High Elves Honor a Legend at the Rising DawnA Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game spotlight
Eltharion was as skilled a fighter as any on Ulthuan, but it was not his prowess in battle that worried Belannaer. No, it was the darkness that had settled on Eltharion’s soul that was cause for concern.
–The Blade Reforged
With the first light of the Rising Dawn, the High Elves prepare to strike. The light glints radiant off the delicate blades of their finely-crafted weapons. Their ithilmar armour ripples almost silently as they move to form ranks. Then all show respect as their new leader appears, clad in brilliant blue and gold, mounted atop his griffon.
Led by one of their greatest legends, the High Elves in The Bloodquest Cycle are stronger than ever.
Eltharion the Grim
Eltharion the Grim (Rising Dawn, 2) is the only member of the High Elves ever to lead a successful raid against their Dark Elf kin in Naggaroth. He employed Ellyrion Reavers and Shadow Warriors to kill Dark Elf messengers and ensure the Witch King remained unaware of his movements.
Though the raid was successful, Eltharion suffered mortal wounds from a Witch Elf’s poison. He was dying as his forces sailed to Ulthuan, but the night he docked at Chrace, he was visited by his father’s ghost. His father’s spirit informed him that his ancestral home had been destroyed by a goblin warlord and the city of Tor Yvresse was under siege. By a miracle or his strength of will, Eltharion returned from death’s door to orchestrate the city’s defense.
The greenskins at Tor Yvresse had caused significant magical devastation. To undo the damage, Eltharion and two other elves wrestled with the Winds of Magic, but only Eltharion emerged. Rumors say he has never smiled since that time, and that is why he is called the “Grim.”
Bent on victory
In the world of Warhammer, Eltharion is known primarily for two traits: his prowess in battle and his strength of will. Now Eltharion the Grim brings these traits to the battles of Warhammer: Invasion The Card Game, and the High Elves stand to benefit.
Eltharion’s ability to manipulate resource tokens represents the tactical acumen he displayed in his successful raid on Naggaroth and the defense of Tor Yvresse, and it can drastically enhance High Elf decks built around resource tokens.
One of the stronger High Elf decks currently in circulation uses copies of Dragon’s Lair (Chaos Moon, 30) to play multiple Dragons for free. Eltharion can accelerate this strategy by placing a resource token on the Dragon’s Lair as soon as it enters play. Then, on your next turn, the Dragon’s Lair gets another token, and you can search the top five cards of your deck for a Dragon unit. As soon as you finish your search, Eltharion the Grim can add a token to the Lair again. Thus, you can search for a Dragon every turn instead of every other turn. Not only can Eltharion the Grim help you get units into play more quickly, but when you only need one turn to search for a Dragon, instead of two, the chances decrease that your opponent will simply destroy your Lair as you try to gather tokens.
A legendary High Elf defender
Perhaps more importantly, Eltharion the Grim can remove three tokens from any combination of your High Elf cards in order to gain one of three benefits:
- Deal five indirect damage to target opponent.
- Gain three resources.
- Cancel an Action that targets a High Elf unit you control.
This is an amazingly flexible ability that you can use for offense, resource acceleration, or defense. While it costs three resource tokens each time you use it, this cost is easily mitigated, especially when you consider how it can accelerate the use of your Eataine War Room (Realm of the Phoenix King, 32). The High Elves have a good number of cards that bring a number of resource tokens into play for limited cost. Among the stronger of these cards are Citadel of Dusk (March of the Damned, 13), Ithilmar Arrows (Realm of the Phoenix King, 29), Silver Helm Detachment (The Deathmaster’s Dance, 67), and True Mage (The Twin Tailed Comet, 51). Just as Eltharion made excellent use of the units at his command to raid Naggaroth, he can make use of these High Elf units and support cards to lead the High Elves to victory.
The Rising Sun is coming soon to open The Bloodquest Cycle, and as the sun rises over the field of battle, it will shine upon the High Elves, arrayed for glory like never before!
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Source:
High Elves Honor a Legend at the Rising Dawn
