Hey All!

With the Scorpion preview finally out in the open, we have enough knowledge to talk clan pairings, perhaps the most interesting aspect (IMO) of deckbuilding straight out of the box. I was just curious as to what everyone was feeling were the best pairings for each given clan, heck just any pairings they find interesting or compelling in some way. I'll volunteer some more "interesting" pairings I've been thinking about, to get the discussion going.

Crane splashing Unicorn: By drawing on Ide Messenger and Favorable Mount from Unicorn and combining them with Doji Challenger, Admit Defeat and Kakita Kaezin this combo basically dictates who gets to turn up to a specific conflict. The idea of cherry picking both the guys you bring and the opponents you face in a given conflict sounds amazingly fun.

Phoenix splashing Dragon: SHUGENJA SPAM! Spells for days, ring/fate manipulation all over, more tricks and combos than I can count. I don't know what your end game is with this pairing, but playing against it must be mind-boggling.

After seeing scorpion spoilers, I think the fire chickens will be forced into a Crane influence for access to 5 copies of anti-event meta.

I will be splashing Unicorn (Spyglass and that Iuchi scouting machine) to let me dig for cards and/or, in the case of the Iuchi, figure out which enemy provinces are traps...

In my opinion the Scorpion being influenced by Phoenix is a no-brainer all day. Kimono to rehonor your courtiers for free, as well as buff them a little, And Seeker of Knowledge to guarantee Air Rings AND do it as a courtier. What more do you want!?

As Crab and Scorpion develop though I can see the Scarab pairing becoming a match made in heaven.

Just now, Daigotsu Steve said:

In my opinion the Scorpion being influenced by Phoenix is a no-brainer all day. Kimono to rehonor your courtiers for free, as well as buff them a little, And Seeker of Knowledge to guarantee Air Rings AND do it as a courtier. What more do you want!?

As Crab and Scorpion develop though I can see the Scarab pairing becoming a match made in heaven.

Ooh I like it! I was looking at that pairing earlier but couldn't find anything that shined, didn't really think of the application for Seeker of Knowledge.

13 minutes ago, Zetsubou said:

Ooh I like it! I was looking at that pairing earlier but couldn't find anything that shined, didn't really think of the application for Seeker of Knowledge.

Yeah man, and in an ideal world the Scorpion go with Keeper of Air as their role to get access to Manicured Gardens and Secret Stash cause we certainly don't need a Seeker role, cause two of Phonixes nicest gifts to us are both only ONE influence =3

All right, I'll throw out another to fill the gap. Unicorn splashing Dragon: take your full playset of Tattooed Wanderer, combine it with Giver of Gifts and that patented Unicorn mobility and what do you get? First, a pony swinging in with Tattooed Wanderer tacked on, pick the worst possible (for you) defender your opponent could declare, covert it. Then, after declaration step, swing in with all your backup ponies via Favorite Mount, Ide Messenger, etc to punish. Next, use Giver of Gifts to pass the Wanderer on his way and repeat (perhaps right away if you have a Breakthrough in hand!)

I feel like Unicorn are BEGGING for For Greater Glory and Sashimono. I plan on going 2 and 2 in my Pony deck.

3 minutes ago, twinstarbmc said:

I feel like Unicorn are BEGGING for For Greater Glory and Sashimono. I plan on going 2 and 2 in my Pony deck.

I definitely see the appeal, but I don't play well with Lions...

11 minutes ago, Zetsubou said:

I definitely see the appeal, but I don't play well with Lions...

Eh, you're not playing with them though, just stealing their toys.

7 hours ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

Yeah man, and in an ideal world the Scorpion go with Seeker of Air as their role to get access to Manicured Gardens and Secret Stash cause we certainly don't need a Keeper role, cause two of Phoenixes nicest gifts to us are both only ONE influence =3

Fixed.

No one's mentioned it, probably because it's obvious, but I'll just say pretty much anyone can feel good about running Dragon. Between Let Go, Mirumoto's Fury, and/or Tattooed Wanderer Dragon are the utility splash.

I also like Crab running Unicorn for Captive Audience.

I think the only two obvious pairings I can see are Dragon splashing Crab and Lion splashing Unicorn. The former to get hold of Reprieve and The Mountain Does Not Fall for your tooled-up powerhouses, and the latter to give a Clan that already excels in Military conflicts the chance to accelerate their path to victory.

Not sure who I'd pair Phoenix with. Crane seems most likely, in order to get access to some of the nullifying stuff, but I kind of resent being forced to go down a 'reactive' route rather than a 'proactive' one just on the off-chance that there will be lots of Scorpion around.

Splashing Dragon sounds like a fun and mind-teasing idea for the ring manipulation, but ultimately - in the early days of the game at least - I envisage the dominant clans being those that can routinely and rapidly break provinces before their opponent has time to get all their ducks in a row.

I'm going to splash Dragon into a Lion deck to get access to the excellent Ancestral attachments. Being able to play them over and over, in a Lion deck which has a high character turnover, will be very valuable. It'll also help me get away with bidding low for card draw.

I feel that Phoenix might like to splash Crane, for more honoring effects, and similarly, Crane splashing Phoenix for useful stuff (can supernatural storm and Serene Warrior or whatever be splashed?) and they can honor them easier, and can get some nice military bonuses, since the Phoenix are more balanced.

1 hour ago, Caldera said:

Splashing Dragon sounds like a fun and mind-teasing idea for the ring manipulation, but ultimately - in the early days of the game at least - I envisage the dominant clans being those that can routinely and rapidly break provinces before their opponent has time to get all their ducks in a row.

You're the second person in this that's mentioned splashing Dragon to get Ring manipulation.

Did you both mean Phoenix? Dragon has a couple of cards that deal with putting extra Fate on Rings, or benefiting from Fate on Rings, but they're Dynasty characters. You can't use any of them in another clan's deck. Meanwhile, Phoenix have multiple Conflict cards that allow you to mess around with which Rings get claimed, who claims them, etc.

(Also: Phoenix destroys any Dragon player trying to use the "Fate on Rings" combos)

7 hours ago, twinstarbmc said:

I feel like Unicorn are BEGGING for For Greater Glory and Sashimono. I plan on going 2 and 2 in my Pony deck.

I somehow prefer Ready for Battle and Strength in Numbers.

The Dragon's Let Go is universally good for anyone who needs anti-attachments. And Crane/Scorpion already have anti-event stuff...

I'm probably going to try splashing Unicorn in my Phoenix deck, because

1) I like movement tricks (Favored Mount) even though I already know that movement tricks are not a win condition, but I apparently have never learned my lesson.

2) Also, the Iuchi scout is a cheap Shugenja with a useful ability, and

3) I want to see how Breakthrough works for increased dominance in claiming rings / denying rings to the opponent.

3 hours ago, Togashi Gao Shan said:

You're the second person in this that's mentioned splashing Dragon to get Ring manipulation.

Did you both mean Phoenix? Dragon has a couple of cards that deal with putting extra Fate on Rings, or benefiting from Fate on Rings, but they're Dynasty characters. You can't use any of them in another clan's deck. Meanwhile, Phoenix have multiple Conflict cards that allow you to mess around with which Rings get claimed, who claims them, etc.

(Also: Phoenix destroys any Dragon player trying to use the "Fate on Rings" combos)

My bad: I was thinking of stuff like Mantra of Fire (forgetting that it had the Monk restriction), and i mis-remembered Dragon as having more ring/fate manipulation in their Conflict deck, whereas as you rightly say it is pretty much confined to their Dynasty deck - which rather pours water on that idea.

Dragon as your main faction on the other hand... Feels like there are numerous good splashes to choose from: Crab, Phoenix, Crane...

Once there are a couple more ways for Crane to hand out Honor(or maybe even dishonor) tokens I fully expect Scorp influenced Crane packing Edict to be something people are very wary of. I'm not sure how effective that would be out of the box(or maybe even ever) given how the cards are designed to be directly opposed to each other, but the thought of abusing my status as a high honor clan as a way of mitigating lots of low honor tactics really pleases me lol

Im leaning Crane/Unicorn or Crane/Phoenix at present.

scorpion into crab for levy. either bully them with dishonour fear into giving fate, or take the honour and spend it on card draw, cycling the deck and nasty tricks quicker. win win

Crab has better dishonor pressure than Scorp in the dynasty deck. You'd probably be better off with Crab base and Scorp splash, especially since Scorpion's stronghold doesn't function if your opponent is about to lose via dishonor.

the goal isn't too dishonour them, its to make them give you stuff. its not maybe the best splash, but scorp already has the best stuff so its just to slimline the deck and get more of your best stuff quicker.

New plan. Dragon with Ponies.

Favorite steed, on my big guy so you never know where he will go.

Spy glass for extra fate. (comboes really well with daimyo's favor) and I still have room for something else

I'm thinking crab, dragon or crane for Phoenix. Probably crane because my main opponent is scorpion