Shadow Runner forces everyone to reach one seat farther before they can touch you, making it prime survival gear for a Lord the whole table is hunting, or a Loyalist and Traitor who need to sit just outside the Rebels' reach. Slot it early when you are the number-one target, especially on thin-defense heroes like Zhuge Liang or Liu Bei, and neighbors who could have hit you suddenly cannot.
Pairs beautifully with Eight Trigrams — harder to reach plus a free Dodge roll makes you nearly untouchable. Since it is a defensive mount, you can also wear Red Hare (the offensive mount) at the same time: push others out of reach while you still ride in to strike. Ideal on Zhuge Liang, whose empty hand already deflects targeting, or on Zhao Yun surviving alone.
The extra seat of distance only costs one range, so out-reach it with your own gear — Serpent Spear, Red Hare, or Ma Chao's cavalry skill still land the hit. Otherwise, range-independent tricks like Harvest, Barbarian Horde, Hail of Arrows, or Duel ignore the mount entirely. And a well-timed Dismantle simply strips the horse off before you commit.