Jia Xu

Cold and Hardened Intellectual 冷酷的毒士

**Complete Kill** 完杀
During Jia Xu's turn, only Jia Xu and players on the brink of death can use peach. (Enforced)

**Upheaval** 乱武
Once per game, Jia Xu can force all other players to attack a player in their range.  If a player does not, they lose one health.

**Curtain** 帷幕
Jia Xu cannot be targeted by a black tool card. (Enforced)

**Clarification:**

* Note that both "Complete Kill" and "Curtain" are enforced abilities. Jia Xu cannot 'turn off' these abilities.
* Because of "Curtain," Jia Xu cannot play the spade *Lightning*, as this would require him to target himself with a black tool card. When the black-suited *Lightning* is in play, it passes over Jia Xu during his turn and goes to the character to immediately after him at the game table.
* "Curtain" does not extend to *Negate*.
* If Jia Xu is in a one-on-one battle, other characters cannot play black-suited tool cards that normally affect all characters. For example, if Huang Yue Ying is in a one-on-one battle with Jia Xu, she cannot play *Barbarians* to activate "Gathering Wisdom" as the card would only target Jia Xu and he cannot be targeted by black-suited tool cards.
* "Complete Kill" does not allow other players to save Jia Xu with a *Peach* if he dies during his turn. This makes him more susceptible to the red *Lightning.*
* When Jia Xu activates "Upheaval," each character is prompted to *Attack* another character. The order in which the characters must *Attack* is dictated by the seating arrangement. The first player that is prompted to *Attack* is the one sitting to Jia Xu's immediate right. The process continues in this order until the character to Jia Xu's immediate left is prompted to *Attack*.
* Jia Xu does not need to play an *Attack* when he activates "Upheaval," but other characters can choose to *Attack* him if he is in their physical range.

* "Complete Kill" is very powerful. When timed correctly, he can ensure that a character dies and is not saved. This is very good against characters like Guo Jia and Xun Yu who survive by giving other characters cards and hoping to be saved when they die. It also works well against Hua Tuo, Lu Meng, and Cao Ren, as these characters can hold many *Peaches* to try to save their teammates.
* "Upheaval" can turn the game around quickly and can be lethal since it occurs during Jia Xu's turn, as "Complete Kill" is in effect during this time.
* Jia Xu's powers are very self-serving. He is very powerful, but there is little that he can do to help other characters other than kill enemies.
* During "Upheaval," the other characters can *Attack* Jia Xu. This is something that must be kept in mind when choosing to activate this power.

**Notable Combinations:**

* Gan Ning/Zhang Liao/Zhang He/Huang Xu/Lu Su - These characters specialize in card destruction and can therefore remove the *Peaches* and *Wine* from an enemy's hands so Jia Xu can kill them.

* Zhang Jiao - If Jia Xu activates Zhang Jiao's "Lightning Strike" during his turn, the target of this ability may receive two units of damage. If this kills them, it will be very difficult for them to be saved, as they have to have the *Peaches* and *Wine* in their hand in order to stay alive.

* Xiao Qiao - Xiao Qiao's "Rouge Face" turns all of her spade tool cards into heart tool cards. This allows her to bypass "Curtain" with tool cards of a spade suit.

* Wu Guo Tai- Wu Guo Tai's "Amend" does not count as using a *Peach*. This can allow her to possibly save other characters during Jia Xu's turn.

* Cheng Pu - Cheng Pu's "Strong Wine" allows him to save characters on the brink of death. When he uses this ability, the character on the brink of death is considered to use *Wine*. This bypasses Jia Xu's "Complete Kill."

 Loyalist
 Rebel
 Spy

**Final Remarks:**

Jia Xu is one of the most interesting and exciting characters in the Woods Expansion. "Curtain" gives Jia Xu a large amount of protection. Because of "Curtain," Jia Xu is immune to five of the six *Break* cards, two of the three *Duel* cards, three of the five *Steal* cards, two of the three *Capture* cards, one of the two *Lightning* cards, and all *Barbarians, Coerce, Chains,* and *Starvation* cards in the standard (base set and battle expansion) deck. The only two offensive tool cards that Jia Xu has no defense against are *Blaze* and *Hail of Arrows*. When Jia Xu acquires the *Black Shield*, he becomes even more powerful, as he effectively becomes immune to half of the cards in the deck! When using Jia Xu, time "Upheaval" carefully. It is best to wait until you are sure that you can kill an enemy with the ability. Also, remember that you or your allies might also die in the process.