Hand of the Jade Dragon

Legend of the Five Rings card from Path of the Destroyer

Card Type

Item

Force

+3

Chi

+0

Gold Cost

6

Keywords

Unique, Jade

Card Text

Attaches to Matsu Benika paying 2 less Gold.
This Personality has Hero.
Reaction: Before an action's resolution: Negate this Personality's destruction from the action's effects.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Destroyer War (Celestial)

Deck

Fate

Story

2008 Light of the Sun - Case Kiyonaga

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have six pesonalities in play. I play The Last One, targeting personality A. Personality B reacts with the Hand of the Jade Dragon. The other four personalities are destroyed. Does personality A gain the various benefits from The Last One, and does personality B survive?
  A: Yes and yes. Brook Cunningham, "The Last One question", 18 Apr 2010
• Q: I have a bowed samurai with an unbowed Hand Of The Jade Dragon attached. Isawa Reido Blows up this samurai to destroy an opposing personality. Can I react with Hand Of The Jade Dragon to negate the samurai's death and still destroy the opposing personality? I ask because Reido's text doesn't state that the person has to have been destroyed for the effect to go off, only that the person was targeted. Relevant text Below...
  Isawa Reido Phoenix Clan • Fire • Shugenja • Unique Battle: Destroy your target Personality or Follower: Destroy a target Personality or Follower without attachments and with equal or lower Force than your targeted Personality or Follower.
  Hand Of The Jade Dragon Jade • Unique Attaches to Matsu Benika paying 2 less Gold. This Personality has Hero. Reaction: Before an action's resolution: Negate this Personality's destruction from the action's effects.
  A: No, for several reasons.
  Firstly, Hand of the Jade Dragon's ability only negates the destruction of its Personality from an action's effects, whereas Isawa Reido destroys the Personality as a cost. See Mandatory costs: The mandatory cost of an action is found in the constraints block and Definition of effects: An effect is anything, other than a cost, that changes the stats, traits, abilities, restrictions, or capabilities of a card, a player, a game entity (such as Provinces), or the game state.
  Secondly, Hand of the Jade Dragon's ability reacts "Before an action's resolution", which is after costs are paid. See Using abilities: A. Announce the action B. Required targeting C. Pay costs D. Action resolution E. Action ends
  Thirdly, because the Personality is destroyed as a cost of the action - that is, the destruction is listed between the two colons - if the Personality is not destroyed, the action's costs cannot be paid and the action fails. See Interference with mandatory costs. Alex Jones, "Isawa Reido&Hand Of The Jade Dragon", 8 Mar 2010
• Q: Can you use Hand of the Jade Dragon's reaction to negate the attached personalities death if doomed undertaking gives the personality a zero chi or lower?
  A: No.
  Hand of the Jade Dragon has an instantaneous effect (http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Effects#Instantaneous_effects).
  Doomed Undertaking has an ongoing effect (http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Effects#Ongoing_effects).
  http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Effects#Negatin ... ccurrences: "Special rules apply to the prevention of Personality destruction from zero Chi (.) Ongoing and instantaneous effects that prevent destruction" -- like Hand of the Jade Dragon -- "will not prevent destruction from such an effect." Zen Faulkes, "Hand of the Jade Dragon, Doomed Undertaking", 18 Oct 2009