Hello Condemned! I apologize for the delay in the last couple weeks. Writer’s block is a true annoyance…But I digress. Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in my area, which I spent with my family. I hope those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday had a great day and safe travels to wherever you went. I’m here today to share 3 new cards, getting everyone caught up on what is finished for The Condemned.

First up is the Leafy Pads. This armor gives Condemned a way to move to Ranged and still attack. One of my mantras when it comes to designing cards is “constraints breed creativity.” I take quite a bit of delight in finding ways to break the rules in ways that are fun and open up new play space. I guess the best way to describe it is breaking the game without making it broken. Leafy Pads allows you to discard a card to move to Ranged and still attack in the same turn! Now, you can’t use it to close the gap yet, but we’ll get there. And what’s this thing about a Sniper Armor Set? Hmm…curious…

Next up, we have Simple Mending. This card is designed to be a small pick me up to both you and/or your Armor, depending on the need. It also happens to be Ellen’s first card depicting The Pacifier, too! This card is going to be very useful in Limited formats, and it’ll definitely shine when you’re in need of a little maintenance. Do note, however, that Simple Mending only heals 1 Life and repairs 1 Durability. It’s not a ton of healing. It’s not supposed to be. This won’t necessarily win you games, but it will slow down your opponent. Sometimes, that’s all you need.

And finally, we have the Pilfered Scalpel. Now, this card isn’t necessarily the flashiest card out there. It’s a basic, vanilla, Slash Weapon. Something I kind of regret in making Enter The Arena was that I didn’t make a ton of vanilla Weapons and Armor. Cards that were simply there to do damage or absorb damage, and that was it. I honestly regret that I didn’t make more of them, because this game does need a baseline. It needs cards that are useful in draft, and occasionally useful in constructed format. To that end, I feel like Pilfered Scalpel does the job just fine. To be honest, I’m looking forward to adding this card into my Ripperstrike deck to give Kona Yuki more options for digging for The Ripper.

Making a card game has been the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life. It’s also the most fun I’ve had working on a project. I love the results, It’s all coming together nicely, but I cannot do it alone. I’m currently paying out of pocket for this art, which is tough when you’re also supporting a wife and two kids. So if you want to see more art come out faster, the best thing you can do is stop by the Juel Games Store and pick up some cards or any of the accessories or apparel. Every little bit helps. Don’t forget, a portion of your purchase also goes to The Innocence Project, helping to free the wrongfully convicted.

Did you know we have a Discord Server, too? If you haven’t joined yet, you should! I plan to start playing more impromptu games online there, using the Tabletop Simulator module. It’s great for finding more people to play with and test out new deck tech before showing up at your local game store. Get connected, get involved, and get fighting!

For as much trouble as I have getting these posts written, I do enjoy doing it once I actually get started. Much like getting the artwork finished, too. Speaking of, we’re up to:

18/128 cards

It’s progress, isn’t it? I’m just happy that I’m moving closer to the finish line. I’ll probably need to reach out to my printer pretty soon, start getting ready for manufacturing if I can keep this up. Thanks for reading, don’t forget to pick up a few packs when you can, and I’ll see you in The Arena!