So who among us besides myself will want to focus on Political conflicts? Frankly I like Politics in a fantasy or medieval setting so I think it be fun to read all the cards flavor text. Also Crane seems to be the go to political faction with Pheonix a close second. I might have to try both.

Traditionally the political clans in the setting are the Crane and the Scorpion, with the latter representing "underhanded" politics.

I've developed a fairly significant dislike for both clans over the years, but I'm interested to see what political conflicts will be like this time around. I didn't really get a sense of it from what they've released so far.

Scorpion should also be rather political, just in a more underhanded way (blackmail, political sabotage, etc.)

Scorpion are clearly the debuff faction using Political Actions to dishonor foes, thus lowering Political & Military Skill by their Glory stat.

I agree that the Crane & Phoenix will be the primary Political Honor Runners.

I meant by politics as nice about it... I know Scorpion are political just bastards....

4 minutes ago, Yoritomo Reiu said:

Traditionally the political clans in the setting are the Crane and the Scorpion, with the latter representing "underhanded" politics.

Throw the Phoenix in there and you've got the Gozoku.
I played defensive honor Crane throughout my run in the CCG, which ultimately broke down to dueling and political shenanigans. I like that political conflicts now require an attack of sorts and force more interaction. That being said, this go around I'm going to run Scorps as my political deck for a change of pace.

As someone who only heard of this game via seeing deck boxes I know jack crap bout anything. I'll just stick with the pretty honorable people who focus on magic and courtly intrigue honestly.

Phoenix

The good news is that with the LCG format, you can focus on whatever you want and if you want to try something else later, you already have the cards!

I used to be into Netrunner but eesh I lost track of it. I hope to keep track of this better.

I'd also like to note, as a Unicorn player, that their courtiers, the Ide, are about as nice as they come. No deception, no underhanded scheming. Their clan is still viewed as barbarians by many, and all the Ide are trying to do is present the Unicorn as anything but. In the 4th Edition RPG, their starting talent is to avoid unintentionally giving offense.

4 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

Their clan is still viewed as barbarians by many, and all the Ide are trying to do is present the Unicorn as anything but.

So the Ide are a bunch of liars?

Just now, Sparks Duh said:

So the Ide are a bunch of liars?

I thought only Pheonix's would cause burns.

(I am not trolling just perfect oppertunity)

5 minutes ago, Builder2 said:

I'd also like to note, as a Unicorn player, that their courtiers, the Ide, are about as nice as they come. No deception, no underhanded scheming. Their clan is still viewed as barbarians by many, and all the Ide are trying to do is present the Unicorn as anything but. In the 4th Edition RPG, their starting talent is to avoid unintentionally giving offense.

With Khans like Chagatai that's a tough job, a bit like Sean Spicer?

27 minutes ago, CEOWolf said:

I used to be into Netrunner but eesh I lost track of it. I hope to keep track of this better.

Well we've got seven playable factions. I don't know how that compares to Netrunner but in the CCG I found it tricky to keep tabs on what everyone else was playing.
Granted, the LCG model puts everyone on the same playing field distribution wise, so maybe it will be easier.

Just now, Nagori-A-Go-Go said:

Well we've got seven playable factions. I don't know how that compares to Netrunner but in the CCG I found it tricky to keep tabs on what everyone else was playing.
Granted, the LCG model puts everyone on the same playing field distribution wise, so maybe it will be easier.

I meant when I got into it it recently came out had like 4 packs out. I not bought anything now they have like 37 sets and 6 deluxes.

Just now, CEOWolf said:

I meant when I got into it it recently came out had like 4 packs out. I not bought anything now they have like 37 sets and 6 deluxes.

Ah, gotcha. Should definitely be more manageable if you get in on the ground floor.
At this point if it isn't an LCG I don't buy into a card game unless it's already out of print.

2 hours ago, CEOWolf said:

So who among us besides myself will want to focus on Political conflicts? Frankly I like Politics in a fantasy or medieval setting so I think it be fun to read all the cards flavor text. Also Crane seems to be the go to political faction with Pheonix a close second. I might have to try both.

Forgetting about whose in power, are we? The Scorpion will be the best! We pretty much already rule behind the scenes and even have the ear of the Emperor. As for cards, Bribery alone can take any of the revealed Crane dudes and dinettes and we're going to be getting many more useful tools.

Plus

I eagerly await the day the Yasuki return as the undisputed masters of politics and the economy. There's nothing as satisfying as solving a problem by throwing money at it.

Given that each round both players can do one political and one military conflict, you will likely want to attempt both no matter what your main tactic is. It just might be that Crane and Scorpion are 80% likely to win Political conflicts and 20% likely to win Military conflicts, but winning the Military conflicts sometimes is probably what's needed to push you to victory.

I want to play Crane and do politics, but I looking forward to break provinces that way. Not sure if that could be called playing nice...

And really I hope that the crane also get some decent Daidoji for military action as well, so that I can break even more provinces.

This may finally get me to play as the Crane. Unless they reprint "Breach of Etiquette" in wich case I will be playing Scorpion.

5 hours ago, Robin Graves said:

This may finally get me to play as the Crane. Unless they reprint "Breach of Etiquette" in wich case I will be playing Scorpion.

Breach as printed wouldn't do enough of anything. There's no Honor Requirements any more.

I think maybe the balance in politics and military will be one of the keys in the design. If they are not well balanced, it will probably be frustrating for one or two clan players. In a game where clan loyalty is highest, this could be a problem.

Not that every clan should be able to build a competitive deck of either politics and military, but every clan should be able at least to defend himself from both. It seems like they are introducing at least three ways to do it.

- characters which are strong in both: like Borderlands defender and mirumoto prodigy.

- clans which have characters that are strong in either, like seems to be the case of crane (we have seen Doji whisperer and the Daidoji)... I wonder what sollution will the lion clan have to avoid being sistematically overwhelmed by politics.

- events and tricks that can be used in both, like Blackmail.

Now, this is all speculation, but I am definitely waiting to see balance here.

On 4/25/2017 at 8:16 PM, CEOWolf said:

I thought only Pheonix's would cause burns.

(I am not trolling just perfect oppertunity)

I wouldn't be so hasty to accuse the Spider of making a dishonorable jab at the Ide; it was clearly a mere attempt to showcase their clan's natural talents. For if anyone should seek to learn the traits that bespeak a liar, there is none more fit than a Spider to teach them.