Welcome to our first preview of the next set, Shadows of Doubt. We’re excited to show you a few of the cards and explain the ideas behind them and the theme of each clan.
A matter of philosophy?
Well, that is always the case with these things, is it not? When I (Rob) started to draw the ideas for this set, I approached it with the eyes of it needing to be a fair bunch of cards to see what people would do with them. We wanted the set to be heavy on proactivity for the most part, and therefore it is heavier on the conflict side. We also wanted to find some things to hook into the clans, with the challenges we have ourselves caused to a fair extent.
It is a tricky place to find balance in things, but we are trying to listen to people’s wants and try to find ways to build towards the interests of the community. We do not always find ourselves taking the same paths people expect or were aiming for, but that is the nature of the beast.
Crab – Unrestrained Fury
The Crab’s focus cannot be missed in this set. With a full suite of cards settled around the more… unbalanced side of the clan, we explore the idea of Berserkers, and the “make or break” sense of it. With some ways to cushion when things do not go the way you might want, in the shape of A Bad Death and Caretaker of the Dead Eyes, as well as some ways to control when you overextend in, for example Reckless Assault, we hope to see some experimentation with both pure Berserker decks and hybrid decks out of Crab, aiming to step on the pedal and never let go.
Crane – Unstated Elegance
Crane is in an envious place at the moment, with a lot of parts making the whole very strong. With that in mind, we tried to find some different spots to expand the Crane than their imagined main focuses. So, with that in mind, we finally ended up going back to looking at Mioko’s song and finding a space around that. With some reinforcements in the shape of Observant Daidoji and an old bucket (ok, an Ancestral Kabuto) to smoothen out some things in there, as well as some Asahina to perhaps honor-crawl a little with Asahina Momoko, Crane still have plenty of options on their table.
Dragon – Understanding Their Place
Dragon keeps building on the Monk building blocks, which lost a lot of steam and possibilities with the cycling of the Elemental cycle of FFG cards. Marrying them a bit more to their stronghold, the Togashi make themselves known through the Tattooed Man and Kayo, the Shrinekeeper, while stepping up their fighting side with The Hundred Hand Strike and Twenty-four steps.
Lion – Unrivaled Esteem
Lion has been in a bit of a rough place in people’s minds, and needed to find some new footing with more proactive choices. Lion has therefore focused on getting some more cards to expand their engine, not truly focused to a specific facet of the clan itself. The Lion gets to expand the follower engine a bit, as well as unrivaled access to the Imperial favor. Cards such as Deeds, not Words and Ikoma Natsuko make the favor nice to have as an extra weapon, while Ancestral Rivalry can put the opponent on the spot to allow you to use them. Also, The Stranger makes for some chances to make it an even trickier place. Ikoma Yumiko’s Dagger comes by as a covert operative to support the idea and also become a general nuisance for the opponents’ cheaper characters.
Phoenix – Unexplored Depths
Phoenix gets a little bit of a mixed set of things, but the main flavor has to do with the sea and water. Asako Shun and Ebb and Flow carry the trait themselves, while Tessen of the Tsunami Legion and the support card Benevolent Lesser Kami can get more access to the trait. The spirit side of Phoenix also gets expanded a bit with aforementioned smaller kami and another bigger bruiser. Finally, the Song of the Empty City tries to help the defensive side by setting the stage to steering the opponent to more provinces unless they want to load up the honor of the firebird clan.
Scorpion – Unspoken Threats
Scorpion is focused into their dishonorable tricks and ways. Trying to buy time and disrupt the opponent, much of their time will be spent to set the stage, hoping to make the situation hard to navigate. Forcing choices with Disputed Lineage and We Know, and punishing poorly laid plans with Pressure and Soshi Aya, Scorpion are now well prepared to keep their game plan. Be prepared for them to leave the courtroom come next set and explore another side of them.
Unicorn – Unexplored Vistas
Unicorn is focused on expanding their influence on where and how they take their fights. Utaku Tomoe tries to find her place at the heart of this, and the Incessant Moto tried to join again. And again. Two more Meishōdō cards show up to influence the way to handle battles, and when things calm down, it is time to regroup and take counsel around the campfire.
And that’s it for today’s preview! What do you think? Do you like the new cards? We’ll work hard to implement them in Jigoku and we’ll also preview the rest of the cards soon. You can expect a decent art drop as we managed to source a few older artworks from another L5R artist.
Please note that these cards will also be considered to be in open play test. We’re pretty happy with how Under the Empress’ Eyes turned out, and we also like the cards in this set (obviously). However, having you try out the cards will help us tremendously, so feedback as much as you can. Thank you!
