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:  While this card is in play, your opponent
loses 4 Ability and you lose 2 Ability.  Remove Poison Gas
from play when you draw a card from your Endurance. 
(Reserved, Restricted to 2)

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

Richie Ryan glanced up at the sensation of another
Immortal.

There was apparently no one in the quiet Parisian
alleyway.  Richie had just departed one of several bars he
had visited that night, "getting the feel of the city," as
he had commented to Mac.  He was sure no one was following
him.  So was this a chance encounter, or an ambush?

The newly-born Immortal looked around carefully.  Of his
three times he had sensed a potentially hostile Immortal
to date, two had been face-to-face encounters and the
third had been with an Immortal that had no interest in
actually fighting him.  Richie flushed at the thought of
having been so casually disregarded by Martin Hyde.

Still, one's "sense" was supposed to prevent any ambush or
an unfair advantage by one side or the other.  So where
was the other Immortal?

As if on cue, a figure stepped into the mouth of the
alleyway.  Richie squinted against the glare of a
streetlight behind the figure.  It was a boy, no younger
than himself in exterior appearance.  Of course, Richie
wasn't going to be fooled by outside appearances.  He had
made that mistake with Annie Devlin, and had nearly lost
his head because of it.

The new Immortal wore a suit, a fedora, well-polished
shoes, and long coat.  With a quick, appraising eye Richie
estimated the suit's price at considerably more than what
he had in his pockets.  The coat was typical among
Immortals for concealing a sword, although Richie
preferred a bit more freedom of movement himself.

The new Immortal had a thatch of closely-cut blonde hair,
and a sneer that looked like it had been stenciled
permanently on his face.  Richie took a instant dislike to
the new arrival.

"So you're the new boy." the Immortal asked mockingly. 
"Can't say I'm impressed."

That sounded like a challenge to Richie.  Carefully he
drew his own sword.  "The name's Ryan.  Richie Ryan.  Do I
get to know who the hell you are?"

The Immortal sketched a bow while drawing his own sword. 
"Morgan D'Estaing, at your service."  Holding the blade
before him, he carefully inspected its length,
nonchalantly ignoring Richie.

Richie waited for a few seconds.  D'Estaing continued his
examination of the blade.  Finally, sighing, Ryan asked,
"So, are we going to do this or what?"

D'Estaing looked up, a look of mock surprise on his face. 
"Fight?  Well, if you insist..."

He stepped into the alleyway, a mere five meters from
Richie.  The American brought his sword up in a guard
position as Mac had taught him.  Wait and let the newcomer
bring the fight to him.

With his free hand, Morgan reached beneath his jacket and
pulled out a small metal case. _He's going to smoke while
we fight?_ Richie thought, puzzled.

D'Estaing flipped the lid of the metal case, then half-
tossed, half-slid it down the length of the alleyway. 
Before Ryan could react, thick white gas gushed out of the
device, enveloping him.

Surprised, Richie took in a lungful of the gas. The
coughing fit that immediately followed caused him to take
in several other breaths.  The alleyway began to sway
dizzily, going in and out of focus.

As he dropped to his knees, D'Estaing casually donned a
gas mask taken from a pocket of his jacket, and
approached, sword uplifted.

"Well, that was easy.  Now, if you could just tilt your
head a bit to the right, I should be able to finish this
up momentarily..."

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

Poison Gas, although Reserved for Xavier St. Cloud, is a
fairly powerful card, and one that can end a battle
quickly.

Poison Gas does "stack."  You can play two of them, and
reduce your opponent's Ability by 8 (and yours by 4).  You
can even use three of them (using a pre-game Darius to
increase the Restriction number by one), and cause a 12/6
loss.

Since your opponent starts with 15 Ability, causing him a
12 point loss over three turns can pretty much cripple
him.  Xavier has other "cheap" ways to reduce an
opponent's Ability (Stalk, Alliance) so you can get
someone down to 0 Ability relatively easy.

It won't last long, though.  If Xavier draws even one
card, _all_ Poison Gas Situations that he has in play are
lost.  However, Poison Gas has to "see" Xavier draw cards
so that it removes itself.  Play Focus (erase the text on
a Situation) and not only can Xavier draw cards without
removing Poison Gas, but he gains back the 2 Ability at
the end of the turn.

If Xavier has multiple Poison Gases in play, he can play
multiple Foci, but that won't last for long.

Xavier can also use Dojo to store up to five cards.  As
necessary, he can later retrieve these cards from the Dojo
to his hand, rather than drawing new cards from his deck.

With the release of Arms & Tactics, Xavier has a new Event
card - Loot.  While Poison Gas is in play, St. Cloud can
go through his opponent's Endurance and discard three
cards.  Played early in a game, this can rob an opponent
of vital cards before they have a chance to draw them.

After using Loot to move these cards to the discard pile,
Xavier can then use Amnesia to make his opponent forget
all about them.  Amnesia removes a card in the discard
pile entirely from the game.

And finally, when Poison Gas' effects wear off, both
players are considered to "gain" Ability.  This means
cards that have a prerequisite of Ability gain (Kate,
Luther's Incense of Pain) can be played on then next turn.

The only other Persona that can readily use Poison Gas is
Richie Ryan, who can borrow one Reserved card from each
other Personas.  One Poison Gas, particularly without
Loot, probably won't help him much.

Richie and other Personas may use more Poison Gas
Situations through the use of Darius.  As mentioned above,
Luther's Incense of Pain means that an opponent who
recovers from Poison Gas can lose anywhere from 15 to 27
cards (depending on how many Incenses Luther has in play).

In conclusion, Poison Gas can be a deadly card to Xavier
St. Cloud, limiting his opponent's Ability and thus the
number of cards they have, and letting him use Loot to go
through their deck and keep them from drawing critical
cards.  Very few Xavier decks, combat or non-combat,
should be without it.

(This story is part of the continuing chronicle of Xavier
St. Cloud.  Part 12 occurs between the second season
episodes "Prodigal Son" and "Counterfeit Pt. 1.").