Kingsley - 5/5

This is a card that people will dread for some time to come. I know a rating of five may be controversial here since this will not always go off, but the threat of it doing so will shape the game against Crane.

I Fight Dragons – 3/5

So I have a lot to say here because this card has a lot going on. Noble Sacrifice is one of 4 Conflict cards that directly removes characters from play, making it a very powerful effect when set up properly. Many a game has Noble Sacrifice won me a huge swing in tempo because I managed to trade my Brash Samurai for a clan champion. On the same token, for every time this card has been huge for me, there has been another time it sat in hand and I wished it was something more immediately impactful without set up. This card loses some points because Crane can have a harder time landing a targeted Dishonor outside of the Fire ring, and sometimes your honor effects don’t line up well enough to pull it off; still, a potentially very powerful card that one would be wise to remember when playing against Crane.

 

nyxnyxnyx - 2/5

Kind of a stronger, more targetted Way of the Crab, but with way tighter restrictions. The first condition is easy, the second is way trickier. Note that the sacrifice is a cost, so it’s extremely painful to have this countered.

 

Grendel - 4/5

Crane has quite a few ways to get honor out on the table. A lot of people are playing Scorpion or splashing Scorpion for Edict/CiF. Super relevant right now. If an opponent is thinking you are holding it they will go to great lengths to protect fire rings. Very easy to start making favorable trades with this and even supersede WOTC. 5/5 if Scorpion stays super meta centric.

 

Benjoewoo – 4/5

This is Crane’s sole in clan kill action, so it’ll stay at least a 3 until better options come out. Because of its targeting requirements, it’ll be difficult to redirect in the event those types of cards come out, and the only current counters are event cancels or reprieve. If Crane get more cards to dishonor the opponent’s characters, this jumps to a 5/5.