of powers (of official characters only) from with Cao Zhi can acquire club-suited cards via "Fallen Bloom":

* If Cao Zhi uses "Wine Poems" during his turn, an *Attack* used afterwards will deal an additional unit of damage if it hits (this works in the same way as using *Wine* then *Attack*).
* Cao Zhi can use "Wine Poems" when on the brink of death if he is flipped face up (this works the same way as using *Wine* when on the brink of death).
* If Cao Zhi is on the brink of death when face down, he cannot use "Wine Poems" to save himself. Remember, Cao Zhi can only flip to use *Wine* if he is flipped face up. If Cao Zhi is saved by some other means in this situation, however, he can flip back face up after being saved.

* "Wine Poems" is wonderful offensively and defensively. It allows Cao Zhi to *Attack* with *Wine* much more frequently than the average character and it also helps him to survive with one unit of health remaining. If Cao Zhi or one of his teammates has a *Peach* in their hand, Cao Zhi can can take three hits before dying. On the first hit, Cao Zhi would flip face down to use *Wine.* In the second hit, the *Peach* is used and Cao Zhi is flipped face up. On the third hit, Cao Zhi flips back face down. The fourth hit would kill Cao Zhi at this point. All Cao Zhi needs to do is survive to his next turn so he can flip back face up so he can flip and use another *Wine*.
* "Wine Poems" helps Cao Zhi when he is flipped face down. He is the only official character that can turn face up when flipped face down without waiting for the next turn. This gives him a defense against enemy characters trying to *Attack* him when he is flipped face down, as he can flip back face up when he is damaged.
* "Fallen Bloom" is wonderful, but Cao Zhi cannot obtain *Escapes* from this ability. This is a problem because when Cao Zhi has one unit of health and no *Escapes*, it is easy for an enemy to keep him in 'purgatory' by simply attacking him each round and forcing him to flip to get *Wine* via "Wine Poems."
* Most enemies will be careful not to discard club-suited cards to prevent Cao Zhi from activating "Fallen Bloom."
* "Wine Poems" needs to be used effectively to prevent reaching one unit of health too quickly. Even though the threat of flipping back face up when flipped face down may be enough to prevent some players from damaging you, it is necessary to realize that taking damage to flip back is not always a good thing. If a Cao Zhi character is too careless with this ability, they can find themselves at one unit of health remaining very quickly. Cao Zhi is still difficult to kill, he is a lot less effective if he is forced to play defensively.

**Notable Combinations:**

* For a list of capable allies that work well with "Fallen Bloom," see the character list in the 'Clarification' section. Some characters have powers that will help Cao Zhi more often than others. For example, Sun Quan and Xu Shu will be able to give Cao Zhi club-suited cards more often than Demigod Guan Yu, as these characters have powers that allow them to discard club-suited cards every turn, while Demigod Guan Yu may be able to force the character who caused him the most damage a judgement card with a 1/4 chance of this single judgement card being a club. Use discretion when choosing a teammate to Cao Zhi.

* Sima Yi/Zhang Jiao - These characters are judgement tinkers. They can 'pass' Cao Zhi club-suited cards by changing judgement cards to club-suited cards in their possession.

* Zhen Ji - Although Cao Zhi cannot steal the club-suited judgement cards of "Goddess Luo," Zhen Ji can choose to not uses these cards and simply discard them at the end of her turn, allowing Cao Zhi to place them in his hand via "Fallen Bloom."

* Zhang Zhao & Zhang Hong - Cao Zhi can keep all discarded club-suited cards. He probably will not be able to use all of these cards at the end of his turns, so Zhang Zhao & Zhang Hong can use "Stubborn" to pick up these cards after Cao Zhi discards them. Then, Zhang Zhao & Zhang Hong can discard these cards to 'pass' them back to Cao Zhi, repeating the cycle.

* Cao Pi - Cao Pi and Cao Zhi can be excellent teammates or bitter rivals. If they cooperate, they are very powerful together. Cao Pi's "Exile" can flip Cao Zhi face up if he is face down from using "Wine Poems." Additionally, when Cao Pi is low on health, he can flip Cao Zhi face down when he is face up without worrying too much about Cao Zhi losing his next turn, as it would not be hard for Cao Zhi to take damage from *Barbarians* or *Hail of Arrows* and flip back face up. If these two are enemies, Cao Pi can cause some problems for Cao Zhi. Cao Pi's "Unnatural Death" allows him to take all of a dead player's cards before they fall into the discard pile, robbing Cao Zhi of club-suited cards via "Fallen Bloom." Also, if Cao Zhi is low on health and Cao Pi flips him face down with "Exile," he effectively robs Cao Zhi of the opportunity of using *Wine*, and hence reduces his likelihood of surviving. In practice, however, Cao Zhi usually seems to have the advantage over Cao Pi if the two are on opposite teams.

* Ma Dai - Ma Dai's "Sneak Attack" allows him to reduce Cao Zhi's maximum health limit instead of dealing damage to him. If Cao Zhi is flipped face down when this happens, he cannot flip back face up, as he technically does not take damage when this happens. If Ma Dai is able to reduce Cao Zhi's maximum down to zero, he dies without his amazing "Wine Poems" defense.

 Loyalist
 Rebel
 Spy

**Final Remarks:**

Cao Zhi is a very powerful character. Both of his abilities are solid. Keep a very close eye on the discard pile and pick up all of the club-suited cards that you possibly can. All too often the cards will slip out of Cao Zhi's grasp when he is controlled by an inattentive player. Also, use "Wine Poems" carefully. Using this power to make an *Attack* more powerful can be a good move, but you must keep in mind that you will lose your next turn unless you are damaged beforehand. It is easy for Cao Zhi's health level to decrease more quickly than expected if playing in a risky manner like this.