Taqren (Outcasts)

*For other appearance of Taqren, see Taqren (disambiguation).*
**Taqren (Outcasts)** is a breach mage from Outcasts.

## Mage Overview

Taqren first appeared in The New Age as a defensive and support character. He returns in Outcasts fulfilling a similar role, but with very different mechanics. Taqren has four 'barriers' printed on his mage mat, which form the barrier track. Every time Taqren suffers damage (or would suffer damage but is exhausted), Taqren chooses one of his barriers and resolves its effects. He moves his Barrier Token onto the chosen barrier to mark that it was most recently used. Taqren cannot chose the same barrier two times in a row, and so must chose one of the three barriers without the Barrier Token the next time he suffers damage. Taqren's starter card is , and allows him to intentionally suffer 1 damage, which allows him to resolve a barrier. Taqren's special ability gives him 3 life. If Taqren is already exhausted, than Gravehold gains 3 life instead.

Taqren's four barriers are:

* Any one ally draws one card.
* Focus you closed breach with the lowest focus cost. If the breach with the lowest cost is ready to be opened (cannot be focused any further), you may open it instead.
* Gain 1 charge.
* Prep one spell from your hand to one of your opened or closed breaches. If the spell was prepped to a closed breach, it must be cast during your next casting phase.

Additionally, while Taqren is exhausted, Gravehold suffers only 1 damage per damage Taqren suffers instead of 2.

### Ability

You may spend 5 charges during your main phase to resolve the following:

* If you are not exhausted, gain 3 life. Otherwise, Gravehold gains 3 life.

## Setup

On the left side of the front of the mage mat, there is a barrier track. Place the barrier track token on "Any ally draws a card." of the barrier track.

### Breach Setup

Taqren (Outcasts) starts with one open breach and three closed breaches in the following orientations.

## Strategy

*This page lacks strategy tips right now.*

## Lore

> "*I am optimistic, but that does not make me a fool. As soon as I heard talk of a traitor amongst the council of Elders, I knew it was my mother. She is my mother. I am not so ignorant that I could not tell something was wrong with her. I had hoped it would not be this dire, but that is the way of optimism. It does not always match up to the harsh truths of reality. The traitor mage, they call her. I do not like this term. My mother is misguided, yes. She made costly and dangerous mistakes, but she is not a traitor. She was the one who taught me that New Gravehold is nothing more than its people, and that defending them is the greatest endeavor of my life. She taught me that it is not enough to fight now, in the present, but that one must look forward to the future to ensure the safety of our children. Her ideas are radical, and her methods are flawed, but in many ways she is right. We cannot be content with tradition. We cannot become complacent in our old ways, not when there is a chance to do better. To pass on a safer, kinder world to the next generation. They should not have to live at war, as we have. Not if there's something we can do to stop it.*"
> ― Taqren
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