Wow!!!!!!Wow!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!!

Nice. Feels like old times, give that this is the first Spell they've shown for this game that is an attachment for your Shugenja. Should be useful against Conflict character-heavy decks, and probably good against Unicorn.

Plus, only 1 influence costs. If most spells are going to be Phoenix (and not Neutral), I hope there are more with only 1 influence.

That looks awesome! This is great because it cuts off personalities, so you can keep them from dropping any surprise conflict character!

Now this is a Kitsune card!

Do bowed attachments still contribute their skill bonus?

And please note that the card says opponents', meaning opponents plural. (multiplayer possibilities are in play)

4 minutes ago, Ragudaddy said:

Do bowed attachments still contribute their skill bonus?

I believe so, yes.

My precious ponies do not approve of this card. They do not approve at all.

I wish it were a static effect. A defending player could still drop a Steward of Law. If you have this on defense a player could just play the Steward of Law before conflict. You lose some of the surprise, but you can still get the value if you really want it.

Why is he wearing the colors of the Phoenix's chief rival, the Crane? Isn't that against some kind of Phoenix religious code?

well there's no debating the value of this card. That's pretty great.

2 hours ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

Why is he wearing the colors of the Phoenix's chief rival, the Crane? Isn't that against some kind of Phoenix religious code?

No, that is a crane, the phoenix IS the oni. Name giving magic has its perks afterall...

3 hours ago, kiramode said:

I wish it were a static effect. A defending player could still drop a Steward of Law. If you have this on defense a player could just play the Steward of Law before conflict. You lose some of the surprise, but you can still get the value if you really want it.

Yeah, the timing isn't great, your opponent will always see the effect coming, even if you drop the attachment during a conflict. More of a deterrent/annoyance than anything else.

3 hours ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

Why is he wearing the colors of the Phoenix's chief rival, the Crane? Isn't that against some kind of Phoenix religious code?

My own seething hatred of the Crane (Kyuden Doji Delenda Est!) aside (Purge them with fire!) the Crane have historically been on decent-to-good terms with the Phoenix.

Plus, you know, recycled art from the CCG's archives- that might actually be a Kuni, not sure.

Nice nod back to spell scrolls, pretty solid card all around. Cautiously optimistic for this design direction.

So we're still waiting for an air spell and a water spell, right?

16 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

Yeah, the timing isn't great, your opponent will always see the effect coming, even if you drop the attachment during a conflict. More of a deterrent/annoyance than anything else.

Seems like a decent counter to "Charge".

9 minutes ago, Shu2jack said:

Seems like a decent counter to "Charge".

Actually doesn't block Charge at all, since it's not moving into the battle a la Doji Challenger or coming out of your hand!

3 hours ago, Ide Yoshiya said:

Why is he wearing the colors of the Phoenix's chief rival, the Crane? Isn't that against some kind of Phoenix religious code?

31 minutes ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

My own seething hatred of the Crane (Kyuden Doji Delenda Est!) aside (Purge them with fire!) the Crane have historically been on decent-to-good terms with the Phoenix.

Plus, you know, recycled art from the CCG's archives- that might actually be a Kuni, not sure.

Yeah, before reading all the posts, I was thinking he looked like a Crab shugenja- plus the earth element.

It's a tricky card both for the player using it and the opponent. It looks like the type of conflict card you want to play before the conflict, in order to force an opponent to play around it. Yes, you can play it during a conflict, but you opponent does get that opportunity to do something before you have to spend another action to use the effect. Not necessarily a bad thing if Phoenix or any other clan get more than one cheap, expendable shugenja.

It's also cheap for influence purposes but this might not mean much since I see so many other cards that would be picked to splash for.

44 minutes ago, Shu2jack said:

Seems like a decent counter to "Charge".

If playing from a province is considered mechanically to be "played from hand," yes, but if those are distinct it looks like a strict reading of the spell still might allow Charge to bring a personality in, as the spell only limits movement and "play from hand" effects. Incidentally, it looks like Kitsu Spiritcaller gets around this, as well? I feel like both plays are against the intention of the card, but if that's how the rules are set up then...

Since this is an attachment, I have no problem playing this outside of conflict. IIRC defender gets first action in conflict, so thematically this fits well with a defensive strategy, and situationally valuable as a first action against opponents you expect to pull mobility/conflict character shenanigans.

I want to know more about that oni....

10 minutes ago, Vlad3theImpaler said:

I want to know more about that oni....

His name is George. He's a Sagittarius,& loves long walks on the beach, eating Crabs & virgins. ??

Another classic great Phoenix card, powerful in effect but highly restricted, with lots of choices to be made. Attach before or during conflict? Take an action that does not directly help you win but can have severe consequences for opponent. I would be unlikely to play this card against Lion, but would love to play it against Unicorn (assuming movement effects) and some Crane cards seen. I can see this as a 2 of again. I just hope that Phoenix gets lots of additional draw and/or fetch.