Rules for Bosses

Jr. Balrog
The second set for MapleStory iTCG is upon us, and it features several bosses to battle. The first time you face these, you are likely to say “OMG!” which is where this set name comes from. OMG! Bosses introduces a new card type, the Boss. Using Jr. Balrog as an example, here is how the Boss card type works:

Bosses are Monsters. You put them into play with Spawn abilities. When your character would take damage, a Boss in play will prevent 10 damage just as a monster would. You can destroy one with Double Stab. They can be attacked by your monsters and by your character actions. Basically, anything you can do to a monster you can do to a Boss.

Persistent Health. 150 HP for a level 80 monster? If you played set one powerhouses like Yeti & Pepe, you are probably thinking “That isn’t fair!” You would be right – they are NOT fair. Bosses are the hardest monsters to defeat in the MMO, and that is reflected in the iTCG. To make up for the fact that they have massive hit points, damage on Bosses do not go away at the end of the turn.

You track their hit points just as you would with a character. Remember that they are not characters, so you can’t use Healing or similar cards to keep them in play longer. If the Boss is removed from play (for instance, with Power Knock Back), all of the damage goes with it. If it comes back to play, it comes back like a brand new monster.

Boss Actions. Speaking of characters, Bosses share something else with them: they have actions. Their actions have level and type requirements just like character actions, but Boss actions look at your character’s level to see if the action can be used. Jr. Balrog’s massive Meteor Slam ability requires 100BBB; you can’t use that ability until your character is level 100 and used at least three Bowman cards to level-up.

Usually, you won’t play a Boss until you can use his actions. Sometimes you will want to anyway. For instance, Jr. Balrog can stand toe-to-toe with Yeti & Pepe and survive, even if it is played as “just” a level 80 monster without an ability. If you level up your character while the Boss is in play to a high enough level, the ability will start to work.

Jr. Balrog’s Rend ability has no level requirement, so it works all the time. His Meteor Slam ability has a level requirement, so you do it right before it attacks. Also, you can use the ability every turn. Few monsters survive one Meteor Slam – almost none can stand two of them!

No Level-Up Action. Bosses are the only cards in the game that you put into your deck that have no level up action. They still give your characters +10 levels when you level-up with them, but this is usually used in an emergency case. (For instance, if it is the only card in your hand and you can’t Spawn it.)

Bosses are one-copy-per-player. If you ever have more than one copy of the same Boss in play at the same time, discard all but one of them. You can have as many Bosses in play as you can manage, so long as each of them has a different name.

In upcoming previews, we will share these cards:

a weapon that makes your Bowman aim true,
a Thief that is a “Mastermind”, and
a Tactic that lets your Character go back in time. Again.

Article by: Andrea Jennifer Shubert
http://ww2.wizards.com/maplestory/news.aspx?doc=news_Jr.Balrog