Evil Portents

Legend of the Five Rings card from Obsidian Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle/Open: Give all Shadowlands Personalities and Followers +1F/+1C. Give all other Personalities -1F/-1C.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial)

Deck

Fate

Notes

Some variants of the Imperial Edition version of this card were printed with an O instead of Open as its ability designator.

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Evil Portents 0G 3FV Open: All Shadowlands Personalities and Followers currently in play gain a 1F/1C bonus until the end of the turn. All other Personalities suffer a -1F/-1C penalty." [MRP, Obsidian Edition] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 15
• The effect is instantaneous, affecting only those cards in play at the moment. [DW, l5rinfo, 12/25/96] [REVERSAL] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 2
• As with all Open actions, may be played during battle provided you have a unit in the battle and this action affects the stats of at least one card in the battle. [l5rinfo, 1/30/2000] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 2
• The word is "portents", meaning "warnings" or "omens". It's not "portence" (which isn't a word) or "potence" (as in "Necro-"). Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 2
• Erratum: Changed: Shadowlands Personalities and Followers get the bonus, always. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 3
• Clarified: only affects cards currently in play. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 3

Rules Q&A

• Q: I'm playing a deck filled with mostly amazingly low Chi people, and have my clan sword on a guy with 4 Force/4 Chi printed. I attack with the sword wielder, and my opponent uses Daigotsu, then plays all 3 Evil Portents, killing everyone I have except the sword wielder. If I had 18 people besides the wielder his Force is now -18 before getting set to 0 by the rulebook correct?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2 October 2003", 2 Oct 2003
• Q: Can I use Ratling Conjurer ability from outside the battle? Isn`t it a global effect? What happens with Evil Portents, Can I use in battle?
  A: Yes (as long as you have at least one Ratling card in the current battle), yes, yes. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for June 23rd, 2003", 23 Jun 2003
• Q: That's important: Peasant Revolt's "may not straighten" effect does NOT apply only to the cards it forced to bow when it first went off. It applies to anything that tries to straighten and has too much Force.
  Would it be correct that if a personality's force were reduced (say by Evil Portents), he would be able to straighten during a Peasant Revolt?
  A: Yes. What's important is his Force at the time he tries to straighten. Jeff Alexander, "post for 9 January 2002", 10 Jan 2003
• Q: Is it any card that has the word Shadowlands on it? So could I keep recycling my Evil Portents and Darkness Beyond Darkenss?
  A: No and no. Neither of those has the word "Shadowlands" in a place that matters. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 October 2002", 24 Oct 2002
• Q: Fair enough. You answered, supported by the archive, that you cannot play Kamoko's Charge even if you have a cavalry unit in that battle that was assigned during infantry.
  This seems to fly in the face of the rather well-established (or so I thought) ruling that allows you to play Evil Portents in a battle if you have a unit there and Portents will affect the stats of units present at that battle.
  So, how is Kamoko's Charge so different that it cannot be even if "you have a unit in the battle and this action affects the stats of a card in the battle?"
  A: Evil Portents causes an immediate change to things. Kamoko's Charge doesn't affect anything right away -- it does NOT give a bonus to current Cavalry units that were assigned during Infantry Maneuvers. It gives a bonus to all such units that do so later this turn. That's the difference. Jeff Alexander, "replies to the 6 June digest", 10 Jun 2001
• Q: 1. What is the legality date for Clan War? Is it considered it's own product or does it wait for the next set to be released?
  2. Do the Evil Portents cards included in the set become legal at the same time?
  A: The official announcement is here: Tournament Legal: September 7, 2015 Note: Only cards with the appropriate legality bug from Siege: Clan War are legal. Those cards are listed below. Cards from Evil Portents and Onyx Edition are not legal until the release of those products. Alex Jones, "Siege: Clan War Legality", 1 Sep 2015