Deng Ai

Warrior Gaining Strength 矫然的壮士

**Military Farm** 屯田
Whenever Deng Ai loses cards outside his turn, he can flip a judgement. If it is not a heart, it becomes a Farm and he acquires it. Each Farm that Deng Ai has gives him the a -1 horse.

**Strategic Pass** 凿险
When Deng Ai starts his turn with three or more Farms, he must decrease his maximum health level by one. He then permanently gains the ability use his Farms as Steals 顺手牵羊. (Awakening)

**Clarification:**

* Note that "Military Farm" is activates on a 'per-instance' basis. For example, if Lu Su forces Deng Ai to swap hands with another character, he can only activate "Military Farm" once.
* "Military Farm" is activated whenever Deng Ai uses or loses cards outside of his turn. This includes when he must discard cards via other character abilities, when his cards are the target of *Steal* or *Break*, and when he uses cards to respond to tool cards and other character abilities, such as when he plays an *Attack* to respond to *Barbarians.*
* The -1 bonus that Deng Ai gets from each Farm is the equivalent to the -1 bonus that he would get from having a *-1 Horse*.
* Note that while "Strategic Pass" is an awakened ability that Deng Ai cannot choose not to activate when the conditions are met, "Military Farm" is an optional ability and he can choose not to activate it when he loses cards.
* When Deng Ai is uses his Farms as *Steals* after activating "Strategic Pass," he loses the -1 bonus granted by the Farm when he uses it as a steal.
* Farms cannot be removed from play in any fashion. They cannot be targeted by Break or Steal.

* Deng Ai is particularly powerful with the *Crossbow* and the *Scimitar* after "Strategic Pass" has been activated. When using his Farms as *Steals*, he can gain *Attacks* for the *Crossbow* and he can *Steal* all of another character's hand to make the *Scimitar* more powerful.
* If Deng Ai keeps card in his hand at the end of his turn that he can easily lose outside of his turn, he can activate "Military Farm" more easily. These cards include *Escapes, Attacks,* and *Negates.* Additionally, Deng Ai is particularly strong against card destruction techniques.
* Deng Ai's "Military Farm" is also useful as a deterrent. If you do not have cards that can be discarded outside of your turn, you can still bluff enemies into thinking that you do. Enemies may be reluctant to *Attack* you if they think you have an *Escape* in the chance that you may acquire a Farm when using it.
* Deng Ai must end his turn with cards that he can lose outside of his turn if he wants to activate "Military Farm." This may make him less productive during his turn than other characters.
* Experienced players will leave Deng Ai alone and make it much harder for hims to activate "Military Farm." Without being able to activate this ability, Deng Ai is weak.

**Notable Combinations:**

* Cao Cao and Cao Pi (as kings) - These king choices have abilities that work well with Deng Ai. Cao Cao's "Escort" allows Deng Ai to use an *Escape* for him. This give Deng Ai more opportunities to use "Military Farm." When Deng Ai activates "Military Farm" and flips a black-suited judgement when Cao Pi is king, he can allow him to draw a card via "Exalt."

* Sun Jian/Sun Ce/Fa Zheng - These characters can allow other characters to gain and lose cards during their turn. If they activate their abilities on Deng Ai, he will gain and lose cards, giving him the possibility to acquire Farms.

* Wu Guo Tai/Lu Su - These characters have abilities that can force characters to swap hand cards or equipment. While Deng Ai can only flip one judgement card for each instance in which they activate this ability on them, these characters are still useful teammates.

* Zhang Jiao - "Military Farm" requires Deng Ai to flip a judgement card. If Zhang Jiao is on his team, these two can benefit from each other. Zhang Jiao can swap out less useful black-suited cards in his hand to influence the judgement via "Dark Magic" and he can also use this ability to make the judgement flip pass if it is initially a heart.

* Sima Yi  - Sima Yi can either be a helpful ally or be a throne in Deng Ai's side. "Devil" allows Sima Yi to influence judgement cards. He can help Deng Ai if the flipped judgement card for "Military Card" is a heart and he changes it to any other card, but he can also force the judgement cards flipped to be hearts, causing the judgement to fail.

* Zhuge Liang/Jiang Wei - These characters have "Astrology" which allows them to rearrange the top X cards of the deck. They can ensure that Deng Ai's flipped judgement card for "Military Farm" is a heart and force the ability to fail.

* Lu Xun/Jia Xu - These characters are counter picks to Deng Ai. Lu Xun cannot be targeted by *Steal* as per "Humility," making Deng Ai's Farms useless against him. Jia Xu cannot be targeted by black-suited tool card as per "Curtain." Note that the suit of Deng Ai's Farms can only be a spade, club, or diamond, as Deng Ai cannot keep heart-suited farms. Deng Ai cannot target Jia Xu with black-suited Farms, leaving only diamond Farms being effective on him.

* Younger Zhuge Liang - Zhuge Liang's "Fire Rosue" allows him to use red-suited cards as *Blaze*. This allows him to try to damage Deng Ai without the risk of activating "Military Farm."

* Xun Yu/Dian Wei/Zhou Yu/Ling Tong - These characters have abilities that can deal damage that cannot be avoided by discarding cards. They can uses these abilities to damage Deng Ai without the risk of activating "Military Farm."

* Ma Chao/Huang Zhong - These characters have abilities that can make their *Attacks* inescapable. This allows them to damage Deng Ai without the risk of activating "Military Farm."

 Loyalist
 Rebel
 Spy

**Final Remarks:**

Deng Ai is an extremely powerful character, possibly an overpowered one. When using him, try to activate "Strategic Pass" as quickly as possible to decimate your enemies. It is critical to keep cards that you can dispose of outside of your turn to activate "Military Farm." If Deng Ai is not on your team, try to ignore him and focus your efforts on the other members of his team, especially if he is a loyalist or a spy.