As former Seeker of Void, I feel the loss probably more keenly than most people. It's hard to overstate how great that extra fate was, and that's even when I put Kuroi Mori on my stronghold, so it never flipped up until end-game. I'd rather have flexibility with province choice from Seeker than 3 influence for flexibility in conflict deck choice. Provinces are just far more influential per-game than one conflict card that many games won't even be seen.

I do think that Keeper-only cards have been more appealing to me than the Seeker-only cards so far. Seeker Initiate's just league worse than Keeper, though. Especially with the battle for favor that's going to start happening, Keepers are always relevant. Seekers cost fate and require you to win your ring after tossing away fate on a 1/1. It's just not worth it, because it gives your opponent a clear chance to deny you your investment. It's a win-more card. At least with Keepers, you can just toss them in the graveyard if you're not going to win the ring you need that turn.

21 minutes ago, Soshi Nimue said:

I have listened to him, and he doesn't say anything new. He hated the idea of BC and played Scorpion to stop it. There really isn't much more than that, and no matter how passionate a player is does not change the merits of their actions. He didn't make the decision, but for some reason the decision was attributed to him - although there is a large amount of backpedaling from everyone to try and paint a pretty picture of what was essentially a player getting heated over a card and throwing everything at it in a misguided attempt to "fix" a game that isn't broken.

Ironically the people who support him love to chime in with tough-love answers like "learn to play the game better" and such, the irony being that Brad needed to learn to play the game better. He would have realized that BC isn't some doomsday card and all of his efforts to censor the card don't change the fact that it wouldn't have killed the game, and players would have learned to play accordingly.

Pilgrimage isn't so great a province that I would give up any keeper cards for it.

You clearly have not listened to any interviews with him, as he has stated while he initially disliked Backhanded Compliment, he has explicitly said he did not think it was a doomsday card and that his decision to play Scorpion had far more important aspects to him then a card.

As for Pilgrimage, we obviously play very different decks and that is up to personal choice in the end.

31 minutes ago, Soshi Nimue said:

But - ya know - you're free to be a fanboi if you want. I don't care if you think these players are gods who know everything. This circle jerk is played out already, you can go hero-worship if you want but they are no heros to me.

a) Never claimed to be a fanboy,

b) I never said I think these players are gods

c) I was not hero worshipping in the first place

d) I do not care if you think they are hero's or not, I do not think they are myself

The level of arrogance in this paragraph is amazing, you made assumptions about me with no evidence, maybe in the future do not make assumptions about things/people. I am done with this conversation as you seem to like to insult me personally rather than have a pleasant discussion.

Going back to the Unicorn 5-cost character. My guess would be Utaku Kamoko. She's a "feared battle maiden commander" who is currently in the Imperial City with Tadaji (as seen in the new Unicorn fiction today). A fierce commander like her would be worthy of a 5-cost.

12 minutes ago, ElSuave said:

Going back to the Unicorn 5-cost character. My guess would be Utaku Kamoko. She's a "feared battle maiden commander" who is currently in the Imperial City with Tadaji (as seen in the new Unicorn fiction today). A fierce commander like her would be worthy of a 5-cost.

I certainly hope so - the ability would suit her well. The 1 Glory ... eh... idk about that though - didn't Battlemaidens typically have high Personal Honor before? and PH is basically Glory now... Utaku Yumino does... so unless that isn't a constant theme that makes me wonder if its someone else.

54 minutes ago, shosuko said:

I certainly hope so - the ability would suit her well. The 1 Glory ... eh... idk about that though - didn't Battlemaidens typically have high Personal Honor before? and PH is basically Glory now... Utaku Yumino does... so unless that isn't a constant theme that makes me wonder if its someone else.

I think the one glory is decent, though the Battlemaiden idea seems like it should have high glory. However, high glory is both a gift and a curse (Way of the Scorpion target).

On 28/11/2017 at 4:00 PM, Monty Pillepalle said:

If that unicorn monster is really coming, its got to be Kamoko.

Or Kamoko's predecessor as daimyo, her mother, whose death started a feud with Agetoki.

So far, all of the 5-costers are people who are influential in Otosan Uchi. Kamoko wasn't, until just recently.

36 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

So far, all of the 5-costers are people who are influential in Otosan Uchi. Kamoko wasn't, until just recently.

What Unicorn Clan character is currently influential in Otosan Uchi besides Ide Tadaji?

17 minutes ago, Silverfox13 said:

What Unicorn Clan character is currently influential in Otosan Uchi besides Ide Tadaji?

Kamoko makes sense and the design of the card could be very similar to that new courtier: some sort of ability based on not having the favor.

12 hours ago, Soshi Nimue said:

Its 2 cost for 1/1 which starts out bad, and you only get his effect AFTER you win the conflict of the ring type. This telegraphs to your opponent what ring you plan to go after, and requires you win this conflict to get anything from it. Unless you are already ahead, buying the initiate puts you behind in power for that conflict already. No ring is always valuable so you may have to make a decision that doesn't help you win just to trigger the ability.

The ability is great on Seeker Initiate - its everything else about it that is complete garbage. 2 cost for a 1/1? What other character would you buy for this? Goblin Sneak is only good because taking a fate away from your opponent may prevent them from winning the conflict but drawing a card after the conflict is done? I'll spend my 2 fate on a character that can do something, and just take ring of earth.

I disagree bit that could be because I'm running crane with what seems like loads of ways to honour it. It has glory 2 and even without it being used is a good way for applying pressure for the favor. I find it comes I to play and if you do a air ring ,for crane, it forces the opponent into a choice about how much resources they are willing to use to stop you getting it. This decision alone I feel is worth it as this either leaves my second conflict with an opponent with spent resources and characters or an extra card for me. I feel these little choices make the seeker initiate good regardless of winning the conflict.

15 hours ago, Soshi Nimue said:

Midnight Madness isn't automatically a Scorpion win either considering our new, more unbalanced stat line. Phoenix and Dragon are going to love Midnight Madness more than Scorpion or Crane.

The rest of the stuff has been spoken about already, but what is Midnight Madness? Do you mean Fiery Madness, or is there a new poison?

Also, 'new' unbalanced stats? We've been easily the most lopsided clan in the game since it began lol, and if anything it just keeps getting worse!

There was a card that was partially revealed called Mono No Aware:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/10/11/the-imperial-cycle/

I forgot about this one but last week the leakers claimed this 3 cost event was:
Action: Remove 1 fate from each character. Draw 1 card. (Max 1 per round).

4 hours ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

The rest of the stuff has been spoken about already, but what is Midnight Madness? Do you mean Fiery Madness, or is there a new poison?

Also, 'new' unbalanced stats? We've been easily the most lopsided clan in the game since it began lol, and if anything it just keeps getting worse!

I think he meant the leaked void province, Massing at Twilight. The leaked image indicates it'll be at 8 Province Strength, but characters count both military and political skill towards conflict resolution.

1 hour ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

I think he meant the leaked void province, Massing at Twilight. The leaked image indicates it'll be at 8 Province Strength, but characters count both military and political skill towards conflict resolution.

Oh yeah I know about that one.

It's terrible for us. It could probably be considered a tech province for Dragons and Phoenix players specifically worried about Scorpion aggro. The more balanced your guys, the better this card is for you.

Not sure it's going to get played anyway, Province picks are the tightest in the game.

And I think it was Void only, or at least a Void Province, which makes it a pretty premium piece.

12 minutes ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

Oh yeah I know about that one.

It's terrible for us. It could probably be considered a tech province for Dragons and Phoenix players specifically worried about Scorpion aggro. The more balanced your guys, the better this card is for you.

Not sure it's going to get played anyway, Province picks are the tightest in the game.

Well, I mean I wouldn't mind using it. Dishonored characters will be hit twice as hard because of the double penalty for each stat. Might use it as a replacement for Entrench to try out the new Before the Throne for dishonor.

1 hour ago, ElSuave said:

I forgot about this one but last week the leakers claimed this 3 cost event was:
Action: Remove 1 fate from each character. Draw 1 card. (Max 1 per round).

I need one of these in my deck.... yeah, bring on Scorpion... ??

(Then I believe it would work like this: Pure supposition here - I have a single character with no Fate, while my opponent has 4 characters on the board, 3 of whom have 1 or more Fate.... Remove 3 Fate from opponent and none from my character as it doesn’t have any... this would be a great Event to play in the end phase of a round)

16 minutes ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

Not sure it's going to get played anyway, Province picks are the tightest in the game.

Orrrrrrr, you can run a Dragon Duality Deck; “Triple D!!”

While constructing a Dragon Duality Deck, you are allowed to place 2 of any Same Province types into your deck. Which would mean that you can run 2 Void Provinces and 2 Air Provinces and an additional Province, for example. Opponents must be told that you are running a Triple D! deck, and you must shrug ?‍♀️ and begin to shuffle your deck. Play begins as standard.

1 hour ago, Daigotsu Steve said:

It's terrible for us. It could probably be considered a tech province for Dragons and Phoenix players specifically worried about Scorpion aggro. The more balanced your guys, the better this card is for you.

Not sure it's going to get played anyway, Province picks are the tightest in the game.

With the Soshi, Poison, and Dishonor all double dipping in their effects at that province, I'm certain some Scorpions will run it. Almost seems silly not to. Unicorn get access to it as well, and we'll certainly try it out because we are generally stat balanced as well.

5 minutes ago, Iuchi Toshimo said:

With the Soshi, Poison, and Dishonor all double dipping in their effects at that province, I'm certain some Scorpions will run it. Almost seems silly not to. Unicorn get access to it as well, and we'll certainly try it out because we are generally stat balanced as well.

You guys are also fairly high-glory, which makes Shameful Display a very nice province for you. Do you think you'd run Massing over Shameful Display?

I'm trying to learn Unicorn, haven't had much of a chance to play mine yet though. Seems like a hard choice.

46 minutes ago, Shosuro Teri said:

Well, I mean I wouldn't mind using it. Dishonored characters will be hit twice as hard because of the double penalty for each stat. Might use it as a replacement for Entrench to try out the new Before the Throne for dishonor.

God Speed.

I don't see myself as part of the world where that is better for just about any Scorp build than Shameful or Pilgrimage. Even though it doubles the power of a lot of our nerfs, I think this card is going to go in line with your opponent more often then you. But get that data!

Scorpion aren't exactly balanced stat-wise, so it won't help them win the conflict, but it does seem like it'd help them not lose the province to a break. It gives you an extra 4 province strength, which means that unless the attacking characters have a combined off-stat of 4 or less, it helps you not break. Obviously better on small attacks rather than board-wide ones like Lion tends to do. On the other hand, I'm not used to using Pilgrimage, and in my experience, Scorpion is pretty good at keeping me from breaking a province. I suppose something that lets them commit fewer resources on the defense to give me the win but not ring effect is a pretty strong play, so it's got to be a tough choice between 'Easily defend but give them the ring effect' and 'Better to successfully defend.'

4 hours ago, AradonTemplar said:

Scorpion aren't exactly balanced stat-wise, so it won't help them win the conflict, but it does seem like it'd help them not lose the province to a break. It gives you an extra 4 province strength, which means that unless the attacking characters have a combined off-stat of 4 or less, it helps you not break. Obviously better on small attacks rather than board-wide ones like Lion tends to do. On the other hand, I'm not used to using Pilgrimage, and in my experience, Scorpion is pretty good at keeping me from breaking a province. I suppose something that lets them commit fewer resources on the defense to give me the win but not ring effect is a pretty strong play, so it's got to be a tough choice between 'Easily defend but give them the ring effect' and 'Better to successfully defend.'

My spreadsheet puts the Scorpion at about 41% balanced, which is kind of middling: Dragon, Phoenix and Crab are better, but Lion, Crane and Unicorn are worse.

36 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

My spreadsheet puts the Scorpion at about 41% balanced, which is kind of middling: Dragon, Phoenix and Crab are better, but Lion, Crane and Unicorn are worse.

I'm honestly not sure balanced stats matter as much as being balanced on traits.

2 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

I'm honestly not sure balanced stats matter as much as being balanced on traits.

It was being discussed in terms of how good the Void role Province would be, which counts both Military and Political skill.

1 hour ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

It was being discussed in terms of how good the Void role Province would be, which counts both Military and Political skill.

Yeah I get it. I was just wondering out loud