Swash

Probably the most straightforward of the human pirates, Swash is a simple melee focussed character.

Swash’s card.

‘Cutlass’ and ‘Inferiority Complex’

With 5 melee and 2" range he will usually be drawing more cards than anyone he's engaged with and will sometimes outrange them too. As well as the advantage in stats Swash has, he also has two excellent damage buffs in the form of two passive abilities. 'Cutlass' has been seen on El Capitano before and increases all slicing damage (sweeping cut, rising attack, falling swing) by +1. Additionally, Swash carries a very specific damage bonus in the form of 'Inferiority Complex' dealing +1 melee damage to all nobles. Combining these, Swash can deal +2 melee damage to nobles if using slicing damage, the exact amount of damage reduced by the plate mail which a lot of nobles use!

‘Buckler’, ‘Flashing Blades’ and ‘Shoot Pistol’

“Faaaaatheeeeeer!”

The other thing nobles are famous for is drawing lots of cards in melee and getting big critical hits. Luckily Swash has a way to deal with this thanks to his 'Buckler' which prevents critical hits! One other trick he has is his signature. Whilst it doesn't reduce damage or reposition Swash, it does play very well into any aggressive card a noble may target him with. Against aggressive cards 'Flashing Blades' will cause high slicing damage, give Swash a follow-up attack or sometimes even both! Alternatively, if his target is on low health though, too far away for melee or has terrible evade, Swash can call on 'Shoot pistol' to deal damage instead.

Energy

One area Swash is lacking though is in his energy distribution. If he takes a meager 2 wounds he will be reduced to generating only 2 energy when he refreshes. This can leave him overly reliant on healers or desiring energy bonuses. For this reason, Swash will always be happy to see a friendly Swigarty Swooty who gives energy bonuses to pirates making melee attacks, a perfect match! He can also use his 2" melee and activate later in the turn, targeting 1" range models to avoid damage. As mentioned though, the other option is to simply bring a healer to keep him constantly topped up with wounds and energy. Dominion has plenty of great healers from Beaky Bobby to Fraya, but you could also use Powder Monkey whose abilities are perfect for healing and boosting pirates in melee!