Masters of the Court - Crane Clan Pack

[Tabris2k 1,067]

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Duelists and Courtiers: Crane at its finest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9 by Tabris2k

[Tabris2k 1,067]

It’s just my imagination, or Honor Victory through dueling is making its comeback to L5R?

And Daidoji Uji, at last.

I like Makoto, if only for the stats. Also, because she’s drunk. 

Edited January 9 by Tabris2k

[Tonbo Karasu 1,668]

11 minutes ago, Tabris2k said:

It’s just my imagination, or Honor Victory through dueling is making its comeback to L5R?

And Daidoji Uji, at last.

I like Makoto, if only for the stats. Also, because she’s drunk. 

Well, she did sound like she was in desperate need of a drink back in Service and Sacrifice.

[Kakita Shiro 981]

6 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Well, she did sound like she was in desperate need of a drink back in Service and Sacrifice.

I forgot she was in there!

[Tonbo Karasu 1,668]

1 minute ago, Kakita Shiro said:

I forgot she was in there!

Yeah, she's the one that Ujiaki tries to talk into doing something, but she turns him down, IIRC.  Pretty sure it was because she was honourable and she considered him not.

[Tabris2k 1,067]

6 minutes ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Yeah, she's the one that Ujiaki tries to talk into doing something, but she turns him down, IIRC.  Pretty sure it was because she was honourable and she considered him not.

Yup, her husband was a Crane married into the Lion, but broke the marriage to go to the Lion-Crane war. No wonder she seems so bitter. 

But where here to discuss cards, no lore! And certainly not Lion lore in the Crane thread!

The new stronghold seems like will benefit a lot from the CotE big box, no wonder they wanted to get the pack out after it. 

Edited January 9 by Tabris2k

[sndwurks 1,054]

My overall take - I dislike how the Crane Clan "over-meta" seems to be counter-interactivity, but at least it is on brand. The goal of the Crane Clan play is to make it so their opponent cannot play the game. Not exactly my favorite approach, but at least it is weak to the Scorpion Clan's style of play.

My take on the cards:

Kyuden Kakita - No surprises here, and not sure how good it is going to be. It's no City of the Open Hand, Shiro Shinjo, or even Hisu Mori Toride. It is a limited boost which requires other cards to set it up. Unless there is a card coming which lets the Crane Clan dishonor themselves to win a duel, I don't see this being more useful than their Core box.

Kakita Yuri - Okay, HERE is what I was expecting from a Crane box. Being able to choose my champion against this ability keeps it from being incredibly abusable, but it will still shut down both types of HMT, and guarantee no one shows up to fight him when you are First Player.

Distinguished Dojo - This is the card I was hoping to see. With their Challenger coming in CotE, along with other cards, this has the potential to hit 3 tokens very easily in a single turn. Having two of these show up on the same turn can get you 6 honor fast. This might be what the Crane need to finally start pressuring the Honor victory condition, when combined with Kyuden Kakita for the extra +1 Honor each turn.

Asahina Takemori - Good. Not game breakingly good, but good. Cards like this will guarantee that Favorable Ground remains a 2x or 3x in most decks, along with the power of movement effects. Definitely hits Dragon the hardest, as he can keep Raitsugu and the Investigator safely at home.

Political Sanctions - And we have ANOTHER Dragon-killer. Fortunately, this is an attachment, but between Cloud, Sanctions, and Kirei-ko, I expect the Scorpion and Crane are going to have enough answers for the powerhouse abilities being packed by Dragon, Unicorn, and the others. This card also increases the value of Let Go and Hand to Hand.

Akodo Makoto - A blank unique 4 Mil / 1 Pol / 1 Glory for 3 fate out of Lion?! That's amazing! Oh, wait, there's an ability on it? Oh. Yeah, I guess there is? Uhhhh. Sure. An ability that will never trigger, but even if it does? It triggers before the Void Ring, so that limits its use. If she sees play, it'll be because of her stats, and not that ability.

 

Also, my local game store owner will be happy to see his boy, Daidoji Uji, back in action.

[Hordeoverseer 128]

I like Political Sanction but I feel it's one those cards that would see play "because of X, Y and Z", mostly that it's contentious in the mirror and Scorpion. It also doesn't stop Kisada, Guest of Honour or Isawa Takeda.

Edited January 9 by Hordeoverseer

[Oni no Pikachu 27]

On the lore side, Akodo Makoto has been misspelled, she should be Akodo Matoko, portraying the character already described in the fiction "Service and Sacrifice". Matoko is also an existing character on old canon and CCG, a Lion samurai-ko who severed her ties with her Crane husband due to the conflict between both clans.

[Tabris2k 1,067]

1 hour ago, sndwurks said:

My take on the cards:

Kyuden Kakita - No surprises here, and not sure how good it is going to be. It's no City of the Open Hand, Shiro Shinjo, or even Hisu Mori Toride. It is a limited boost which requires other cards to set it up. Unless there is a card coming which lets the Crane Clan dishonor themselves to win a duel, I don't see this being more useful than their Core box.

It’ll be good just for bringing 1 more honor per turn. Between this, the honoring the Crane has, Distinguished Dojo (probably with Rebuild), some duels to win honor, the Crane has just to stop their opponents from breaking provinces and they can win by honor.

I know, I know, stopping the province breaking is not so easy... unless Crane have a way to cancel cards, actions, declaring conflicts, assigning characters to attack, bow characters... oh, wait. They do. 

I think Crane might have a shot at winning the game defensively. Suck it, Crab. 

Edited January 9 by Tabris2k

[Jakkan 2]

A Crane fighting with two katanas?? SHAME! 

[Kakita Shiro 981]

18 minutes ago, Jakkan said:

A Crane fighting with two katanas?? SHAME! 

It's really with his wakisashi, but yes Daidoji Uji was an odd duck.

[Daigotsu Arashi 41]

Phoenix have a mystical beast and scorpion a institution. Probably we will have Kakita Toshimoko who is a institutional mystical beast 😂.

1 hour ago, Jakkan said:

A Crane fighting with two katanas?? SHAME! 

At least he is not with gaijin weaponry

Edited January 9 by Daigotsu Arashi

[JJ48 4,811]

"Yuri" sounds like an odd name for for a male Crane.  Is this setting pseudo-Japanese or pseudo-Slavic?

[Tonbo Karasu 1,668]

6 minutes ago, JJ48 said:

"Yuri" sounds like an odd name for for a male Crane.  Is this setting pseudo-Japanese or pseudo-Slavic?

He goes right back to the very first packs, IIRC, so is more likely to have a not-entirely-convincingly-Asian name than newer characters.

[Tonbo Karasu 1,668]

39 minutes ago, Daigotsu Arashi said:

Phoenix have a mystical beast and scorpion a institution. Probably we will have Kakita Toshimoko who is a institutional mystical beast 😂.

I still think that Toshimoko is the 4-coster in Children.  That would make Uji the 5-coster in Masters (card 11), and Kuwanan a 4-coster, (Card 10).  As for the 6-cost, what would you say to a sea spider?

<sorry for double-post.  Editing in a quote is not something I can manage

[Joelist 146]

Crane Clan Pack at last!

The cards spoiled so far look pretty cool. 

[HamHamJ2 107]

4 hours ago, JJ48 said:

"Yuri" sounds like an odd name for for a male Crane.  Is this setting pseudo-Japanese or pseudo-Slavic?

You have discovered literally the entire joke behind the title of Yuri on Ice so...

[Bakura83 972]

8 hours ago, JJ48 said:

"Yuri" sounds like an odd name for for a male Crane.  Is this setting pseudo-Japanese or pseudo-Slavic?

Yuri is a Japanese word.  It can also be a name, but usually female.  It’s probably just a case of random name generating gone awry, and they didn’t make the obvious connection to the fact that to English speakers it looks and pronounces like Russian not Japanese.

[Matrim 463]

I am just praying Uji has a useable ability. Probably something military and devious. Would prefer 4 but 5 is okay.

 

Hmm FFG if you want to allow me to spoil him on my blog I will be happy to do so (as I think I have begged repeatedly)

[Ignithas 257]

The SH and Daimyo look pretty strong. Distinguished Dojo could be strong, but needs the support of two themes and Yuri and Sanction both seem pretty situational. Makoto is solid and synergieses well with WotL and the spoilered attachment from CotE.

[987654321 151]

Amidst the honorable samurai of the Emerald Empire, none stand quite as virtuously as those of the Crane Clan. It is by the grace and excellence of the Left Hand of the Emperor that peace is maintained, for their mastery of law and diplomacy is unparalleled. The descendants of Lady Doji helped codify the laws that govern life in the Empire, simultaneously defining the social order and modeling it with elegance.

The writer of this article doesn't read the fiction.

[Mirith 1,275]

I also like how the cover image for "Masters of the court" is someone in full armor.  Very courtly.

[Kakita Shiro 981]

39 minutes ago, Mirith said:

I also like how the cover image for "Masters of the court" is someone in full armor.  Very courtly.

Daidoji Uji makes his own fashion rules.

[Soshi Saibankan 32]

8 hours ago, Matrim said:

I am just praying Uji has a useable ability. Probably something military and devious. Would prefer 4 but 5 is okay.

 

Hmm FFG if you want to allow me to spoil him on my blog I will be happy to do so (as I think I have begged repeatedly)

I'll be surprised if he doesn't have Covert. Maybe Bushi, Shinobi, Daimyo for traits. 

Edited January 10 by Soshi Saibankan