Yuan Shu

Second Emperor 仲家帝

**Trite Rule** 庸肆
During Yuan Shu's drawing phase, he draws an extra X cards, X being the number of countries with living players. During his discard phase, he must discard at least X cards.

**False King** 伪帝
Yuan Shu has the king's king ability.

**Clarification:**

* "Trite Rule" will allow Yuan Shu to draw a maximum of four extra cards in his drawing phase. For this to occur, there must be at least one character for Wu, Wei, and Shu.
* Yuan Shu's hero alliance means that he will always draw one extra card for "Trite Rule" and will thus have to discard at least one card in his discard phase.
* In order to satisfy the discarding condition for "Trite Rule," Yuan Shu can discard equipped cards. In fact, if he does not have enough hand cards remaining, he must discard equipped cards to fulfill this requirement.
* If Yuan Shu does not have enough cards to discard for "Trite Rule," he simply discards all of the cards that he has. There is no penalty for not have enough cards to discard (except for the fact that he ends his turn with no cards).
* "False King" allows Yuan Shu to request the king's help for his own ability (he can "Rouse" Liu Bei for *Attacks,* he can ask Cao Cao for *Escapes*, etc.). Remember that he gets the king character's king ability. For example, if Cao Cao is in play but not the king, he cannot use "Escort."
* For "Trite Rule," X is defined separately at the beginning and end of each turn. For example, if the only remaining character of a certain country dies during Yuan Shu's turn, Yuan Shu will have to discard one fewer extra card than the number of extra cards that he drew (since X decreased by one over the course of his turn).

 * Yuan Shu has amazing drawing power when there are many characters in play (usually five or more). He can be as dangerous as Huang Yue Ying with a hand full of tool cards or Huang Gai on each and all of his turns due to his great drawing power.
* "False King" allows Yuan Shu to benefit from more characters than the king does if the king is not a hero. For example, if Cao Cao is the king and there are three Wei characters in play, Cao Cao can ask the three Wei Characters for *Escapes*. Yuan Shu can ask these three characters and Cao Cao for *Escapes*.
* "Trite Rule" allows Yuan Shu to discard 'sensitive' cards that are currently no use to him but can cause problems if they are stolen. For example, he can discard his *Crossbow* at the end of his turn if he is scared that he will become the victim of *Mercenaries* or *Steal*.
* "Trite Rule" gives Yuan Shu the benefit of choice. If he does not want to lose all of his cards at the end of his turn, he can plan to use the cards that he wants to and discard the rest.
* "False King" is a novelty. It is interesting, but it usually is not useful. There is no guarantee that the king will have a king power and that other members of your team will be willing to assist you, especially considering that you draw so many cards during each of your turns.
* If Yuan Shu is the victim of *Starvation*, his drawing phase is skipped, but "Trite Rule" still dictates that he must discard at least X cards. This can be devastating for Yuan Shu.

**Notable Combinations:**

* Zhang Jiao (as king) - Since Yuan Shu is a hero, he can give Zhang Jiao *Escapes*. Because he draws so many cards, he has a better chance of drawing an *Escape, Attack*, and a weapon that allow him to give Zhang Jiao the cards he needs and activate his ability.

* Xun Yu- Because Yuan Shu frequently ends his turn with few or no hand cards, Xun Yu can 'refill' him each time he is damaged.

* Xu Shu - Xu Shu can discard cards that he cannot use during his turn and allow Yuan Shu to draw the same number. This will hellp him fulfill the discard requirement of "Trite Rule" more easily at the end of his next turn.

* Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong - These two can give Yuan Shu one of his discarded cards back and keep the rest. This will result in no net loss of cards if they are on the same team.

* Cao Zhi - Cao Zhi can keep all of Yuan Shu's discarded club cards, mitigating the total loss of cards from "Trite Rule" if they are on the same team.

* Lu Su - Lu Su's "Alliance" can really help Yuan Shu out if he does not have a lot of had cards (most of the time, he will not).

* Xu Huang - Xu Huang is Yuan Shu's worst nightmare since he can easily use *Starvation* on him.

 Loyalist
 Rebel
 Spy

**Final Remarks:**

Yuan Shu is a lot of fun to use. Yoka Games brilliantly was able to create a character with an extreme ability that is well balanced. "Trite Rule" allows him to draw many cards, but it does not allow a net increase in cards at the end of his turn. How brilliant! Since he has four units of health, he can usually survive with fewer hand cards, but players should always be aware of how many cards that they need to discard at the end of their turn. If necessary, set aside cards at the beginning of each turn that you will be willing to discard at the end.