there are a lot of devoted followers to legend of the five rings here, so i thought it would be interesting to find out what clan or clans you play and what deck themes you use.

when i first started the CCG back in 96 there were 2 clans that struck my interest Dragon and Crane.

i liked the dragon and crane clans as they had a unique concept and it took me a while to create decks that would capitilise on their particular skill sets however i have learnt that in order to be successful with these clans you need to follow some basic tenets;

for the crane clan there are really only 2 focuses that you need to do gain honor and sacrifice, we can all understand how you fulfill the first requirement however people may not understand the second, and i will explain it like this my crane decks run like this...... i will sacrifice holdings, items, personalities, provinces to gain honour, that is the key... and crane works well with this concept, other decks just dont seem to work like this. this is highlighted by the card "to do what we must" and this card is a must have for ALL crane decks. in terms of honour.... well every action i do or my opponent does i will gain honour and again this works well with crane. i have about 10 decks of crane all with different themes (attack, duelling, courtier, shujenja, magistrate, political, scout, harrier, iron crane etc) but they all follow the 2 basic focuses.

now for dragon, as most players will know, especially in the gold and earlier, dragon excelled at duelling, and in later editions this hasnt been lost, however there is another theme that needs to be incorporated and thats tattoos. there are a multitude of tattoos that can be used for decks and this gives dragon a much needed boost. like crane i have about 10 decks with similar themes outlined above plus decks like kensai and the pure tattoo deck. this deck is one of the fastest and most lethall that dragon can produce.

so what is your favourite clan and what themes?........

When I played, I played them all. My favorite to play was Toturi's Army, Scorpion, and Naga.

My Toturi's army deck was built so that it could by any means. It could Honor Run, Military, or 5 Rings.

My Scorpion deck was an Honor Run Deck, that dishonored my opponents.

My Naga deck was sort of Overwhelming Military.

I tried every clan in the CCG during the time I played (No Ratlings or Naga for me, but otherwise...).

But it's all about the Phoenix.

Nothing to do with their decks as such- those ranged from godawful almost unplayable (Early Ivory) to midrange solid but unimpressive(Celestial) to stupid good broken lunacy (Emperor)..

The Shugenja/Yojimbo synergy almost never worked right.

Spell decks rose and fell with the treatment of Spell attachments in the wider meta.

Design would swing from making the Phoenix personality base almost entirely overpriced garbage to handing out Force, Chi and useful keywords willy-nilly.

I just like the Phoenix Clan, for all of their weird little internal contradictions in the setting.

Had I been a better dishonor player, I might have landed on Scorpion, but...

I started with Unicorn military many, many, many moons ago and they will always have a special place in my heart.

Now, being said that I love dueling, and for many years I used to play dueling/ honor rocket; although I will try every incarnation of a dueling deck.

For a favorite clan, this a really though one as I like several Clans myself, but in the end I think I will go with Dragon, with their mysticism and versatility.

My fealty belongs to the Unicorn Clan, and specifically the Ide family. I was one of the staunchest proponents of them getting an Economic Honor theme, and was disheartened that my playgroup which also pooled its collection together had fallen apart by the time Design brought that theme into being. While it's a longshot, I do hope some kind of Courtier or Merchant theme eventually comes about for the Unicorn in the LCG.

The first deck I bought was Jade-edition Phoenix, and I have played pure human Phoenix in every big tournament in which I participated. The local scene kind of fell apart at the end of Race for the Throne, mostly because a couple of top-tier people were testing their Kotei decks at every opportunity, meaning that the weekly - monthly fun tourneys became an exercise in getting beaten by net decks rather than an opportunity to try weird and fun decks, like 4 Walls Crab, or Mantis Kolat Dishonour.

My most successful deck was a Phoenix Dueling honour-runner. I remember getting into a game against a Lion tactician deck as the last round of Swiss, both undefeated.

"I'll Iaijutsu challenge him.", "Accept. Strike.", "Bend like a Reed", "Sorry, what does that do?"

Poor guy didn't have anyone playing dueling in his local environment...

When I played, I played them all. My favorite to play was Toturi's Army, Scorpion, and Naga.

My Toturi's army deck was built so that it could by any means. It could Honor Run, Military, or 5 Rings.

My Scorpion deck was an Honor Run Deck, that dishonored my opponents.

My Naga deck was sort of Overwhelming Military.

iwhen i first started in 96 for the first year i collected and built all clan decks, but my first 2 decks were dragon and crane, and will always be them. i enjoyed toturi as i saw it as a mini lion in its sheer power for fast attack and good duelling. naga was good to for fast attack if not the fastest.

I tried every clan in the CCG during the time I played (No Ratlings or Naga for me, but otherwise...).

But it's all about the Phoenix.

Nothing to do with their decks as such- those ranged from godawful almost unplayable (Early Ivory) to midrange solid but unimpressive(Celestial) to stupid good broken lunacy (Emperor)..

The Shugenja/Yojimbo synergy almost never worked right.

Spell decks rose and fell with the treatment of Spell attachments in the wider meta.

Design would swing from making the Phoenix personality base almost entirely overpriced garbage to handing out Force, Chi and useful keywords willy-nilly.

I just like the Phoenix Clan, for all of their weird little internal contradictions in the setting.

Had I been a better dishonor player, I might have landed on Scorpion, but...

i have to agree the game designers went over the top when they just handed out force and chi and abilities willy nilly, phoenix have always been good at duelling and gaining honour, and i would rate a kiho based deck for phoenix it would run similar to my dragon monk deck.

I started with Unicorn military many, many, many moons ago and they will always have a special place in my heart.

Now, being said that I love dueling, and for many years I used to play dueling/ honor rocket; although I will try every incarnation of a dueling deck.

For a favorite clan, this a really though one as I like several Clans myself, but in the end I think I will go with Dragon, with their mysticism and versatility.

ahh another dragon player awesome, yes dragon IS the most versatile thats why i have over 10 decks with different themes. but to be fair if you talk about duelling there are only 2 clans that can do this better than other clans dragon and crane, i guess you would be focusing on otaku kamoko for early unicorn duelling?, i used to hate playing unicorn early on as the cavalry trait gave them an advantage early on, but nowadays cavalry is not quite as deadly.

My fealty belongs to the Unicorn Clan, and specifically the Ide family. I was one of the staunchest proponents of them getting an Economic Honor theme, and was disheartened that my playgroup which also pooled its collection together had fallen apart by the time Design brought that theme into being. While it's a longshot, I do hope some kind of Courtier or Merchant theme eventually comes about for the Unicorn in the LCG.

economic honour is an interesting theme, crab and crane do that rather effectively, i think the game designers need to look at all themes for all clans, and i do agree they havent got unicorn quite their yet i hope they give you that economic theme for ide.

The first deck I bought was Jade-edition Phoenix, and I have played pure human Phoenix in every big tournament in which I participated. The local scene kind of fell apart at the end of Race for the Throne, mostly because a couple of top-tier people were testing their Kotei decks at every opportunity, meaning that the weekly - monthly fun tourneys became an exercise in getting beaten by net decks rather than an opportunity to try weird and fun decks, like 4 Walls Crab, or Mantis Kolat Dishonour.

My most successful deck was a Phoenix Dueling honour-runner. I remember getting into a game against a Lion tactician deck as the last round of Swiss, both undefeated.

"I'll Iaijutsu challenge him.", "Accept. Strike.", "Bend like a Reed", "Sorry, what does that do?"

Poor guy didn't have anyone playing dueling in his local environment...

yes that theme is used here by phoenix players, good luck doing that against a reju player lol. or a crane or dragon duelling focused deck. i agree that it would be unenjoyable to always go up against tourny decks, for me the main part of L5R is not about tournaments (i have never competed nor will i), its about having fun with clans/decks and trying out new themes.

Spider!

Back in the day I played mainly Scorpion, Dragon, Unicorn and, of course, Shadowlands.

Loved Shadowlands.

Never played the CCG, as it always looked like a mess and I felt it's ties to the RPG really F*ed up the story line.

But Lion Clan now and always.

P.S. Also, the fact that Lion were never, ever competitive in the time i WAS looking at the CCG just killed all of my interest.

Never played the CCG, as it always looked like a mess and I felt it's ties to the RPG really F*ed up the story line.

But Lion Clan now and always.

P.S. Also, the fact that Lion were never, ever competitive in the time i WAS looking at the CCG just killed all of my interest.

In which edition Lion wasn't competetive?

Lion clan always. Has any character killed more provinces singel handed than matsu gohei?

Lion clan always. Has any character killed more provinces singel handed than matsu gohei?

Dude...

Chagatai

Lion clan always. Has any character killed more provinces singel handed than matsu gohei?

Dude...

Chagatai

Akuma no Oni, becasue he destroys province every time he enters play.

I've sworn fealty to Lady Doji

Even if Crane's economic might were superseded by the Mantis, it's political power overwhelmed by the Scorpion, it's military widely ridiculed for most of its existence, it's dueling prowess no longer relevant in an environment full of meta... basically it's identity stripped in the later years in AEG, Crane always endured that's what I love about them.

Mantis.

They are strange, weird, and it's like playing four different clans in one. And I love the Kitsune Spirit decks.

I'm a Sparrow fanboy, but I run a few decks including Unicorn, Crane, and Lion with pretty obvious focuses for each one.

While Naga was my clan back in the old days, I shifted over to Phoenix during the dragons deck days (Lotus I think) and ultimately to Dragon for enlightenment play.

But to be truthful, I always liked to play random theme decks I put together...

Dragon province deck

Shadowlands goblin deck

Mantis ancestral item deck

...among others.

Crane.

Toturi's Army back in the day.

Crane.

Because being fabulous is awesome .

Never played the CCG, as it always looked like a mess and I felt it's ties to the RPG really F*ed up the story line.

But Lion Clan now and always.

P.S. Also, the fact that Lion were never, ever competitive in the time i WAS looking at the CCG just killed all of my interest.

In which edition Lion wasn't competetive?

yeah have to agree...... lion has always been one of the best attack decks in the game