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, 29 February 2012
Hi,
Before the Oracle of the Void, the answer was easy : no. So Shinsei couldn't be payed by bowing a stronghold. The Same Old Tricks was not able to remove any stronghold ability. Now, Brotherhood of Shinsei's updated game text refers to that stronghold as a card : "bow this card".
Has it just changed ?
Card's text : The Brotherhood of Shinsei : (Before Diamond Edition) Reaction: Any number of times per turn, before you would trigger a Ring's base trait that would put it into play from your hand, bow this card: Search your Fate deck for that Ring, show it, and put it into your hand. (You then have a chance to play it by its own text.)
The Same Old Tricks : Reaction: Before the second or later time in one turn the same ability on a target non-Formation card resolves its effects: Negate that ability's effects and permanently remove it from that card.
Shinsei : Shinsei has the additional cost, "Bow 5 of your cards," to enter play.
Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
Brook Cunningham (rules official), 29 February 2012
Hi,
Before the Oracle of the Void, the answer was easy : no. So Shinsei couldn't be payed by bowing a stronghold. The Same Old Tricks was not able to remove any stronghold ability. Now, Brotherhood of Shinsei's updated game text refers to that stronghold as a card : "bow this card".
Has it just changed ?
Card's text : The Brotherhood of Shinsei : (Before Diamond Edition) Reaction: Any number of times per turn, before you would trigger a Ring's base trait that would put it into play from your hand, bow this card: Search your Fate deck for that Ring, show it, and put it into your hand. (You then have a chance to play it by its own text.)
The Same Old Tricks : Reaction: Before the second or later time in one turn the same ability on a target non-Formation card resolves its effects: Negate that ability's effects and permanently remove it from that card.
Shinsei : Shinsei has the additional cost, "Bow 5 of your cards," to enter play.
Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
Yes, Strongholds are cards now.
In the Oracle, as we would now do for all future cards, we endeavored to put Strongholds' past immunity to effects directly in the card's text. So... you'll find that The Same Old Tricks looks slightly different now than the last time you checked.
However, yes, thanks to the change, Shinsei will happily accept your Stronghold bowing as permission to come into play.