Okay. We'll revisit this thread maybe in a year and see how much it made sense.

Add: On the second point I hold by my statement because that's been my experience with FFG LCGs. The reactive control cards tend to be more prone to imbalance because they are not easy to quantify.

I just want to point out that we haven't even really seen the real control factions yet. Maybe it feels like you are powerless now, but what pieces haven't we seen yet that is an expected tool to counter what appears to be problem cards right now. The pool was balanced as a whole not in pieces.

I will be the voice of dissent, I guess. I'm not really feeling the Dragon Clan right now. I think a better starter theme for Dragon would have been a set of monks with explosive kiho actions - this would be more fun and more straightforward. The focus on attachments just feels kinda weird and unnatural imo.

I don't really like the card mechanic for Yokuni. I feel he would be better served to have an ability that looks at and/or manipulates an opponent deck/hand in some manner (i.e. divination, like in the story), not copy another ability.

Also, I feel this is the weakest art we've seen thus far (still decent though). I typically like Alayna Lemmer art, but I don't care for the stronghold art at all. Niten adept is also one of the weaker pieces to make the core set imo.

Another clan to look over!

Kitsuki Investigator: Expensive effect but I do like any ability to force a discard. A real balancing act between deciding on how many fate to put on the investigator and using the effect.

Ascetic Visionary: I like the action but it feels like the Kitsuki Investigator's ability and the balancing act between placing fate and having fate about readying personalities. He is a monk and we do get a rather awesome monk event.

Enlightened Warrior: I haven't seen much about this guy yet but I rather like him. There's a good chance after turn 1 that he'll be able to stay around quite awhile even without other Dragon cards putting fate on rings.

Mirumoto Raitsugu: Our first fate/character removal duel and he has a great cost attached to him and he isn't even restricted to which type of conflict he can duel at. I expect to see him in most Dragon decks.

Manta of Fire: Wow. It is a restricted card that requires a fire conflict from your opponent but I'd still use it if I'm playing enough monks. This might be a worthwhile Phoenix card if they get a decent number of monks. However, it might end up being cut because of the core set's focus on attachments and non-monk stuff.

Kitsuki's Method: It's ok as an ancestral attachment but it is very boring. It might find some usage just because of that keyword alone.

Niten Master: Useful untap effect but it's somewhat limited by the weapon requirement. Still, he's big and gets around some removal if you have the cards. Most likely to be picked as a potential Voltron personality.

Togashi Kazue: She's a conflict personality, which is nice. The effect is potentially great but it requires several turns and opponents with fate counters. She's also expensive as an attachment and even her personality form is underwhelming. At the end of the day, I could see running at least 2 of her in a Dragon deck simply for that fate "tax" ability or just as a conflict personality.

Secluded Temple: I rather like this effect since it mitigates the problem that dragon will have focusing on fewer characters than other clans. It should prove annoying if you happen to get two into play but opponents might simply switch to swarming you or tying you in personalities instead.

Tattooed Wanderer: Far more interesting than Kauze, both as a conflict personality and as an attachment. Covert should be quite powerful and I expect this guy to pop up all over the place during the core set. I think he has Scorpion written all over him too.

Let Go: Meh, but people seem to really love Cloud the Mind so it might see play?

Mountain's Anvil Castle: Typically boring like the last two strongholds and really reinforces the attachment. I do like that Dragon get 11 honor which means the spread between the highest and lowest clan might only be 1 to 3 (most likely 2).

Restoration of Balance: very very meh. I think the effect is way too weak. Yes, you could make someone discard a bunch of cards or nothing happens. I'd rather the ability forces a player to either draw to four cards or discard down to four cards rather than an opponent discarding to four. I'd definitely pass on including this card.

Togashi Yokuni: Hmmm, a shugenja seems like a nice little addition. He definitely takes some set up to really get mileage out of him but he can really wreak house depending on what he copies. Getting an extra play out of covert seems very useful from the Tattooed Wanderer or even the Enlightened Warrior.

Way of the Dragon: It's ok but really requires triggered abilities to flourish. Triggered abilities like covert from the wanderer or enlightened warrior. So expect those two to be staples of Dragon decks.

Overall, I'm not fully on board with the attachment game. There are some great cards that will be cursed by opponents and they have a good mix of military and political too.

I'm still really waiting on the Monk stronghold and more Kihos (look at your Phoenix). Most likely we'll see one more Kiho Mantra of either Air or Water then further ones in expansion sets with Earth probably going to Dragon and Air/Water going to Phoenix. Manta of Void will probably be neutral.

53 minutes ago, Joe From Cincinnati said:

This clan is just...so much more interesting to me than Lion and Crane.

Crane and Lion seem like the "starter set" clans. Hopefully, the other 4 clans have similar complexity to Dragon.

Gotta admit, I was super nervous after the Lion spoilers because of how bland they were, but this reveal has definitely reinforced my optimism for the game :D.

I'm glad Crane and Lion will be straightforward enough to introduce people to the game without overwhelming them (hopefully). I do hope that the first couple cycles give them some deeper mechanics, however, so that they don't have to be straightforward, once the card pool can support a couple strategies per clan.

39 minutes ago, Mr Omura said:

I will be the voice of dissent, I guess. I'm not really feeling the Dragon Clan right now. I think a better starter theme for Dragon would have been a set of monks with explosive kiho actions - this would be more fun and more straightforward. The focus on attachments just feels kinda weird and unnatural imo.

I don't really like the card mechanic for Yokuni. I feel he would be better served to have an ability that looks at and/or manipulates an opponent deck/hand in some manner (i.e. divination, like in the story), not copy another ability.

Also, I feel this is the weakest art we've seen thus far (still decent though). I typically like Alayna Lemmer art, but I don't care for the stronghold art at all. Niten adept is also one of the weaker pieces to make the core set imo.

Personally, Mountain's Anvil Castle is one of my favorite pieces of art! But, I can understand how it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

9 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

Personally, Mountain's Anvil Castle is one of my favorite pieces of art!

I'm digging it, too! I've liked all the stronghold art so far. Not to keen on the ability, though. Flexible, but not that powerful (unless you have two attachments). Maybe it'll be awesome, dying to try it out!

16 minutes ago, BlindSamurai13 said:

Can't watch at work? Any new information here?

Just now, wolfien8 said:

Can't watch at work? Any new information here?

No new card spoilers. Just a general overview of the Dragon as a clan.

2 minutes ago, wolfien8 said:

Can't watch at work? Any new information here?

Brad mentioned that Unicorn are swarmy. We shall drown you in hooves!

4 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

Brad mentioned that Unicorn are swarmy. We shall drown you in hooves!

Significant bit of insight there. I'm glad another clan will attempt to "build wide" as Lion do. Fitting that it is the Unicorn, IMO.

Another point made is about clans usually having to cycle characters due to building wide rather than the Dragon focusing on character retention in order to build tall. Throw in fate removal effects, and it might make for a good counter-balance in actual play tests.

6 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

Brad mentioned that Unicorn are swarmy. We shall drown you in hooves!

And a bit about some clans like the Dragon being tall (more fate on characters) versus Lion or Unicorn as being wide (moar dudes and dudettes). Makes me wonder which route some of the unrevealed clans are going.

Phoenix: tall

Crab: Maybe both, with tall being based around their defensive personalities and wide for scouts or berserkers

Scorpion: tall

Unicorn: wide

Am up to 3 pages in my response, but I would like to make a theorized observation concerning today's release: The more players in a game, meaning if it's more than 1 vs 1, the better off the Dragon player will be.

Secondly, as it stands, given all of the released cards for the 3 Clans, the Dragon Clan player has a mid-tier deck. If you're thinking you are going to shine in a tournament or similar setting, you are in for a surprise... A few posters above stated that this Clan has many moving parts that need to come together at the right time in order for this deck to work. I STRONGLY respect and agree with that statement.

3 hours ago, Suzume Tomonori said:

So do characters played as attachments provide any stat bonuses? Or just the ability within the quotes?

Seems like Pilot attachments from Star Wars LCG

1 minute ago, HirumaShigure said:

Seems like Pilot attachments from Star Wars LCG

Can you clarify on that? Do pilots contribute for those of us who haven't played SW:LCG.

15 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

Secondly, as it stands, given all of the released cards for the 3 Clans, the Dragon Clan player has a mid-tier deck. If you're thinking you are going to shine in a tournament or similar setting, you are in for a surprise... A few posters above stated that this Clan has many moving parts that need to come together at the right time in order for this deck to work. I STRONGLY respect and agree with that statement.

It's not hard to buy a character and attach and go. Sorry, but Dragon seem to be very easy to pilot and with their balanced skills, seems easier to do two conflicts per turn than Crane or Lion.

I think this game and this faction have done a lot to make attachment based decks make more sense. Whether it's enough I guess we'll see. I can already see the Dragons being better than say the Tau in Conquest for several reasons:

1.) Stat boost attachments are not that different cost-wise from a character coming out of the conflict deck. They share the attached card's fate, which is a cost savings, but at the same time removal and control effects get more benefit from targeting cards with attachments. A give and take.

2.) In this game attachments are flexible to deploy given the way the game is structured, which is an added benefit. They can be held until you think they are most effective.

3.) The dragon have multiple attachments that have baked in recursion, which is a big plus considering all the attachment synergy they need to satisfy.

4.) The dragon have multiple attachments that can be played as a character instead giving them added utility.

5.) Dragons have a lot of support for early game aggression in cards like Mirumoto's Fury, Doomed Shugenja ... Those sorts of thing can help bolster you while you draw for your combo pieces.

That all said if any faction is going to fall into the trap of "Cute" decks it feels like this will be the one. If a deck is too dependent on cards coming out in a particular order it will always have trouble being consistent. Is Ninten Master worth playing if you've got no weapon attachments in hand? Is Yokuni worth calling out if you've got no effects worth copying? Is Mantra of Fire stuck in your hand because you don't have any Monks in play? Too many of those types of considerations and I can see there being a real problem.

I guess we'll see how this all shakes out.

I'd put money that these two personality attachments do not give stat bonuses naturally. Do we really need a +2/+1 attachment that gives covert for 1? I could see another card, either an attachment, holding, or event, give bonuses to personalities that have a person attachment.

I assumed they did not, but that hasn't been stated explicitly. Hopefully they'll answer that question on the Friday Facebook Live video. Also the question of whether bowed attachments still contribute their stat boosts. Given these cards those are both very important.

A few bits of info still missing to know for sure how good Dragon can be, but, they do look very interesting. Kinda bummed out that there is no Mitsu card in the core, but, I'm sure he'll get added to the mix at some point.

The card I am most excited about is Enlightened Warrior. Not flashy but ultra important for a clan that is going to be putting extra fate from their pool onto rings. Excellent compliment to Seeker of Enlightenment.

I can't quite put my finger on why, but the Dragon previews really have me excited for the Scorpion ones...

Stat bonuses from "Followers" is weird. It either makes Tattooed Wander absurdly cheap or Togashi Kazue really expensive.

48 minutes ago, wolfien8 said:

Can you clarify on that? Do pilots contribute for those of us who haven't played SW:LCG.

Sorry, at work, didn't have time to elaborate. Pilot keyword adds no stat bonus, but usually adds a decent ability and some "protection" to getting killed. In many games, even Old5R, getting caught without attachments could prove fatal.

I suspect Togashi Kazue is meant to be an econ engine. If you get her out early she's a 2 Fate swing each time she triggers. On top of that the savings she gives you is proportional to the card on which she's adding Fate. In a perfect world she's potentially generating a pretty significant economic swing. Late game I guess she's still a body that can throw off battle math. That said 3 Fate is such a hurdle to get over for a card that benefit's you down the line, but that does seem very thematic for the Dragons. Also she has a cute combo with Mirumoto Raitsugu. Fate burn seems to be a bit of a sub-theme in this faction. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out.

First reaction, Dragon seem like a Clan which will either win big or go home. If the right cards show up at the right times, you can pull off some pretty crazy feats.

Togashi Yokuni with Way of the Dragon and Togashi Kazue attached, with Mirumoto Raitsugu in play face off against a personality with three Fate, steal two Fate, duel away a third and then duel the personality to discardation! (That last part might not be a word.) And the one time in ten (or more) that you pull off that crazy combo, you'll win big! But tournaments are determined by your win/loss record, not how big your one win was. And for that reason, Dragon seem like a kitchen-table clan.

But the key word there is "seem." I'll absolutely give them a try!

2 hours ago, BordOne said:

@shosuko The ability is just a straight up bow if the character has a dash in military or political, if not than it is a great control tool, that works on all characters period. That being said Doji Challenger is certainly carried by her over the top stats.

1 hour ago, Eugene Earnshaw said:

Doji Challenger's ability is much stronger than it would seem, just because of the two types of conflicts and because defenders bow. It is extremely flexible, and often makes assigning defenders into a 'no good options' type of scenario. It's one of those things that you sort of have to play with to really appreciate.

How many characters have a - as mil or pol stat? I get that it is effective at drawing out defenders thus thinning the reserve but I think people are over estimating its value. Against Lion it may have been powerful, as the Lion are weak politically and play mostly from provinces. Against the balanced Dragon who can play some conflict cards it may not seem as useful. It may even cost you the battle bringing in that extra character...

1 hour ago, shineyorkboy said:

I think it's because Niten Master's ability allows for the possibility of him participating in 3 conflicts in a turn.

This ability looks awesome, especially with the ancestral items that let you get them back to play on the next Niten Master.