recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Ares

## Ability

### Ability

**Fires of War****(Draw)** Your opponent's cards in hand **Burn** (10) this round.

## Did You Know?

**Ares** - the Greek god of war and one of the twelve major Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus. He was known for being violent and cruel, but also a bit of a coward. Most of the other Olympians, including his parents Hera and Zeus, didn't actually like **Ares** very much. He rode a chariot pulled by four fire-breathing horses which probably didn't do him many favours in the popularity stakes - no one likes an ostentatious entrance.

He was a superior fighter in battle and caused destruction, mayhem and bloodshed wherever he went.

On the flip side, his sister, Athena was the goddess of war, but she represented the strategy and quick thinking that was used to actually win said wars. **Ares** never had much strategy or leadership, he essentially just wanted people to kill each other.

While **Ares** was still an infant, he was captured by two giants and put into a bronze jar. He would have remained there forever, but the giants' mother found out and told the god Hermes who rescued **Ares**.

During the Trojan war, unlike most of the Olympians, he took the side of Troy. He was constantly fighting with his sister Athena during the war. In the end, it was the strategy and intelligence of Athena that won over **Ares** as the Greeks defeated the Trojans.

**Ares** was never married, but he did fall in love with and conduct an affair with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus. When Hephaestus caught **Ares** and Aphrodite together, he captured them in an unbreakable metal web and held them there for the other gods to mock. Later when Aphrodite fell in love with the mortal Adonis, **Ares** became jealous. He turned into a boar and attacked Adonis with his tusks, mortally wounding him.

**Ares** had several children with both goddesses and mortal women. Two of his children with Aphrodite often accompanied him into battle. One was Phobos (the god of fear) and the other was Deimos (the god of terror). Thankfully did have some peaceful children including Harmonia (the goddess of harmony) and Eros (the god of love).
Bridegroom's Oak

## Ability

### Ability

**Honeymoon Phase****(Play)** If it's before Round 3, your History of Heartbreak cards, wherever they are, gain +24 Power until played. **(Return)** If it's after Round 2, your remaining History of Heartbreak cards in hand cost +1 Energy permanently.

## Did You Know?

Tired of swiping on Tinder? Head to the town of Eutin in Germany and visit the **Bridegroom’s Oak**. This 500-year-old timber has been pairing singles for over a century and is reportedly responsible for over 100 marriages.

People come from across the globe to post their lonely-hearts letters into a hollow in this ancient oak, hoping that their perfect match will happen upon their note.

The tradition started in the late 19th century, when the daughter of the head forester and the son of a chocolate maker fell in love, much to the disapproval of the forester. To keep their relationship a secret, they exchanged love letters by posting them in the hole of this tree’s trunk. Finally, the forester gave in, and the couple were married under the tree in 1891.

'Braeutigamseiche im Dodauer Forst bei Eutin, Deutschland' by Armin von Werner (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 2.5 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Callisto

## Ability

### Ability

**Impact Hardened****(Return)** If you lost the turn, this card gains +30 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Discovered by Galileo in 1610, **Callisto** is Jupiter's second moon and third-largest in the Solar System has a heavily cratered surface indicating that it was volcanically active at one time, but that these geological processes have now come to an end.

NASA scientist believe that beneath **Callisto's** battered surface lies a salty ocean approximately 160km deep (100 miles).
Bigfin Reef Squid

## Ability

### Ability

**Squids In!****(Play)** If your deck has 4 or more Cephalopods cards, gain +2:energy/turn: permanently.

## Did You Know?

The **Bigfin Reef Squid** is not to be confused with the Bigfin Squid. They look different, are a completely different size, and belong to a whole different *Order*. So, well done the people-that-name-things, you created confusion where absolutely none should exist.

To their credit though, both Squids *do* have relatively large fins.

The Bigfin Reef Squid is quite small (up to around a foot in length) and cuttlefishy\* in appearance. However, they are of particular interest currently as they are a strong candidate for marine farming - i.e being cultivated for food in a pen in the ocean.

This would make them a kind of Chicken-of-the-Sea - and if we called them that then the Bigfin Squid wouldn’t have to worry about calling her copyright lawyers.

* (it’s a word because I say so)
California Two-Spot Octopus

## Ability

### Ability

**Bimac****(Play)** If you play exactly 2 cards this turn, two of your random cards in hand gain +31 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Native to the Pacific coast of North America, the **California Two-Spot Octopus** is smaller than the average octopus and boasts distinctive markings that distinguish it from others in the family.

As the name suggests, these markings come in the form of two spots that reside on either side of the body and resemble eyes as a means of confusing predators. Each of its arms can grow up to 23 inches long, which is roughly the height of a three-month old baby (in case you wondered.)

Unlike most human babies, these octopus’ feed on a diet of small crabs, snails, clams and muscles, all of which are readily available on the California coast. While they can’t pry the shells off with their tentacles, they can use toxins from their saliva to remove the body.
Caligula

## Ability

### Ability

**Roman Reigns****(Play)** All The Roman Empire cards in both player's hands gain +15 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Caligula', (Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus), was the third Roman emperor, in succession to Tiberius. He became Emperor in 37AD and became notorious for being Rome's most tyrannical emperor. He humiliated the senate, encouraged treason trials (for his financial benefit) and became power-hungry, insisting on being treated as a god. The tall and hairy Roman Emperor also very strangely banned any talk of goats in his presence. You have GOAT to be kidding.
Carl Linnaeus

## Ability

### Ability

**Father of Taxonomy****(Draw)** If your deck has exactly 9 Life on Land cards and exactly 9 Science cards, your cards, wherever they are, gain +14 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

If there’s one person you can feel free to label, it’s **Carl Linnaeus**. The father of modern taxonomy, this Swedish botanist made a name for himself creating two scientific systems: the system for classifying plants and animals and the system for naming all living things. Sure, it sounds boring, but if it wasn’t for Carl, we may have begun calling new organisms “Fluffy McFluff face” or “Mildly poisonous mushroom #4”.

Although he was a scientist, Carl Lannaeus was also deeply religious, and claimed that studying nature brought him closer to God. Much to his parents' disappointment, he refused to become a priest and instead forged a career categorising plants and animals, putting them into the groups that are still used today – kingdoms, classes, orders, genera, and species.
Buffing Collections: Paleontology

An important element of deck building is to include cards that buff other cards in your deck, either decreasing their energy cost or increasing their power. The strongest buffs apply to all the eligible cards wherever they are in your deck. If there are several cards buffing the same collection (or album) then the cards in that collection can be very powerful.

This table does not include cards that just buff for a turn where the buff card is played or drawn. Instead, they must apply either to all the cards in the deck (wherever they are) or at least to the five cards in hand for multiple turns or until they are played. See the separate page of album buff cards and buffs for collections in other albums.
Brachypterygius

## Ability

### Ability

**Wide Paddle****(Play)** If played in the middle slot, your Oceans and Seas and Paleontology cards adjacent to this gain +29 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

What has a long snout, wide paddles and has been dead for millions of years? It’s the **Brachypterygius**, obviously! A form of ichthyosaur, this extinct but beautiful aquatic beast lived during the Late Jurassic period of England.

The type species was originally described and named as Ichthyosaurus extremus in 1904, but in 1922, it was renamed by a German palaeontologist called Friedrich von Huene, who renamed more dinosaurs in the early 20th century than anyone else in Europe. Someone clearly had a lot of time on their hands… Huene chose the (very hard to pronounce) name ’Brachypterygius’ because it means “wide wing/paddle” in Greek, and that’s basically the only defining feature of the animal.

'Life reconstruction of Brachypterygius extremus' by Nobu Tamura (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered) Background added, color corrected, image enhanced.
Book of the Dead

## Ability

### Ability

**Death Is Only The Beginning****(Return)** If you are trailing by 100 Power or more, your Ancient Egypt cards, wherever they are, gain +20 Power until played and your Egyptian Mythology cards, wherever they are, cost -1 Energy until played.

## Did You Know?

While the film *The Mummy* has led us all to believe that the Ancient Egyptian **Book of the Dead** looks like something you might find in your local esoteric or New Age store, it actually wasn’t a book at all. We know, we know, why would Rachel Weiss and Brendan Fraser lie to us? It’s all very sad.

Seeing as it wasn’t a book as we might understand it, the Book of the Dead is actually a collection of papyrus and mummy wrappings with funerary spells on them. The spells would be spoken aloud and then placed in the tomb with the mummy (or straight onto the wrappings) so that they could then read them in the afterlife.

There are thought to be 200 chapters to the collection of spells and rites but they haven’t all been found yet. So who knows, maybe somewhere out there is the bit Rachel Weiss reads aloud in The Mummy, thus awakening a terrible creature and bringing a plague upon humanity? Probably not. After all, “no harm ever came from reading a book!”
Botta's Pocket Gopher

## Did You Know?

Found in the grasslands of western North America, **Botta’s Pocket Gopher** has a very important job to do. As the honorary Chief Burrowing Officer in the ecosystem it inhabits, this mammal is key to maintaining the biodiversity and improving the quality of the soil. As a result of its continuous burrowing, the soil becomes richer with air, water, plant matter, animal wastes, micro-organisms and minerals. Richer soil means fast-growing plants, which makes more food for the gophers to eat. It’s a win-win situation.

Unlike other gophers who use their claws to dig, Botta’s Pocket Gophers use their teeth, which are much larger and have a thick layer of enamel designed to withstand harder materials within the soil.

(To whom it may concern; apologies for this tacked-on reference to Valtteri Bottas that we, as the former creators of a Formula 1 game, felt duty-bound to include on this card but could not slip in masterfully on this occasion.)
Bernissartia

## Ability

### Ability

**Crocodile België****(Play)** Your Ocean Reptiles cards in hand gain +29 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

A look at the fossil records of the <b<bernissartia<> leads to only one conclusion: Honey I Shrunk the Crocodile. At only 60cm long, this extinct reptile is one of the smallest crocodiles to roam the Earth.

Known primarily from skulls and skeletons found in modern day Spain and Belgium, this genus of crocodyliform lived around 130 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period. Although it was only the length of a golden retriever, the Bernissartia had sharp, pointed front teeth and powerful jaws that it used to catch fish. At the back of its mouth, this ancient croc had broad, flat teeth - perfect for crunching on shellfish or grinding bones down to a paste. Charming.
Blazar

## Ability

### Ability

**Blaze a Trail****(Draw)** A random card in your hand gains +20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Blazars, **Blazars**, Quasars… you have to hand it to the astrophysicists - they have all the good names.

A **Blazar** is, in fact, a kind of Quasar, and as such is powered by a supermassive black hole. Astronomers are pretty confident that the light of a Quasar is caused by friction as matter is consumed by the black hole. What they are less sure about is what causes the bright jets that shoot from the poles of the black hole.

And this is where **Blazar** are coming in handy. Because a **Blazar's** jets point towards Earth (this is the definition of a **Blazar**), researchers can distinguish between the light of the jet, and the light of the ‘accretion disk’ (i.e. created from friction).

While the cause of the jets is still a mystery, what they have concluded so far is that the process that creates them “might be the most efficient way of transporting energy from the vicinity of the black hole to infinity”.
Carina Nebula

## Did You Know?

Known for its star-forming area, the Carina Nebula is home to 14,000 stars, with research suggesting that many other stars have gone supernova in the region. 'Going supernova' is definitely a phrase we are going to start using for wild behaviour in the CUE office.

The Carina Nebula is home to several notable and cool named objects such as, 'the Mystic Mountain', 'the Homunculus Nebula', and 'the Keyhole Nebula.'

The Carina Nebula lies in the Carina-Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way, at a distance between 6,500 and 10,000 light years from Earth. The estimated distance of the nebula is 7,500 light years away.

In the hundreds of thousands of years yet ahead, astronomers project and predict that the many new stars just developing in various areas within the Carina Nebula will burn up the majority of gases and dust surrounding them, leaving an open, clear view of each star inside the nebula’s boundaries... star light, star bright.
Bee Hummingbird

## Ability

### Ability

**The Bee's Knees****(Draw)** Your cards, wherever they are, with 1 or less Base Energy gain +5 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Want to catch a glimpse of the world’s smallest living bird? You’ll have to visit Cuba, the exclusive home of the **Bee Hummingbird**. Measuring only 6 centimetres long, the female of the species builds a nest barely an inch across. Inside, she lays her eggs, which are about the size of a coffee bean.

As with most hummingbirds, their favourite food is nectar, which they feed on by moving their tiny tongues rapidly in and out of a flower. In the process, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. So, when it flies to the next flower, it transfers the pollen, inadvertently playing a key role in plant reproduction. An industrious little creature, the bee hummingbird can visit up to 1,500 flowers per day!
Bengal Cat

## Did You Know?

If you want the closest thing you can get to a wild animal in your house, invest in a Bengal Cat! They're yours for only (checks notes)... £900. A hybrid between a domestic cat and the Asian Leopard Cat, the Bengal Cat is bigger than a normal house cat and requires infinitely more attention.

Also unusually for a cat, they love playing with water! Owners find themselves having to keep them away from the sink, as they like to splash in puddles and even drink water with their paws!
Blini

## Ability

### Ability

**Blin!****(Draw)** If you are trailing by 200 Power or more, your cards in hand gain +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

If you’re the type of person who avoids crowds at social gatherings to get close and personal with the buffet table, you’re probably very familiar with the **Blini**. For all those who choose people over food (a poor choice), here’s what you’re missing out on: a small pancake, of Russian origin, made from buckwheat flour and topped with melted butter, sour cream, caviar or smoked salmon.

Once upon a time, Blinis were seen by East Slavic people as a symbol of the sun, due to their round form. As such, they were prepared at the end of winter to honour the rebirth of the new sun. Not that anyone really needs an excuse to make a batch of pancakes, but if you were looking for one, that’s it.
Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks

## Did You Know?

Calling this secret society the **Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE)** is a bit like us calling ourselves the **Highly-Organised and Perpetually Bug-Free Order of CUE**.

The BPOE didn’t have the most auspicious beginning: it was originally a social club for minstrel show performers. The racist theme persisted thereafter, and the organisation maintained an ‘all-whites’ clause until *1972*. And as if that weren’t bad enough, when the clause was revoked, it was done with the proviso that it could be reinstated if the law allowed.

All of which makes it that much more wonderful that the **Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW)** exists. It was founded in 1897 as a black fraternal association, by two men who had been refused membership to BPOE on racial grounds.

One of the founders obtained the first copyright for the Elks ritual, but the BPOE sued the IBPOEW over the name *Elks*. The court ruled in favour of the BPOE, but IBPOEW essentially ignored the result.

The IBPOEW went on to campaign against segregation in schools, and against union exclusion of black workers, while allowing a multi-faith membership - at which point, the terms ‘benevolent and protective’ sound a bit more deserved.
Boomerang Nebula

## Ability

### Ability

**Emergency Meeting!****(Play)** Your Espionage cards in hand gain +32 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

What happens to a crewmate when they’re voted out in Among Us? Apparently, they get sent to the coldest place in the universe. That’s according to this snap of the Boomerang Nebula, anyway. Sus or what?

With a freezing temperature of just 1 Kelvin, you’ll want to pack a few more sweaters if you’re planning a trip to the Boomerang Nebula. So, what’s with the chill?

Scientists think that the force at which the Boomerang Nebula is expelling cosmic material is what makes it so cold. However, according to The National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the **Boomerang Nebula** actually seems to be warming in some places as it ages. The question is, is the Boomerang Nebula still the coldest spot in space, or is it the imposter?

'Boomerang Nebula as seen by ALMA in 2017' by ALMA (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under CC BY 4.0 (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Beagle

## Ability

### Ability

**Follow the Scent****(Play)** Your Dogs cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power this round. **(Return)** A random card in your hand gains +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

If you happen to be a literate hare, here’s a friendly reminder not to mess with a **Beagle**. If you’re a human, this breed can make for a wonderful companion. One of the most vocal dog breeds, the name “Beagle” comes from the French word “beguele” meaning “gaped throat”. They may not be a lonely goatherd, but thanks to this evolutionary trait, Beagles seem to have an exceptional knack for yodelling which they use when hunting.
Caganer

## Did You Know?

Yes, that is a nativity scene and yes, that man on the roof is doing exactly what you think he's doing.

He is a Caganer, a male figurine with his pants down doing a number two on top of the stable as the baby Jesus is being born. According to Catalan folklore farmers were punished with a poor crop harvest if their nativity scenes did not include one (although I'm sure they can be placed more discreetly than in our example).
Bram Stoker

## Ability

### Ability

**Learn From Failure****(Play)** If you have played Count Dracula this game and if you are behind, your cards in hand gain +45 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

You probably know him as the talented Irish author behind the timeless gothic horror novel Dracula. But did you know **Bram Stoker** was a total Chad? During his university career, he was an outstanding athlete, collecting prizes in shot put, high and long jumping, gymnastics, weightlifting and race walking.

Although Stoker says the inspiration for Dracula came to him in a dream, he also consulted books on legends, natural history texts and travelogues in preparation for writing his novel.

However, the author never visited Transylvania, the Romanian region that Dracula calls home. Instead, he spent time in the seaside resort of Whitby developing his ideas. Until his Whitby stay, Stoker’s character was going to be called ‘Count Wampyr’.
Brussels Griffon

## Ability

### Ability

**Yub Nub!****(Play)** If your deck has 5 or more Space cards, your Life on Land cards in hand gain +30 Power this turn. For every Science card in your deck, give this card -20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The **Brussels Griffon** may refer to the three different breeds, Griffon Bruxellois, the Griffon Belge and the Petit Brabançon - identical in everything but coat and colour, and descendants from the rodent-killing Smousje. No word yet if the term “Smooshie” is related, although images of the tiny dog’s face would suggest so.

Its smooshable little face was the inspiration for the Ewok, the furry little creatures from the moon of Endor, with George Lucas citing their strangely human like faces for the idea.

If you’re looking for a furry best friend yourself, you need look no further. The Brussels Griffon’s temperaments are usually very sensitive, snuggly and kind, despite suffering from severe Small Dog Syndrome, as they seem unaware of their tiny size compared to their larger peers.
Blitzar

## Ability

### Ability

**Blitz Defence****(Draw)** An opponent's random card in hand loses -20 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

If a **Blitzar** sounds like something made up, well - that’s because it is. At least until we can prove they exist.

The idea is that a **Blitzar** is a neutron star that spins so fast that - thanks to centripetal force - it avoids collapsing into a black hole, like a cosmic version of the machine that dries out your swimwear at the gym.

Also like that machine, the **Blitzar** eventually runs out of energy and cuts out. When this happens the **Blitzar** collapses into a black hole and the magnetic energy that is released creates a burst of wide spectrum energy. And you can pack up your stuff without getting the rest of your clothes wet.
Cambridge Five

## Ability

### Ability

**Quintelligence****(Draw)** If your deck contains exactly 5 Espionage cards, your Espionage cards, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played. If it is Round 5, gain an additional +5 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

The tale of the **Cambridge Five** has all the makings of a great spy novel - but this is no work of fiction. Originally recruited as students at Cambridge, the Five (Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross) smuggled intelligence to the KGB while working for the British government between World War II and the early 1950s.

When they were revealed to be Soviet spies, it didn’t go down so well with the US. This was the height of the Cold War, and Philby was one of the most senior counterintelligence officers in Britain who was, at the time, stationed in Washington DC. His betrayal wasn’t just a cringe moment for Britain, but considered a threat to US national security.
Black-footed Cat

## Ability

### Ability

**In a Spot****(Return)** If you are losing the round, your remaining cards in hand cost -2 Energy next turn.

## Did You Know?

It may be among the smallest wild cat species in the world, but don’t underestimate the **Black-footed Cat**. To small rodents in Africa, this feline is a stone-cold killer and a menace to society. It’s been found that the black-footed cat has a 60% success rate in killing, often claiming the lives of between 10 – 14 rodents or small birds every night.

Then again, since the black-footed cat has an accelerated metabolism that requires it to hunt almost non-stop, perhaps we shouldn’t judge it too harshly. Switching to a cruelty-free Vegan diet isn’t easy when you’re a wild cat.

The natives in Africa have a legend that says this species can bring down a giraffe. Although untrue, it pays homage to the determination of these tiny-yet-tenacious felines.
Bloody Mary

## Ability

### Ability

**Say My Name****(Return)** Gain +1:energy/turn: this round and your cards with "Mary" in their name, wherever they are, gain +25 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Curious as to who your future husband is going to be? Rather than let romance's course play out, simply say the name "**Bloody Mary** into a mirror three times, and you will see the face of your future soulmate!

But before you go deleting Tinder, be warned. If you are not destined to have a future husband, a horrible apparition - Bloody Mary herself - is said to appear instead, screaming and clawing at you.

Look, the Bloody Mary legend comes from a time where it was less socially acceptable to remain single. This writer is happily married and hasn't had cause to summon her of late, so for all he knows these days she appears and just encourages you to #LiveYourBestLife.

## Fusion

 Ladybug | 10
Blackbeard

## Ability

### Ability

**Ship, Captain and Crew****(Play)** Your Riding the Waves! and Plundering Pirates cards, wherever they are, gain +25 Power this round.

## Did You Know?

Ah - the legendary pirate **Blackbeard**. This notorious villain, who did indeed sport a long black beard, has spawned countless stories, books and films of variable quality.

Introducing himself as **Edward Teach**, he would typically carry three pairs of pistols, a cutlass, and... y'know, a few knives, just to be on the safe side.

Alongside Captain Woodes Rogers he captured 'La Concorde' and made it his main vessel - the *Queen Anne's Revenge*, which he upgraded to boast 40 guns.

At the height of his power, having been "granted" a pardon by a Virginia Governor and the ability to plunder and increase his fleet as he pleased, he awarded himself the rank of Commodore, because why not?

How did Blackbeard's story end? Word had spread that **Blackbeard** and his crew were having an impromptu rum party, and so two ships were sent out to after him.

The attack at Ocracoke Island began at daybreak, and **Blackbeard** eventually fell following a prolonged fight with the opposing Commander. He didn't go down easily - he was stabbed and shot multiple times.

Thanks to ThePumpking for the amazing card suggestion!

'Blackbeard the Pirate - General History of the Pyrates' by General History of the Pyrates - Unknown artist (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Cane Toad

## Ability

### Ability

**Familiar Friends****(Draw)** If you have played Snowy Owl this game, this card gains +13 Power this turn. Repeat for Bombay Cat. **(Play)** Your Snowy Owl and Bombay Cat cards in hand gain +13 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

When you consider that the **Cane Toad** can lay up to 30,000 eggs twice a year, you wonder why the world isn’t totally overrun with these amphibians.

In the toad’s defence, this species has, just through its nature, wreaked havoc on Australia’s delicate ecosystems. Already, they’ve charged their way across Queensland and through Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory where they’ve caused the local extinction of native species.

Cane toads are also highly toxic; one lick or bite of this creature can cause hungry predators to experience convulsions, rapid heartbeat, paralysis and even death.

But look, this toad does have some redeeming features: they’re tough and highly adaptable, able to survive at temperatures between 5 and 40 degrees Celsius. They’re also quite cute – if you’re into tiny toxic toads, that is.
Betelgeuse

## Ability

### Ability

**Make My Millennium****(Play)** Your Forces of the Universe cards in hand gain +5 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the Orion constellation that is 1,000 times the size of our Sun and could go supernova at any time. It is 640 light-years away, so when we first observe the supernova, it will actually have happened 640 years previously.

* + - STOP PRESS\*\*\*

At the time this card was originally released (17th January 2020), a massive gravitational wave was discovered around Betelgeuse, which could be an indication that it's about to explode (640 years ago)!

## Trivia

* The quote "Make My Millennium" is a reference to the quote “Go ahead, make my millennium" said by Betelgeuse, the main character of *Beetlejuice.*
Bleeding Heart

## Ability

### Ability

**Love Hurts****(Play)** Your opponent loses -25 Power/Turn this turn and if played next to Luzon Bleeding-Heart, your opponent loses an additional -25 Power/Turn this turn.

## Did You Know?

The **Bleeding Heart** plant, also known as Dicentra spectabilis, is a perennial favourite of emo gardeners. It gets its name from its heart-shaped flowers that dangle from delicate stems, giving the impression of a broken heart. But don’t worry, it’ll bounce back next spring!

Plus, when turned upside down and opened up, the flowers of this Asian plant look like something else entirely. <link="https:>**Something oddly erotic**. Hence, the Bleeding Heart is also known as “lady in the bath.”

So, if you’re looking for a Valentine's gift that’s both romantic and risqué, the bleeding heart is the way to go. However, it’s worth noting that the leaves of the plant can cause confusion and irritability if ingested. Then again, most people don’t eat their Valentine’s Day flowers, so you’re probably safe.
Black Panther

## Ability

### Ability

**Black Pigmentation****(Play)** Your cards with "Jaguar" and "Leopard" in the name, wherever they are, gain +28 Power until played. **(Return)** If your deck has 12 or more Cool Cats cards, your Life on Land cards, wherever they are, gain +12 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

You might be surprised to know that a **Black Panther** is not a species in itself but rather a term used to describe black leopards or black jaguars. If you already knew that then well done, gold star for you!

The dark fur comes from a pigment called melanin and it’s likely that if a Black Panther cub is born from leopard parents, one of those parents will also have had this pigment. However, this isn’t as likely with jaguars.

If you look incredibly closely at a Black Panther of the leopard variety, you can still see its dark spots against its soft, black fur. However, we wouldn’t recommend getting close enough to check. These are big cats, people. They will take your face off!
Bighorn Sheep

## Did You Know?

To a **Bighorn Sheep**, there’s no argument that can’t be settled without a good headbutting. Their long, curved horns can weigh around 14kg on average – that’s more than all the bones in its body combined. When two rams are battling it out to win the heart of a female, they bring their A-Game: facing each other, they hurtle towards each other at 20 miles per hour and lock horns.

You don’t need a front-row seat to get a slice of the action: even in the cheap seats, the clash of horns can be heard echoing through the mountain for many hours until one ram submits and walks away. Think of it like wrestling, but without the crazy costumes and folding chairs.
Blanding's Turtle

## Ability

### Ability

**Ageless****(Draw)** For each completed round, this card costs -1 Energy for the rest of the round.

## Did You Know?

Named after the American naturalist Dr William Blanding, **Blanding’s Turtle** is an endangered species of semi-aquatic turtle native to central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States. Like all turtles, their parental style is a hardcore version of “hands-off”, leaving the hatchlings to fend for themselves from day one. If they do make it into adulthood, however, Blanding’s Turtles have the potential to live to 80 years old.

Due to the rapid decline in their population, sightings of this species have become very rare - however, if you do find a Blanding’s Turtle on your land (you can recognise them by the bright yellow undersides of their necks), you might be eligible for stewardship programs that support the protection and recovery of the species and their habitats.
Benzaiten

## Ability

### Ability

**All that Flows****(Play)** If your deck has 4 or more Oceans cards, your cards in hand gain +15 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Water, words, time, speech, eloquence and music: if it flows, it’s **Benzaiten’s** domain. The only female of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japanese mythology, Benzaiten (also known as Benten, but not to be mistaken with <link="https:>**Ben 10**) is also associated with the moon, and believed to have the power to change the tides and affect the weather. That’s why she’s depicted holding a biwa, a Japanese short-necked lute, as the music of the instrument is thought to soothe the elements and bring calm.

The goddess of knowledge, art and beauty, it’s thought that Benzaiten was originally modelled after the hindu goddess, Saraswati. Her lute is the Japanese version of Saraswati’s musical instrument, which is called the veena.
Battle of Pelusium (525)

## Ability

### Ability

**Fe-line of Defence****(Return)** If your deck contains Bastet, your remaining cards in hand gain +15 Power permanently.

## Did You Know?

Picture the scene: you’re an Egyptian soldier who is loyal to your country, your Gods and of course, your beloved cats. In the height of a clash between Persia and Egypt, you’re standing with your fellow soldiers, ready to attack. Suddenly, you notice your enemy approaching in the distance, brandishing weapons and… cats?!

Well versed in Egyptian culture, Cambyses II of Persia instructed his army to protect themselves from Egyptian fire by using cats as shields, boldly assuming that the Egyptian soldiers wouldn’t dare fire on their feline friends.

Although it’s clear that the **Battle of Pelusium** would have gone to the Persians due to their experience of war, the cat tactic proved successful, allowing them to storm the city and claim victory.
Caroline and George Norton

## Ability

### Ability

**Injustice****(Play)** If you are losing the round, this card gains +27 Power this turn but if you are trailing by 50 Power or more, this card gains an additional +24 Power.

## Did You Know?

She was a 19-year-old woman born into a poor family, he was a Tory MP – what could possibly go wrong? **Caroline and George Norton** had three sons, but their marriage was a turbulent one, to say the least.

Not only were Caroline’s family associated with the rival Whig party, but the rumour mill churned around Caroline’s apparent affairs with Whig members. Things came to a head when George accused her of sleeping with the then-Prime Minister, using his suspicions as grounds for divorce.

During the proceedings, George banned Caroline from seeing their kids – but Caroline, who was an accomplished writer, called upon her influential friends to introduce a bill into parliament that gave judges the power to allow either parent to have access to children under the age of 12.
Beelzebufo

## Ability

### Ability

**Frog Outta Hell****(Draw)** For every Amphibians card in your deck, your Ancient Creatures cards, wherever they are, gain +3 Power until played, and vice versa.

## Did You Know?

Meet **Beelzebufo**, or the “frog from hell” - a prehistoric frog from Madagascar that could have eaten baby dinosaurs. Thought to be the largest frog that ever lived, Beelzebufo had a body the size of a beach ball. Coupled with an expansive mouth and a bite-force between 500 and 2,200 newtons, this isn’t a frog you would mess with. Plus, if it shared the sit-and-wait ambush tactics of living horned toads, this devil frog would have been a formidable predator.

But killing abilities aside, the presence of Beelzebufo on Madagascar posed a puzzling question for scientists: how did the modern relatives of this frog end up in South America? Either a land connection still existed 70 million years ago, or Beelzebufo sold its soul for the ability to teleport.
Boxing

## Ability

### Ability

**Heavyweight Champion of the World****(Play)** Your cards with 70 or more Base Power, wherever they are, gain +14 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

**Boxing** - the professionalisation of thumping the living daylights out of an opponent has been around for millennia, with the earliest evidence of organized bouts coming from Egypt in around 3000 BC. It was even part of the Ancient Olympic Games where the fighter's hands were bound in leather straps. Typically, the barbarous Romans briefly added their own twist, adding metal studs to the gloves which proved popular with audiences but less so with the 50% who died in the ring.

From here we skip over the next thousand years or so to the latter 17th century when bare-knuckle fighting (also know as prizefighting) became all the rage and it didn't take too much longer to work out that punching someone in the head repeatedly hurts and often results in permanent injuries to both parties. The first recorded boxing match took place in Britain in 1681 and by all accounts was an utterly chaotic affair with no referee and more than its fair share of eye-gouging and kicking, which is reasonable considering it had no written rules. Death in the ring wasn't at all uncommon, so rules and referees were gradually introduced until in 1867 John Chambers wrote the Marquess of Queensberry rules, now just known as the Queensbury Rules, which are pretty much what modern boxing is based on. Among other things, they put an end to wrestling, vast weight differences and continuing to thrash an already unconscious opponent on the canvas. Know what I mean, 'Arry?
Broadclub Cuttlefish

## Ability

### Ability

**Sepia Tones****(Play)** Your Legends of the Old West cards in hand gain +14 Power for 3 turns.

## Did You Know?

Behold the **Broadclub Cuttlefish**: you’re looking at the second largest cuttlefish ever, growing up to 50cm in length and 10kg in weight. For reference, that’s about the same weight as a Dachshund – which is small for a dog, but massive for a cuttlefish.

Also known by its species name, *Sepia latimanus*, the Broadclub Cuttlefish is also the most common cuttlefish species on coral reefs, living at a depth of 30m and taking shelter from predators in the cracks and crevices of the reefs. When spawning, they swim closer to the shore to deposit eggs in reefs. From fertilisation, it takes around 40 days for their eggs to hatch. Because of their cuttlebone which provides buoyancy, it’s hard for the Broadclub Cuttlefish to remain in deeper water.
Carlota of Mexico

## Did You Know?

When her husband accepted the Imperial Throne of Mexico at Napoleon III’s request, Charlotte of Belgium wisely rebranded herself **Carlota of Mexico**. Only months after their coronation, the situation took a turn for the worst. After Napoleon couldn’t manage to get his men into the country, he gave up on the whole “Emperor & Empress of Mexico” idea – but Carlota didn’t. She stopped at nothing to cling to her rights of nobility, even making an ultimatum to the Pope.

'Charlotte Empress of Mexico - Order of Saint Charles' by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (Source: Wikimedia Commons) is licensed under Public Domain (original image resized, cropped and altered)
Bigfoot

## Ability

### Ability

**Missing Link?****(Play)** Your Primates cards in hand gain +55 Power until played.

## Did You Know?

Fun fact - the town where Avid Games have their offices ended up in the national press after a dog walker claimed to have seen Bigfoot walking through the town’s forest in 2012. It turned out to just be a really tall guy in a trench coat with a limp.

Bigfoot first stepped into the public's over active minds 62 years ago with the sensational headline: “Giant footprints puzzle residents,” in the Humboldt Times. The Northern California newspaper reported that a group of road construction workers had discovered human-like footprints that were a staggering 16 inches long. The paper gave the mystery beast its now extremely famous moniker and “Big Foot” was born.

The creature has been cropping up time after time decades later. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organisation lists one report (or more) from every state over the past 20 years and Animal Planet’s series “Finding Bigfoot” is now nearing season 12, despite never actually finding it. Or maybe they don't WANT to find it, we know how TV works.

The most recent sighting, in June 2018 by a Florida woman, has to be our favourite; the lady in question when interviewed described the fearsome beast as “a creature that looked like a large pile of soggy grass."
Carbonemys cofrinii

## Ability

### Ability

**Prehistoric Giant Turtle****(Play)** Your Ocean Reptiles cards gain +15 Power (and if you are losing the round, they gain an extra +10 Power) this turn.

## Did You Know?

This 60-million-year-old prehistoric turtle-in-search-of-a-catchier-name was no ordinary turtle. In addition to its huge size, the **Carbonemys cofrinii** had powerful jaws that allowed the omnivore to chow down on anything it fancied – whether it was a casual crunch on a nearby mollusc, a midday snack on a smaller turtle or an all-out feast on a full-sized crocodile. Its name translates to “coal turtle”, inspired by the fact that the fossil of the creature was discovered in a coal mine.
Blue Whale

## Ability

### Ability

**Whale Song****(Play)** Your Beluga Whale, Sperm Whale and Pilot Whale cards in hand gain +40 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

All hail the **Blue Whale** - the current king of the planet - at least in terms of size, weight and even volume. With a heart the size a car, and weighing around forty times as much as the heaviest land animal (the African Bush Elephant, since you ask…), it is one of nature’s most awe-inspiring creations.

Except it’s hard to inspire awe without a sense of scale. When you see footage of a Blue Whale in the ocean, it doesn’t look a whole lot different to a Dwarf Sperm Whale in the ocean - the Ocean being Rather Large and Quite Samey.

This may be part of the reason London’s Natural History Museum recently moved its blue whale skeleton*Hope*, to its magnificent Hintze Hall (replacing ‘Dippy’ the Diplodocus). We recommend a visit, just to get a sense of how very small you are. (Not *you* specifically, but… oh you know what we mean.)

And as if they weren’t already inspiring enough - populations of the Blue Whale are *increasing*! They’ve been under protection from whalers since 1966, and given that they live for 100 years, the current prognosis for Blue Whales is actually pretty good.

Nice to have some good news for a change, isn’t it?
Blue Morpho Butterfly

## Did You Know?

Ever get the feeling that you’re being watched? Not to sound paranoid, but it might be the **Blue Morpho Butterfly**. On the underside of the morpho’s wings is a set of eyespots designed to provide camouflage.

Hidden eyes aside, this large butterfly is full of surprises - surprises that may make you doubt your senses. You see the morpho’s large blue wings? They aren’t even blue. Not by pigmentation, anyway. They just appear that way due to the way the light reflects off the microscopic scales on its wings.

Being as large as they are (5-8 inches), this species needs to protect itself in the Amazon rainforest. When it flaps its wings, the “blue” top side and brown underside colours flash, creating a flickering effect that leaves hungry birds befuddled.
Bottlenose Dolphin

## Ability

### Ability

**Kings of Communication****(Draw)** Your Ocean Mammals cards in hand cost -2 Energy permanently.

## Did You Know?

When you think of a dolphin, what comes to mind is probably a bottlenose dolphin, as these are the ones you see most often in TV shows, movies and at aquariums.

(Side note: the plural of aquarium is either aquariums or aquaria, so there's no need to correct our grammar, thank you.)
Butch Cassidy

## Ability

### Ability

**Wild Bunch****(Play)** Your Legends of the Old West cards in hand gain +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

Robert LeRoy Parker was born in 1866 the oldest of 13 siblings. Popular (historically inaccurate) legend has it that he acquired the name Butch Cassidy after merging an old friends surname (Cassidy) with the Butch part being added after a brief stint working in butcher’s shop. Supposedly he became known as Butcher Cassidy, dropping the ‘er’ later. Probably a PR thing.

Butch and his gang, the 'Wild Bunch', participated in a range of crimes from stealing horses to train robberies. In 1902, pressure from law enforcement, bounties and the Pinkerton detective agency saw him and former Wild Bunch member Harry Alonzo Longabaugh (AKA The Sundance Kid) flee to Argentina and then on to Bolivia along with the Kid’s girlfriend Etta Place.

In many ways, they were terrible tourists as Cassidy and Sundance continued their crime spree before arriving in San Vicente, Bolivia 1908, where villagers became suspicious and called in the army. A shootout ensued, killing Butch and Sundance. The exact nature of their death is unclear with other reports suggesting a Butch took his own life after the Kid's demise.
Caudipteryx

## Ability

### Ability

**Shake Your Tail Feather****(Play)** Your Peacock card in hand gains +25 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

MEEP MEEP!

Prehistory's answer to Roadrunner, the Caudipteryx, is a creature that had all the features of a bird but with none of the ability to fly. Instead, it's considered to have been a strong runner.

The first specimens were discovered in China in the 1990s, and were the spark of the debate on the link between birds and dinosaurs - there was unambiguous evidence that it had feathers on its arms and tail, which indicates that dinosaurs evolved into birds, but the case could be made that Caudipetryx itself was a bird. Just depends on who you ask.
Cardiff Giant

## Ability

### Ability

**Big Hustle****(Draw)** Your opponent's cards in hand with 8 or more Base Energy lose -30 Power this turn.

## Did You Know?

In 1868, a New York tobacconist with too much time on his hands set out to prove how easily people could be fooled by a “fake giant”. A man on a mission, George Hull hired men to quarry out a large block of gypsum in Iowa and had it carved into the shape of a 10 foot petrified man by sculptors, adding various acids to make the “giant” look old and weathered. The giant was buried on a farm in Cardiff, New York and “discovered” by Hull’s cousin in 1869.

Right enough, some people fell for it. Famous showman P.T. Barnum even created a replica of the **“Cardiff Giant”**, claiming it was the “real” one. Of course, neither were real at all, and the hoax was exposed in court in 1870.
Catherine the Great & Peter III

## Ability

### Ability

**Peter Out****(Return)** Gain +40 Power/Turn for 4 turns and decrease it by -10 Power/Turn each turn.

## Did You Know?

Being Peter III’s wife couldn’t have been easy. According to Catherine’s accounts, he was an idiot and a drunk who loved brutal practical jokes and was only interested in playing soldier.

Loveless since their wedding day, the marriage between **Catherine the Great & Peter III** was torn apart by a coup that saw Catherine take the throne. Peter’s first mistake was alienating many of Russia’s powerful groups – the very same groups that Catherine intentionally formed bonds with. She also got cosy with Russian nobility and formed close ties with the Church.

So, when Catherine learned that a close ally of hers had been arrested, she didn’t hesitate to take action. With the support of the military behind her, she had the Russian church crown her as the sole ruler of Russia.