I think the card is a good card exactly because it costs 1 recruit and can inflict so much damage. Besides that's the spirit of the card. And don't forget how costly all Brigand cards are. This card is the only rare brigand, and its existence balances out the high-cost and low-efficiency of Brigands (they deal high damage on the enemy resources, but there is always a loss for your resources, as they cost too much, and also actually deal very low damage to opponent's wall and tower). I was hit many times with this card, and there are always ways to recover. Trying to blunt its effect would remove yet another thrill of the game, as in my opinion there has been too many balances done lately, and although some of them were good and made improved the game, the majority of them made it almost too predictable, as attack and defense cards that were supposed to be devastating and course-altering were weakened significantly. In short, every player employs a strategy from the begining and just sticks with it to the end, while a month ago, a player needed to regard his strategy on every round and also keep track of what was going on in the enemy's hand