Cleave

About Cleave

Cleave, Combat, designed by Heather V. Kreiter first released in April 2006 in the set Nights of Reckoning.

Cleave fits an **aggressive Imbued combat deck** that expects to fight during its own actions, especially one facing minions immune to non-aggravated damage. Spending a conviction gives an Imbued without a weapon a strength-plus-one-damage melee strike, while choosing an existing weapon adds damage and lets that weapon bypass the specified immunity—but sacrifices it at the end of the action. For ordinary fights, **Weighted Walking Stick** is generally a more efficient disposable melee weapon because it does not consume conviction; Cleave earns its slot when the immunity-bypassing effect matters. I would play a few copies in an Imbued deck that regularly encounters immune opponents, but not treat it as a staple: it does not make damage aggravated or stop other forms of damage prevention.