https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/2/20/ride-in-unison/

That six drop is making me laugh so hard.

This (set) looks so much more playable than Children of the Empire.

Needs more Mantis.

Warriors of the Wind and Visiting Advisor might save this game for me. We'll see. Those effects should of been in the core set.

That's a pretty blatant signal to hard mulligan into Aranat when playing the new stronghold.....unless you're facing crab.

I think Unicorn players are going to have a difficult time deciding what to play. They never really got to do what Unicorn was described as in the Core set and now that various themes are finally getting the support they need, I wouldn't be shocked to see several different Unicorn decks emerge as viable options.

My Hot Takes (and hot they are)

Aranat - This is... not that awesome, honestly. A 6M/6P/0G for 6 Fate seems nice, but there are a few big issues with this. One, no Cavalry keyword means no Cavalry Reserves. Two, its reaction is to being played, not put into play, which means that you cannot trigger it on a Charge or Appealing to the Fortunes. Three, its reaction is good on Turn 1 in the Shiro Shinjo box, but costs all your Fate. Four, it gives your opponent the choice of what to reveal and what to keep secret. It's the opposite of Fusicho, honestly. I will be surprised if this guy sees play.

Young Warrior - 3 Mil / 3 Pol / 2 Glory for 2 Fate that must be used in the first Conflict each turn... eeeeeh, no. No. Just no. I only have a fifty fifty chance of being First Player on Round 1, and while this is a decent body for Cavalry Reserves, I would rather snag a Border Rider for that Fate cost. If she was 1 Fate? Definitely. 2 Fate plus her restriction (i.e. only buy if I am First Player), and she is bad.

Warriors of the Wind - This is a very costly card, and does not have nearly the blow out potential I would like it to. I think we are seeing the Shiro Shinjo Fate Tax here. Do not get me wrong, I like the effect, and it is something that the Unicorn should have. But I am not too sure if this card will be the blow out game closer we would need it to be at 2 Fate.

Shinomen Wayfinders - NOW we are cooking with the killing gas. A potentially free 3 Mil / 1 Pol / 1 Glory Conflict body? Nice. Even a base 3 Mil for 3 Fate is a good cost for skill on the Conflict side, and the fact that it gets even further reduced just by having more bodies means cards like Shinjo Ambusher and Iuchi Wayfinder effectively are free in a Conflict where we are playing this body. AND it is too big to be Assassinated. Looks like my deck just got its last three Conflict bodies.

Visiting Advisor - Courtier Cavalry with a self-eject that can take someone with them... I think that this will be an interesting moving piece in the environment and will give the Crane - Keeper Defense strategy some strong teeth. She has exceptionally good teeth with things like Talisman of the Sun and Disdainful Remark, as well as other Courtier chicanery to bow down and punish.

And that's it for now.

4 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

I think Unicorn players are going to have a difficult time deciding what to play. They never really got to do what Unicorn was described as in the Core set and now that various themes are finally getting the support they need, I wouldn't be shocked to see several different Unicorn decks emerge as viable options.

I think this is right and I find it pretty exciting. I was recently drafting for a myself a new iteration of my Unicorn deck, incorporating cards from CotE, and I found myself torn between an explosive, Meishodo-inclined, outnumbering archetype on the one hand, and coming back to the original idea of the movement-oriented strategy on the other, because I think the new cards we got, plus the accretion of better dynasty characters after the Core set, make this worthy of consideration at this time. I am not sure that both ideas together can work as well as a dedicated version of either, although I do admit that specializing on moving in-and-out of conflicts is perfectly compatible with Hisu Mori Toride. And now on top of that, we have that new stronghold coming. Things are looking very nice in Purple Town.

I guess you are wrong about Aranat. At worst it is 6/6 with 1 fate, and that is if your opponent does not reveal any provinces from their row. If you play Shiro Shinjo (which is the deck this goes in), whatever choice your opponent makes will gain you fate, either as income or on this. Not is it a negative that it cannot come back with Cav reserves, for Cav reserves you most often want at least 2 bodies because of the many Unicorn synergies with more characters than the opponent, and Cav Reserves is a way to circumvent the problem with flooding the board. This would make a poor Cav reserve target.

Also, warriors of the wind can potentially win the game. Fainting an attack to bait out the defense, then switching in the main force (or not) is hugely powerful. Moving out of conflict is very powerful when it is flexible, and this is.

I am so excited to build around the new stronghold! This looks like a blast and the art on that 6 drop is sweet

I reckon that the guy on the pack art is the Moto Khan, Ogodei.

29 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

I reckon that the guy on the pack art is the Moto Khan, Ogodei.

I’d say is Moto Chagatai

Aranat is amazing. The choice is a lose lose for your opponent. He is basically only playable on the first turn but that's fine. Hard mull for him and your other reveal provinces cards and then just pitch him if he turns up later.

Young Warrior is great also. The biggest weakness is getting coverted on the first conflict but that really just means don't play her against Crab splash of you can't mitigate the risk with Master of Swift Waves or whatever.

Actually, how does Young Warrior work? By Magic logic that wording would actually mean you have to assign them to the first conflict if able, but you could also assign them to any other conflict if you had Encampment or something.

2 minutes ago, HamHamJ2 said:

Actually, how does Young Warrior work? By Magic logic that wording would actually mean you have to assign them to the first conflict if able, but you could also assign them to any other conflict if you had Encampment or something.

Or you can also move her out of that first conflict as necessary, to come back later as you will. I don't see such a big risk with her limitation in a clan such as Unicorn.

I'm a little shocked to find out that the Ki'Rin traveled as far as Hogwarts, and brought back Harry's Patronus.

12 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

I'm a little shocked to find out that the Ki'Rin traveled as far as Hogwarts, and brought back Harry's Patronus.

Takes me back to playing Wood Elves in Warhammer, loved the Great Stag charging in with a bunch of Dryads.

8 hours ago, sndwurks said:

My Hot Takes (and hot they are)

Aranat - This is... not that awesome, honestly. A 6M/6P/0G for 6 Fate seems nice, but there are a few big issues with this. One, no Cavalry keyword means no Cavalry Reserves. Two, its reaction is to being played, not put into play, which means that you cannot trigger it on a Charge or Appealing to the Fortunes. Three, its reaction is good on Turn 1 in the Shiro Shinjo box, but costs all your Fate. Four, it gives your opponent the choice of what to reveal and what to keep secret. It's the opposite of Fusicho, honestly. I will be surprised if this guy sees play. 

Let's not also forget you can't trigger the reaction after using Charge on it either since it triggers on being played, not put into play.

But, that's what he said......

Anyways....

I think Aranat is great with the new stronghold. Nothing about Shiro Shinjo locks you into playing Cavalry. Its goal is to force a longer game so you can leverage your fate advantage.

I'd very happily trade all my first turn fate to buy Aranat and immediately put my opponent to the choice of either leaving me with a 6/6 body with 1 fate on it and 4 revealed provinces, or leaves me with a 6/6 body and 5 fate on it to try and prevent me from turning on my stronghold......(or anything in between)

It's pure fate advantage no matter what they pick, and, last time I checked Charging 6 Military worth of a character into conflict was a good thing. Would the card be better if you could activate it when it's put into play, sure, but I don't really think that's a legit detractor. Every card would be better if it did more.

Ok, I talked myself out of liking Aranat at all. In the turn 1 scenario, if you're playing with the new stronghold, they're probably just going to let you put 4 fate on him. Assuming you pass first, you'll have a 6/6 that they have any options they have at their discretion to use against it, and probably 2 conflicts that you won't even be involved in, with 1 fate to defend yourself. Worse, he's only going to flip up one of their provinces, leaving you pretty far behind in economy for turn 2. It's a slow start to a stronghold that already goes for a slow start to snowball later, which isn't a great combo. After the initial turn, he gets steadily worse, and is mostly just a good charge target, which is worth noting.

You might get better mileage out of him with a different stronghold, where your fate economy isn't dependent on an aggressive playstyle and passing first means you'll have 2 fate to work with on that first turn. People might also be more willing to reveal their own provinces, which gives you some invaluable information.

These other cards look sweet, though. Young Warrior is just good value, and nothing stops you from readying and reusing her. Wayfinders will be pretty sweet when you play them for free and drop 2 fate on them, that's some great economy. Visiting Advisor seems very useful, but I haven't wrapped my head around the strategies that back out of conflicts instead of pushing forward. Once I figure it out, I expect she'll be a staple for the 'feint' style decks. And Warriors of the Wind is what you don't want to see when your opponent is all-in on attacking the stronghold. You commit, and then they change their mind and decide to come back on the 'political' swing. Dig up that 'Well, I guess I'll just die' meme.

Did we ever find out if this pack will have the Community Card in it?

29 minutes ago, AradonTemplar said:

Ok, I talked myself out of liking Aranat at all. In the turn 1 scenario, if you're playing with the new stronghold, they're probably just going to let you put 4 fate on him. Assuming you pass first, you'll have a 6/6 that they have any options they have at their discretion to use against it, and probably 2 conflicts that you won't even be involved in, with 1 fate to defend yourself. Worse, he's only going to flip up one of their provinces, leaving you pretty far behind in economy for turn 2. It's a slow start to a stronghold that already goes for a slow start to snowball later, which isn't a great combo. After the initial turn, he gets steadily worse, and is mostly just a good charge target, which is worth noting.

You might get better mileage out of him with a different stronghold, where your fate economy isn't dependent on an aggressive playstyle and passing first means you'll have 2 fate to work with on that first turn. People might also be more willing to reveal their own provinces, which gives you some invaluable information.

If you have a 6/6 body with 5 fate (remember this counts opposing stronghold) and you only flip one province, you just got 11 fate worth on turn one and you are now even in fate production going into the 2nd turn.

Granted your opponent is not likely to spend all their fate on turn one, but, you still just got 4 fate more than your opponent in that first turn.

It opens up options like I Am Ready, it also gives you a solid dueler that is going to force your opponent to spend cards to deal with its strong base stats, and it's solid Charge target as you mention.

Unconvince yourself that you don't like Aranat and rock the Purple Patronus! Tm

The Young Warrior ( Warriors of the Wind , 5) has proven her skill in battle and in the court, but she has not lost some youthful impulsiveness.

Theory: Matsu Tsuko is secretly a Utaku.

I am Ready isn't bad. I guess if it's in your opening 4 you can buy him. It'd put them on the defensive instead of offensive, or else you'll be getting two breaks in. It's too bad you won't be able to ready him with Shiotome encampment

17 hours ago, HamHamJ2 said:

Actually, how does Young Warrior work? By Magic logic that wording would actually mean you have to assign them to the first conflict if able, but you could also assign them to any other conflict if you had Encampment or something.

That's what it means in L5R, too (though the lack of "if able" is a bit weird). If you can make her eligible for another conflict, knock yourself out.

25 minutes ago, AradonTemplar said:

I am Ready isn't bad. I guess if it's in your opening 4 you can buy him. It'd put them on the defensive instead of offensive, or else you'll be getting two breaks in. It's too bad you won't be able to ready him with Shiotome encampment

Or use it to break one yourself. You also have to bear in mind that odds are you'll get passing fate after buying him if you are player 1 so there is always the possibility of dropping a conflict character for a second poke if they didn't didn't flip any provinces or as a defender if they did. It also open up Lion splash as a good option as the 6/6 in your discard is a good target for your Shugenja with My Ancestor's Strength.

1 hour ago, Schmoozies said:

Or use it to break one yourself. You also  have to bear in mind that odds are you'll get passing fate after buying him if you are player 1 so there is always the possibility of dropping a conflict character for a second poke if they didn't didn't flip any provinces or as a defender if they  did. It also open up Lion splash as a good option as the 6/6 in your discard is a good target for your Shugenja  with My Ancestor's Strength.

I keep trying to make it work with Fushicho in Phoenix. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. But a worthy effort! Gonna keep testing and maybe switch to another splash, though.

Even if you're player 2, good chance of getting that bonus fate. Just, going all in on what is essentially a large beatstick usually makes yourself vulernable to shenanigans and puts the ball in the opponent's court to take the round away with. Still, now that we have Defend Your Honor, this isn't bad. Odds of him getting double for-shamed go down significantly. Just tread cautiously with him.

33 minutes ago, AradonTemplar said:

I keep trying to make it work with Fushicho in Phoenix. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not so good. But a worthy effort! Gonna keep testing and maybe switch to another splash, though.

Even if you're player 2, good chance of getting that bonus fate. Just, going all in on what is essentially a large beatstick usually makes yourself vulernable to shenanigans and puts the ball in the opponent's court to take the round away with. Still, now that we have Defend Your Honor, this isn't bad. Odds of him getting double for-shamed go down significantly. Just tread cautiously with him.

Honestly if they are double For Shaming you that's still a bit of a win as they are defending with a courtier and using two cards which is honestly a fair trade. Plus Lion splash means you can stock Ready for Battle and Hand to Hand to offset the threat of bow tech and as some natural attachment hate which Phoenix desperately need to make Ancestors Strength viable.