Exile's Road

Legend of the Five Rings card from Ambition's Debt

Card Type

Region

Card Text

After this card enters play, target a Region which is not one of your Unique Regions to have this Region permanently copy all abilities, traits, and keywords of the target; then, whether there was a target or not, permanently remove this Region's printed trait.

Legality

Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• May copy a Unique Region. [FAQ 3.10] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 136
• May copy of Unique Region, perhaps even more than once. [FAQ 3.10] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 25
• Q: Can I make multiple copies of an opponent's Unique region with Exile's Road? A: Yes. The Imperial Herald, Issue 13, p. 34

Rules Q&A

• Q: Um...no. Exile's Road becomes a duplicate when it enters play. It can't be entering play if its costs haven't already been paid -- and, conversely, since it is entering play, adding costs to it NOW wouldn't do any good.
  Just to be entirely clear, though, the entering play effects from the copied region WOULD still happen wouldn't they?
  A: Yes, they would. Jeff Alexander, "post for 30-31 January 2003", 1 Feb 2003
• Q: 2) Deduction: Since the "being brought into play" mechanic is still in force when Exile's Road changes its state, you must pay all costs and create all entering-play effects that are printed on the card being copied. Is this correct?
  A: Um...no. Exile's Road becomes a duplicate when it enters play. It can't be entering play if its costs haven't already been paid -- and, conversely, since it is entering play, adding costs to it NOW wouldn't do any good. Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 January 2003", 30 Jan 2003
• Q: What i forgot to ask Jeff is : am i allowed to copy twice the same unique region.same unique region.
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 January 2003", 29 Jan 2003
• Q: Let's say my opponent has Forgotten Lands in play :
  If i copy it with 2 Exile's Road, what happens when he attacks me and the only 2 unresolved battles are those taking place at Exile's Roads ?
  A: He can choose either to resolve first. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 January 2003", 28 Jan 2003
• Q: Another question about Exile's Road : If i copy a non-unique region with it, let's say farmlands, will a second Exile's Road copying the first grant me the ability to create farmlands tokens ?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27 January 2003", 28 Jan 2003
• Q: Do regions enter play simultaneously after all provinces are revealed, or is it in reveal order? Specifically, can Exile's Road in Province 1 copy a Shinsei's Shrine in Province 2, if both are revealed on the same turn and there are no other Shrines in play?
  A: It is not simultaneous, and since the current rulebook does not specify an order, the active player gets to bring them out in the order she wishes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 28 May 2001", 3 Jun 2001
• Q: 1. Refuge of the Three Sisters and Exile's Road. Exile's Road becomes an exact copy except for name. There can only be one Refuge of the Three Sister in play at any time. Do i follow Exile's Road text to the letter, or do standard (such as Ninja Shapeshifter) copying rules apply. Does Exile's Road now say that there can only be one in play at a time, or can i have one Refuge and 3 Roads all with the ability of Refuge?
  A: You may bring the first Exile's Road into play freely. Its title stays "Exile's Road", so it doesn't violate the Refuge's prohibition against more than one Refuge.
  Furthermore, since the Refuge's prohibition is NOT self- referential -- it doesn't refer only to that one particular Refuge card -- that text does NOT become "Only one Exile's Road may be in play at any time." That means you can keep bringing in more Exile's Roads and copying that Refuge with them. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 7 February 2001", 9 Feb 2001
• Q: This line of questions basically comes down to the question whether we can manipulate traits implied by the card title.
  A: Depends. For old cards printed before Khan's Defiance, the answer is often yes, but a lot depends on the specific card text.
  http://rules.l5r.com/Older_Cards#For_ca ... S_DEFIANCE: "Card titles also count toward determining keywords. This is true when determining an older card’s keywords and when an older card is looking for keywords. (For example, a card titled 'Cavalry Reserves' is a Cavalry card. Likewise, the Holding Shokansuru will pay for the Samurai-legal card Summon Maseru no Oni). This does NOT apply to the 'Tactical' keyword."
  So it is possible to remove the effect of the Cavalry trait from Cavalry Reserves while leaving the title intact.
  In the case of Dark Harmony, however, no. Dark Harmony specifically refers to "boldface non-faction trait", so that is all it can affect. It can't touch any keyword implied by a title.
  [Clarified.] Zen Faulkes, "Exile's Road", 19 May 2008