Just now, Tonbo Karasu said:

Tsuruchi's not Mantis! He's Wasp.

I meant Mantis as a Great Clan, obviously. I suppose it's possible in this storyline that Wasp will become the Great Clan, but honestly, I'd prefer if someone else dealt with all that politics and leadership nonsense, so we can stick to doing what we do best: taking enemies down from well out of range of their swords/spears/poems/etc.

5 hours ago, Joe From Cincinnati said:

Because that's what we need. More negation haha. The 6 event cancel Crane Scorpion deck isn't enough. We need to get Dragon in on that action now ;).

To be fair... it would still only allow a 6 event cancel deck, you would just choose which combination.

The Horde just needs a Stronghold!

Probably won't show up until the Lion Deluxe box but Beastmaster and Omoidasu.

Lion deluxe box?

46 minutes ago, Manchu said:

Lion deluxe box?

Besides the Core and the dynasty packs, FFG also announced that they would be releasing Deluxe box sets. General speculation is that the Deluxe boxes will feature one or two clans. So a Lion Clan deluxe box would probably include Beastmaster and Omoidasu cards.

I had just assumed deluxe boxes would reflect major events rather than focusing on clans.

5 minutes ago, Manchu said:

I had just assumed deluxe boxes would reflect major events rather than focusing on clans.

It could we just don't know yet.

Focusing on clans will frustrate those whose clans are not chosen first as well as frustrate those whose clans are chosen first, who might claim subsequent deluxe boxes have stronger cards.

But focusing on events will draw complaints about buying cards for clans some don't play.

6 hours ago, Manchu said:

Focusing on clans will frustrate those whose clans are not chosen first as well as frustrate those whose clans are chosen first, who might claim subsequent deluxe boxes have stronger cards.

That's true, but it didn't stop them from doing it that way in Game of Thrones.

I'm not sure how they're going to do deluxe boxes, but clan boxes is definitely going to be one of the most likely options.

RETRIBUTION!

Dragon needs a 3 cost unique monk that isn't prohibited from holding attachments and has a relevant ability. Really, it just needs that, for the Monk deck to start coming together. Mantra of Fire and Ascetic Visionary are great force multipliers, but at the moment they completely lack targets. Our best target for them is actually Togashi Kazue, who, as a character, is literally just a 3/3/1 for 3 with the monk trait. So what we need, in my estimation, is a weapons platform style monk character, similar to how Raitsugu, Niten Master and Yokuni function.

6 minutes ago, Cambeul no Oni said:

RETRIBUTION!

Broad Front.

On 9/12/2017 at 0:08 PM, Joe From Cincinnati said:

Because that's what we need. More negation haha. The 6 event cancel Crane Scorpion deck isn't enough. We need to get Dragon in on that action now ;).

Dragon do need it, if the Voltron deck us going to be our main mechanic. The card could be even more conditional than what I proposed, perhaps requiring bowing two attachments.

3 hours ago, Khift said:

Dragon needs a 3 cost unique monk that isn't prohibited from holding attachments and has a relevant ability. Really, it just needs that, for the Monk deck to start coming together. Mantra of Fire and Ascetic Visionary are great force multipliers, but at the moment they completely lack targets. Our best target for them is actually Togashi Kazue, who, as a character, is literally just a 3/3/1 for 3 with the monk trait. So what we need, in my estimation, is a weapons platform style monk character, similar to how Raitsugu, Niten Master and Yokuni function.

Ascetic Visionary can target "a monk or character with monk attachments." I assume if you play Tattooed Wanderer or Kazue on any character they qualify since those are monk attachments. Is this not correct?

16 hours ago, Manchu said:

Focusing on clans will frustrate those whose clans are not chosen first as well as frustrate those whose clans are chosen first, who might claim subsequent deluxe boxes have stronger cards.

But focusing on events will draw complaints about buying cards for clans some don't play.

And the Clans in the middle will complain that they weren't chosen first, and when they are chosen their cards are not as sting as those that come after.

4 hours ago, shosuko said:

Ascetic Visionary can target "a monk or character with monk attachments." I assume if you play Tattooed Wanderer or Kazue on any character they qualify since those are monk attachments. Is this not correct?

Yes, that is correct, however it turns out to be less good in practice than it sounds. The issues with this are two-fold:

1. A character with a Tattooed Wanderer has Covert, and generally you only benefit from Covert when attacking. So to actually benefit here, you attack with the character and not defend with them. However, Ascetic Visionary also only works when attacking, which means that Ascetic Visionary's best usage is actually defensive in nature - defend with a Monk, attack with Ascetic Visionary, and then defend with that Monk again. So, there's some negative synergy there with Tattooed Wanderer.

2. Togashi Kazue is... Togashi Kazue. I don't feel the need to beat a dead horse, and she's actually quite good if you can get her to stick, but almost every deck is shaping up to have attachment hate and when she gets discarded it's sad, sad times.

But yes, right now those two cards are generally the only way that Ascetic can trigger his ability in a meaningful way. I've actually been playing a deck recently with Ascetic and Kazue and I've found that Kazue is actually okay as a character, if only because sometimes you get some crazy value out of her via Ascetic and Mantra of Fire. it's not good enough to be competitively viable, but it's cute. One more monk, though, would really go a long, long way.

On 9/12/2017 at 0:05 AM, Virtigo said:

Unicorn: Some other incentive to going first or reward tempo control.
new stronghold,
new province,
new clan champ,
new 'way of' card
new 4 cost Unique character
new card to honor or gain honor
new unicorn event negation or protection card

I know you said just '1' but Unicorn seem to have more holes than the Seahawk's offensive line.

i disagree....they seems underpower but they dont...just need to learn very very well their playstyle.

It would have been nice for the Unicorn Stronghold to have an impact on the game like the other strongholds, rather than the "maybe, in certain situations... this might work..." build it is now. Considering the way the game has been revamped, they could have given all Unicorn personalities cavalry so that they can interact with the stronghold. I mean, sure, maybe stronger cards that key off the cavalry trait might eventually come out, but with the first personality they get in the dynasty packs being non-cavalry, I'm not holding my breath.

2 hours ago, Yoritomo Alex said:

i disagree....they seems underpower but they dont...just need to learn very very well their playstyle.

Needing to learn how to play a certain way to best overcome the weaknesses of your clan generally means your clan is underpowered.

I'm hoping for a few power cards for Unicorn during this cycle. The new character from the first dynasty pack should help.

Meh. Without diving too deep into the constant hyperbolic discussion of Unicorn power levels, I don't think it is unfair to say they have one of the highest skill floors as a clan in the game. That's more or less inherent to playing tempo in a system like L5R's; when you are making all the right plays you are bleeding the opponent dry, making them waste fate and cards, but as soon as you make an error it can swing and swing big.

Needing high skill in order for them to catch up with other clans is in itself a handicap. Unicorn are easily punished for their mistakes, and I will also say that I personally believe they are underpowered ATM by having too many (3) cost + cards, and not enough impactful event cards and so few character abilities to directly manipulate board state.

22 minutes ago, Virtigo said:

Needing high skill in order for them to catch up with other clans is in itself a handicap. Unicorn are easily punished for their mistakes, and I will also say that I personally believe they are underpowered ATM by having too many (3) cost + cards, and not enough impactful event cards and so few character abilities to directly manipulate board state.

Having a high skill floor doesn't necessarily mean something is weak. That is entirely dependent on the skill ceiling and what power level that corresponds to. That's not to say I have any clue what the ceiling is for Unicorn, nor that I think they are top of the power level. I also think very few folks have had the time to refine play, given that the game isn't released yet and has many more layers of strategy than a typical game.

Crane needs a self-honoring master duelist, ala Honored General.

I also hope that Honor wins get some love because right now while Dishonoring is a viable secondary win condition, Honor wins are next to impossible to pull of.

7 hours ago, C2K said:

It would have been nice for the Unicorn Stronghold to have an impact on the game like the other strongholds, rather than the "maybe, in certain situations... this might work..." build it is now. Considering the way the game has been revamped, they could have given all Unicorn personalities cavalry so that they can interact with the stronghold. I mean, sure, maybe stronger cards that key off the cavalry trait might eventually come out, but with the first personality they get in the dynasty packs being non-cavalry, I'm not holding my breath.

Its too bad the SH doesn't let you move out of conflicts, I think that is what Unicorn is really missing.