Can turn battles around in 2 different ways, whether as a shield 2 or a surprise Starbane Council. I've not yet decided whether that makes it inclusion worthy over a 2 cost unit that would, y'know, stay in play, but it seems decent enough.

Call it a solid 3-star for me

Great card for effect and shields, as the sets continue will only become better 4/5 for me. 

Hower you turn it this card seems to be an 3x auto-include for Eldar decks.

It has a strong synergy with Banshee Power Sword, surprise element and two shield.

Thinking about which army this can be return the ideal target seems the Wraithguards (4 AB damage are generally recorded as "bad news").

4/5

It has a strong synergy with Banshee Power Sword, surprise element and two shield.

Thinking about which army this can be return the ideal target seems the Wraithguards (4 AB damage are generally recorded as "bad news").

4/5

Sorry for asking, bit where is the synergy with the Banshee Power Sowrd? I'dont see it...

You pick a unit that is really nice, and discard it from your hand to the Power Sword's ability. You then use Gift of Isha to put it into play.

Good picks for this are cards that have reliable damage output (such as Starbane Council or Wraithguard) or cards that are just damn great value for 2R, even temporarily (eg Mighty Wraithnight, Wailing Wraithfighter).

Wraithknight is especially cool, as it exhausts pretty much everything as it arrives, enemy warlord included.

The combo is a bit of a nombo, as it often involves running cards whose presence otherwise weakens your deck overall. However, running 1 Power Sword, 1 Wraithknight and 3 Gift of Ishas isn't at all terrible. Gift of Isha  is a great card anyway, Wraithknight is an ok game-closer and a fun way to benefit from Y'varn, and Sword is a small attack boost, if nothing else.

Can turn battles around in 2 different ways, whether as a shield 2 or a surprise Starbane Council. I've not yet decided whether that makes it inclusion worthy over a 2 cost unit that would, y'know, stay in play, but it seems decent enough.

 

Call it a solid 3-star for me

Amazes me looking back that not only did I not rate this 5/5, but that no-one has challenged that since.

In case anyone hasn't noticed, this is a card that pretty much everyone says is 5/5 these days. Its one of the few Eldar auto-includes.

So we all sucked during Core days and likely still suck nowadays?

Guess people eventually took the 5/5 for granted and didn't even bother rating it here.

I think it is the most broken card in the game. And the only one. Can change the outcome of a battle dramatically. 

I think it is the most broken card in the game. And the only one. Can change the outcome of a battle dramatically. 

3 persistent staging grounds. This I feel is more OP. Yes, it can only work on 2 cost or less, yes it is readily visible and telegraphed, but it is a non-stop threat that you cannot ignore, especially with X Catachan Outposts out.

I think it is the most broken card in the game. And the only one. Can change the outcome of a battle dramatically. 

Lot of room to discuss that, for sure. I'd personally say that Staging Grounds is nowhere near as good as this card, as Staging Ground doesn't have 2 shields, and is partially telegraphed.

Cards of equal quality I'd say include:

- Archon's Terror. More reliable in battle swing than Isha, and less dependent on circumstances, but also only 1 shield.

- Orbital City (only for Aun'shi obviously). Yeah, same criticisms as Staging Grounds because its a support, but it really is that good.

- Drop Pod Assault. More random and fallible, but provides a permanent unit rather than a one-phase one.

- Promotion. Competition for Limited slots is the only reason not to run three of these.

Other examples can be thought of too, but unmistakeably this is one of the best cards in the game.

OP? That's a whole different argument. To me, as long as the faction balance is overall fine, there's not too much problem with a card like this. Of the above list, I'd say only Orbital City is bad for the game, because its presence or absence on first time so greatly affects win rates.

- Promotion. Competition for Limited slots is the only reason not to run three of these.

There's competition for Limited slots? Really? Well, maybe in Tau (Recon Drone) or DE (Raid), but otherwise? 

Lot of room to discuss that, for sure. I'd personally say that Staging Grounds is nowhere near as good as this card, as Staging Ground doesn't have 2 shields, and is partially telegraphed.

 

Cards of equal quality I'd say include:

 

- Archon's Terror. More reliable in battle swing than Isha, and less dependent on circumstances, but also only 1 shield.

- Orbital City (only for Aun'shi obviously). Yeah, same criticisms as Staging Grounds because its a support, but it really is that good.

- Drop Pod Assault. More random and fallible, but provides a permanent unit rather than a one-phase one.

- Promotion. Competition for Limited slots is the only reason not to run three of these.

 

Other examples can be thought of too, but unmistakeably this is one of the best cards in the game.

 

OP? That's a whole different argument. To me, as long as the faction balance is overall fine, there's not too much problem with a card like this. Of the above list, I'd say only Orbital City is bad for the game, because its presence or absence on first time so greatly affects win rates.

Staging doesn't have 2 shields, true, however it is persistent. Gift of Isha is a one fire card, Staging Ground you can use at any time, making it a constant threat. When I'm up against it I always have to be afraid. When your opponent's played 1 or 2 isha's you can sorta relax, or you can even check their discard to find the top most discarded eldar unit. But Staging Ground, multiple of em, oh man I hate that card.

The main thing about gift of isha is that you can bring into play cards with more than 2 resource limitation. Remember that it is the only card that can do it.

The main thing about gift of isha is that you can bring into play cards with more than 2 resource limitation. Remember that it is the only card that can do it.

Nope, Soul Seizure does this too.

Drop Pod Assault does so, too.

Soul Seizure is expensive and drop pod can fail, where gift can bring what you need with much more precision.

Can I use this to put into play multiple of the same unique unit?

Soul Seizure is expensive and drop pod can fail, where gift can bring what you need with much more precision.

Obviously  this is the case. I think Cimadon and deazra were just pointing out that your initial statement was factually incorrect.

Can I use this to put into play multiple of the same unique unit?

No. See p16 of the RRG.

Good with craftworld gate, to avoid the card to be discarded

Man, don't go bumping this comment thread - I'm still embarrassed I rated this 3/5 back in the day.

Agree with your combo though - we were going to run 3x Isha anyway, but the question is what a Craftworld Gate deck looks like. I've tried it a few packs back, alongside DE allies with Sybarite Marksman, Kabalite Halfborn, Coliseum Fighters. None of those are top picks though, and so nor is Gate.

Once we see a load of affordable Eldar-accessible cards that have great enter-play / leave-play effects, 3x Craftworld Gate decks could become a thing.

Having said that, I've often in the past run a single Craftworld Gate in an Eldorath deck, as its a really flexible card that can do a lot of other useful things too: saving a neutral 1-for-1 or your Biel Tan Guardians from dying after a command snipe, getting your Warlock Destructor readied for the next planet 1 battle at only a small surcharge, saving a Wraithguard from the counterattack after its done its damage. Its a solid little card, though space for quality cards is so tight in Eldar decks, its often hard to include in the current meta.

getting your Warlock Destructor readied for the next planet 1 battle at only a small surcharge

Ignore the comment I was going to make.  Brain misfired.

Sorry for bumping this again Asklepios! If I play against Eldar and use some form of Area Effect that kills 2 units at the same time, who gets to decide which card goes on top of the discard pile? The controlling player, or the one with initiative? If there's a Wild Rider Vyper and a Bieltan Guardian, this becomes a pretty important question.

The player controlling the units destroyed 'decides' - the damage from the AoE is assigned simultaneously and then resolved in the order of the owners choosing  â€‹