Essence of Air

Legend of the Five Rings card from Lotus Edition, Time of the Void

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

5

Keywords

Air

Card Text

Limited: Bow this Shugenja: Turn all cards in your provinces face-up. While this Shugenja remains bowed or until your provinces refill a number of times in one turn equal to his Chi, you may negate his straightening and your provinces refill face-up; cards refilled face-up by this effect will not have their costs reduced.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Clan Wars (Imperial)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Essence of Air 5G 2FV Elemental Air Limited: Bow this Shugenja, who may remain bowed: Turn all cards in your Provinces face-up. Your Provinces fill face-up, and cards filling them this way may not have their costs reduced. These effects last until this Shugenja is not bowed or in play, or a number of your Provinces equal to this Shugenja’s Chi fill in one turn." [MRP, Lotus Edition, 31 October 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62
• Allows you to purchase more than one card from a Province during your Dynasty Phase. [DW, 2/3/98] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62
• Once you've started discarding unwanted Dynasty cards, you can no longer purchase any. [Rulebook] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62
• Only cards replaced face-up due to Essence of Air's own effect count towards its limit. [Card text] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62
• Each refilling in a single province counts once towards the limit. [CF, web, 3 November 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 62

Rules Q&A

• Q: Are the effects of the spell Essence of Air cumulative with other copies?
  Example: If I have two 3 Chi shugenja cast Essence of Air, do I replace only three dynasty cards face up, or do I replace six?
  A: Only 3. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 July 2002", 22 Jul 2002
• Q: In open, with the new ruling on Asako Yuya, Can you bow an Essence of Air attached to her, and keep IT bowed, or only the shugenja will work? Will the Spell stay bowed? Thanks!
  A: Any spell with a duration of "while this shugenja remains bowed" or "until this shugenja straightens" will end immediately if the shugenja does not actually bow when casting it. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 June 2002", 20 Jun 2002
• Q: Following this: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=110252
  Your explanation would be perfect if the condition was written "Until X or Y", but it isn't the case here.
  I think that the "end condition" is just inside the "until" but not outside of it. "While X or until Y" seems to describe the condition of activity, not end, of the effect. If you reverse the sub-conditions' order ("Until Y or while X") it becomes even clearer: while X remains true, the effect remains even if Y happens.
  A: Your reading of the card here is incorrect, even when reversed. The first clause (While X or until Y) describes when the effect ends. It's an "or" because it has two triggers for ending. If either trigger is met, the effect ends.
  This is how the card has always functioned (Kyuden Kitsune/Plains of Fast Troubles is one of my favorite L5R decks ever) and how it will continue. Jon Palmer, "Essence of Air", 27 Oct 2014
• Q: Shouldn't the condition in Essence of Air's text read "and" instead of "or"? I'm under the impression that now, the face-up refills are always active, and that their number is only limited if the Shugenja straightens...
  Also, does the trait of Agasha Tamori boost the number of face-up refills if they cast Essence of Air ?
  Essence of Air Limited: Bow this Shugenja: Turn all cards in your provinces face-up. While this Shugenja remains bowed or until your provinces refill a number of times in one turn equal to his Chi, you may negate his straightening and your provinces refill face-up; cards refilled face-up by this effect will not have their costs reduced.
  Agasha Tamori After you announce an action on one of Tamori's Spells, if bowing him is a condition upon any of its other effects, give him +3C until it ends, and you will not ignore or substitute his bowing.
  A: In this context, the "or" means either situation will satisfy the condition of ending the effect; if it said "and", they BOTH would have to be satisfied in order to end it.
  As for Essence of Air + Agasha Tamori, the number of allowed refills is set when the delayed effect is activated, so the +3C WILL be included in the total, even though it goes away before the effect ends. Brook Cunningham, "Essence of Air", 30 Sep 2014
• Q: Could someone on the rules team please clarify "number of your Provinces" - does this mean number of cards in a province, or actual physical provinces?
  Example:
  Alice has four provinces and her 2C shugenja casts Essence of Air. In the dynasty phase, she buys a card from province #1 and refills it face-up. She then buys a card from province #1 again(minding that she can't reduce costs) and refills it face up. One province has refilled twice(her shugenja's chi). Does the spell end at this point?
  By my reading, I don't think it does, but I'd like to be sure.
  A: It does end. Two cards in provinces were turned face up. It doesn't matter if it's the same province or different provinces, the important part is how many times a province is filled face up. Chris Fuchs, "Essence of Air question", 3 Nov 2005