Face of Ninube

L5R CCG Rules board, 18 August 2012

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, 18 August 2012

This may be a simple question, but I have been away for a while and subtle rule changes that I have missed have caused me some headaches in recent games (ex. No more Opens during batte was a big suprise to my Suiteru no Oni). I have tried searching for the relevant rules, but have come up empty handed.

The Emperor Edition Rulebook states that "Tidy Up" (Discard of strategy cards) occurs AFTER the costs of the action are paid and AFTER the effects of the action resolve. I know the way that Face of Ninube worked back in the old days (Diamond), but the wording and timing are much different now so I wonder how the card works today.

Consider the senario that I have hand with a total of 5 cards including a Face of Ninube.

Step 1: I announce Face of Ninube. I have shown the card, but isn't it still technically in my hand? Or, is it somewhere else? And if so, where?

Step 2: I pay the cost of the action "Shuffle your hand into your Fate deck" If Face of Ninube is still in my hand (Costs are paid before effects resolve and Tidy-Up), wouldn't it also get shuffled into my Fate Deck?

Step 3: I resolve the effect "Draw a number of cards equal to the number you shuffled in" How many cards would I draw, 5 or 4, and why? If Face of Ninube was shuffled into my Fate Deck, then I would assume 5 cards, but under the old rules and wording it would only have been 4.

New Wording of Face of Ninube: Open: Shuffle your hand into your Fate deck: Draw a number of cards equal to the number you shuffled in.

Old Wording (Diamond) of Face of Ninube: Open: Shuffle your hand into your fate deck and draw a number of cards equal to your hand size after playing Face of Ninube

Ben Higgins (rules official), 18 August 2012

Playing Strategies

Strategy cards are played from the hand to use an ability on the card.

To play an Strategy for one of its abilities, a player first checks whether the action can be legally taken (including appropriate point in time, being able to met required costs, required targeting, and other restrictions). If these conditions are met, the player then follows this sequence:

A. The player puts the Strategy card face-up in a resolution area created for that card.

B. The player announces which ability on the card is to be used, and the action sequence proceeds from there (seeAbilities and actions.)

C. After the action ends, the player discards the Strategy card, even if the action did not resolve. Then, the resolution area ceases to exist.

EXCEPTION: If the action's own costs or effects put the Strategy card into play, it is not discarded after the action ends.

As you can see in Step A, Face of Ninube actually leaves your hand before you even technically announce the action on it.

So yes, the card works exactly the same way as how you remember it working, but is worded slightly differently to be in line with the current rules set.

Finally, welcome back to the game, and if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask!

On: Face of Ninube