Blessings of Isawa

Legend of the Five Rings card from The Dark Journey Home

Card Type

Event

Keywords

Unique

Card Text

After you reveal cards in your Provinces at the start of your turn, if this Event is face-up in one of them, after the next time this game a Kiho Strategy action that does not copy abilities resolves, if it was performed by a Personality, attach the Strategy to them. If it attached, until it leaves play, copy the performed ability onto the Personality removing any text allowing it to be taken more than once per turn, it is not considered an attachment, and its abilities cannot be used.

Legality

Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Notes

Revised 2024 in an attempt to preserve all contemporary Rulings regarding its odd interactions, with the exception of how it interacts with being canceled/unsuccessful as those are no longer Rules concepts.

Printings

Rulings

• The ability keeps the keywords of the kiho, including "Kiho." Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• If the attached kiho is destroyed, the ability is lost. [DW, ZF, email, January 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• If a kiho has multiple actions, only the action used is gained by the Personality. [DW, email, 19 August 1999] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• The ability gained is considered an innate ability if the Personality is a shugenja. [Netnews, 13 August 1999] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• The kiho can be cast only by the Personality it's attached to. [22 September 1999] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• The kiho is attached instead of discarded. A kiho that is not discarded (e.g., because it is removed from the game) cannot be attached and will waste the Event's effect. Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• A kiho that is canceled will not attach, because it was not performed. [January 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• The attached kiho's title is not a trait of the ability. [ZF, 6 August 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 68
• The ability keeps the traits of the kiho, including "Kiho". If the next kiho is cast by a Follower, it is discarded and the Event's effect is wasted since the kiho cannot attach "to a Personality". [DW, email, 2/23/99] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 18
• The kiho is attached instead of discarded. A kiho which is not discarded (for example, because of being removed from the game instead) cannot be attached and will waste the Event's effect. A kiho which is completely cancelled will not attach because it was not performed. [l5rinfo, 1/2000] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 19
• Q: Does One Life, One Action stop a kiho that's been attached via Blessings of Isawa from being cast? A: No. It isn't "played" when it's used. One Life, One Action won't stop it from attaching, either, assuming it was legally and successfully cast. The Imperial Herald, Issue 14, p. 45
• Q: If a kiho is cancelled, can I still attach it to a Personality with Blessings of Isawa or keep it in my hand with the Eternal Halls of the Shiba? A: No and no. It needs to resolve for either of those to trigger. The Imperial Herald, Issue 14, p. 45

Rules Q&A

• Q: If the "next kiho" is the RA on the Keeper of Air, does she now have two RA actions?
  A: Based on the standing Errata / Rulings in the Archive on Blessings of Isawa, it only applies to Kiho Action Cards. You can't attach Keeper of Air to itself, for instance.
  What a messy, messy card. I hope we never see anything resembling it hit print ever again. It is just a giant disaster waiting to happen, both in terms of rules and game balance.
  End Rant
  I'm not bitter folks. Nope. Not bitter at all ... Martin Lund, "Rules for 9 July 2004", 13 Jul 2004
• Q: Can a bowed shugenja cast a kiho that's attached to the shugenja through Blessings of Isawa if the kiho does not require bowing or the shugenja can cast kiho without bowing?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 September 2002", 25 Sep 2002
• Q: 1. Shinsei's Riddle & Blessings of Isawa & Night Medallion
  If Shinsei's Riddle is to become attached to a personality by the Blessings (my fav event ;), how does the 'discard this card' clause interact with this attachment? If the attachment is legal, again how is the 'discard this card' clause handled when using the ability - ie: is the attached Kiho card then discarded?
  A: No, the personality is. Once the Kiho becomes an ability of the personality, the 'this card' part of it becomes self-referential, hitting the personality instead of the kiho. So, upon the next use of Shinsei's Riddle, the caster goes off to look for the solution. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 12 Jan 2001
• Q: I resolve Blessings of Isawa, and the next Kiho to resolve in the game is Riddle of Rebirth, performed by my Henshin.
  What happens?
  a) my Henshin becomes an unstoppable entity of mass destruction, and can bow once per turn to send any unit whose guy shares a keyword with him to the deckbottoms, with no other cost b) my Henshin temporarily becomes an unstoppable entity of mass destruction, but the next time he uses his new "ability" he gets RFG just as the original Riddle was c) my Henshin has now solved the Riddle, and I win by enlightenment d) this is an illegal play. Much like crossing the streams, "It would be bad".
  A: b) - Riddle of Rebirth's "remove this card" will be transferred to the ability the Personality gains, and will remove the Personality from the game. Jon Palmer, "Blessings of Isawa + Riddle of Rebirth", 21 Jul 2014
• Q: I resolve Blessings of Isawa then have Kinuye xp cast some Kiho that normally requires bowing, say, Banish All Shadows. Because of her trait she doesn't need to bow for the initial casting, but when she gets the ability imprinted, will it continue to count as a Kiho (and she therefore won't need to bow) or is it now an ability with bowing as part of it's cost?
  A: Rules Archive, Blessings of Isawa: "The ability keeps the keywords of the kiho, including 'Kiho.'" Zen Faulkes, "Blessings of Isawa and Asako Kinuye xp", 27 May 2007
• Q: If you play a kiho with its invest cost, and Blessings of Isawa is in play, will the invest effect also form part of the shugs' ability?
  if yes, do I have to pay 2 gold every time I trigger the ability?
  A: No and not applicable. You're copying the ability; the Invest effect comes from a trait on the card, not from the ability. Alex Jones, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 18 Feb 2022