Meng Huo

Meng Huo 孟获 Southern Barbarian King 南蛮王 Culprit 祸首 Meng Huo is not affected by barbarians and is always considered the source of any damage it causes. Resurgence 再起 At the beginning of his turn, if Meng Huo is not at full health, he can skip drawing to flip over X cards from the top of the deck.  X is equal to the difference between his current and maximum health. For each heart that is flipped, Meng Huo recovers one health. The heart cards are discarded and the rest of the cards go into Meng Huo's hand.

Clarification:

• Note that "Culprit" is an enforced ability: Meng Huo cannot choose to not be the source of Barbarians. If another player plays Barbarians and damages a character with a retaliatory ability, the ability would be enacted against Meng Huo, not the character who actually played the card. For example, if somebody hurts Sima Yi with this card and Meng Huo is in play, Sima Yi would take a card from Meng Huo from "Feedback."  Also, if a rebel is killed by Barbarians, Meng Huo would be entitled to the three card bounty regardless of whether or not he actually played that card.
• The cards flipped over for "Resurgence" are not judgment cards, and thus are not subject to judgment tinkering by Sima Yi and Zhang Jiao. 

Strengths

Weaknesses

"Culprit" protects Meng Huo from Barbarians, a fairly common tool card. He does not have to worry as much as other characters do about having to store Attack cards in his hand at the end of his turn. "Resurgence" can allow Meng Huo to recover health quickly when he has one unit of health. Even if he does not get any hearts, he still gets to draw three cards, which is more than the regular allotment of two.

"Culprit" can be a hassle for Meng Huo if there are characters with retaliatory abilities in play.  "Resurgence" can allow Meng Huo to draw many cards or regain health, but it is not without its flaws. Because Meng Huo cannot keep the heart cards, he often has a decreased net intake when he uses this power with two units of damage. Even though he is regaining health, the fact that he has fewer cards in his hand makes him more susceptible to damage. Also, the cards that he draws are flipped face up before they go into his hand. As a result, all of the other players will know what is going into his hand so they can plan how to damage him effectively.

Notable Combinations:

• Sima Yi/Fa Zheng/Xiahou Dun - These characters have retaliatory abilities that are activated when they are damaged. The powers are activated against Meng Huo when another character plays Barbarians as a result of "Culprit."

• Zhuge Liang - If Zhuge Liang is to Meng Huo's immediate left, he can be a great ally or his worst nightmare. Zhuge Liang's "Astrology" allows him to influence the cards flipped over for "Resurgence." 

• Liu Bei/Guo Jia/Xun Yu/Lu Su - These characters can help Meng Huo get more cards. This is useful because of the previously mentioned drawbacks of "Resurgence" listed in the Weaknesses section.

King	Meng Huo is an interesting king choice, but not always the best choice. He does benefit from the additional unit of health in an 5+ player game, as this means that he flips over more cards for "Resurgence." However, the rebels often kill the loyalists and spy first, the fight him alone. This power is usually not enough to sustain him for a long enough period of time to beat the rebels. Furthermore, if a rebel uses Barbarians to kill a loyalist, Meng Huo would receive credit as per "Culprit." This leads Meng Huo to losing all of his cards.
Loyalist	Meng Huo is not a bad loyalist, but he is far from outstanding. His powers do not usually benefit the king. In addition, he is not really an offensive powerhouse, which would be useful for killing rebels.
Rebel	Meng Huo is a decent rebel choice. His defensive powers will keep him alive while the other rebels come up with a plan to kill the king. However, he is not particularly good at pursuing the king himself.
Spy	Meng Huo is a good spy choice. If he can lie low, his powers will ensure that he stays alive for a long period of time. If he makes it to the one-on-one with the king, he will be able to recover health quickly for the battle. However, he is not powerful enough to influence the game as quickly as some other characters could.

Final Remarks:

     Because his powers have weaknesses and he is not very strong offensively, Meng Huo is not an outstanding character. However, he is still a lot of fun to use. He is similar to Zhou Tai in that he usually lasts a long time. If you have a Peach stored in your hand, you may consider taking some damage by allowing Attacks to hit you before your next turn so you can activate "Resurgence" then heal yourself more with the stored Peach.