Ya know, at first I was really just wondering about what spells would work well as "set and forget" spells.
I didn't realize until now just how lacking the rules are around Wards in totality! Considering it's the primary focus of a core-book school, that's really embarrassing. 😅

This should actually be one of the most alarming things as a complacent Crab leads to Kisada looking at the mess the rest of the Empire is in and thinking if only a strong hand could unify that mess and turn its full might against our troubles to the South.  Next thing you know Yori is showing up telling him he should use Sukune to set a new Standard for the Crab.

As someone who generally champions this statement... In this story, no more than anyone else
If anything- and I appreciate this- we see Shoju coming to terms with his own folly- of having seen Kachiko's ambition, but of having still extended her trust.
 
But yeah... we all knew that things were going to shake out dangerously. And poor Shoju- really, the best of Scorpion when it comes to his understanding of his place in the Empire- is fated for tragedy.

Here is this from "The last stone played"
The new Emerald Championship would be delayed until Sotorii took the throne, an
Emperor indebted to the Scorpion. She would suggest that he simply appoint a new Emerald
Champion, of course. He would even believe it was his own idea.
It was rare that one’s duty and one’s aspirations overlapped so perfectly. As her oaths demanded,
she had protected the Hantei name.....
This is just before Kachiko, edict in hand, even bothers to read the scroll that was discovered.  Up to this point all she knows is that the emperor was going to name Daisetsu.  Kachiko was doing it for her, under the guise of doing her duty to protect the Hantei name.  Covering up the regicide protects his name.  At that moment she could have sought out Shoju and informed him of the Emperor's death, but, the moment Kachiko found out that Daisetsu would be emperor, she immediately saw the opportunity to have an emperor, Sotorii, under her thumb and went to tie up loose ends to ensure that was what happened.
She thought she had been gifted what she desired most, only to take a moment to read the scroll and find out what a massive sh!tstorm she just created.
off topic:
haha! Ishi Tonu 2, Profanity Filter 0

The best part of this fiction is when Shoju briefly breaks the 4th wall and realizes that the conversation he has with Kachiko happened years ago despite officially only a few months having past.

The question is a bit of a misnomer.  If someone wants to make a dueling deck it is almost certainly going to be Crane splashing Dragon or Dragon splashing Crane.  There are some other options that have a lot of benefits (Crab can make your duelists stronger and more resilient, Lion offers more options and gives benefits when Kakita Dojo honors your duelists, etc.) but for pure dueling one would want to run one of those two builds.  At that point it becomes a matter of style and meta (currently Crane dueling seems to beat Dragon dueling but that has more to do with the fact that much of Dragon has been nerfed while Crane has received a big boost from their clan pack) than anything else.
The real question is who runs a better dueling deck without splashing the other, i.e. does Crane/Unicorn beat Dragon/Crab (or other combos).  The general consensus seems to be that Dragon dueling works better as a support strategy than Crane dueling does, but Crane can run a better duel-focused deck than Dragon can.

Trick question.
The answer is Crab

Dragon have better duelists with built in duels but Crane has better Conflict duels. 

I would lean to toward saying Crane.  But lets take a look at the cards head to head that have duel effects printed or the duelist keyword.
Strongholds:
Kyuden Kakita vs Mountains Anvil Castle
I think this is a wash. Kyuden Kakita profits from any duel win or lose and potentially helps you win future duels wheras MAC gives a more immediate and wide reaching benefit in addition to helping win duels with the stat boost
 
Dynasty characters:
Crane:
Courtly Challenger
Kakita Favorite
Kakita Kaezin
Kakita Toshimoko
Kakita Yuri
Tengu Sensei
Doji Challenger
Dragon:
Kitsuki Shomon
Mirumoto Hitomi
Mirumoto Raitsugu
Prudent Challenger
Mirumoto Prodigy
 
So this is an interesting comparison.  Crane have more duelists (7 to 5) and more printed duels (4 to 3), whereas Dragon really has two of the 3 most potent duels, imho, in the game, with Toshimoko being the most potent for Crane.  Crane also has some versatility to their printed duels in terms of effects and duel types (Pol and Mil). I'm going to give the slight edge to Crane here.
 
Holdings
Crane:
Kakita Dojo
Distinguished Dojo
 
Dragon:
Mirumoto Dojo
 
Crane does have two dueling focused holdings, but Distinguished Dojo doesn't see play.  This comes down to the Mirumoto vs Kakita Dojos.  Both have printed military duels and both are enhanced by duelists. Turning off an ability with the possibility of also bowing if the winner is a duelist is very powerful where as moving a fate from a character to the pool or discarding the fate if the winner is duelist can also be powerful.  I give the edge here to Crane as Kakita Dojo has more utility than Mirumoto Dojo.
 
Attachments
 
Crane:
Kakita Blade
Duelist Training
Seal of the Crane
Iaijutsu Master
 
Dragon:
Mirumoto Daisho
Justicar's Approach
 
Again, Crane have more cards focused on duels and have fun things not directly related to dueling (Formal Invitation) that can empower their duelists, I think I give this category to Dragon. Mirumoto Daisho and Justicar's approach  and Dragon's general attachment support give them the edge here.
Events:
Crane
Civil Discourse
Courteous Scheming
Duel to the Death
Game of Sadane
Insult to Injury
Kakita's Final Stance
Storied Defeat
 
Dragon
Magnificent Triumph
Rising Stars Kata
 
I think this is in Crane's Favor pretty solidly due to number of duels and better duel support, though Way of the Dragon deserve mention despite not strictly being duel related...
 
Conflict Characters
Crane
Arbiter of Authority
Dragon
Niten Pupil
 
Crane win this category too.   Niten Pupil isn't currently legal for Dragon as they don't have a Water Role....
 
So just going by dueling related cards, I think Crane comes out ahead.  Where it becomes tough is Dragon can splash Crane and vice versa. Properly tooled up, Raitsugu is a menace as he can straight up kill guys and might be doing it multiple times per turn thanks to Way of the Dragon. If we are solely looking at the cards, Crane has more dueling cards and more flexible options whereas Dragon has a few, powerful dueling cards.  
 

FFG posted a new Unicorn Clan fiction.
Please see the below link:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/8/21/red-petals-scatter/

What a family name drop at the end of the story!

In that same vein, I've wondered many times why Age of War (a samurai dice game that FFG owns) hasn't gotten a L5R skinned version of the game.  It's easy to learn, it's fun, it has some small level of strategy.  It could be incorporated into L5R side events, and/or used as prize support.  I already have a copy of the game in great condition and would gladly purchase a new copy if it was given a L5R facelift.  They could have special clan themed dice, alt art prizes.....custom dice cups/trays.  Turn it into a digital game.  There is a lot of room for exposure.  I would much rather break out my L5R themed copy of Age of War and then tell people about the card game, the rpg, the non-existent miniatures game, etc.  FFG should be looking to make this the go to samurai IP.  While it may not have as big of an audience as Star Wars, there are plenty of people that enjoy the east-Asian genre to want to expand the opportunities to get the IP out there.  When crappy movies like 47 Ronin and The Wall can get made, you know there are people that have crunched the numbers enough to identify that there is money to be made in that genre.

The fairness of dueling has been a never-ending point of contention for as long as L5R has been around, and I've never understood it one bit.
If I play a card from my hand that flat-out destroys your character (Assassination, for instance) then all is fine and the game goes on.
If I play a duel that flat-out destroys your character then for some reason, it should have been more fair, should have given the opponent more of a chance to negate the effect, should have so on and so on and so on...
When I play a duel that you know you can't win, why is that any different than if I had played a non-duel that you know you can't negate? It's not different. If you have the feeling that you should have had a way out, it's entirely in your head.
 
From a mechanics perspective? Dueling is a mechanic that needs to work or else it simply won't be played.
From a lore perspective? Dueling is a racket that the Crane run because they used their political clout to make sure that the one thing they are "best" at is the one acceptable way to resolve issues, and they're one of the most "honorable" clans in the game.

The fairness of dueling has been a never-ending point of contention for as long as L5R has been around, and I've never understood it one bit.
If I play a card from my hand that flat-out destroys your character (Assassination, for instance) then all is fine and the game goes on.
If I play a duel that flat-out destroys your character then for some reason, it should have been more fair, should have given the opponent more of a chance to negate the effect, should have so on and so on and so on...
When I play a duel that you know you can't win, why is that any different than if I had played a non-duel that you know you can't negate? It's not different. If you have the feeling that you should have had a way out, it's entirely in your head.
 
From a mechanics perspective? Dueling is a mechanic that needs to work or else it simply won't be played.
From a lore perspective? Dueling is a racket that the Crane run because they used their political clout to make sure that the one thing they are "best" at is the one acceptable way to resolve issues, and they're one of the most "honorable" clans in the game.

"It's a barter system" is an argument that only goes so far.
Our (modern, capital-based) economy is also a barter system - the only reason a dollar holds any value is because you can pay your taxes with it. If you couldn't, it's value would vanish entirely. Since every single transaction you make in your life can't literally be a barter, the mint steps in and substitutes for the good and/or service.
Koku/Bu/Zeni works in much the same way for Rokugan.
I also think, "the clan will provide your needs" argument is veeeery overplayed (even by the developers, IMO).
Yes, the clan provides for you in the form of food, shelter, the necessary items to fulfill your duties (daisho for samurai, etc) but that's the beginning and end of it.
Your lord could have provided you with much better quality armor, and you'd be much safer and more likely to survive and succeed at your tasks, but they didn't - you got what you got and if you want better, it's up to you to remedy that (whether it be through crafting, bartering, politicing, purchasing, etc.) This is the part of the game where some economics belongs, but is sort of missing.
It's also kind of important to remember that the nobility gets a stipend but not everyone does:
Peasants live entirely off the land; their place is to feed the empire and in return they are allowed to live on the Emperor's land under their protection, but they get no quality of life that they cannot make for themselves. What they do, however, is produce and sell the day-to-day materials that are necessary for essentially everyone. linen, woodworking, leather, silks, etc and any/all of the basic things you may need these for (ricepaper patches for broken doors, silk thongs for straps, paper lanterns, hand fans, pouches, clothing, etc and so on and on).
Merchants are simply peasants who have managed to make quite a quality of life for themselves (peasants who have been lucrative enough to "move up" out of the farming life and into the trading life or who provide a service that is important enough to keep them busy even during harvest; a sword polisher for instance). It's worth noting that very successful merchants tend to have more koku than many samurai and it's for this reason they're allowed into the politics game at all, but their wealth is entirely all they have since they are guaranteed nothing through their class (as a samurai is with their stipend).
Next come samurai, which bucks the trend and is given generally what they need through their stipend, but still will expect to have day to day expenses and these expenses are paid in koku, generally to peasants and merchants in town markets. Want to paint a beautiful fan as a gift for an upcoming visit to a neighboring lord or court? Making the fan is up to the samurai but crafting the paper, wooden ends, pins, inks, etc is not something samurai are doing, they'll pick these items up with currency.
Now obviously the game doesn't expect you to be taking time to select which quality of sandal strap you want to purchase with your money, and anything like that should be either hand-waived or done entirely narratively, but this is where we get back to "your lord provides (but not always)." Your family armor is damaged but not destroyed. You wouldn't requisition new armor to replace it (it's your family armor, not some throw-away gear you got out of a barracks surplus) but it still needs repairing, and your stipend is meant to cover expenses like this - except there is no stipend and your starting money is veeery finite when we start dealing with the cost of actual items of consequence (weapons, armor, horses, etc).
Or, going an entirely different way narratively - your sword is broken in combat and instead of replacing it, you are shamed for allowing it to be destroyed in the first place. After all, it is your duty to care for your equipment properly and any samurai who allows their (sacred) katana to come to such harm is neglectful, a terrible swordsman, or both (ie: your lord is a cheapskate and will play politics to line their own pockets). You can't craft your own without essentially removing yourself from the game, and your starting funds won't cover a katana - what do you do?
Well, as things are, the answer to "what do you do?" is either a) ignore this type of narrative entirely and never have it come up, or b) rewrite the way koku works which is a ton of extra world-building that, technically, should already exist.

"It's a barter system" is an argument that only goes so far.
Our (modern, capital-based) economy is also a barter system - the only reason a dollar holds any value is because you can pay your taxes with it. If you couldn't, it's value would vanish entirely. Since every single transaction you make in your life can't literally be a barter, the mint steps in and substitutes for the good and/or service.
Koku/Bu/Zeni works in much the same way for Rokugan.
I also think, "the clan will provide your needs" argument is veeeery overplayed (even by the developers, IMO).
Yes, the clan provides for you in the form of food, shelter, the necessary items to fulfill your duties (daisho for samurai, etc) but that's the beginning and end of it.
Your lord could have provided you with much better quality armor, and you'd be much safer and more likely to survive and succeed at your tasks, but they didn't - you got what you got and if you want better, it's up to you to remedy that (whether it be through crafting, bartering, politicing, purchasing, etc.) This is the part of the game where some economics belongs, but is sort of missing.
It's also kind of important to remember that the nobility gets a stipend but not everyone does:
Peasants live entirely off the land; their place is to feed the empire and in return they are allowed to live on the Emperor's land under their protection, but they get no quality of life that they cannot make for themselves. What they do, however, is produce and sell the day-to-day materials that are necessary for essentially everyone. linen, woodworking, leather, silks, etc and any/all of the basic things you may need these for (ricepaper patches for broken doors, silk thongs for straps, paper lanterns, hand fans, pouches, clothing, etc and so on and on).
Merchants are simply peasants who have managed to make quite a quality of life for themselves (peasants who have been lucrative enough to "move up" out of the farming life and into the trading life or who provide a service that is important enough to keep them busy even during harvest; a sword polisher for instance). It's worth noting that very successful merchants tend to have more koku than many samurai and it's for this reason they're allowed into the politics game at all, but their wealth is entirely all they have since they are guaranteed nothing through their class (as a samurai is with their stipend).
Next come samurai, which bucks the trend and is given generally what they need through their stipend, but still will expect to have day to day expenses and these expenses are paid in koku, generally to peasants and merchants in town markets. Want to paint a beautiful fan as a gift for an upcoming visit to a neighboring lord or court? Making the fan is up to the samurai but crafting the paper, wooden ends, pins, inks, etc is not something samurai are doing, they'll pick these items up with currency.
Now obviously the game doesn't expect you to be taking time to select which quality of sandal strap you want to purchase with your money, and anything like that should be either hand-waived or done entirely narratively, but this is where we get back to "your lord provides (but not always)." Your family armor is damaged but not destroyed. You wouldn't requisition new armor to replace it (it's your family armor, not some throw-away gear you got out of a barracks surplus) but it still needs repairing, and your stipend is meant to cover expenses like this - except there is no stipend and your starting money is veeery finite when we start dealing with the cost of actual items of consequence (weapons, armor, horses, etc).
Or, going an entirely different way narratively - your sword is broken in combat and instead of replacing it, you are shamed for allowing it to be destroyed in the first place. After all, it is your duty to care for your equipment properly and any samurai who allows their (sacred) katana to come to such harm is neglectful, a terrible swordsman, or both (ie: your lord is a cheapskate and will play politics to line their own pockets). You can't craft your own without essentially removing yourself from the game, and your starting funds won't cover a katana - what do you do?
Well, as things are, the answer to "what do you do?" is either a) ignore this type of narrative entirely and never have it come up, or b) rewrite the way koku works which is a ton of extra world-building that, technically, should already exist.

A totally necessary addition for the Bayushi Bushi alone, regardless of how good or bad everything else in it is. 😝

A totally necessary addition for the Bayushi Bushi alone, regardless of how good or bad everything else in it is. 😝

So something to keep in mind is that starting equipment is (and always has been, regardless of edition) woefully incomplete.

Honestly? I'd just use it as a jumping off point and let your characters decide (with GM approval, of course) what other things of value they might have.

For instance, every single samurai is going to own a katana, whether they wear it in public or not, but you won't find that included in starting packages for non-bushi schools like shugenja or courtier.
Most (if not every) samurai family is going to have a generational set of O-Yoroi armor that is kept in a place of reverence until necessary to use for war, but you won't find anything of the sort in a starting pack unless you're a Hida.
The starting koku in anyone's pack is a pittance - consider reference sources like the Yamada Trilogy of films [Twilight Samurai, etc] where a "30 koku samurai" was basically poor, but 30 koku is wildly above what the game would offer you.
Even the lowliest samurai are still nobles and would likely have a home with at least one retainer to tend to everyday chores (certainly not included in starting packs, lol).
Now, not every samurai will own a pony, and certainly not a well-bred horse (Unicorn excepted) - most won't in fact, or have access to anything and everything they could ever want, vast sums of koku, exotic finery, etc. But economics is a *huge* part of Rokugan (it's a major point for clans like the Crane, Unicorn, and to a lesser extent the Mantis). Samurai *will* and should care about wealth, to a point.
The important thing to remember is that discussing funds and bartering and the like are considered uncouth and something "civilized samurai" wouldn't do. But worrying about and needing wealth are entirely different.

It's official boys, Scorps and Bayushi have a bushi school, and they're also shinobi, and also do some dueling. 
Also I just double-checked the Deer article, "Mercenary Ninja" is the same school from that one - so I guess they edited that because I'd bet my ninja stars that was "Mercenary Shinobi" a few weeks ago. We also name check a few new techniques: Deceitful Strike, Cunning Distraction, Like a Ghost and Silent Elimination.
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/6/12/moving-in-shadows/

Well that will be your Bayushi bushi there - the Deathdealer.

My concerns with the Deer - How are the Crane matchmakers not shutting them down as hard as possible?
Also, way to steal Togashi's only interesting shtick.

I mean, "Suzume" is "Sparrow," "Kitsune" is "Fox"... So they're not really doing anything out of the ordinary there.
My thing with this Deer clan is they sound way too powerful as a Minor Clan. Manipulators of Fate? They sound like they out-Scorpion the Scorpion, out-Otomo the Otomo, and out-Diviner the Seppun. I like the idea of a Matchmaker clan, don't get me wrong. In the game I've been running since we were just in Beta, I created a diviner/matchmaker vassal family in the Seppun.
But just without the "we control and plan the fate of the Empire" angle. More just "hey these two samurai would make a great couple and raise good kids" type of divining.

After her stint as John Wick's friggin' waifu in O5R and her whole "pivotal role as a Thunder, blah blah blah" bit, I'm enjoying just getting to hate Kachiko.
 
She's honestly a better character when you can just loathe her a bit.

The highlight of this fiction, for me... was seeing Kachiko stumble across doubt.
That overweening confidence, her certainty that she's doing the right thing... and then, "oh crud."

Yeah, Kakita can increase the deadliness of their bites.
Because you know, at the dawn of the empire...