A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
Hey guys.
I have Ward of Air attached to an Air Shugenja.
During a battle, I use Thoughtless Sacrifice on my Doji A to kill my opponent's Hida B, both of which are legal targets for the action
Can I destroy Ward of Air to prevent Doji A's destruction? Would Hida B still be destroyed, in that case?
Ward of Air will save Doji A from a whacky, bloody and totally deserved death while still leaving Hida B becoming an ex-Hida.
That is, yes and yes. Reversed, see below
The current ruling is that Ward of Air would negate the destruction of the Thoughtless Sacrifice player's personality, but allow the destruction of the opponent's unit.
I think this should be re-evaluated.
Ward of Air says
Before this Shugenja, or any Personality if this Shugenja is Air, is destroyed by a Battle action, you may destroy this Spell to negate it.
It doesn't say "negate the destruction", it says "negate it". There is no previous mention of destruction, only "a Battle action". The only thing that "it" could be is "a Battle action". So if a player uses Ward of Air in response to Thoughtless Sacrifice, the only card that is destroyed should be Ward of Air.
The current ruling is that Ward of Air would negate the destruction of the Thoughtless Sacrifice player's personality, but allow the destruction of the opponent's unit.
I think this should be re-evaluated.
Ward of Air says
It doesn't say "negate the destruction", it says "negate it". There is no previous mention of destruction, only "a Battle action". The only thing that "it" could be is "a Battle action". So if a player uses Ward of Air in response to Thoughtless Sacrifice, the only card that is destroyed should be Ward of Air.
Your concern is noted, and this is a topic of discussion amongst the Rules Team.
The Junta has spoken and we have decided to change our interpretation of the card, and thus reverse the previous ruling. From now on, the clause "negate it" in Ward of Air will refer to the entire Battle action, so when the trait on the spell is triggered, all remaining effects of the Battle action will be negated. In the case of Thoughtless Sacrifice, this would mean that no Personality would be destroyed by the Battle action, only the Ward of Air would self-destruct.