Today’s offering is the Venoan Assassin, shifty looking fish-man who is supposedly human.

The Venoan Assassin is a good, solid card. With 3HP and 2 Attack Power, it won’t be knocking out any Gods, but it’s a nightmare for weaker foes. What really gives it the edge is its special ability - he will always strike the back of its target, which means that if the target has a Blind Spot, he will do an extra point of damage. This is great for surprising enemies who think they are in secure positions and are counting on their card surviving because of it. You should note that automatically hitting the back of the target does not mean automatically hitting a Blind Spot – this is an irrelevant distinction to make currently as all cards which have Blind Spots have one in their back, but this may change in the future, so its worth keeping in mind.

The only minor downside of this card is that it has a Summoning Cost of 3 and an Activation Cost of 2 – which is perfectly reasonable for what you get out of the card, but is still just a little too expensive to make it playable frequently. That said, with a potential HP of 5 and Attack Power of 3, you could find worse ways to spend Mana.

When tackling enemy Assassins, your best bet is to find a way to hit its Blind Spot. Ironically, another Venoan Assassin is perfect for this job. Alternatively, use a card like Bewitching Elf Archeress to turn the card to face the outside edge (making it unable to attack and exposing its Blind Spot) or a Novogus Catapult to batter it from afar – even better if the Catapult can hit the Blind Spot. Keep in mind that these guys are very effective at killing low-cost Creatures, so try and avoid leaving your guys within striking distance - decks which end up with left over Mana won’t have any trouble turning the Assassin and destroying your cards.

You should try and avoid using him against creatures with no Blind Spot, which attack in all directions, such as the Stone Wing Dwarf of the Hellfire Spitter – if they have their Field Bonus, the Assassin won’t be able to kill them and will end up taking damage himself regardless of where you attack from.

Aside from that, this is a good, reliable card to have in your deck, and can quite effectively pull apart a defensive line, and being one of the few offence-oriented Water cards, you’ll probably be seeing quite a lot of it.

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Trade for this card at the Eye of Judgment Card Manager

Just got this update as i was checking out the other cards:) Anyway. this card is amazing, doing 3 damage to most creatures for 2 activation isnt bad. This is my Friends favorite card, and another useful card in most decks

One additional note on countering the venoan assassin. Creatures with quickness counterattack before his special ability is taken into account, so if he attacks, for example, a partmole flame lizard from the front (a creature with a rear blind spot and quickness), the lizard WILL "counter" attack even though it wouldn't have if it didn't have quickness.

i think everyone has at least 1 of these in there decks an extremely useful card

I currently have 2 (from the starter and booster that came with the game, stupid preorder box still isn't here) and I would definitely probably put 1 more in the deck. These is one of the best common cards in the first set. Everytime I draw one I get ecstatic. The ability is very devastating. Being able to hit a blind spot for 3 damage will take out most cost 4 or less creatures. If you manage your mana right, this guy can take out 2 creatures within two turns easy. I recommend using at least 2 in any deck right now until more cards are available.

Great card if you can afford it. If played right it can tear apart a solid defence in a heartbeat. Be aware, unless on a water field can easily be defeated itself.

If you don't have at least one of these your not understanding the concept of the game. This is a MUST to have in your deck!

Better things you can do with 3 mana. Novogus Catapult, Partmole Flame Guard, either of the two perfect dodge cannon types, or Biolith Bomber...

thegman: Not a must- the blind spot (at least, if they have one) attack is terrific, but magic attackers are blind all sides, and MAGIC is what is needed (against perfect dodge etc..) so I would have to disagree that it's a vital... Besides, who is going to want to pay 3 mana to use it if it's next to a Sleep Trap, hmmm? I can think of MUCH better ways to use that mana!

This is probably one of my favorite cards in the game as of yet.

This card is horribly, horribly broken. Cast a 1 mana creature on turn 1, and you can drop a 3 attack, 5 HP creature on turn two assuming you've got access to a water field. It always hits blind spots and almost never gets counter-attacked. For 3 mana, you can't ask for more. You don't even have the right to ask for more. In my opinion, these should be restricted to 1 copy per deck. They're just horribly unbalanced, and I'm sick of seeing my buddy play two of them every game by the tenth turn, too...

This card is horribly, horribly broken. Cast a 1 mana creature on turn 1, and you can drop a 3 attack, 5 HP creature on turn two assuming you've got access to a water field. It always hits blind spots and almost never gets counter-attacked. For 3 mana, you can't ask for more. You don't even have the right to ask for more. In my opinion, these should be restricted to 1 copy per deck. They're just horribly unbalanced, and I'm sick of seeing my buddy play two of them every game by the tenth turn, too...

TzarChasm: Like any card, they have their flaws (granted, not as much as most other cards!). That 3 mana to get ONE card out, means by your opponents turn, depending on play, they have THREE one-mana cards, with a spare to boot! Put away from the vernoan, the opponent has a good set up for putting you in check- AND they can get out their OWN one the following turn... like I said, i't IS a good card, but people are putting too much emphasis on it in my opinion. Like I said- who is going to want to waste all their mana to maintain this one card, when the opponent has two more on the board that could potentially lead to defeat in a matter of turns?!

Ok- just realised how badly that last comment read. If you can't get the concept, feel free to ask- basically, short story: They are good, but too much emphasis is placed on them!

The problem with the Venoan Assassin is that it's a perfectly viable second-turn creature that when placed on a Water field is the equivalent of a 3/5 in most cases. A 2/3 for 3 mana with no special abilities would be a decent deal, but a 3/5 that can't be counter-attacked is just insane. I'm not saying it's the best card in the game, but I will go out on a limb and say that for the relatively low mana cost, they are indeed broken. I get what you're saying, though. Sorry for my original double-post; I have no clue at all why that happened. ><

Indeed- not putting it down- it is a good cost for a good card- just that the fact still stands: It NEEDS a water field- these can be hard to come by by the 3rd turn, as things like Alluja and Harpoonsman rely on them also... but yes, you are right: The cost for a 3 attack, 5 HP creature is terrific! Also take into account it's 2 turning cost- not too bad, but can be hard to keep 2 mana spare later in game at times...

I got one in my deck never know when that actual 1 extra damage from one attack comes in handy

Love this card...it has jumped up to favored status in my deck quite quickly