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.
A player, 25 September 2014
In follow-up to
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=110064
Heirloom Tanto In a duel, you may focus this Item from your discard pile and remove it from the game after the focused cards are discarded.
I understand the ruling on Voice of Experience. It is the result of the Card Memory Rule.
Card Memory Rule: If a card is both out of play and face-down (including returning to the hand), it “forgets” ongoing effects specific to it, and other changes such as whether its abilities have been used. A card does not “forget” generic effects such as “All Samurai in and out of play have +1F.”
Based on this, how would the card ever be removed from the game? The remove from game is an ongoing effect specific to that card that was focused. When it is focused it goes face-down and out of play and by the Memory Rule the "remove if from game after the focused cards are discarded" effect is forgotten. Say I focused one from my hand and one from the discard pile. How does the game know which one to remove from the game?
Jon Palmer (rules official), 27 October 2014
In follow-up to
viewtopic.php?f=59&t=110064
I understand the ruling on Voice of Experience. It is the result of the Card Memory Rule.
Based on this, how would the card ever be removed from the game? The remove from game is an ongoing effect specific to that card that was focused. When it is focused it goes face-down and out of play and by the Memory Rule the "remove if from game after the focused cards are discarded" effect is forgotten. Say I focused one from my hand and one from the discard pile. How does the game know which one to remove from the game?
Focusing Heirloom Tanto from the discard sets up a delayed effect that removes it from the game. That effect still resolves when its trigger occurs, and the Tanto will be removed.
If you focus one from hand and one from the discard, just choose one to remove, assuming neither has any additional effects on it that would distinguish it.