Heart of the Inferno

Legend of the Five Rings card from Storms Over Matsu Palace, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

4

Keywords

Elemental

Card Text

Battle: Bow this Shugenja, destroy this card, and target all Personalities and Followers in the enemy army with 2 or lower Force: A fiery bolt is cast across their ranks. Destroy the targets.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Heart of the Inferno 4G 3FV Battle Elemental: Bow this Shugenja and destroy this spell to cast a fiery bolt at the opposing army that targets then destroys all Personalities and Followers that have a Force of 2 or less." [MRP, Obsidian Edition] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 63
• Because it targets "all Personalities and Followers," it cannot be redirected. [RD, 6/9/97] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 63
• "Fiery" counts as "fire" (for, e.g., The Way of Water). [RD, email, 6/11/97] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 63
• All targeting occurs simultaneously, as does all destruction. I.e., you cannot target and destroy a card providing a Force bonus to other cards to make the other cards small enough to destroy. [VRD, 3 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 63
• Erratum: Added: is now destroyed when cast. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 8
• Clarified: targets all destroyed cards. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 8
• Erratum: Added: is now destroyed when cast. Clarified: targets all destroyed cards. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.4 & errata, June 1997, p. 24
• Q: Boy, do I not understand the example with Heart of the Inferno in the rulebook. My card says "cast a fiery bolt at the opposing Army", while the rulebook says "cast a fiery bolt at an Army". What's going on? A: Er, well. The example was written at a period in time when the card did, in fact, read that way. The card changed, invalidating the example; the example inexplicably lived on to get into the rulebook. The culprit has confessed and has been brutally beaten; this may delay the next couple of expansions a bit, but we knew that you confused gamers wouldn't be satisfied with anything less. In short, the shugenja with Heart of the Inferno does, indeed, now have to be at the battle. The card says "opposing army," and therefore the card producing the effect has to be in the battle. Next time we print the rulebook, that's getting changed to something innocuous like Biting Steel. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 1, Issue 1, p. 11

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can someone explain to me the following ruling on Heart of the Inferno?
  "'Fiery' counts as 'fire' (for, e.g., The Way of Water). [RD, email, 6/11/97]"
  A: Sure. This is an old ruling from long before the Keyword Rule was written as formally as it is today. If reprinted today, this would be a standard Fire action. Jeff Alexander, "post for 16 May 2003", 21 May 2003
• Q: Does a bowed unit have zero force or just contribute zero force to army total? If the bowed unit is truly 0 force then a pearl magic or Heart of the Inferno will detroy a whole bowed army very dirty!!!!! Can some one help Clarify please on this Ruling
  A: Here's what the FAQ is going to say:
  Q: My opponent has an 8 Force samurai in a battle against me, but he's bowed. Can I kill him with a strength 2 ranged attack? I think I can. His Force is 0 when he's bowed.
  A: You can't. Although the Force total of his UNIT -- and the Force that that unit adds to his army -- is 0, as an individual CARD, his Force is still 8. A ranged attack below strength 8 won't kill him.
  Even when a unit is just one Personality card with nothing attached, there's still a distinction between individual card Force and total unit Force. Some cards and game effects, like To Do What We Must and the Resolution Segment at the end of a battle, care about one, and some, like Test of Might and ranged attacks, care about the other. You need to read the card or the rulebook carefully and decide which kind of Force it refers to. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 August 2002", 14 Aug 2002