The Akabeko is a common relic that makes the first attack played each combat deal an additional 8 damage.
Strategy
Akabeko is essentially a hefty 1-attack 
Strength boost. This card benefits multihit cards, such as Pummel and Ragnarok, as the additional damage is applied to each attack done by the card.
Interactions
Bag of Marbles: If your first attack played is on turn 1, it will benefit from the 
Vulnerable given by 
Bag of Marbles.- Bag of Preparation, Ring of the Snake, and Ring of the Serpent: The additional card draw means it is more likely for an attack that greatly benefits from Akabeko to be drawn on turn 1.
- Bottled Flame: Bottling a multihit attack such as Riddle with Holes allows a guaranteed powerful turn 1 attack.
- Dramatic Entrance is innate, costs 0, and gains another 8 damage applied to all enemies.
- Wrath and Divinity Stances: The additional damage given by Akabeko is doubled / tripled by these Stances.
- Gambling Chip and Gambler's Brew: Allows the player to mulligan cards that do not benefit from Akabeko.
- Reaper: The additional damage from Akabeko counts towards the healing given by Reaper.
- Louses are much more likely to be killed instead of Curling Up after being attacked.
- Ordinary attacks such as Flash of Steel may not be played if the player decides to wait for a stronger card like Riddle with Holes.
- Innate Non-attack cards, Bottled Tornado, Bottled Lightning: Innate cards take up 1 of your 5 default draws, therefore making it harder to draw an attack that benefits from Akabeko.
- Art of War: Playing attacks disables Art of War's effect.
- Nemesis: Can completely negate Akabeko's effect with its Intangible.
- Being Weakened can reduce Akabeko's effect.
Trivia
- An Akabeko is a traditional toy from the Aizu region of Japan.
- Aizu legend claims that the toy is based on a real cow that was used to build the Enzō-ji Temple of Yanaizu in the 9th century.