Gozoku Sensei

Legend of the Five Rings card from Wrath of the Emperor

Card Type

Sensei

Province Strength

+0

Gold Production

+0

Starting Family Honor

-1

Keywords

All Clans

Card Text

You may not play this Sensei if you have a Wind.
Favor Gozoku Political Repeatable Open: Discard the Imperial Favor to bow a target Personality. Until you next discard the Imperial Favor for the condition upon an effect, or fulfill that condition by alternate means, he will not straighten and his controller has the ability, "Open, : End the ongoing effects of the action that granted this ability."
Gozoku Political Reaction: Before a player gains or loses Honor, bow your Stronghold or your target performing Courtier to reduce the loss or gain by 2.

Legality

Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Pre-Game

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: 5) Suppose I am running Razor's Edge Dojo. My opponent targets me with Gozoku Sensei and discards the favor. As Razor's Edge has an effect causing them to discard as a result of *targeting*, if I cancel the discarding of the favor do they still have to discard a card? (ie they target me, they discard a card and then proceed to paying costs which I cancel)
  A: They discard the card during the Targeting Step. They discard the Imperial Favor during the Pay Cost step. By the time the Action is canceled due to non-payment, they've already lost the card. Martin Lund, "Rules for 28 November 2004", 30 Nov 2004
• Q: I hate to raise this issue again but I can't find the ruling on Gozoku Sensei in the Accumlated rulings. I play with an English teacher, who is adamant that the literal reading of the card is....
  You may not play this card if you have a Wind.
  Political Open: Discard the Favor to bow a Personality. He may not straighten until after you discard the Favor again or his controller pays 6 Gold as an Open action.
  Political Reaction: Once per turn, before any player gains or loses Honor, bow your Stronghold or one of your Courtiers to reduce the loss or gain by 2.
  And that the Open: means that when he pays his 6 gold the personality may straighten right then. Cost to bow - discard favor Effect - Personality bowed Cost to straighten - 6 gold Effect - personality straightened
  The detail is because the word until is used. This indicates that when either favor is discarded or 6 gold payed conditions are met to straighten.
  A: This is not correct. Gozoku Sensei forbids the victim from straightening until the during expires - either through use of the Imperial Favor or the payment of 6 Gold. Until that point, effects which would straighten the victim are Negated. They don't hang around waiting until the prohibition ends, they are simply Negated and gone for good.
  After that point, the Personality may straighten as normal. However, cards do not just straighten because we'd like them to. You need a card or rulebook effect to instruct you to straighten the Personality. Gozoku Sensei isn't one of those. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 October 2004", 13 Oct 2004
• Q: Does paying the Six Gold have relevance in battle? I was thinking the following:
  Q: Is it targeting or coming from a person? A: I am thinking No because it is targeting the affect, not the person.
  Q: Does it create or more a person in? A: No
  Q: Does it effect the battle? A: Again, I am thinking No because it affects the effect of not being able to unbow.
  A: Affecting an effect on a card in a battle will fulfill Relevance, otherwise In Search of the Future and similar Battle Actions would never be Relevant, since all they do is modify existing effects on cards - Force bonuses in the case of In Search of the Future. Martin Lund, "Rules for 26 September 2004", 29 Sep 2004
• Q: Can Same Old Tricks target Gozoku Sensei. The WOTE rule sheet says Sensei are not Fate or Dynasty Cards.
  A: So? Neither are Winds. They are still cards. Gozoku Sensei is a card and The Same Old Tricks can easily erase its ability if you leave yourself open to it.
  Beyond that, it isn't like you need to use Gozoku Sensei multiple times in a turn to have 2 of your opponent's units bowed before their Attack Phase for the rest of the game (and 3 before your Attack Phase). You can get plenty of use out the card without ever risking The Same Old Tricks. Martin Lund, "Rules for 7 September 2004", 10 Sep 2004
• Q: May Hida Ishi be targeted with Gozoku Sensei? Thus making him unable tu unbow?
  A: "Ishi may not be bowed by other players' card effects."
  You can target him with Gozoku Sensei. It won't bow him. It will put a 6-gold Price on him straightening ever again until you next use the Favor (or a Favor substitute). Martin Lund, "Rules for 29 August 2004", 2 Sep 2004
• Q: i just saw this off of the oracle page... am reading this right?
  Text
  You may not play this card if you have a Wind. Gozoku Political Open: Any number of times per turn, discard the Imperial Favor and target a Personality: Bow him. Until you next pay a cost of discarding the Imperial Favor (even by alternate means), he will not straighten and his controller has the ability, "Open: Pay 6 Gold: End the ongoing effects of the action that granted this ability." Gozoku Political Reaction: Before a player gains or loses Honor, bow your Stronghold or your performing Courtier: Reduce the loss or gain by 2.
  so i can you use it now any number of times per turn???
  A: The first ability on Gozoku Sensei has always been usable any number of times per turn. The Oracle's text for this card (as with other cards) reflects the changes to the rules and to templating.
  Note that to use the ability repeatedly, you need to acquire the favour repeatedly, and that the "lock-down" effect will end when you use the ability again. Alex Jones, "Gozoku Sensei", 8 May 2012
• Q: Hi,
  Refering to : viewtopic.php?f=59&t=96411
  Can you confirm that Asako Karachu unbows after being bowed by The Gozoku Sensei ability ? And later if he bows once more, the gozoku Sensei ability will prevent him from straightening ?
  Card Text : Asako Karachu : After Karachu bows: Straighten him.
  Gosoku Sensei : All Factions Sensei You may not play this card if you have a Wind. Political Open: Discard the Favor to bow a Personality. He may not straighten until after you discard the Favor again or his controller pays 6 Gold as an Open action.
  Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
  A: Can you confirm that Asako Karachu unbows after being bowed by The Gozoku Sensei ability? And later if he bows once more, the gozoku Sensei ability will prevent him from straightening? He will be bowed by the first effect of the action taken using Gozoku Sensei's Open ability, and immediately straighten. The second effect will then prevent him straightening. Alex Jones, "Bow and Preventing from Straightening", 27 Feb 2012
• Q: I'm curious about the ruling on political adjunct and Gozoku Sensei as discussed in http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17575 Citing the ruling
  "Using a separate action on a card in battle (e.g., Political Adjunct) to help pay part of the cost of a card out of battle (e.g., Gozoku Sensei) does not satisfy the requirement for relevance. [ML, 29 September 2004]"
  Gozoku Sensei "Open: Discard the Favor to bow a Personality. He may not straighten until after you discard the Favor again or his controller pays 6 Gold as an Open action."
  Political Adjunct "Political Reaction: During an Attack Phase, bow and destroy Political Adjunct to pay a cost of discarding the Imperial Favor."
  Possibility 1.
  If I have Samurai Fred attacking a province, and Samurai Bob Defends. I have the Imperal Favour and Gozoku Sensei.
  I use the action on Gozoku Sensei to lock Samurai Fred. This is a legal action. I have presence, (Bob) and I have relevance (I'm targeting Fred). I resolve the action on Gozoku sensei, it comes time to play the cost, which I do by discarding the favour. I have payed the cost, so the action resolves.
  Possibility 2.
  Samurai Fred is still attacking, I'm still defending with Bob. Samurai Joe is at home with his buddy the political adjunct.
  Fred attacks, my first action is to use gozoku Sensei to lock him. I have presence, (Bob) why isn't targeting Fred relevant any more? I'm taking an action on Gozku Sensei to target a card in the current battle, I then use political adjunct to pay the cost, instead of discarding the favour as a cost.
  The ruling seems to imply that using a barley farm reaction to pay the gold cost of a false trail wouldn't be legal, since barely farm isn't in the battle either, and actions can't be in the battle. It's not the political adjunt taking the action, it's the adjunt paying the cost for an action. So why does the location of the Adjunt matter as long as you meet presence and relevance for the action itself.
  A: If I remember right, the question that prompted the original ruling was, "Can I use Political Adjunct + Gozoku Sensei to affect a Personality in a battle besides the current one?" Zen Faulkes, "Political Adjunct follow up question", 22 Apr 2005
• Q: If I use Political Adjunct, If the unit that has this follower attached is outside the current battle, but is affecting an opposing card inside the current battle with the Gozoku Sensei ability, is that a legal play?
  A: No. Archive, Battle, search for "Political Adjunct." Zen Faulkes, "Political Adjunct clarification", 21 Apr 2005
• Q: I've wondered for a while what counts as one of the "permanent effects" noted on Egg of P'an Ku. Are permanent effects related to ongoing effects in this situation? Are tokens permanent effects? What of the conditional straightening from Gozoku?
  A: Wait. It's not "permanent effects," it's permanent change, which is slightly different. Permanent is anything that doesn't go away at the end of the turn (Diamond rules, pg. 70). Tokens are now card effects (Web of Lies rules), but those are not changes to the card. The impact of Gozoku Sensei would be copied. Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: Further, if a personality is Gozoku locked, destroyed, and then Feigned, does it remain locked down by Gozoku Sensei?
  A: Yes (Diamond rules, pg. 70). Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: "Permanent" is a short-hand way of saying "until the end of the game."
  A: - Marty Lund
  Deputy Rules Monkey Zen Faulkes, "Egg, P'an Ku, and Gozoku Sensei questions", 26 Mar 2005
• Q: So this also came up last night: Kachiko's kiss/severed from the emperor. How do these interact with effects that are not actually the favor? E.g., hidden catacombs of the scorpion We played that they both effected the same but reading kachiko's kiss on Oracle it seems like it might not? And one more Haha sorry for the barrage: Gozoku sensei: until you next discard the imperial favor for the condition upon an effect, etc.
  I was interpreting this to mean "the condition" to mean the condition of gozoku senseis ability. Not any favor use at all.
  But it's a little unclear on Oracle text. So does that mean using the favor for anything ends the effect?
  A: I'll look. Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 6 Jun 2021