Guidance in War

OK, I know you have been waiting for this ruling, so a little background. (To cut to the chase, scroll down to the bold text.)

There were a number of faults here, for which I take responsibility as Rules Team Lead; the initial question was not answered fully(in that it had asked whether the traits were removed through to the next turn, but was answered as if it was about whether the traits were removed in that turn), it got reversed too close to a major event so had to be re-reversed, and forced a re-look at the general rules about how much the descriptive language we use like "this Shugenja" restricts effects.

It is because we have had to change the Comprehensive Rules, now out in a new version (1.8), and consider all the implications of that change, that it took so long.

Although the Comprehensive Rules at the time seemed to be clear that "this Shugenja" meant an effect did not apply if the Personality lost the Shugenja keyword, there were reasons to think twice about keeping this rule as it is. We considered these two facts:

1. If the intent of "This Shugenja" is to restrict effects only to Shugenja, then it's an oddly specific usage on Spells that appears nowhere else, even when it would be appropriate. For example, Battle Attendants would be a perfect place for it to come into use (a Follower that can only attach to Samurai, and an ability that could refer to "This Samurai") but instead we used "This Personality". It seems that the intent behind "This Shugenja" is mainly to give flavor to Spells, where it would seem odd to use the more generic "Personality."

2. The "This Shugenja" rule also seemed to contradict another part of the Comprehensive Rules right after it (References to other points in time), saying that keywords were not restrictive if they were part of a reference to a previous mention of the card. That is, if a card said "Target your Samurai. Straighten the Samurai after the battle ends" and he lost Samurai in between, he would still straighten, due to this rule.

In particular, the point number 2 about "the Samurai" being just a reference also made intuitive sense; yet it doesn't make sense that "the" and "this" should lead to such different rulings.

The new section of the Rules, version 1.8, reads as follows (p. 42):

Code: Select all On an attachment, "this Personality" refers to the Personality in the attachment's unit. "This" before a keyword (for example, "this Shugenja") refers to the Personality in the attachment's unit, even if the Personality has lost or otherwise does not have that keyword.

Example: A trait on a Spell that says "This Shugenja has +2F" still gives the bonus when he or she has lost the Shugenja keyword.

This means that the original ruling on part b) of this question stands, but only because the rules have been changed. The effects that depend on "This Shugenja" will remain even if Shugenja is lost.

Note that more generally, the rule that only a Shugenja can cast Spells still stands, so abilities on Spells cannot be used if Shugenja is lost. What is new is that now, traits on Spells that refer to "This Shugenja" persist even if the keyword is lost.

Thanks for your patience on this difficult question.

Please note that the traits - not the abilities - on the following (Arc & Strict) spells will now also remain active even if the Personality loses Shugenja: Chikushudo's Infusion Drawing on All Things Fierce Blood of the Earth Fire Kami's Greed Hitomi's Devotion (was previously active while attached to a non-Shugenja while defending, can now be active while attacking) Light of the Morning Sun Poison the Cup The Earth's Armor Ward of Air

Alex