Elemental Cycle & Scorpion Pack Spoilers

By Tonbo Karasu, in Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game

42 minutes ago, Schmoozies said:

I would love that since he was one of my favorite underused characters, but its a little early for that unfortuantely (he had his Gempuku while being fostered in the Mantis in the old story so should still be a toddler at this point).

If FFG can change Genders, they can change Ages too. (Not to mention islands that totally shouldn't be there....)

Wasn't Aramasu an adult during the War Against the Darkness which is only 6-7 years from now? So he shouldn't be that young.

Either way, they can make him whatever age they want, so no worries of a time paradox.

And hey, we just found out today that Isawa Tomo may not even exist (which I’m okay with; it’s nice to see some prominent Asako.)

Edited by Suzume Tomonori
7 hours ago, shineyorkboy said:

Wasn't Aramasu an adult during the War Against the Darkness which is only 6-7 years from now? So he shouldn't be that young.

He was one of the underage Children that the Mantis fostered for the Scorpion when they were banished following Toturi's disappearance at the start of the Hidden Emperor story arc. He underwent his Gempuku while he was living in the Mantis islands and eventually swore allegiance to the Mantis and was adopted by Yoritomo. He was an adult by the time of the War against darkness but only by virtue of having gone through his Gempuku and would have been about 15 or so.

Tainted Lands set list is up.

Of note:

No Mantis in the Taint pack (take that Mantis haters).

More bonuses with claimed Rings.

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Heh, I like how they had to limit the Adopted Kin to 1 per character, to avoid infinite ancestral shenanigans. Border fortress is neat, but seems to have limited applications. More Unicorn theme of 'flexibility, at the cost of raw power.' I think I'd rather play their Wayfinder than run this. HOWEVER, not bad in a meta where a lot of bad things can happen when a province is revealed. Preemptively pull their 'on reveal' tricks. The flip side is you might just be scouting, and accidentally Restoration of Balance or Rally to the Cause.

Can't see myself playing much Sabotage unless more clans get Charge targets on the level of Fushicho. Tainted Koku seems really good though. The gift that keeps on giving.

Sabotage burns holdings.

11 minutes ago, Coyote Walks said:

Sabotage burns holdings.

Sabotage should NOT have had a restriction on the type of role. It should have allowed any clan and any role to use.

9 minutes ago, LordBlunt said:

Sabotage should NOT have had a restriction on the type of role. It should have allowed any clan and any role to use.

It would need a cost to balance, but I agree. Earth Role will I expect be very hotly contested for next season just because of this card.

10 minutes ago, Schmoozies said:

It would need a cost to balance, but I agree. Earth Role will I expect be very hotly contested for next season just because of this card.

Furthermore, I relegate this card as being equivalent to Court Games, as an example. I can’t imagine how that would have played out...

Adopted Kin - ... Huh. Okay. I see where this is going. It has some good synergy with the current SH, but I think this is most interesting in that it bounces Monks played as attachments.

Asahina Takako - She has a place if there is ever a Crane Clan Unique deck, but for the moment, it's the - Mil on a 4 Fate body which just relegates her to binder fodder.

Bonsai Garden - Okay, about bloody time. Crane Clan now has a chance at survival.

Border Fortress - My only problem with this is that it is an Air province, and thus takes the spot of a Fate producer. Other than that? Solid Unicorn province. Not a game changer, but okay.

Court Novice vs Ikoma Reservist - Forged Edict and For Shame! makes Court Novice just plain better. Lion simply have better 1 Fate bodies.

Impulsive Novice - The best thing I can say for this guy is that he is a 0 Glory Monk who is a BASE of 2Mil 2Pol for 2. The fact that he can go to 3 is just gravy.

Sabotage - Does not have to be in the province being attacked. You do not have to be the attacker. This card will make the Earth Roles suddenly VERY desirable. Kills Iron Mine, Karada District, Kanjo District, Imperial Palace, AND any nice face up body your opponent is holding for next turn. I expect this to be a meta-defining card.

Tainted Koku - Cannot be moved twice in the same turn, which will catch a couple of new players off guard. Otherwise, solid card which is sadly just not good enough to go into the S-Tier Scorpion deck.

Writ of Authority - Seriously, who decided that the Lion only get Unicorn Dynasty tier cards?

12 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

Court Novice vs Ikoma Reservist - Forged Edict and For Shame! makes Court Novice just plain better. Lion simply have better 1 Fate bodies.

Reservist is a Conflict character so stock goes up significantly for that.

3 minutes ago, Schmoozies said:

Reservist is a Conflict character so stock goes up significantly for that.

Not that much, sadly. She is a 1 Mil / 1 Pol for 1 Fate, who MIGHT become a 3 Mil AFTER you have won a Conflict this turn. She is a good sacrifice for the new Stronghold, I'll give her that.

On the +x while you have rings thing: If I have both rings claimed, do I get the bonus twice, or just once? I want to say just once, but technically, twice would also be a perfectly valid reading, so it's up to how the developers want it to go. I don't know if the RRG has a clarification on OR that applies here, and I don't want to look it up this second, so if anyone else knows or is willing to take the time to look it up, it'd be appreciated.

11 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

Not that much, sadly. She is a 1 Mil / 1 Pol for 1 Fate, who MIGHT become a 3 Mil AFTER you have won a Conflict this turn. She is a good sacrifice for the new Stronghold, I'll give her that.

I think the real value is in having a cheap Bushi you can throw out just when you would otherwise be short one. Lion has many effects that trigger for Bushis or that trigger off the number of participating Bushis and effects that just get plain better with more characters on the field. Before the Ikoma Reservist you only had the Crone in that price bracket, now you can feel safer about your Tsanuris and Charging! Beionas firing, the Honored General always welcomes another body, as do the lords of Yojin no Shiro. As you said, she is nice with the new stronghold as well, but I would say less for the sacrifice and more for the possibility of dropping her in after the first conflict, when you got the Fate you needed to pay for her from the conflict ring, even better if that ring was Fire or Water.

I would take either Earth role after seeing Sabotage ...... Unless you can show me a better card to take care of holdings.

21 minutes ago, psychie said:

On the +x while you have rings thing: If I have both rings claimed, do I get the bonus twice, or just once? I want to say just once, but technically, twice would also be a perfectly valid reading, so it's up to how the developers want it to go. I don't know if the RRG has a clarification on OR that applies here, and I don't want to look it up this second, so if anyone else knows or is willing to take the time to look it up, it'd be appreciated.

It will not stack if you have both. Or at least I do not think it does, I could be wrong.

Edited by cforfar
Just now, Ishi Tonu said:

I would take either Earth role after seeing Sabotage ...... Unless you can show me a better card to take care of holdings.

It feels like role-locking Sabotage was the lesson they learned from everyone and their mother splashing Dragon for Let Go. Possibly also from the fact that Earth (and Air) seem like the least wanted role elements otherwise.

2 minutes ago, Saibot said:

It feels like role-locking Sabotage was the lesson they learned from everyone and their mother splashing Dragon for Let Go. Possibly also from the fact that Earth (and Air) seem like the least wanted role elements otherwise.

For Seeker Earth may be less desirable but for Keeper its great.

2 minutes ago, Saibot said:

It feels like role-locking Sabotage was the lesson they learned from everyone and their mother splashing Dragon for Let Go. Possibly also from the fact that Earth (and Air) seem like the least wanted role elements otherwise.

I feel this is more a result of Policy Debate winding up on the Restricted List than Let Go or Mirumoto's Fury. Putting Sabotage on the Earth Role Only list means that it is a powerful card which will shape the meta, but not a ubiquitous card which will wind up dominating the meta. Everyone who CAN run Sabotage, WILL run Sabotage. You will know your opponent has Sabotage in their deck, because they have an Earth Role, and you will be able to adjust accordingly. This is a good card, and one which creates a meta-game competition for the Earth roles.

So, I like it.

33 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

I feel this is more a result of Policy Debate winding up on the Restricted List than Let Go or Mirumoto's Fury. Putting Sabotage on the Earth Role Only list means that it is a powerful card which will shape the meta, but not a ubiquitous card which will wind up dominating the meta. Everyone who CAN run Sabotage, WILL run Sabotage. You will know your opponent has Sabotage in their deck, because they have an Earth Role, and you will be able to adjust accordingly. This is a good card, and one which creates a meta-game competition for the Earth roles.

So, I like it.

I 100% agree with you. We really do not need another Policy Debate debacle again.

Policy Debate was bad in my opinion because of the dueling mechanic, typically you will only be bully dueled so every clan could easily use it and it had a MASSIVE impact.

Yes, a conflict card duel in which the opponent does not get to pick the duelist makes the duel mechanic pointless (in the current card pool). The initiator either is ensured to win or considers losing with a favourable Honor trade just as much of a win.

The reasons why Policy Debate had a negative impact on the environment is certainly something which should be examined. However, in regards to Sabotage, it is a 0 Fate Neutral Event which EVERYONE would run, which hammers certain match ups (Crab and Phoenix in the case of Sabotage) harder than others. By restricting it to Earth role only, only two Great Clans (at most) will be able to run it. At present, only the Crab can, and we will see who picks up an Earth Role post GenCon.

22 minutes ago, sndwurks said:

The reasons why Policy Debate had a negative impact on the environment is certainly something which should be examined. However, in regards to Sabotage, it is a 0 Fate Neutral Event which EVERYONE would run, which hammers certain match ups (Crab and Phoenix in the case of Sabotage) harder than others. By restricting it to Earth role only, only two Great Clans (at most) will be able to run it. At present, only the Crab can, and we will see who picks up an Earth Role post GenCon.

Clans with important holdings should strongly consider taking an Earth role to avoid being susceptible to Sabotage.

And some specific choices should be considered depending on pick order, for example:

If Phoenix picks before Crab, I think Phoenix should strongly consider Seeker of Earth. This would grant them an Earth role and lock Crab out of the other, meaning Phoenix has the edge in holding control when it gets down to that match up, and gives them a significant edge when contesting the favor as they can also get rid of Imperial Palace.

Anyone picking before Phoenix and/or Crab should strongly consider taking Seeker of Earth as it locks Crab out of the Earth role, and puts Phoenix back to the choice of being a Keeper again or trying for one of the other Seeker roles. For the overall health of the metagame, I think it's best if neither Crab nor Phoenix have an Earth role. Worst case scenario is that Phoenix decide the want to stick with a Keeper role and take Keeper of Earth, leaving Crab to take Seeker of Earth, and you end up with the two clans that have the most dominant holdings being the only clans with holding control.................barf!

Edited by Ishi Tonu