As someone who played the original version of the game from the tail end of Imperial Edition right until the bitter end (and beyond - I travel to Philly annually for TanukiFest and went over to Sheffield last year for their Modern format event), I have huge love for the brand, and had extremely high expectations of the LCG. It met and exceeded them. I strongly urge you to give the game a try and see for yourself - there are several online platforms so can do so without laying out any money.

Also, I recommend reading this review of the game:

https://www.gametrademagazine.com/Home/1/1/58/628?articleID=205570

21 hours ago, Tokhuah said:

So, there you have it from a former competitive gamer who is "retired" and more interested in just flipping some cards with friends, sometimes with libations, and always a side of jank. IMO, mostly what has been done so far with new L5R is a success because it is currently fun to play. 8/10

Now you may return to meta talk.

As another former OL5R player that only play casual, I agree with this 100%: the game is fun to play.

Sure, it takes us about 2 hours to finish a game, and sure, not all of us have all the packs, and heck, our only Lion player doesn’t includes Ujiaki in account of “meh, he’s not that great”. And yeah, our most competitive player (which is a new player in the wonderful world of Rokugan) is fixated in Unicorn because “Goddannit, people, there MUST be a way to win consistently with this clan, and I swear I’m gonna find it!”...

But I haven’t had a single game which wasn’t funny to play, and neither has any of my friends.

When my Lion friend had the perfect Dynasty flop, and the perfect hand, ended up with seven characters out in the first dynasty phase, and I Policy Debated (with Crab!) his FGG from his hand before he could use it, to put a Fate on all of them, he didn’t rage, ranted, or quit the game... he just congratulated me and “Demn, you got me there good!” me, and we had a good laugh. And he ended up winning the game for just 1 MIL.

So yeah, pretty sure this game has its problems at the competitive scene, but casual game... it’s good. And face it guys, casual players are way more than competitives.

Played at GenCon and Worlds. Had lots of great games against friends old and new. Competitive scene is great.

On 25.1.2018 at 4:15 PM, Yogo Gohei said:

Just to throw in my two cents: The province mechanic is my least favorite part of this game. They should be face up by default, with maybe a few that have a keyword allowing them to start face down.

Being blindsided because you guessed wrong is not a great fit for a game that is otherwise extremely strategic and decision based.

Hmmm that is what scouting cards are for... IMHO

I personally like province mechanic a lot. I always try to scout the province before I try something big.

Matter of taste I suppose!

5 minutes ago, Hannibal_pjv said:

Hmmm that is what scouting cards are for... IMHO

I personally like province mechanic a lot. I always try to scout the province before I try something big.

Matter of taste I suppose!

Adding my 2 cents in favor of current provinces (though also noting that I'm pretty far from being a competitive player...) One thing I note is that it tends to slow the game down a bit, adding 1 or even 2 turns while we feel each other out / scout provinces with scrubs. The players who try to rush/win still can, but it is a higher risk. Personally I find it a good trade off.

True. Scouting slows down the game and means that some turns are more defensive, because you don't blind attack because of reasons.

I played the old game off and on from about Broken Blades till A Matter of Honor's boxed set. Once you get past the shock of the mechanical changes, and pick up on the board-game aspect of the game it's better. Just better in every way. It's still a little raw because it doesn't have the card pool just yet, but i figure in a year from now they'll work out these early gripes. A bad province flip is no more game breaking than running into an annoying terrain like entrapping or encircled. Oh well, guess I've gotta wiggle my way out of this and try again next time /shrug.

I'd urge anyone who liked the old game to play it for free with the wonders of the internet. And I can't say enough good things about the LCG format. ~$200 and I have every card in the first two sets? Yes, yes please. I can play every clan with all their strongholds, champs and deck rares? Mhmm. Sold.

On 1/26/2018 at 5:06 PM, llamaman88 said:

I can play every clan with all their strongholds, champs and deck rares? Mhmm. Sold.

Well... except for Mantis.

2 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

Well... except for Mantis.

They're coming! And seem even cooler than before

23 hours ago, llamaman88 said:

They're coming! And seem even cooler than before

How could they be cooler?

Only thing we know so far is that they're pirates (they've done that before) and could be responsible of the tsunami that hit the Crane coast (Storm riders, here we come )

Yoritomo has received a significant character makeover too, to be fair.

5 hours ago, Ser Nakata said:

could be responsible of the tsunami that hit the Crane coast

Don't the Phoenix believe the odd behavior of the kami to be responsible for that?

18 minutes ago, Swordbreaker said:

Don't the Phoenix believe the odd behavior of the kami to be responsible for that?

Isn't it the opposite? Aren't the kami upset because of whatever caused the tsunami?

Or, could the Phoenix be wrong? I mean, I know it'd be the first time a Phoenix makes a bad decision, but still...

1 hour ago, Ser Nakata said:

Isn't it the opposite? Aren't the kami upset because of whatever caused the tsunami?...

No, in one of the last fictions, the one with Kaede and Ishikawa, it’s implied that the tsunami could’ve been caused by the imbalance. Not only that, but the imbalance was primarily in Phoenix lands and is now spreading... which leads me to think (as I said before in another post) that maybe it was a failed Phoenix spell/ritual the one who caused the tsunami. So the Phoenix is even more interested in keeping quiet about it, to prevent a big diplomatic incident (or even war) with the Crane.

28 minutes ago, Tabris2k said:

maybe it was a failed Phoenix spell/ritual the one who caused the tsunami. So the Phoenix is even more interested in keeping quiet about it, to prevent a big diplomatic incident (or even war) with the Crane.

Must have been a pretty low-key one, though.

Alternatively, perhaps FFG is going with the idea that Rokugan is getting to liberal with their use of magic, and the kami are 'rebelling' or something like that. Obviously, that would hit the Phoenix the hardest.

On 1/24/2018 at 8:16 PM, kiramode said:

I don't think that the face down province mechanic is inherently bad. It's only bad if the provinces are game swinging. It's not as simple as "play around it". There's a lot of competitive decks that simply can't play around certain provinces. They don't stop being good decks, they just have a certain percentage of games that they'll lose if they roll a 1. Games being decided by pure chance isn't good. Of course you can opt not to play any deck that has the potential to get blown out by provinces, but then you limit your deck options significantly. I have yet to meet a person that thinks having less competitive options is better than more.

This cycle brought us provinces that are interesting, worth running, and don't just end the game by flipping in the wrong situations. The cycle also brought us Feast or Famine. And that's really where the issue is. You can make the case that anytime you have face down provinces there will always be something like FoF that will make the whole thing look like a dumb idea from the start. But you can also as a design team make a conscious decision to not make swingy provinces that end games by chance.

The face-down provinces don't bother me in general, but there are certain provinces that can be a bit aggravating. Probably the worst I've encountered is Shameful Display, just because both Honoring and Dishonoring can be such powerful effects, and SD gives you both of them.

Speaking of which, this may just be because I'm a former CCG player, but I'm a little concerned how quickly Honor and Dishonor decks are gaining support. They're nowhere near as bad as they were in the CCG, of course (at least now the person usually has to get into some fights), but I do hope it's something that FFG is keeping an eye on, to make sure we don't end up with those sorts of solitaire decks.