{"ops":[{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix Me Liberty, or Gix Me Death"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"A Commander Primer for the American Revolution"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","italic":true},"insert":"“Give me liberty, or give me death!”- Patrick Henry"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The American Revolution was not won in a single glorious battle, but rather was won through ambushes, intelligence, sacrifice, political maneuvering, foreign aid, desperate retreats, unlikely victories, and a resistance that refused to disappear."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix Me Liberty, or Gix Me Death"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" tells the story of the American Revolution through a game of Commander."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Every creature in the deck is a soldier, spy, politician, traitor, messenger, irregular, or other participant in the Revolution, every spell represents an event, tactic, resource, or consequence of the war, every Swamp represents territory where the rebellion can continue, and at the center of it all stands "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", representing "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"George Washington"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"And I know what you’re thinking, “This is an American deck. Why isn’t it Jeskai?”. Because this isn’t a deck about modern America. The deck is intentionally mono-black because the Revolution was not clean. It was a war of attrition fought by an underfunded army that routinely paid for victory in blood, supplies, political capital, and lives."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Commander: George Washington"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix, Yawgmoth Praetor"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gix is George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gix is not a mechanical representation of Washington's biography, instead his abilities represent the way Washington conducted the war."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gix rewards attacking opponents and turns successful attacks into additional cards and resources. Washington similarly understood that the Continental Army could not simply destroy the British Army in conventional warfare. He needed to keep an army in the field, gather intelligence, exploit opportunities, and make the British pay for every engagement. The Revolution was ultimately a war of endurance."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"When Gix attacks, the Continental Army is doing what Washington did repeatedly: engaging the enemy, gathering intelligence, and turning battlefield success into the resources necessary to continue fighting."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gix's second ability is particularly appropriate. The enemy's deck becomes a source of resources for the Revolution. Gix's second ability represents the Patriots taking resources directly from the British war machine and turning them against the Crown. In historical terms, this is captured intelligence, supplies, materials, weapons, correspondence, plans, and other resources taken from the enemy."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Washington depended heavily on intelligence and information networks throughout the war. The Continental Army's survival often depended on knowing what the British intended to do before they could do it."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The real Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, shortly after Congress established it."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Historical Cast"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Each legendary creature or planeswalker in the deck represents a person, organization, or force from The American Revolutionary War."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Drana, Liberator of Malakir"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Deborah Sampson"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Drana represents "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Deborah Sampson"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", who disguised herself as a man and served in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shurtliff."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Drana is an especially fitting representation because she is a female warrior who joins the fight and makes the rest of the army stronger."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Her combat ability represents Sampson proving herself in battle and contributing to the soldiers around her."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Nathan Hale"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"K'rrik represents "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Nathan Hale"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", a Continental Army officer who volunteered to serve as a spy behind British lines."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Hale understood the danger of his mission and willingly put his life on the line for the Patriot cause. He was captured by the British and executed in September 1776, becoming an enduring symbol of revolutionary sacrifice."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"K'rrik's defining mechanic is "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"paying life instead of mana"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Every time you use your own life to cast a spell, you are sacrificing something personal to make the Revolution stronger. The more you're willing to pay, the more powerful the cause becomes."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Karn, Scion of Urza"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Benjamin Franklin"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Karn represents "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Benjamin Franklin, "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"a scientist, inventor, diplomat, politician, and one of the Revolution's most important representatives abroad."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Karn's artifact and resource-oriented nature represents Franklin's combination of scientific curiosity, invention, political machinery, and practical problem solving."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Most importantly, Franklin spent years in France working to secure support for the American cause."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"His diplomatic work helped turn French sympathy into material assistance."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gonti, Night Minister"},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Patriot Intelligence Network"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gonti represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Patriot Intelligence Network"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", particularly the sort of espionage associated with networks such as the Culper Ring."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Gonti enters, looks at an opponent's resources, takes something valuable, and lets you weaponize it against them. That is espionage."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Irregular War"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Continental Army was never going to defeat the British Empire by simply meeting it on the battlefield and winning a fair fight. Britain had professional soldiers, experienced officers, artillery, a powerful navy, and the resources of an empire behind it. The Patriots had fewer soldiers, fewer supplies, and fewer resources. What they did have was local knowledge, mobility, intelligence, and an ability to fight on their own terms."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Revolution was filled with people who operated outside the traditional battlefield. Scouts watched roads and reported troop movements. Couriers carried messages between commanders. Spies infiltrated enemy positions. Raiders attacked supply lines. Militia and irregular fighters struck when the opportunity presented itself and disappeared before the enemy could respond."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"That is what the evasive creatures in "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix Me Liberty, or Gix Me Death"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Spies and Intelligence"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Changeling Outcast, Deep-Cavern Bat, Pilfering Imp, Basilica Screecher, Blight Keeper, Eyetwitch, Faerie Dreamthief, and Gonti, Night Minister"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the Patriots who gathered intelligence from behind British lines."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Revolution depended on knowing what the British were doing. Scouts, informants, and spies watched troop movements, discovered plans, carried information, and sometimes paid for that information with their lives."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"These creatures are deliberately difficult to interact with. They want to get through the lines, find something useful, and get back out. Deep-Cavern Bat literally looks at an opponent's resources and takes something from them. Eyetwitch and Faerie Dreamthief still provide information after they die. Changeling Outcast simply slips past the enemy."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Couriers and Messengers"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Eye Collector, Gingerbrute, Stirge, and Burnished Hart"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the network of couriers and messengers that kept the Revolution connected."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Information is only useful if it reaches the person who needs it."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The most famous example is "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Paul Revere"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", with Revere being part of a larger network of riders who spread the alarm that British troops were marching toward Lexington and Concord. People like William Dawes and Samuel Prescott also carried the warning, while local riders like Sybil Ludington continued spreading the message throughout the countryside."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"These creatures represent the famous midnight riders, and the countless couriers whose names never made it into the history books."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Militia, Scouts, and Irregular Fighters"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battlefly Swarm, Dauthi Ghoul, Pharika’s Chosen, Tormented Soul, Vampire of the Dire Moon, Shadow Alley Denizen, Nightshade Stinger, Prickly Boggart, Dauthi Horror, Dauthi Slayer, and Ravine Raider"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the militia and irregular fighters who made conventional British tactics much harder to use effectively."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"They're the locals who know the roads, forests, farms, rivers, and trails around them. They can watch a road, or ambush a patrol and disappear into the countryside before a larger force can respond."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The smaller creatures represent the ordinary colonists who took up arms. The Dauthi creatures push the idea further, representing fighters who operate almost entirely outside the conventional battlefield."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Raiders and Supply Lines"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Vampire Cutthroat and Vault Skirge"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent Patriot raiders whose job isn't to win a major battle, but to make the British war effort harder to sustain."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Armies need supplies. Food, ammunition, weapons, horses, uniforms, and information all have to reach the soldiers who need them. Attacking those supply lines can hurt an army without ever defeating it in a conventional battle. These creatures are small and evasive because the raid is about getting in, taking something useful, and getting out."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Elite Fighters and Battlefield Commanders"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Vampire Nighthawk and Nighthawk Scavenger"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent a different side of irregular warfare: the experienced fighters who can operate independently and turn a chaotic battlefield to their advantage."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Vampire Nighthawk"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Daniel Morgan"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", one of the Revolution's most effective battlefield commanders. Nighthawk's combination of evasion, lethal combat ability, and lifelink represents Morgan's mobility, tactical skill, and ability to keep his forces effective in difficult engagements. Morgan's greatest triumph came at the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battle of Cowpens"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", where he used unconventional tactics and battlefield positioning to defeat a larger British force. Rather than meeting the enemy exactly where they expected, Morgan structured the battle around the strengths of his own troops."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Cost of Liberty"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Freedom isn’t free."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The American Revolution cost lives, fortunes, homes, political careers, and years of hardship. The Continental Army struggled with shortages of food, clothing, ammunition, and wages. Soldiers endured disease, hunger, freezing winters, and long periods without adequate supplies. The Patriots were constantly forced to make difficult choices about what they could afford to sacrifice in order to keep fighting."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"That is the central philosophy behind the black mana in "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix Me Liberty, or Gix Me Death"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":". Black mana is willing to pay almost any price for power, and so is a revolution. The cards in this section represent the many things the Patriots were willing to spend to keep the Revolution alive."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Life as a Resource"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth, Sign in Blood, March of Wretched Sorrow, and Consuming Corruption"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the most literal cost: "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"human life"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"K'rrik, already introduced as Nathan Hale, is the extreme expression of this philosophy, but Hale was far from the only person who paid with his life."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Thousands of soldiers and civilians died during the Revolution, from combat, disease, starvation, exposure, and other consequences of the war. Every military victory came with a price."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Sacrifice for the Cause"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Cards like "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Culling the Weak, Deadly Dispute, Village Rites, Victimize, and Malakir Rebirth"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the willingness to sacrifice individuals for the survival of the larger cause."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Black mana, just like a revolution, cannot protect everyone. Sometimes a position has to be abandoned. Sometimes soldiers have to be left behind. Sometimes someone has to volunteer for the dangerous mission so everyone else can escape. "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"That doesn't make the sacrifice meaningless, in fact I’d say it’s quite the opposite. The sacrifice becomes valuable because it allows the Revolution to continue."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Price of Survival"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Supernatural Stamina, Undying Malice, Unearth, Malakir Rebirth, and Kaya's Ghostform"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the Patriots' refusal to let their sacrifices be permanent."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"They represent surviving, rather than preventing the cost all together."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"A soldier who returns to the fight after being wounded, a unit that reforms after being scattered, or an army that retreats, regroups, and comes back stronger."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"This is particularly important to Washington's strategy. The Continental Army did not need to win every battle. It needed to survive the battles it lost."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Victory Through Attrition"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Feed the Swarm, Go for the Throat, and Sheoldred's Edict "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"represent the other side of a war of attrition: sometimes the best way to preserve your own forces is to make the enemy pay for theirs."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Patriots did not need to destroy the entire British Army. They needed to make maintaining the war increasingly expensive. Every soldier wounded or killed had to be replaced. Every supply wagon lost had to be replaced. Every campaign required more food, ammunition, equipment, and manpower. Every victory that cost Britain more than it gained brought the war closer to becoming unsustainable."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Bitter Triumph"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battle of Saratoga"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", one of the most important Patriot victories of the Revolutionary War. The card asks you to pay life or discard a card in order to destroy a creature or planeswalker. Saratoga was much the same kind of victory: the Patriots achieved something enormously valuable, but only by paying a significant price."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The American victory forced the surrender of British General John Burgoyne's army and demonstrated that the Continental forces could defeat a major British field army. More importantly, Saratoga convinced "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"France to openly enter the war on the American side"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", transforming the conflict from a colonial rebellion into a much larger international war. "},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"And speaking of the French.."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"French Foreign Aid"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Patriots had survived the early years of the Revolution largely through determination and improvisation. After Saratoga, they gained something they had desperately needed from the beginning: an ally."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"France had already been providing covert assistance, but after Saratoga, French support became an open military alliance. French money, weapons, supplies, soldiers, and naval power dramatically increased what the Patriots were capable of doing."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The cards in this section represent outside assistance arriving in the colonies."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The French Treasury"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and Decanter of Endless Water"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the financial and material assistance provided by France. They represent the sudden availability of resources that the Patriots could not easily produce themselves."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Arcane Signet"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" is particularly good as a symbol of the alliance itself. The card provides a reliable source of mana that wouldn't otherwise exist, much like French support gave the Continental war effort access to resources it desperately needed. "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Sol Ring"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" is the more extreme version. It represents the enormous strategic advantage that came from bringing another major European power into the war. And "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Decanter of Endless Water"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" can represent the seemingly endless flow of supplies and resources arriving from an allied power."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"French Arms and Equipment"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represent the weapons, equipment, uniforms, and military supplies provided by France."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Patriots were chronically short on military equipment, and French assistance helped supply the Continental forces with muskets, ammunition, clothing, and other necessities."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"These make the army more capable, rather than making it bigger."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battles of the Revolution"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Revolution was not a single battle."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"It was a long series of engagements, defeats, victories, retreats, and bloody stalemates. Some battles were strategically important. Others mattered because they demonstrated that the Patriots could stand against the British at all."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The cards in this section represent specific battles where the mechanics, name, or role of the card can be tied to what happened on the field."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Battle of Bunker Hill"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Bojuka Bog"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Bojuka Bog"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battle of Bunker Hill"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", one of the earliest major engagements of the Revolution."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The battle was technically a British victory. The Patriots were ultimately forced to abandon their position on Breed's Hill, but the British paid an enormous price for taking it. British forces suffered more than a thousand casualties, including many officers."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Battle of Saratoga"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Bitter Triumph"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"As mentioned earlier, "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Bitter Triumph"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battle of Saratoga"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", one of the most consequential Patriot victories of the Revolution."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The card's mechanics are almost suspiciously appropriate. You destroy a creature or planeswalker, but you have to pay a price to do it. Saratoga was exactly that kind of victory."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Patriots defeated and ultimately forced the surrender of British General John Burgoyne's army, but the campaign was bloody and hard fought. The victory had consequences far beyond the battlefield."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Saratoga convinced France that the American rebellion could actually succeed, helping bring about the formal Franco-American alliance in 1778."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Battle of King's Mountain"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Defile"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Defile"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Battle of King's Mountain"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", a decisive Patriot victory during the Southern Campaign. This is a particularly nice fit because Defile becomes more powerful the more "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Swamps"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" you control."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"King's Mountain was fought in the Carolinas, where Patriot militia and frontier fighters used their familiarity with the terrain to their advantage. The battle was fought primarily between American Patriots and a force of Loyalist militia supporting the British cause."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The Patriots surrounded the Loyalists on the mountain and steadily overwhelmed them. The terrain mattered, and the people fighting there knew it, and the longer the fight continued on ground favorable to the Patriots, the more dangerous they became. That's what the Swamp scaling on Defile represents."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"The Siege of Yorktown"},{"attributes":{"header":2},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Soul Shatter"},{"attributes":{"header":3},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Soul Shatter"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" represents the "},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Siege of Yorktown"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":", the decisive campaign that effectively ended major fighting in the American Revolution."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The card forces each player to sacrifice a creature or planeswalker with the greatest mana value. It doesn't matter how powerful that creature is. It doesn't matter how important it is. If it is the most valuable thing you have left, you have to give it up."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"That's Cornwallis at Yorktown. After Washington's army and the French forces surrounded the British position, and the French fleet prevented Cornwallis from receiving effective relief or escaping by sea, the British position became untenable. Cornwallis was forced to surrender his army. The Revolution had finally reached the point where Britain had to sacrifice its most valuable asset simply to end the battle."},{"insert":"\n\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Final Remarks"},{"attributes":{"header":1},"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"The American Revolution was a time when The Continental Army endured defeats, sacrificed lives, gathered intelligence, accepted foreign aid, fought on their own terms, and refused to let the rebellion die."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000","bold":true},"insert":"Gix Me Liberty, or Gix Me Death"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":" tries to capture that same spirit at the table. You don't need to win every battle, you just need to survive long enough to win the war."},{"insert":"\n"},{"attributes":{"background":"transparent","color":"#000000"},"insert":"Give me liberty, or give me death."},{"insert":"\n"}]}