Corruption's Price

Legend of the Five Rings card from Broken Blades

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: After a Shadowlands Holding bows, target either a non-Shadowlands Personality or Jade card controlled by the Holding's controller, and destroy that Holding and the target.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Four Winds (Gold)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Cannot be used if only one target is in play (i.e., cannot destroy a Shadowlands holding alone). [Rulebook, JA, 19 August 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 10

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can I play this card if my opponent bows a Shadowlands holding but does not control a non-Shadowlands Personality or a Jade Card?
  A: No (Gold Edition rulebook, pg. 46). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 16 September 2003, Part 2", 17 Sep 2003
• Q: Player A pays for a follower using a corrupt holding. His opponent hits him with a Corruption's Price, killing the personality that should receive the follower. I found the rulings that the follower is discarded (not in the archive, however, which is unfortunate).
  A: Not every question ever asked can, or should, be in the Archive. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 1 July 2003", 2 Jul 2003
• Q: (2) Same situation, except I have _two_ Sadanobus. I start paying for Zhijiang by bowing the Corrupt Mine, to which my opponent reacts by playing a Corruption's Price, killing one of my Sadanobus. Do I have to bow the other one (and my Stronghold), or can I decline, keeping Zhijiang in a Province?
  A: Payments are made simultaneously, not sequentially. When you hit step 3 in the above flowchart, you have to generate 10g (or 8g if you're buying Zhijiang at reduced cost) all at once. Your opponent can play Corruption's Price, but it won't affect your current purchase. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for June 16, 2003", 16 Jun 2003
• Q: Assuming you also do not have any Jade cards, no. Corruption's Price must be played as soon as its trigger occurs, which is the bowing of the Corrupted Mine. The Personality has not entered play yet because it has not been paid for.
  ;;;;;
  So in this case what happens to the corrupt holding and to CP?
  1. Nothing to the holding and CP is discarded since CP needs a peep and a corrupt holding to work?
  2. Nothing to the holding and CP is not allowed to be played as it cant satisfy its targeting requirements?
  A: #2. Jeff Alexander, "post for 30 May 2003", 3 Jun 2003
• Q: 1) Corruption's Price
  Player A pays for a follower using a corrupt holding. His opponent hits him with a Corruption's Price, killing the personality that should receive the follower. I found the rulings that the follower is discarded (not in the archive, however, which is unfortunate).
  Now the question is: If player A needs more than one holding to pay for the follower, does he have to pay the full cost even if he knows the attachement is invalid already?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27-28 May 2003", 29 May 2003
• Q: I play Corruption's Price and target a bowed (non-Shadowlands) Personality. My opponent plays Balance in Nothingness. Does that cancel the destruction of the corrupt holding as well?
  A: Yes. Balance In Nothingness cancels Corruption's Price at the targeting step [card text], before it has produced any effects. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 April 2003", 30 Apr 2003
• Q: So last night I was playing against Toku.
  I bowed a corrupt holding to attach an ashigaru spearmen to a personality, at which point Toku played Corruption's Price and killed off the personality I was trying to attach to.
  Then we were stuck. I know that if a cost gets cancelled then the card goes back to the hand...but... all costs had been paid, and targeting had already been done. So what happens to the ashigaru spearmen? Do they go back to the hand or get discarded?
  A: Discarded. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 April 2003", 25 Apr 2003
• Q: (2) Can you use Corruption's Price when a shadowlands holding comes into play?
  A: No. It has to change from bowed to unbowed. Cards are neither bowed nor unbowed while not in play. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 April 2003", 4 Apr 2003
• Q: An opposing player has 1 shadowlands holding and a non-shadowlands peep. It is his turn, he bows the shadowlands holding to attach a light infantry to the peep. I use CP to destroy the holding and the peep. What happens to the Light Infantry? Does he keep it in his hand?Or now that there is no legal peep to attach it to is it discarded?
  A: It is discarded. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 March 2003", 20 Mar 2003
• Q: Can my opponent play Corruption's Price on me when I bow a Shadowlands Holding but do not have a jade card or non-shadowlands holding? I said no because he doesn't have targets for the entire action.
  A: You are correct. You MUST destroy a Jade card or a non- Shadowlands Personality in addition to the Holding, and you cannot take a targeted action without a target. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 March 2003", 18 Mar 2003
• Q: A quick question about Corruption's Price.. it reads:
  Reaction: Play after a Shadowlands Holding becomes bowed to destroy that Holding and either a non-Shadowlands Personality or a Jade card controlled by the Holding's controller.
  So, is a holding considered to be "becoming bowed" when it's comming into play? Or just when it's bowed otherwise?
  A: Just when it's bowed otherwise. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 December 2002", 3 Dec 2002
• Q: 3) Concerning Corruption's Price: Can I use this to nuke a Shadowlands holding as it's being bowed even if the opposing player doesn't control a Jade card or a non-Shadowlands personality?
  A: The additional destruction is not an optional effect, and it requires a target. Without a target, the whole action is illegal. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 November 2002", 8 Nov 2002
• Q: Can Corruption's Price be used if the opponent has only Shadowlands Personalities and no Jade cards? (Assuming they do have and bow the requisite Shadowlands Holding, I mean.)
  A: Corruption's Price targets the additional card to be destroyed. The additional destruction is mandatory, not optional. [card text] Targeted actions cannot be taken if all their targets can't be picked. [p. 46]. So the answer is "no". Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 August 2002", 29 Aug 2002
• Q: Do you have to meet both parts of Corruption's Price to use the card?
  A: Corruption's Price targets both the bowed holding that the one additional card, and the destruction of the additional card is not optional. Since targeted actions cannot be taken if all targeting requirements cannot be satisfied, the answer to your question is "yes". Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 August 2002", 20 Aug 2002