Muscle and Steel + Only Action Speaks

L5R CCG Rules board, 22 September 2011

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, 22 September 2011

Muscle and Steel Reaction: After another player's action targets one of your Personalities, bow one of his attachments with a base Gold Cost of 7 or more: Negate either the action's bowing, destruction, or movement of cards in his unit.

Only Action Speaks Reaction: After an action is announced: Negate all Honor gains until after the action's resolution. At that time if this negated any gains, negate all Honor gains until the end of this phase and draw a card. Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality: Bow a target enemy card with lower Force and without attachments. Bow its unit if your Personality has 7 or more base Force.

Lets say I have a Personality with a weapon in battle against a Crab personality with a base force of 7. My opponent plays Only Action Speaks on my weapon (Since it targets a card). Can I respond with Muscle and Steel to negate the bowing of my unit? Muscle and steel triggers if something targets my Personality, and since Only Action Speaks targeted my weapon, I am unsure if I can respond in kind. Only Action Speaks also doesn't state that it targets my unit, so I am unsure if it is implied that it does or not.

Thanks!

Zen Faulkes (rules official), 22 September 2011

I have a Personality with a weapon in battle against a Crab personality with a base force of 7. My opponent plays Only Action Speaks on my weapon (Since it targets a card). Can I respond with Muscle and Steel to negate the bowing of my unit?

No. Targeting an attachment does not automatically target the unit or the Personality. (You may be thinking of the rule that targeting a unit also targets the Personality; http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Glossary_U#Unit). Targeting the attachment doesn't "spread" to any other card. Muscle and Steel isn't a valid play here.

Thanks for the explanation of your thinking behind the question; it helps.

On: Muscle and Steel