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, 11 February 2009
Hi,
Can you use Unpredictable Strategy on a unit that has been hit with Inspire Fear (or any other card that says you cant get back into a battle)?
eg, if my Iuchi Hotaru (water shugenja) sends 1 of my opponents 2 units in the battle home with Inspire Fear triggering the 'he cant come back' effect with being water. On my next action if i target the guy my opponent still has in the battle and the one that cant come back with Unpredictable Strategy... what happens?
none of the card other than the Battle: part seem to be a cost... so if its all effect do you fulfill as much of it as you can.... so in essence just send the other unit home and the other one doesn't come back?
A player, 11 February 2009
Can you use Unpredictable Strategy on a unit that has been hit with Inspire Fear (or any other card that says you cant get back into a battle)?
Yes you can target such an affected unit with Unpredictable Strategy but, unless its movement cannot be negated (e.g. thanks to Determination played after announcing Unpredictable Strategy), none of the two targeted units will move because Inspire Fear's last effect negates one of these movements and Unpredictable Strategy "switch" the targeted units (see below, emphasis added).
Glossary, Switch: "To swap the game area two cards are in. When two cards switch game areas, put each one in the other’s current area simultaneously. This may involve movement if units are switched between two locations. If one of those two effects is negated or does not occur, the other effect also does not occur."