I see a lot of bait and switch with the rings. Makes me think more of the Scorpion clan.

This one looks to be a bit more challenging for new players but I bet most experienced players could have a lot of fun with them.

8 hours ago, Kakita Onimaru said:

Phoenix glory looks nice, But I am troubled how few options they have to Honor themselves. I've been playing with Crane who have more options and its already hard for me to be consistantly honored, IDK how the phoenix are gonna pull it off.

Court Games and the Asako Diplomat are a decent start.

Also, Phoenix has several ways to use the Ring of Fire, even when they didn't actually claim it (Tsukune, for instance).

Phoenix were always my least favorite clan, but I love what FFG has done with them. A very interesting clan indeed

8 hours ago, L5RBr said:

There's no balanced lion for now.

The militar chars have strong habilities, the political are weak.

All the conflict was made to focus on bushi and militar.

Not really.

An 'honor-running' Lion deck actually seems to work pretty well. It doesn't always win by Honor, but it definitely can, sometimes better / faster than Crane (especially when the Lion 'splash' a few Crane cards, though Phoenix is also a possibility for splashing).

Lion have a few very solid 'political' characters. Ikoma Prodigy, the Historian, and the Spiritcaller (the later of which is also just a great card for nearly any Lion deck). Even the Matsu Brawler is a decent Political attacker (2 isn't that bad, and she can choke-slam one of the Phoenix defenders.

8 hours ago, Casanunda said:

A few ways to get honored:

• Own the Fire ring. You are Phoenix, after all.
• Asako Diplomat. Amazing ability, repeatable, bonus Fire ring.
• Magnificent Kimono. Awards pride, easy to trigger as a conflict card.
• Court Games. Play 3. Don't even question it.

Also, after you take the Fire Ring to honor one of your characters, then swap it for another Ring (making it unclaimed again), and at the end of the conflict phase, Tsukune triggers it again to honor another of your characters.

8 hours ago, fyrm said:

But is Void, as I believe was confirmed in the game they played a while back, which conflicts with our SH, sadly.

Really?

I could have sworn it was Air...

3 hours ago, BCumming said:

If you focus entirely on your strengths, you can only blame yourself when you run into a card that exploits your weaknesses.

Well dang. That's harsh. But also a fair assessment. Even the Lion have a decent political build in them if you look closely at it. I actually feel like their shugenja and Ikoma Eiji get a bad rap on here. They aren't politically dominant like the Crane but they aren't unable to put together a solid one phase political attack squadron.

Looks like they've smashed it again. Every time I've read one of these articles I've said to myself "now THIS is the sickest clan." Tremendous work. And they're all so flavourful too. I'm getting more and more excited for this game.

Also, gonna have to put Shawn Ignatius Tan alongside Mu Young Kim to the list of artists I need to email partly to ask about prints and playmats and partly just to congratulate and compliment on their absurdly beautiful artwork.

Seriously now, in something like 15 years of being a card game nerd I've never come across a game that's struck me with the sheer beauty and quality of it's artwork. I'm definitely going to wind up with loads of folders of this stuff on hand one day to occasionally just browse through to look at the gorgeous pictures.

13 hours ago, shosuko said:

Also - can you play attachments to your opponent? Magnificent Kimono could be a great prize for your opponent when they're about to lose a conflict.

Yes. Also, you dirty sod. I love it.

You do the Scorpion proud.

5 hours ago, Kubernes said:

That's fine if the opponent wants to spend removal (and 3 honor) killing the yojimbo. That's the entire point of her and less removal targeting the more important shugenja.

To open up the ability to play all the other cards on your more useful (and cost>2) shugenja at will? I'd say it was worth it.

5 hours ago, Kubernes said:

That's fine if the opponent wants to spend removal (and 3 honor) killing the yojimbo. That's the entire point of her and less removal targeting the more important shugenja.

To open up the ability to play all the other cards on your more useful (and cost>2) shugenja at will? I'd say it was worth it.

6 hours ago, Kubernes said:

Shiba Yojimbo - A bit too expensive. Yes, there are removal cards that will target your shugenja but the yojimbo is an investment type of card. For 3 or more fate on a weaker than average body. Seems like that type of card that your opponent can play around, like how Court Games can simply target one of your own characters.

I don't know where this "3/2/2 are weak stats for 3 fate" meme comes from. If she had 1 more political she would have the best stats for a 3 drop in the game. 3/2/2 is actually slightly above average(1/3/X or less I would say are weak stats for 3 cost). Yeah the ability can be played around - but its purpose is to defend shugenja. If opponent is playing around it, it means he is not getting rid of your mages. The only negative is that if you dont have any shugenja it does nothing

51 minutes ago, BordOne said:

I don't know where this "3/2/2 are weak stats for 3 fate" meme comes from. If she had 1 more political she would have the best stats for a 3 drop in the game. 3/2/2 is actually slightly above average(1/3/X or less I would say are weak stats for 3 cost). Yeah the ability can be played around - but its purpose is to defend shugenja. If opponent is playing around it, it means he is not getting rid of your mages. The only negative is that if you dont have any shugenja it does nothing

If you don`t have any Shugenja on the table, then you`ve built your Phoenix deck wrong.... unless you playing some weird Shiba build.

3 minutes ago, Isawa Tasatu said:

playing some weird Shiba build.

Not currently possible anyway!

I get the feeling that, with only a slight increase in the card pool, Phoenix are going to be able to decide to focus on a particular element and completely dominate it. Currently, the obvious one is Fire because of the existing synergies, but I could see other element 'tensai' decks.

3 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

I get the feeling that, with only a slight increase in the card pool, Phoenix are going to be able to decide to focus on a particular element and completely dominate it. Currently, the obvious one is Fire because of the existing synergies, but I could see other element 'tensai' decks.

"Void Bomb" deck name comes to mind...

I made an alt art card for Masahiro. His art is quite nice, but as always, I got the urge to 'Last Airbender' it up a bit:

Now that I've had some time to reflect on it, the glory focus for Phoenix makes sense in an Old5R sort of way. I would say Crane and Phoenix both have a long tradition of honor running decks. While I don't expect either to honor run at the moment, it looks like Crane is (in New5R) the "political conflict" clan, which actually leaves Phoenix in a natural position to be the "high glory" clan. These are both two sides of the old honor-deck coin, in a thematic sort of way (naturally, Old5R had no political conflicts as such.)

1 hour ago, Togashi Gao Shan said:

I made an alt art card for Masahiro. His art is quite nice, but as always, I got the urge to 'Last Airbender' it up a bit:

You should've replaced the quote with "HONOOOOOR!" Nice card otherwise!

11 hours ago, Togashi Gao Shan said:

Really?

I could have sworn it was Air...

We assume it is Void because of the picture in the previous page that Yogo Gohei posted.

The fact that it does have a similar effect with the Crane one does not say much. It is the same with the Phoenix province. Its type is Void but the two similar provinces that swap rings or conflict type(Elemental Fury & Rally to the Cause) are Water.

I feel the need for a Public Service Announcement. Excuse me if you find it insulting.

The Crane clan Conflict card is a StewarD of Law. This matches the term for an official position. StewarT is a Scottish name derived from the position, but really unlikely to be a member of the Crane Clan. Possibly the McSweeney and maybe the Hong, but not Crane.

Thank you for your attention.

3 hours ago, Suzume Tomonori said:

(naturally, Old5R had no political conflicts as such.)

In a way the old limited/open phase was the political conflict.

With every review, so far, I'm glad the Design Team managed to capture the lore/essence/philosophy of the clan in their playstyle. (although an argument can be made that Dragon could have gotten the Ring Shenaningans and Phoenix a (spell) attachment theme.)

I definitely see myself building decks for every clan. (I hope I can resist the temptation of buying 6 core sets)

4 hours ago, Suzume Tomonori said:

Now that I've had some time to reflect on it, the glory focus for Phoenix makes sense in an Old5R sort of way. I would say Crane and Phoenix both have a long tradition of honor running decks. While I don't expect either to honor run at the moment, it looks like Crane is (in New5R) the "political conflict" clan, which actually leaves Phoenix in a natural position to be the "high glory" clan. These are both two sides of the old honor-deck coin, in a thematic sort of way (naturally, Old5R had no political conflicts as such.)

I think it makes sense for the Phoenix to be the highest Glory clan because Shugenja are on a slightly different track than Bushi, as Shugenja are both Samurai and Priests. Its a great way to distinguish them from the Crane, where the Crane can honor people easier the Phoenix have more glory to gain when they do so.

When the card pool expands and we get 1-2 more ways to honor people in Phoenix they could be a dominant honor deck though.

4 minutes ago, Mig el Pig said:

In a way the old limited/open phase was the political conflict.

With every review, so far, I'm glad the Design Team managed to capture the lore/essence/philosophy of the clan in their playstyle. (although an argument can be made that Dragon could have gotten the Ring Shenaningans and Phoenix a (spell) attachment theme.)

I definitely see myself building decks for every clan. (I hope I can resist the temptation of buying 6 core sets)

If it's about card interaction suggesting theme, I think FFG nailed their interpretations of the Phoenix and the Dragon. Fate or Destiny being the domain of the Dragon makes sense. Ring interaction and manipulation makes sense for the Masters of the Elements. These themes seem to fit.

Granted, Dragon had an enlightenment focus in the CCG, but that was something I felt the Phoenix also should have had (and did at times). The elements were/are their domain. And if mastery over the elements leads to enlightenment, then the Phoenix should be tied to that space as well.

The separation of Fate and Rings (and tying them together in game mechanics by putting Fate on Rings) allows for a clear distinction between the clans while having them both focus on that portion of the LCG. Very good design in that respect, IMO.

9 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

I feel the need for a Public Service Announcement. Excuse me if you find it insulting.

The Crane clan Conflict card is a StewarD of Law. This matches the term for an official position. StewarT is a Scottish name derived from the position, but really unlikely to be a member of the Crane Clan. Possibly the McSweeney and maybe the Hong, but not Crane.

Thank you for your attention.

The true spelling is Stuart of Law. Clearly he's a legal minded English King.