1 minute ago, Casanunda said:

I'm not aware of when they cleared this up, I was under the impression this was still an unanswered question. To my knowledge, the only reference to declaring conflicts was in an FFG article, which are not meant to be a definitive rules answer.

In my head says it was a facebook live, but I could just be conflating info.

1 minute ago, Casanunda said:

You still have to break provinces to win, though. Dishonour is hard to pull off, your opponent has to walk into it.

Crab feels more stand tall and wait for an opening to strike. Just defend until you have the chance to strike back. Lion is very much charge forward, and strike, and strike, and what defense was I doing again?

4 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

I'm not aware of when they cleared this up, I was under the impression this was still an unanswered question. To my knowledge, the only reference to declaring conflicts was in an FFG article, which are not meant to be a definitive rules answer.

It was in one of the L5RLive episodes. I want to say it was the Lion or Dragon one, but I'm not entirely sure. I believe it was Brad who answered the question.

1 hour ago, RandomJC said:

I can say one of my favorite things is that pretty much every clan brought forward has had the reaction, "This is the big clan that will be the best meta clan"

I disagree; not every Clan has had that reaction.

Just now, LordBlunt said:

I disagree; not every Clan has had that reaction.

I can be really nerdy and point out the semantics of "pretty much every clan" meaning not every clan, but I can recall some excitement after the release of spoilers that can slide into the "best clan evar" hyperbole. With time, things have slid and adjusted but each clan has seemed to generate excitement in a majority of people on the forums.

1 minute ago, RandomJC said:

I can be really nerdy and point out the semantics of "pretty much every clan" meaning not every clan, but I can recall some excitement after the release of spoilers that can slide into the "best clan evar" hyperbole. With time, things have slid and adjusted but each clan has seemed to generate excitement in a majority of people on the forums.

Which is great! It's nice that they've saved the ones with more "complex" mechanics until a little later just to show us something new, I think they've nailed the order so far. I'm really curious to see what Unicorn brings, because I'm struggling to come up with unique mechanics that would generate interest. If they end up being Lion with horses I think we will all be a little underwhelmed.

2 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

Which is great! It's nice that they've saved the ones with more "complex" mechanics until a little later just to show us something new, I think they've nailed the order so far. I'm really curious to see what Unicorn brings, because I'm struggling to come up with unique mechanics that would generate interest. If they end up being Lion with horses I think we will all be a little underwhelmed.

I have a feeling Unicorn is going to be moving to and fro from conflicts, and readying stuff to go again. Like move in to a conflict, then just retreat after they've declared a lot of defenders to bow them, and then swing again.

We know we have control of the first player token with way of the unicorn. We're going to be super aggressive with Breakthrough. (which ironically, I think works better as second player.)

5 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

Which is great! It's nice that they've saved the ones with more "complex" mechanics until a little later just to show us something new, I think they've nailed the order so far. I'm really curious to see what Unicorn brings, because I'm struggling to come up with unique mechanics that would generate interest. If they end up being Lion with horses I think we will all be a little underwhelmed.

Perhaps characters who get bonuses for being in multiple conflicts each turn (along with straightening cards to help them do so)?

I'm curious if Unicorn is going to be on the low end of the glory curve. right now the character spoils have been 0-3 on all four cards, so...hard to tell. plus Utaku Yamino. So shiny.

33 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

I'm not aware of when they cleared this up, I was under the impression this was still an unanswered question. To my knowledge, the only reference to declaring conflicts was in an FFG article, which are not meant to be a definitive rules answer.

I don't know if its been explicitly stated - but for anyone familiar with game mechanics it should be obvious. You are allowed to declare 1 conflict of each type, this is a limit on what you can declare regardless of what it resolves as.

If I am able to play 1 character, and I play that character and then they leave play that does not change that I played 1 character. If I declare a MIL conflict and it is changed mid-conflict to become a POL conflict, that does not change that I declared a MIL conflict.

9 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

I'm curious if Unicorn is going to be on the low end of the glory curve. right now the character spoils have been 0-3 on all four cards, so...hard to tell. plus Utaku Yamino. So shiny.

I guess the ponies will be the most "unbalanced" clan when it comes to glory. I think their battlemaidens will be in the top ending of the spectrum while the rest of characters will be close to 0 on average. I think this reflects both the high honor standards of their elite corps and the gaigin blood/traditions the clan carries over with them

2 minutes ago, barrufet said:

I guess the ponies will be the most "unbalanced" clan when it comes to glory. I think their battlemaidens will be in the top ending of the spectrum while the rest of characters will be close to 0 on average. I think this reflects both the high honor standards of their elite corps and the gaigin blood/traditions the clan carries over with them

As long as we get an Ide. I'll take generic Ide, just give me one.

2 hours ago, shosuko said:

1) Not every card is going to be great. Part of the challenge of building a deck for these games is identifying which cards are great, and which are not. If you feel you have identified a bad card, congratulations. If others don't agree, then we'll have to wait and see the results. Bad cards exist, and sorta need to exist on some level, but its hard to say definitively until they show their merit in game.

2) Borderlands Defender and Mirumoto Prodigy both have only 1 glory. This Yojimbo has 2 glory. IF you can get it honored then it is stronger than these other examples. Doji Challenger may still be a match, but isn't it always? There is always some janky "best in category." There is no reason to be hung up on it. Every card cannot be strictly better than every card before it. The Yojimbo's ability is very strong though. She doesn't have to be ready, or in the conflict, and she doesn't bow or die for her effect. When you have someone like Isawa Atsuko in a conflict this ability could be what saves the day.

3) idk about events / attachments that give Shugenja trait. In ol5r this was a very rare thing because being a Shugenja isn't like picking up a sword or a fan. It's about speaking with the Kami. There are 40 cards in the Dynasty deck and there are no gold holdings crowding it out, I don't think we'll have trouble fitting a mix of Shugenja and Yojimbo in there...

1. It depends on availability of the card pool as well. The old liked to have new family mechanics for the clans but could some time just drop support for it in favor of another.

2. Think I'd rather have the straight buff to a skill rather than a straight one to glory. There's also that double edged sword aspect to glory so I wouldn't put it anywhere near the same level as military or political skill.

Also the prodigy is 1 cheaper in fate for the same skill. There's probably others like the Serene Warrior that would simply compete for the same slot in the future.

3. It depends on how they want to represent the "discovery" of the talent to be a shugenja. The older idea was simply being able to communicate with kami so having something like an event or attachment that shows that could work.

2 minutes ago, barrufet said:

I guess the ponies will be the most "unbalanced" clan when it comes to glory. I think their battlemaidens will be in the top ending of the spectrum while the rest of characters will be close to 0 on average. I think this reflects both the high honor standards of their elite corps and the gaigin blood/traditions the clan carries over with them

I wonder if they will simply be extremely unbalanced all around with several characters that are high on MIL with just 0 or 1 POL, and vice versa. This would reflect how they are fierce and effective warriors, but those warriors are the part that isn't liked so much, where the politicians and diplomats are well respected, but aren't combatants.

5 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

As long as we get an Ide. I'll take generic Ide, just give me one.

Be careful what you wish for. You could end up with the Ide Bootlick or somesuch.????

Just now, Kuni Katsuyoshi said:

Be careful what you wish for. You could end up with the Ide Bootlick or somesuch.????

I. Don't. Care.

Just some acknowledgement we still exist. That's all I desire.

8 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

2. Think I'd rather have the straight buff to a skill rather than a straight one to glory. There's also that double edged sword aspect to glory so I wouldn't put it anywhere near the same level as military or political skill.

Also the prodigy is 1 cheaper in fate for the same skill. There's probably others like the Serene Warrior that would simply compete for the same slot in the future.

Then I would not recommend you play the Phoenix clan. This clan is not about front loaded strength. The Phoenix are designed to play in combos, utilizing control, the rings, and glory to their advantage instead of having raw stats the way the Crab do. This is why they have Asako Diplomat and Magnificent Kimono.

You can see the difference in play styles by simply comparing their champions. Kisada comes in 7/2/0, completely front loaded - no other card is that strong right up front. Tsukune is a 4/4/4. Factor in the honoring effects and Tsukune is more powerful than Kisada can ever be.

1 minute ago, shosuko said:

Then I would not recommend you play the Phoenix clan. This clan is not about front loaded strength. The Phoenix are designed to play in combos, utilizing control, the rings, and glory to their advantage instead of having raw stats the way the Crab do.

I have always said that the Phoenix labored under the Curse of Too Many Moving Parts in the CCG.

Straightforward Phoenix decks never felt quite right- even the most abusive degenerate lunacy of Emperor Edition required a modicum of setup.

7 minutes ago, RandomJC said:

I. Don't. Care.

Just some acknowledgement we still exist. That's all I desire.

Keep Calm and Carry On ?

They haven't dropped any families yet, so odds are in your favor.?

Besides without the Ide, they couldn't retread the "OMG our daimyo is actually a Scorpion spy!!" story ??

1 minute ago, Kuni Katsuyoshi said:

Keep Calm and Carry On ?

They haven't dropped any families yet, so odds are in your favor.?

Besides without the Ide, they couldn't retread the "OMG our daimyo is actually a Scorpion spy!!" story ??

...I doubt all things.

17 minutes ago, shosuko said:

Then I would not recommend you play the Phoenix clan. This clan is not about front loaded strength. The Phoenix are designed to play in combos, utilizing control, the rings, and glory to their advantage instead of having raw stats the way the Crab do. This is why they have Asako Diplomat and Magnificent Kimono.

You can see the difference in play styles by simply comparing their champions. Kisada comes in 7/2/0, completely front loaded - no other card is that strong right up front. Tsukune is a 4/4/4. Factor in the honoring effects and Tsukune is more powerful than Kisada can ever be.

The problem with the Kisada example is that ability that goes with him.

The other problem are characters like the Adapt of the Waves which feature a good skill spread for the cost and an excellent ability.

There's also the problem that the Yojimbo doesn't really combo with the rest of the faction. She's very much like the old Shadowmage Infiltrator in MtG: overrated and quite weak compared to the Wild Mongrels of the core set.

There's also that problem of other cards like the Way card that are very front loaded.

Well it's possible you'll get a generic that is clearly an Ide without the actual family name on the card. For example we didn't get a Kuni character in Crab, but we did get a Steadfast Witch Hunter who clearly studied the Kuni Shugenja school.

1 minute ago, phillos said:

Well it's possible you'll get a generic that is clearly an Ide without the actual family name on the card. For example we didn't get a Kuni character in Crab, but we did get a Steadfast Witch Hunter who clearly studied the Kuni Shugenja school.

My line is drawn at Ide. I won't accept a lack of the name Ide on the card.

3 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

The problem with the Kisada example is that ability that goes with him.

The other problem are characters like the Adapt of the Waves which feature a good skill spread for the cost and an excellent ability.

There's also the problem that the Yojimbo doesn't really combo with the rest of the faction. She's very much like the old Shadowmage Infiltrator in MtG: overrated and quite weak compared to the Wild Mongrels of the core set.

There's also that problem of other cards like the Way card that are very front loaded.

I kind of disagree with you about the Yojimbo. Not a bad stat line with an ability that works very well with the clan as a whole. It's a straight negate of an ability that targets a shugenja. She works well with the clan as a whole.

10 minutes ago, Kubernes said:

The problem with the Kisada example is that ability that goes with him.

The other problem are characters like the Adapt of the Waves which feature a good skill spread for the cost and an excellent ability.

There's also the problem that the Yojimbo doesn't really combo with the rest of the faction. She's very much like the old Shadowmage Infiltrator in MtG: overrated and quite weak compared to the Wild Mongrels of the core set.

There's also that problem of other cards like the Way card that are very front loaded.

Tsukune has an ability that goes with her too How is this not comparable?

Sure, there are other characters like Adapt of the Waves - who is 2 for 2/2/2, with a nifty ability - but who is going to protect that character from Assassination? Or Blackmail? 2 cost is a prime target for these cards, and this Yojimbo is the counter spell to those types of effects.

She isn't "zomg great." She is situational, depending on the abilities your opponent would use - but quite useful in her niche of saving Shugenja from the ill effects that might target them.

Imagine Doji Challenger with Crane - great shenanigans but if your first two characters are this Yojimbo and the Adept of Waves - you can prevent the Challenger's ability to pull Adapt of Waves. That is a pretty useful cancel - and a very realistic scenario in the current game. Consider there is also Rout, Shameful Display, and other nasty effects that she can block without even being in the conflict and I would say this card has its place cut out for it.

3 minutes ago, phillos said:

Well it's possible you'll get a generic that is clearly an Ide without the actual family name on the card. For example we didn't get a Kuni character in Crab, but we did get a Steadfast Witch Hunter who clearly studied the Kuni Shugenja school.

I'm trying not to think about the fact there are no 'Kuni' cards yet.☹️☹️

Hopefully in the first Dynasty pack.....or something 'bad' could happen ??jk