Rules for 12 July 2004

Your Rules for Monday, July 12, 2004

First, a quick word on Blessings of Isawa / Prayers and Blessings:

We went over this issue with the Rules Team, and decided it would be simplest to just say straight-out that your Fate Hand holds Fate Cards. You can't put a non-Fate Card into your Fate Hand. No putting Dynasty Cards, Strongholds, Winds, Sensei, or whathaveyou into your Fate Hand (unless you have an effect that explicitly contradicts this rule. Copying an ability from a Fate Card to something that isn't a Fate card does not qualify). If you have a Kiho attached to your Personality that tells you to put it back in your hand, negate the return-to-hand effect since you can't do it.

Question for Marty/Jeff

I cannot remember the rule on asking questions on cards before release date, so I apologize if I am breaking rules.

The only caveat to asking pre-release rules questions is that I take absolutely no responsibility for inaccuracies in my answers when I do not have copies of the cards in front of me. As of yet, I do not have a reference set, so I'm working for the previews or cut-and-paste text.

Let the buyer beware.

Wait a minute. You guys aren't giving me any money at all. :-P

I bring Baku into play. I react from him coming into play from province, play Feign Death. My opponent reacts from him coming into play from province. It is now my turn to react from him coming into play from province, use ability again, effectively killing two guys.

The judge yells at you for trying to use the same printed Reaction (Baku's) to the same trigger (Baku entering play from the Province) twice.

Bad World Champion*. No biscuit. ;-)

* Still not as bad as a certain Rules Monkey trying to Refugees home his opponent's Defending Personality without Presence, though.

Also, just to be retarded, can he target himself, effectively putting himself back on top of your deck, or is he dead by that point so it is too late for him?

He normally can only target a Personality in play (since he has no text stating otherwise). Once he's death (paying costs) he's not in play, and thusly an illegal target. The effect of putting him on top of your deck would fail since he went illegal before you resolved an effects.

Toshimoko no Shiryo vs. Turn of Fortune

Would the trait of Toshimoko no Shiryo prevent the use of Turn of Fortune in response to a duel initiated by his Personality?

Turn of Fortune isn't played in response to a duel. It is played in response to Targeting, which typically happens BEFORE a challenge or duel can be initiated, and is thus beyond the perview of Toshimoko no Shiryo's traits.

Some Preview-Inspired Rules Questions

1) I have more than one Wind in play. For The Shogun's Fealty, do I pick what Wind to check the "no other players have your Wind" condition for, or must all of them pass that condition?

I'll ask Jeff about Designer's Intent for that.

2) The Accumulated Rulings say "If a card is used to pay the cost of an Imperial Favor effect (e.g., Acquiring Favor), it is considered a use of the Favor in all ways." Can this be safely extended to include paying it with non-cards (strongholds, tokens, etc.)?

Yes. If you pay the cost using the Imperial Favor, the game treats it as though you have used the Imperial Favor. Gozaku Sensei can only have one person under the 6-gold lock at a time, no matter how much Acquiring Favor, Commanding Favor, Eloquence, Kyuden Bayushi, Kakita Yoshi, and Kakita Mai you introduce to the equation. You can sure bow a lot of people, though.

3) I use Binding Kharma to get The Shadowed Tower of the Shosuro's Reaction. Does it still count as "The Shadowed Tower of the Shosuro's printed Reaction" for the purposes of Shosuro Hokii?

No. The Stronghold you are using it from is not Shadowed Tower and the ability is not a printed Reaction. It is a spell-created ability, not the original.

Political Entanglements Question

If I play Political Entanglement on the Stone Breaker, what becomes of his "Does not die from having 0 Chi." ? Does he die now? Would he die if his Chi had been raised to one before (now making him 0 Chi) ?

Hm, you mean if you make it say, "Does not die from having -1 Chi?"

Sure, I guess that would work. It would never have -1 Chi as his Chi stat, and it would no longer have protection against death at 0 Chi. It probably should've been written with the "0" as "zero."

More Blessings of Isawa

You might want to add this to the email to Jeff or perhaps you can make the decision based on Jeff's reply. What if you Blessings From Isawa a Shadowed Terrain?

Shadowed Terrain Delayed Terrain Elemental Earth Kiho Battle: You must bow one of your Shugenja or Monks in this battle to play this card. When this Terrain resolves, you may destroy this Terrain to immediately play and resolve a Delayed Terrain from your hand, then draw a card.

Does the Shugenja have to bow when it enters the battle? If you Feign Death the Shugenja do you have to "bow one of your Shugenja or Monks in this battle to play this card"? Can a personality become a terrain card? Can I have both this Shugenja and a Terrian in play? Shirani Toshi? EXPLODE?

I'll ask Jeff. Maybe he can think of something creative. My first impulse is to say that there is no effect that transforms the card itself into a terrain, thusly there is no Delayed Terrain to resolve so the ability does nothing.

More questions on the timing of actions...

At what point during the action does the card leave the hand and considered to be in play or being played? When the action is announced? When targets are declared? or when costs are paid?

The Action is "being played" the whole way through the process of taking the Action. The Action Card is being played the whole time too. The Action is considered to be "played" after Paying Costs but before Resolving Effects.

For cards that are actually "in play" like Terrains and Formations, they'll be in play after Paying Costs (and reactions to such).

That covers everything from Monday. If I missed your question, please repost it with the flag [RULES] in a clear and distinct subject line and I'll get back to you at the first opportunity.