Hello Condemned! I’ve got another card to share with you today. This one is an interesting card that you’ll definitely play in draft! Let’s talk about it a bit, yeah?

When it comes to making cards, a lot of my ideas boil down to, “I need to make a card, I have no idea what I’m doing. Let’s just throw something at the wall and see if it sticks.” Sometimes I get a specific idea at the most random moment. That was Inspiration Helmet. Quite literally, even! This card, however, falls into the former category where I knew I needed Preparation cards and just started spitballing ideas.

Truth be told, I don’t even remember how I came up with the idea or how it came to be. But I do know the flavor that I designed around the card’s mechanic. Certain SSIP prisons allow for “audience participation.” They might be allowed to jump in and become another fighter in The Arena, or they could toss random junk into the arena to distract or potentially get a little pot shot of their own into it. And every now and again, a fighter’s fan will give them a useful Weapon to help turn the tide. That’s where Gift from the Audience comes in.

Mechanically speaking, I love Gift from the Audience. It’s a funky little “dig through your deck” kind of card that can open up opportunities. You might find something useful in your pile of junk, but you might have to waste a bit before you get there. In testing, I found it was a fantastic opening hand card, especially if you had a One Hand Weapon in your hand. If you got lucky and dug for one One Hand Weapon, you could potentially equip the one in your hand, “cheating” out a second Weapon in one turn! Use of ambidextrous weapons is definitely for the best here, it’ll give you the best odds of pulling that off.

While there are not any cards that care about the number of cards in your discard pile, there’s always a chance that that could change in the future! When and if that does happen, this could turn this card into something huge, no?

Cards like these tend to be hit or miss until they really hit. It is my goal for older cards to have some semblance of relevance to newer cards, and I think I’ll be able to make that happen in the future with Gift from the Audience. Who knows? Only time will tell. Regardless, this is another card completed. This card brings us up to

21/128 Cards

Making a set like this when you’re on a budget always takes forever. If you like the cards you’ve seen, follow the kickstarter to help me drum up interest when it finally launches! You should also join The Condemned CCG Discord. I’m running a virtual tournament online on Saturday the first, you should take part! The details are shared in the Discord. I have another card to spoil next week. And guess what? You’ve already seen this card before! Wait, what do I mean by that? You’ll just have to wait until next week to find out. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you in The Arena!