Dramatic Assassination

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

*

Keywords

Ninja

Card Text

Limited: Bow your performing Ninja Personality and pay Gold equal to a target unit's total Gold Cost: Destroy it. Lose 4 Honor.

Focus Value

1

Legality

Destroyer War (Celestial)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Dramatic Assassination *G 1FV Ninja Limited: Bow your target Ninja Personality and pay Gold equal to the targeted unit's total Gold Cost: Destroy a target unit. Lose 4 Honor." [Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 130

Rules Q&A

• Q: When you have to pay a cost for an effect, like Yoritomo Sachina or Dramatic Assassination. Does it have to be paid with the exact cost in gold(?)
  A: No. http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Costs_and_restr ... production: "It is permitted to overpay a Gold cost by any amount". Zen Faulkes, "Payments, passing, The Red Death, etc.", 24 May 2011
• Q: (W)hat is the difference between Concentrated Fire and Dramatic Assassination?
  A: I'm assuming you['re referring to this FAQ question: http://rules.l5r.com/CE_FAQ#What_happen ... ld_cost.3F
  Concentrated Fire affects who is targeted; the FAQ on Dramatic Assassination concerns costs (which is not just gold payment, but any kind of cost).
  Selection of targets and performers always comes before cost payments, and they have different rules because of that (see http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Abilities_and_a ... performing). Zen Faulkes, "Concentrated Fire and Chugo Seido", 14 Mar 2011
• Q: If my opponent pays 8 gold to assassinate Udo (8 gold cost) and I use deflection to redirect it to a zero gold cost personailty, what happens, considering this ruling on the faq: http://rules.l5r.com/CE_FAQ#What_happen ... ld_cost.3F
  Dramatic Assassination: Limited: Bow your target Ninja Personality and pay Gold equal to the targeted unit's total Gold Cost: Destroy a target unit. Lose 4 Honor
  Deflection: Reaction: When another player's action would target one of your Personalities: Choose another one of your Personalities at the same location. The action targets him instead, if legal.
  Does he bow his ninja, pay the 8 gold, but nothing happens? Or does he choose not to pay the 0 gold, and HAS to destroy the zero gold cost personality?
  A: He may choose one of two things:
  A) Bow his Ninja, pay the new GC (0), and destroy it. He will lose 4 honor.
  OR
  B) Pay no costs, and discard the card without effects.
  Read the FAQ as it deals with situations that are quite similar. Dan Jacobson, "Dramatic Assassination and redirection", 2 Feb 2010
• Q: Just for clarification on Costs and targets
  limited:Bow your target Ninja Personality and pay Gold equal to the targeted unit's total Gold Cost: Destroy a target unit. Lose 4 honor.
  The question is there are two targets and it does not specify on the card that it is the unit being destroyed. Could we get a clarification as there is a bit of a discussion on this... thanks
  A: As you say, there are two targets. Those are your Ninja and the unit you're destroying.
  Note that the phrase "the targeted unit" in reference to the Gold payment is referring back to the same unit.
  Because of the the sequence of taking an action here, you do this:
  A. Announce the action. "Hey! I'm taking an action!" Okay.
  B. Target required targets. You now target your Ninja Personality and the unit in the sentence "Destroy a target unit."
  C. Pay costs. Now, what costs have you got? "Gold equal to the targeted unit's total Gold Cost". What "targeted unit"? The one you "targeted" in Step B. There you go.
  I hope that helps. Brook Cunningham, "Dramatic Assassination", 14 Nov 2009
• Q: 2) Regarding the steps of an action (targeting first then paying costs) and the "if legal" on the Final Sacrifice, can I redirect the Dramatic Assassination on a Yojimbo with a total unit gold cost greater than: a] the original target? b] the amount of Gold can be paid by the Dramatic Assassination's player?
  A: You may redirect to any legal target, including b], but the player playing Dramatic Assassination has the option to not pay costs, and discard the Dramatic Assassination without effect. Dan Jacobson, "Final Sacrifice and legal target", 31 Aug 2009
• Q: Question 1: If I announce my intentions to play dramatic assassination targeting personality X, and my opponent uses his Chugo Seido to misdirect it to personality Y, am I than to allowed to choose not to pay the costs of Dramatic assassination and allow the action to fail, or do I have to pay the full cost of the action.
  Question 2: Assuming I am not allowed to simply allow a misdirected action to fail, I have the abiltiy to produce 10 gold, and I attempt to Dramatic Assassination an 8 gold cost unit. My opponent uses his Chugo Seido to misdirect Dramatic Assassination to his 12 gold cost unit. Am I still forced to bow my ninja as a cost of Dramatic assassination?
  A: This is the first appearance of the Celestial Edition FAQ, I think:
  http://rules.l5r.com/CE_FAQ#What_happen ... ld_cost.3F Zen Faulkes, "Dramatic Assassination and Paying costs", 12 Jul 2009