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, 1 December 2011
Masaya
Open: If Masaya is face-up in one of your provinces: Bring him into play, paying all costs and paying 2 less Gold. Before the turn ends, put him on top of your Dynasty deck.
from rules.l5r.com: Outside the game (out of play; communal) “Outside the game” is an area set aside where both players, in separate piles, put cards they own that have been removed from the game. Cards removed from the game become face-up when they enter this area.
So, I can't find anything that would prevent him from being put on the top of your deck if he is out of play. Its not like being destroyed or discarded (which has no effect out of play or certain other locations). He's in a tracked location, and the effect says "put him on your dynasty deck". Is there anything about being removed from the game that actually stops that delayed effect from happening?
the same could be for a berserker who delayed being put on the bottom of the deck, then is removed from the game via cursed relic or similar.
On that note, what if he is put on the bottom of your deck (via the goju for example), would he then be put on the top of the deck later? I suspect I know the answer to this one because since he is now face down, the game 'forgets' anything that applied to him.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 1 December 2011
Masaya: I can't find anything that would prevent him from being put on the top of your deck if he is out of play. (...) Is there anything about being removed from the game that actually stops that delayed effect from happening?
There is not that I know of, either. Being out of play does not immediately make the card ineligible to be affected.
In fact, there was similar question a couple of days ago about destroying an out of play card with a delayed effect. The ruling was yes, an out of play card can be destroyed: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=94949
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 2 December 2011
A follow-up.
My previous answer missed the mark, because I referred to "out of play" in my answer, not "removed from the game" - which I think was the core of the question (both phrases appeared in the original question).
A card that is out of play but in game can be destroyed (normally by a delayed effect). A card that is removed from the game can't be destroyed.
A player, 3 December 2011
From: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=95149&p=1261993#p1261993
A card that is out of play but in game can be destroyed (normally by a delayed effect). A card that is removed from the game can't be destroyed.
What's the basis for this? I don't know of any rule or restriction on cards "removed out of the game" that doesn't apply as well to cards in other out-of-play locations. Rules only apply restrictions on cards out-of-play, whatever area they are in. According to the rules, "removing from the game"a card is simply putting it in a particular out-of-play areawith no specific restrictions. As it currently stands, rules would be the same for cards in provinces, in discard piles or in the outside-the-game area, and I can't find any single rule referencing an out-of-game vs in-game states. This distinction sounds new to me. Where can I find those rules distinguishing between "out of play" state and "out of game" state?
In the case I'm missing something: if Masaya is put into play using his Open ability, then destroyed, then removed from the game (Imperial Command), would he be put back in the top of his owner's deck?
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 3 December 2011
Where can I find those rules distinguishing between "out of play" state and "out of game" state?
Nowhere yet. We're working on clarifying that distinction. I hope the wiki will be updated soon.
(I)f Masaya is put into play using his Open ability, then destroyed, then removed from the game (Imperial Command), would he be put back in the top of his owner's deck?
No.
Currently (as in, this might be tweaked as we work on the clarification), something that is out of play, but in game, can still be affected by effect, but something that is out of play and out of the game generally can't be. The exceptions would be text that specifically said, "This can do this to a card removed from the game" or something similar.