Cao Cao

Martial Emperor of Wei 魏武帝

**Evil Hero** 奸雄
When Cao Cao is damaged by a card, he can immediately put it into his hand or draw one.

**Escort** 护驾
King Ability: If Cao Cao needs to use an *Escape*, a member of Wei can use an *Escape* on his behalf.

**Clarification:**

* Cao Cao will pick up only the card that hurt him via "Evil Hero."  Here are some of the situations:

 Blaze
 Coerce
 Serpent Spear
 Rock Cleaving Axe
 Through Xiao Qiao
 Abilities (e.g. Xiahuo Dun)

* If Cao Cao acquires a card that targets all characters via "Evil Hero," it still affects the remaining of the players.  If Cao Cao is damaged halfway through *Hail of Arrows*, Cao Cao can pick it up, but all the rest of the players still need to use an *Escape*.
* When king Cao Cao needs an *Escape*, another member of Wei can activate their *Eight Trigrams* to help him out via "Escort." This way, the loyalist and the king can benefit from the same armor.
* Note that "Evil Hero" is activated on a 'per-instance' basis. If Cao Cao is damaged multiple units of health at once, he only gets to use "Evil Hero" one time.

* Cao Cao is also powerful with *Duel*. He can 'bully' weak characters with this card. If Cao Cao is damaged when he *Duels* another character, he can put the *Duel* card back in his hand and use it immediately. If Cao Cao has enough health, he can ensure that he will damage his target by putting the card in his hand each time he loses the *Duel*.
* Cao Cao can be a great team player. See the 'Notable Combinations' section for more details.
* "Escort" is a powerful king ability. Some Wei characters are very likely to be able to give Cao Cao *Escapes*, like Zhen Ji or Yu Jin. Also, a Wei character with the *Eight Trigrams* has a good possibility to consistently provide Cao Cao with *Escapes*.
* Cao Cao is particularly vulnerable to *Capture.* If Cao Cao takes a lot of damage from cards then falls prey to *Capture*, he will have to discard most if not all of the cards that he picked up and will end his turn with little health.
* Some characters have abilities that can deal direct damage to Cao Cao. These abilities bypass "Evil Hero" and rob Cao Cao of his one and only advantage.

**Notable Combinations:**

* Zhen Ji (with Cao Cao as king) - Zhen Ji is a great loyalist to king Cao Cao*.* Her "Overturned Country" allows her to use an black-suited card as *Escape*, so she can easily protect Cao Cao from *Attacks.*

* Xiao Qiao - Xiao Qiao can use "Fantasy" to pass damage to Cao Cao. Cao Cao draws X cards, X being the difference between his current and maximum health levels, then activate "Evil Hero" to gain the card that would have originally hurt Xiao Qiao. As a result, Cao Cao gains a large number of cards for little damage. If Cao Cao plays *Barbarians* or *Hail of Arrows*, Xiao Qiao can pass the damage she would receive to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao can place the card in his hand to use again immediately. This process self-perpetuates until Xiao Qiao runs out of heart-suited hand cards or Cao Cao runs out of health. All of the other characters will more than likely receive a lot of damage, as this entire process occurs during Cao Cao's turn and they do not have a chance to draw cards to prevent the damage.

* Yuan Shao - Yuan Shao's "Random Strike" can provide Cao Cao with an advantage. If he selects two cards that would be useful for Cao Cao to use as *Hail of Arrows*, Cao Cao can voluntarily take damage and place the two cards in his hand via "Evil Hero."

* Zhu Rong - Cao Cao and Zhu Rong can create a self-perpetuating loop. When a character plays *Barbarians*, Cao Cao can take damage to place it in his hand via "Evil Hero." When Cao Cao plays this card during his turn, Zhu Rong can place it in her hand via "Giant Elephant." When she plays it during her turn, Cao Cao can voluntarily take damage from it to place it back in his hand again, and the cycle continues until Cao Cao runs out of health (or until all of the enemies die).

* Xun You - Xun You's "Element of Surprise" can provide Cao Cao with many cards. This power allows Xun You to use all of the cards in his hand as one tool card. If he chooses *Barbarians* or *Hail of Arrows*, Cao Cao can pick up all of Xun You's hand cards via "Evil Hero."

* Da Qiao - Da Qiao's "Country Scene" gives her a large amount of leverage against Cao Cao. She can easily use *Capture* on him, which is a serious problem for Cao Cao for reasons outlined in the 'Weaknesses' section.

* Zhang Chun Hua - Zhang Chun Hua's "Unfeeling" bypasses "Evil Hero," robbing Cao Cao of his only advantage.

* Dian Wei/Zhang Jiao/Ling Tong/etc - These characters have abilities that deal direct damage without using cards. Cao Cao cannot use "Evil Hero" to pick up cards when these characters use their abilities to damage him.

 Loyalist
 Rebel
 Spy

**Final Remarks:**

Cao Cao is a strategic character that unfortunately 'fell by the wayside' as more advanced characters were released. The most successful strategy for using Cao Cao does not change as more expansions are added to the character deck, however it becomes less useful. "Evil Hero" is powerful, but it must be managed carefully. In general, it is best used when other characters play *Hail of Arrows* or *Barbarians*. When using Cao Cao, be very weary of *Capture*. This card puts Cao Cao at a huge disadvantage.