Not all heroes wear capes
Jericho Stone in UNEARTH
Imagine a world where the only cards you can play are the ones you draw off the top of the deck. You could launch into a hot streak and smash your opponent, but you could also strike out and draw three duds in a row. Enter the Heroic Feats. This array of six static actions provides a massive counterbalance to the variance of drawing Adventures, Leads, and Action X cards from randomized decks. They will be available to you in every single game of X: Seekers of Fortune, so it is critical to understand when and how to use them.
The Heroic Feats fall into two major categories: interaction and resource exchange. Thwart, Sabotage, and Infiltrate are interactive Feats that aim to knock your opponent off balance. Breakthrough, Barter, and Negotiate are primarily used to obtain more Leads, Maps, and Action X cards by trading in another resource. It is important to note here that since these actions are all Feats, they are all thwart-able, so watch out for the Rival with 5 Leads in hand when you are going for that critical Breakthrough!
Let’s jump into some examples to see why the interactive Heroic Feats are so crucial. Picture this: your opponent has a Sacrificial Altar in play and it is clear they plan on using it to draw a bunch of extra Action X cards. The Sabotage feat means you are never more than one action away from foiling that plan. What if your opponent goes for a Temporal Backdoor in the final quest to secure the victory? Discard two matching leads and you just thwarted that little scheme. Now imagine you and your opponent are both in the final quest, and they have managed to reveal a 3-Lead Adventure while you are stuck with a 5-Lead? Time to infiltrate!
The resource exchange Feats are a bit more straightforward. Breakthrough allows you to exchange Leads for Action X cards. Barter allows you to exchange Action X cards or Leads for Adventures. Negotiate allows you to exchange Adventures for Leads. In short, you always have some mechanism for acquiring the resource you need most. Just remember, there is a time and a place for every Heroic Feat. In X: Seekers of Fortune, you almost always have a relevant play to make, and you are never truly out of the game!