Flattery

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Hidden Emperor 4

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Absent Battle: If you have sufficient Focus Values in your hand to do so, discard cards with a total Focus Value greater than the enemy leader's current army's total Force to move home all units at the current battlefield and end the battle immediately without resolution.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Flattery 0G 3FV You must have cards in your hand with total Focus values greater than the opposing army's force to play this card. Battle: Discard cards from your hand one at a time until the total discarded Focus values exceed the opposing army's force, to end the battle without resolution and send all units home without bowing. You may take this action during a battle in which you have no units." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 17
• To play this card without a unit in the battle, you must be either the Attacker, the Defender, or an invited ally. Allies may play it against either side if, and only if, they've been invited by both the Attacker and Defender and have not assigned any troops anywhere. Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 18
• You may not play this card if there are no opposing units. [Reversal] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 18
• The total Focus values in hand excluding Flattery must be greater than the opposing army's. [ZF, 11 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 18
• You must discard either enough total focus to end the battle or your entire hand. [DW, personal correspondence, 10/22/98] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 27
• You may discard more than the minimum necessary number of cards. [DW] You may not play the Ring of the Void in the middle of discarding. To play this card without a unit in the battle, you must be either the Attacker, the Defender, or an invited ally. Allies may play it against either side if, and only if, they've been invited by both primary players and have not assigned any troops anywhere. You may not play this card if there are no opposing units. See Battle. [REVERSAL] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 27
• Q: Can you discard as many cards as you want when you play Flattery? A: You cannot stop discarding until either your hand is empty or you've discarded enough to end the battle. You can discard more than you need to. You cannot play the Ring of the Void until you've stopped discarding. Oh, and you can't play Flattery if there is no opposing army... The Imperial Herald, Issue 11, p. 27
• Q: What? Why not? A: The definition of 'army' has officially changed. It is now 'One or more units involved in the attack or defense of a Province.' (This overrides the rulebook, which got printed before this change could be added.) Zero units is not an army anymore, and cards that refer to an 'opposing army' cannot be played if there isn't one. Flattery and Crushing Attack are affected most by this. The Imperial Herald, Issue 11, p. 27

Rules Q&A

• Q: 2. Flattery vs Cove of Cursed Blades Relevant Text on Flattery: end the battle without resolution and send all units home without bowing. Text on Cove of Cursed Blades: Any unit that assigns or moves to attack this Province is bowed after the battle ends and cards in that unit may not straighten until after their controller's next Straighten Phase. Question: If I use Flattery during a battle at the Cove of Cursed Blades are the attacking units sent home bowed?
  A: Yes. When the Battle ends, the Cove bows all of the attacking units, and then they return home due to the end of the battle. Flattery's statement about sending the units home without bowing is irrelevant, because the units are already bowed from the Cove. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for July 15th, 2003", 15 Jul 2003
• Q: Hi I've got some doubts bout the ending of a battle. If I use a Flattery in province 1. The huge personality with all his force goes home without bowing and the battle ends, but without resolution. Can my opponet play a Tireless assault to come into the battle again? The battle ends or what?
  A: Once the Battle ends, it's over. No player can take further Battle actions at that Battle. Just because there's no resolution doesn't mean that you can start the whole thing over again. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for July 15th, 2003", 15 Jul 2003
• Q: I am pretty sure I have seen this ruling already but I can't find it in the Accumulated Rulings.
  Can you use Test of Courage to stop a Flattery? If I recall correctly, you can play it, but the battle still ends so there is really no effect.
  A: You cannot play Reactions to units leaving a battle if the battle has already ended. Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 February 2003", 19 Feb 2003
• Q: In a message dated 12/16/02 7:57:12 PM Pacific Standard Time, writes:
  << 1) Suppose my opponent has three Tachiyamas attacking and I have 8 cards in hand (putting his force at 18). I play Flattery and begin discarding cards one by one. Do we recalculate the Tachiyama's force after every individual discard or do I have to beat the original 18?
  After every one.
  Jeff, This is a follow up? Does the person have to prove that they had cards that totaled at least 19 focus in their hand before they played the action?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 December 2002", 18 Dec 2002
• Q: 1) Suppose my opponent has three Tachiyamas attacking and I have 8 cards in hand (putting his force at 18). I play Flattery and begin discarding cards one by one. Do we recalculate the Tachiyama's force after every individual discard or do I have to beat the original 18?
  A: After every one. Jeff Alexander, "post for 16 December 2002", 17 Dec 2002
• Q: When exactly should I cancel Flattery with Faith in my clan, can I cancel it after he dicards all his cards or do I have to do it after he plays it and before the discards cards? Can I wait till he discards the last card for Flattery to cancel his last discard?
  A: Not only can you, you must, since discarding those cards is part of the cost of playing Flattery. [card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 November 2002", 13 Nov 2002
• Q: This is in the FAQ. Reactions to units leaving a battle cannot be played in response to units going to their controllers' homes because a battle ended prematurely.
  === Actually, the question came up because Flattery says "... AND send all units home without bowing." (emphasis mine) rather than having another sentence say "All units go home without bowing."
  The ruling still applies.
  === That's what we figured. :-)
  New Q reversing the situation somewhat: If the attacker plays Flattery (battle went bad), can the defender play A Test of Courage since Flattery is sending his personalities home?
  A: It's still the same answer, no matter how many ways you ask the question: no. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 November 2002", 9 Nov 2002
• Q: This is in the FAQ. Reactions to units leaving a battle cannot be played in response to units going to their controllers' homes because a battle ended prematurely.
  === Actually, the question came up because Flattery says "... AND send all units home without bowing." (emphasis mine) rather than having another sentence say "All units go home without bowing."
  A: The ruling still applies. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 November 2002", 8 Nov 2002
• Q: Now a new question. The interaction of Flattery and Test of Courage came up this past weekend.
  Flattery 0G 3FV You must have cards in your hand with total Focus values greater than the opposing army's force to play this card. Battle: Discard cards from your hand one at a time until the total discarded Focus values exceed the opposing army's force, to end the battle without resolution and send all units home without bowing. You may take this action during a battle in which you have no units.
  A Test of Courage 0G 2FV Reaction: Play this card when an action is moving one of your target Personalities out of battle. Cancel the action. You cannot bow the Personality to take actions or target the Personality with actions until after the turn.
  Actually two questions came out of our discussion. Since the effect of sending all units home is specified on the action, does AToC cancel the action?
  A: This is in the FAQ. Reactions to units leaving a battle cannot be played in response to units going to their controllers' homes because a battle ended prematurely. Jeff Alexander, "post for 6 November 2002", 7 Nov 2002
• Q: I think his question was does the Flattery he played for the Battle action count as 3FV. Note him saying that there are only 2 cards in his hand, he plays Flattery, is just that enough to send a 2F Army home?
  IIRC, no, the Flattery that 'starts' the action dosen't count it's focus.
  A: That would be correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 September 2002", 26 Sep 2002
• Q: From rules Archive Reads, "Flattery 0G 3FV You must have cards in your hand with total Focus values greater than the opposing army's force to play this card. Battle: Discard cards from your hand one at a time until the total discarded Focus values exceed the opposing army's force, to end the battle without resolution and send all units home without bowing. You may take this action during a battle in which you have no units." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001]
  Q: If a '2 Force Unit' is attacking my province and I have in my hand a Flattery, a '3 focus value card' and a '4 focus value card'. May I use Flattery and discard BOTH cards (total focus 7)?, or may I only discard one of them?
  A: This one is answered right on the card. "Discard cards from your hand one at a time until the total discarded Focus values exceed the opposing army's force, ..." You play Flattery, you discard either of the other two cards, and you're over his Force. Stop discarding. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 September 2002", 25 Sep 2002
• Q: Agasha Hamanari can cancel Flattery, right?
  A: Correct. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 July 2002", 11 Jul 2002
• Q: When can he cancel Flattery: after the opposing player plays the Action card or after he discards enough cards?
  A: Discarding is a cost of playing Flattery, so that must happen first for the action to be attempted legally. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 July 2002", 11 Jul 2002
• Q: Say my opponent plays Flattery, can I wait till they dump their entire hand before I play Faith in my clan?
  A: Not only can you, you have to. It's a cost of playing Flattery. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 July 2002", 2 Jul 2002
• Q: - Does Flattery target all the enemy units or doesn't target anyone?
  A: No one. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 June 2002", 11 Jun 2002
• Q: What happens with Shosuro Furuyari ? Do I get to cancel the Flattery with a focus 3 card?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 June 2002", 11 Jun 2002
• Q: Can Flattery be played and take effect in a battle in which a unit was moved in via Gift of the Water Dragon?
  A: Yes. Cards which end a battle prematurely do not technically send units home from a battle. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 May 2002", 23 May 2002
• Q: Can you play Flattery if someone in the opposing army has the journal attached?
  A: Sure. Flattery has never targeted the opposing army (and still doesn't). Discarding cards equal to the attacking army's force is a cost, similiar to if a card forced you to pay gold equal to the number of Shadowlands cards in play. Checking the stats of something doesn't count as targeting it. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 18th", 18 Jul 2001
• Q: I always thought that if a personality went home from a battle unless it was stated otherwise (Entrapping Terrain, Flattery, Bridged Pass) he was bowed.
  A: This was true *VERY* briefly. It hasn't been for almost a year. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 July 2001", 11 Jul 2001
• Q: Okay, so we ran into some problems with Norikazu nonexp.
  The first question is, can his ability be used to cancel actions that end the battle without resolution, such as Crushing Attack or Flattery?
  A: Crushing Attack, yes. For Flattery, read on. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 16 March 2001", 22 Mar 2001
• Q: Second question is, if the action conditionally ends the battle without resolution, such as Flattery, can Norikazu still use his ability if the condition to end the battle is not met (you do not discard enough cards to send home the opposing army). In this case, the card would never affect the battle.
  A: I'm going to rule that the discarding is a cost, which means Norikazu will know when it's played whether it will affect the battle and can cancel it if it will. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 16 March 2001", 22 Mar 2001
• Q: Third question is, are the following costs or effects of the action:
  blowing up your own guy for To Do What We Must
  discarding your hand for Flattery
  bowing your monk/ shugenja for Kiho
  A: Cost, cost, cost. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 16 March 2001", 22 Mar 2001
• Q: Thus, if TDWWM is cancelled, does my guy die? If Flattery is cancelled, do I still lose the cards I discarded from my hand?
  What are the keywords to distinguish between cost and effect?
  A: Not formally specified in most of the expansions which have been printed to date.
  For Spirit Wars and beyond, X is always a cost in a card worded "Do X to do Y." For about four expansions prior to that, WotC experimented with making X a cost in cards that were worded "Do X. Do Y. Do Z.", but that template has been abandoned. Prior to that, there was no standard. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 16 March 2001", 22 Mar 2001
• Q: Sorry about all this, my, the questions that occur when one is bored enough to go through the Accumulated Rulings! I guess you can say that the rulings is one document which "creates more questions than answers!" I don't know if that is a good thing or not...
  Anyway, if Street to Street is in play, and I play Flattery (which I know does not count the force of the followers), do the followers get a chance to reattach? First issue is that the battle ends immediately without resolution. Second issue is that all of the personalities are sent home by Flattery, so there are no personalities in the battle to attach the followers.
  A: It looks as though they would all be lost given Street to Street's current wording. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for early March, 2001", 14 Mar 2001
• Q: * Flattery mentions discarding
  "cards from your hand with combined focus values greater than the total Force of the opposing army"
  Can it be used if there is no opposing army?
  A: No. This is straight from the archive. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 14 January 2000", 16 Jan 2001