Rules for 3 July 2004
A rules digest from the L5R CCG rules team, copied from the mailing list archive for Oracle of the Void. The askers' names are left out. Rulings are as they stood on this date; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
Your Rules for Saturday, July 3, 2004
A few questions about Mighty Protection
If my opponent casts Mighty Protection and then I play Entrapping terrain and it resovles, do his units killed during the battle go home bowed even though the was no resolution phase?
This card is from Time of the Void, so it is a little dated in terms of timing.
I'll ask Jeff how he wants the card to work.
I need of an official clarification of gifts and favors
a fiend of minen has just started gaming L5R. but he has a problem with gifts and favors, because the people he plays against, say that you must have a gifts and favors in paly to search ur fate deck for one!
You do not need a copy of Gifts and Favors in play to use the ability of Gifts and Favors. When cards mention their own name without specifically saying, "A Copy of" they mean "this card." With that in mind, the MRP of Gifts and Favors reads more clearly:
"Reaction: During your End Phase, if you've brought no Gold-producing Holdings into play this turn, bow your Stronghold to search your deck, then face-down Provinces, for this card. Put the first Gifts and Favors you find into play bowed. If you find none, you lose the game."
Clearly, you can not use the ability of a Gifts and Favors in play to search for itself, since it is in play.
You can only successfully use the ability while Gifts and Favors is in your deck or face-down Dynasty Cards.
Card Search
I was wondering what constitutes searching for a fate card. I assume Aid of the Grandmaster and Walking the Way search, but does Shozo? He lets you look at a limited number of fate cards and choose one.
I'd certainly hope that Aid of the Grand Master and Walking the way search, since they say specifically on them, "Search" in black ink letters.
Shozo does not "search" because he does not use that special word. No, you can not take the card you want with Shozo and then shuffle the deck to get better cards next turn. He doesn't say "search" so you can't invoke Cardinal Rule #4.
Oddly enough, however, the Accumulated Rulings has a section called "Search" with rulings that can apply to "look at X cards and play one" effects just as easily as "search you deck for a card and play it." That might be the subject of some confusion.
That's all for Saturday. If I missed your question, please repost it with the flag [RULES] in a clear and distinct subject line so I can get back to you at the first opportunity.