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, 27 June 2011
Hello and let me apologize for the noobish questions. We don't have an L5R community here in Izhevsk, so I have to ask here if I don't find or don't understand smth in the rules. My questions today are about negated actions: the timing and the resources spent on them.
1. I am on the defence against a military deck with No Time for Games in my hand. He declares an attack at my two provinces sending two guys to each of the provinces. I assign defenders. He starts a battle at Province A and shows me Sneak Attack. I say OK. He plays a Battle Strategy card from his hand and I react to it with No Time For Games. I insist that the negated Strategy card must go to the discard pile, and all holding bowed to play it (if any) must remain bowed. My opponent says that he can unbow the holdings after the action is negated. Sneak Attack. Reaction: After engaging: The Attacker has the first opportunity to take a Battle action or pass during this battle. Play then proceeds in turn order from him. No Time for Games. Reaction: After an attacking player announces a Battle action before the Defender's first normal opportunity to act or pass: Negate its effects.
2. The same situation, but now my Phoenix (City of Tears) opponent uses Sneak Attack and tries to Equip Consumed by Five Fires. I negate the Equip action. My opponents says the spell stays in his hand. The question of bowed holdings rises again )) City of Tears. Equipping Spells is a Battle/Open action for you. After the resolution of an Equip Battle action you took, you may take an additional Battle action from the Spell it attached.
3. After Sneak Attack, my opponent tries Greater Sacrifice. I negate it. The card goes to the discard pile, my opponent's Samurai lives. Is that correct? Greater Sacrifice. Battle: Destroy your target unbowed Samurai Personality: Destroy a target enemy unit with total Force less than or equal to your Samurai's unit's total unit Force, plus your Samurai's Personal Honor if your Family Honor is higher than its starting value.
A player, 27 June 2011
1. I am on the defence against a military deck with No Time for Games in my hand. He declares an attack at my two provinces sending two guys to each of the provinces. I assign defenders. He starts a battle at Province A and shows me Sneak Attack. I say OK. He plays a Battle Strategy card from his hand and I react to it with No Time For Games. I insist that the negated Strategy card must go to the discard pile, and all holding bowed to play it (if any) must remain bowed. My opponent says that he can unbow the holdings after the action is negated.
Your opponent is wrong: the fact that his action's effects are negated has no consequence on the normal sequence to play his action: he must still choose the performers and all required targets, and still pay all mandatory costs, at last the Strategy card is discarded normally after the action ends (unless it is in play, e.g. a Terrain that does not come from Before the Dawn).
2. The same situation, but now my Phoenix (City of Tears) opponent uses Sneak Attack and tries to Equip Consumed by Five Fires. I negate the Equip action. My opponents says the spell stays in his hand. The question of bowed holdings rises again )) City of Tears. Equipping Spells is a Battle/Open action for you. After the resolution of an Equip Battle action you took, you may take an additional Battle action from the Spell it attached.
Your opponent is right: the spell stays in his hand. Indeed your reaction No Time for Games negates the effects of Equip, those effects attach the Spell to the performing Shugenja, therefore the Spell is not attached to the Shugenja and your opponent does not have to pay for it; actually he does not even reveal it. That is why a common tactics is to let him Equip his Shugenja and to play No Time for Games as a Reaction to the Battle action from the equipped Spell; in your example he would pay four Gold to equip Consumed by Five Fires, then he would announce this Spell's Battle action, you would react with No Time for Games, he would target your unit and bow his Spell but the destruction of your unit would be negated.
3. After Sneak Attack, my opponent tries Greater Sacrifice. I negate it. The card goes to the discard pile, my opponent's Samurai lives. Is that correct?
No, mandatory costs are still paid so the performing Samurai is destroyed.
At last remember that you must play No Time for Games immediately after your opponent announces his Battle action, you cannot wait until he chooses the performers or the required targets.