post for 5 June 2002

Face Me! because I have a question :)

A Scorpion player dishonors a target personality. The Scorpion then uses Shosuro Higatsuku to force the personality to challenge him. Once challenged, the Scorpion player throws Face Me!

When the Chi and the Personal Honor are switched, and the personality dies, does the player's honor loss equal the personality's printed Personal Honor or does the honor loss equal the personality's Chi since the two stats were switched?

Point the first: Face Me! does not switch Chi and Personal Honor. It copies Personal Honor over Chi and leaves Personal Honor alone. [card text]

Point the second: When a Personality dies dishonorably, his controller loses the Personality's *printed* Personal Honor, which almost nothing, including being dishonored or switching stats, changes.

No Hiding Place Question

Can No Hiding Place kill a personality in the fief with a follower attached, or does the ranged attack have to target the follower first?

No Hiding Place does not override any targeting restrictions on ranged attacks other than where the target can be. Followers must still be destroyed first.

Fire And Air

Ok quick question, does the second ability on Fire and Air target so that after a Shugenja uses the spell they can move to another province to stay alive?

It does target the Shugenja. It can't be used if she's bowed.

Ghehai question.

Can Ghedai use his ability to bring a unit into an empty (neither player has presence there) battle?

Yes, if and only if it's the one being resolved. Bringing one of your own units into the current battle satisfies both Presence and Relevance.

Ghedai Ho/Co/PH: 0/5/1 Naga Shugenja. Battle: Bow Ghedai to move any one of your units from one of the defender's Provinces to another. F/C: 1/2 Type: personalities

I'd think not, since his action satisfies both relevence and presence.

You mean "I'd think so", don't you?

Someone I played recently told me that there was a ruling that he had to be in the battle to use his ability, but I checked the Archive under Ghedai and couldn't find anything.

He's getting confused by the ruling on Bayushi Paneki Exp. and Hitomi Kagetora Exp. They only have to be in the battle because they both say "this battle". Ghedai does not.

Broken Blades release date? Anyone? Jeff? Dave?

What is the release date for Broken Blades?

Second to third week of July.

Rulings Questions (JEFF)

Hi Jeff, I'm attending a Season of the Lion tournament on Saturday and I was wondering about a few things.

Kakita Rensei and the Oracle of Fire. Relevent text on Rensei: The player of a Personality dueling Rensei cannot play Reactions The Oracle of Fire reads Elemental Reaction: Before a duel begins, if your personality can focus, bow the Oracle of Fire and pay 1 gold to play your fate deck's top card as an extra Focus card. Does the wording on the Oracle get around Rensei? I would say yes given that the personality isn't "dueling Rensei" when the Oracle triggers which is "before a duel begins".

You are correct. Reactions taken before the Personalities enter the duel are not prohibited by Rensei.

Mirumoto Uso Experienced and the Oracle of Fire. I realize that I've already asked this question once and had it answered but since he archive has Uso's text misquoted I thought it should be revisited. Relevent text on Uso: You can focus two cards at a time FOR (emphasis mine) Uso's duels, in any order. I would agree with your previous ruling if, as the archive indicates, the "focus two cards" trait triggered IN a duel (for the same reasoning as with Rensei above). However, given the exact wording of Uso and the fact that the Oracle of Fire's focus card is definitely FOR Uso's duel I'm looking for a reversal. I still agree with your ruling that the additional focus card must come from the fate hand.

Heh. Sneaky. Alright, you've convinced me. The focus clearly is "for" Uso's duel, and that's what his Gold Edition card lets him focus with two cards for. I'd say it's legal now. Oh, the difference one word makes!

Ring of Earth. Relevent text on the ring: Play this card after an attack against one of your Provinces, in which the attacking army's Force exceeded the Province Strength at any time during the Attack Phase and the Province was not destroyed. I've got two questions regarding the Ring. First, when is it played? By the current wording "Play this card after an attack" I would say it would be played after the Resolution segment of the last battle at the last province since "the attack" isn't over until all battles at all provinces have been resolved (unless you rule that the words "attack" and "battle" are synonymous).

The Ring is played immediately after that Province's battle ends, whether it be through normal resolution or prematurely. Do not wait until the entire Attack Phase ends. I'll flag the card for editing the next time it's printed.

My second question is easier to understand if I use an example: Player B's provinces have a province strength of 5. Player A assigns an 8 force unit to attack Player B's province 1. Player B defends with a 6 force unit. Player A resolves provinces 2, 3, and 4 first and both players pass (no provinces destroyed). Player A then resolves province 1. Player B plays Outflank, increasing his defending unit's force to 9. Player A plays Superior Tactics to move his 8 force unit to province 2. Both Players pass and the attack phase ends. Can player B now play the Ring of Earth? I would say yes given that the ring specifies that the attacking army needs to exceed the province strength at "any time during the Attack Phase" but does not specify that a battle needs to resolve there.

The Ring is playable.