Editor's Note: The Master's Stratagem is a sort of roleplaying story line method of introducing advice and strategy for the Highlander Collectible Card Game.  If you have already read the first parts of this and enjoyed them, well continue onward.  If, however, you are new to this writer's work, then You might want to read other parts before you continue.

SITUATION - Discard this card when you wish to use it.
Search through your Endurance to find the same card your
opponent just played and place it into your hand. 
Reshuffle your Endurance.  (Reserved)

---------------------------------------------------------

Through the fog of gas, Richie looked up at his masked
executioner.

Dimly he recalled what Mac had told him about Xavier St.
Cloud.  At the time he hadn't understood what was so
effective about fighting with poison gas the way Mac had
described.  What did you do?  Force yourself and your
opponent to both die, and race to see who "resurrected"
first?

Of course, if Richie ad been fighting St. Cloud, he would
have been ready for gas.  Either D'Estaing was a student
of St. Cloud's, or had picked up the gas trick on his own. 
Either way, Richie had been caught by surprise.

D'Estaing's masked face blurred in his vision.  Richie
tried to focus on it as his opponent prepared for the
final from-the-shoulder swing that would relieve him of
his head.

As Morgan brought the blade around, Richie ducked down
even further, going beneath the swing.  Then he came back
up, smashing the hilt of his rapier into the eye-holes of
D'Estaing's mask.

The lenses shattered.  Richie tried to take advantage of
his opponent's momentary blindness, swinging wildly.  His
blow failed to connect, but it drove D'Estaing back even
further.

That gave Richie enough time to feel around with one foot. 
Connecting with the still-spewing gas container, he kicked
it down the alleyway towards D'Estaing.  The effort was
enough to send the young Immortal spinning off of his
feet.  Dimly, Richie tried to re-direct himself further
away from Morgan.  He managed to do so, although it hurt
when the garbage cans broke his fall.

Still half-dazed by the gas, Richie rolled away, to see
his opponent clutching at his gas mask with one hand as he
dropped to his knees.  The gas dispenser itself had gone
past D'Estaing, propelled by the force of Richie's kick. 
A light breeze was blowing away the gas, and Richie noted
that it looked like it was dispersing pretty quickly on
its own.  That jibed with what he remembered Mac telling
him about Xavier's M.O. when robbing jewelry store.

Weakly, Richie rose to his feet, rapier held before him. 
He braced himself, trying not to show any weakness.

Giving up his attempts to keep the gas out of his mask,
D'Estaing unfastened and threw it away in one savage
motion, staggering back to his feet.  His face, thus
revealed, was flushed and he was gasping.  There were
small cuts around his eyes inflicted by the shattered
glass, the blood mixing with the tears.  Richie imagined
he didn't look much better.

The two of them stood there for a few seconds, swaying
slightly in the breeze.

"Let's finish it then," Richie snarled, Advancing
cautiously, he moved forward to take out his opponent.

"Sorry, must be going.  I would have preferred your head,
but I've served as distraction long enough."

In one motion, D'Estaing ran his free hand down the back
of his head, grabbed his knife from its neck sheath, and
threw it at the advancing Immortal.  After the gas
assault, though, Richie was ready for anything.  He ducked
aside, but the moment's distraction was all D'Estaing
needed.  He stepped out of the alleyway.  By the time
Richie reached the mouth of the entrance, he could just
see D'Estaing disappearing into the Paris night.

Richie could have followed, but it didn't seem wise. 
D'Estaing was obviously not an Immortal reluctant to try
an ambush, and the Immortals' sense of each other probably
wouldn't be sufficient against another knife attack.

Instead, Richie turned the opposite direction and headed
toward the Seine.  D'Estaing had mentioned a distraction,
and Richie couldn't think of anything he had or owned that
was worth distracting him from.  And if D'Estaing used
gas, he might be connected with Xavier St. Cloud.  Which
meant Mac was probably the target.

It couldn't be something as simple as a swordfight between
Mac and St. Cloud: Richie wouldn't have interfered in any
case, so why distract him?  It seemed like a really good
idea to see exactly what St. Cloud was up to.

---------------------------------------------------------

Just what many people thought Richie didn't need - a boost
above and beyond the release of new Personas and the cards
he can borrow from them.  Still, Quick Learner is an
interesting addition to Richie's personal arsenal.

The obvious use for Quick Learner is in conjunction with
Richie's power.  If your opponent is Luther, and he plays
Disappear, discard Quick Learner and go for your own
Disappear.  Nothing requires you to play it on your next
turn, so save it for when you need it.

This strategy will certainly give an opponent pause,
particularly if they're someone who is defenseless against
their own, strongest cards.  A good example is Slan vs.
his own Shooting Blade.

However, this strategy does give your opponent knowledge
of at least one powerful card that you have in their hand.

This strategy is also useless if you have _already_ played
the card in question.  If Richie's (typically) one
Disappear is in his discard pile, Luther playing both of
his does Richie no good.

Still, Quick Learner can be handy.  Because if you use six
Quick Learners, and you have only "borrowed" one
particular card from an opponent, which other five cards
do you use Quick Learner for.

Cards are currently differentiated by title, subtitle,
icon, and text.  So Richie cannot recover one of his
Dodges if his opponent plays one of theirs.

Nor can Richie recover a Series Edition Holy Ground if his
opponent plays a Arms & Tactics Holy Ground.  Or a LC
Pistol if his opponent plays a UC Pistol.

However, if they play a Movie Edition Head Shot or
Police/Remove Situation, he can recover a Series Edition
Head Shot or Police/Remove Situation.

In this author's opinion, Quick Learner is actually more
important for recovering generic cards, rather than
"borrowed" Persona cards.  Richie can grab his
Watcher/Treatments, or Dr. Sonny Jacksons, or Head Shots,
or Holy Grounds, much more reliably using Quick Learner.

Quick Learner can even be used with basic attacks and
blocks.  Short that Upper Guard when you need it?  Grab it
when Connor or Duncan play it, grab it and use it yourself
next turn.

If you run into an opponent using Darius, and you're using
that card to supplement Richie's own "borrowing," you can
grab Darius cards that much faster.

Overall, Quick Learner is a fairly powerful card that can
give Richie a powerful boost.  Situations are much less
vulnerable to removal with the errata on Katana, and with
the new batch of Signature cards that Richie can't use, he
may need all the help he can get.