Hida's Guidance

Legend of the Five Rings card from Path of the Destroyer, Promotional–Celestial

Card Type

Celestial

Keywords

Unique, Kami

Card Text

Crab Clan players' Provinces have +2 strength.
Battle: If you are an attacking Crab Clan player, the Defender has two or more Provinces, and your current army's total Force is greater than the current battlefield's Province's strength, destroy all your Personalities there and discard this card to destroy the Province and end this battle immediately without resolution.

Legality

Destroyer War (Celestial)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Came up last night in my first kolat edition game. If a bowed personality is moved home via Ring of Water will Hida's Guidance prevent the straightening?
  Our concensus was no because the straightening occurred after movement at home. However the action was taken at the battle. Not sure on this one.
  Ring of Water Battle: Bow this card or discard it from your hand, and choose your performing personality: Move him home or to a battlefield with one or more enemy units. If he moved, straighten his unit.
  Hida's Guidance Exp Before the first straightening each battle of a personality whose enemy leader is a Crab Clan player: Negate that straightening.
  Thanks! N8
  A: A "battle" is a period in time, not a location. Therefore, Hida's Guidance xp will negate the first straightening that happens during that period, no matter where the Personality is at the time. Jon Palmer, "Hida's Guidance Exp and Ring of Water", 13 Jan 2012
• Q: How does the trait on Hida's Guidance XP interact with cards that straighten multiple personalities at once like Creating Order? As a follow up how would such actions resolve if both players are Crab Clan and both have Hida's Guidance XP in play?
  Trait: Before the first straightening each battle of a Personality whose controller’s enemy leader is a Crab Clan player: Negate that straightening.
  Creating Order: Battle/Open: Target one or two Personalities: Either negate all current and new Force bonuses and penalties on them from actions, or straighten their units.
  A: The active player chooses which one of the simultaneous straightenings is negated.
  See here, specifically this:
  "In steps A and B, the active player determines the order of conflicting triggered occurrences as they are happening, not beforehand. The active player must do so in such a way that each of those occurrences happens exactly once. Example: Two personalities destroyed simultaneously in battle resolution, A and B, each have a Reaction or trait that trigger before they are destroyed. The active player decides whether Reactions and traits triggered by A’s destruction happen before or after Reactions and traits triggered by B’s destruction." Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance XP and Simultaneous Straightening", 6 Jan 2012
• Q: Hello,
  Since I have some trouble understanding the wording, and after having some discussion with other players, can you please clear up this for me?
  The card I refer to is Hida's Guidance experienced and more specifically its trait, which reads:
  Before the first straightening each battle of a Personality whose controller’s enemy leader is a Crab Clan player: Negate that straightening.
  So, the question is whether this trait is negating the first straightening of each personality at the battle, or just the first straightening of a single personality that happens in the battle.
  If an example would help: a) Otomo A and Otomo B, face Hida C (who plays out of a Crab stronghold) in a battle b) Otomo A and Otomo B bow. c) Otomo A plays a Straighten card. Hida Guidance prevents it. d) Otomo B plays a Straighten card. Does it go through?
  Also in the example above, what would happen if Otomo A and Otomo B used a card to straighten simultaneously (like Creating Order).
  Thanks a lot and best wishes for 2012.
  A: Yes, Hida's Guidance stops the first straightening each battle, not the first straightening per personality each battle. Jon Palmer, "EE: Hida's Guidance Experienced", 4 Jan 2012
• Q: Very simple. If I'm attacking as crab and use sneak attack leading to hida's guidance's ability to destroy the Celestial and the army to destroy the province... what happens if my opponent uses Reinforce the Gates? I imagine that I would lose my army and the celestial because they are a part of the cost of the action, but the province of course would not be destroyed.
  Is this the case? With reinforce the gates it says you use it after the action is announced. This is before costs are paid right? So if that is the case then do I also keep my guidance?
  Hida's Guidance: Kami • Unique Crab Clan players' provinces have +2 strength. Battle: If you are an attacking Crab Clan player, the Defender has 2 or more provinces, and your current army's total Force is greater than the current battlefield's province's strength, destroy all your Personalities there and discard this card: Destroy the province and end this battle without resolution.
  Reinforce the Gates: Reaction: After a player announces a Battle action before the Defender’s first normal opportunity to act or pass: Its effects do not happen.
  A: You still have to pay the costs.
  Note that, unlike with Dramatic Assassination being redirected, the section under Interference with mandatory costs doesn't apply, since there's no interference with any of the costs. Alex Jones, "Reinforce the Gates vs Sneak Attack + Hida's Guidance", 22 May 2010
• Q: In relation to this ruling: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=83090
  If an opponent has forgotten or not paid attention to the effect, and announces Power Corrupting with intent on killing a ronin PErsonality to the cost. Which of the following is correct?
  a) Announcing the action is illegal, and is put back into hand. b) Announcing the action is a legal play, and must now target someone who CAN be destroyed to pay costs. c) Announcing the action is a legal play, as is targetting a ronin for destruction due to Blind Cards, and the card is discarded without effect. d) Announcing the action is a legal play, as is targetting a ronin for destruction due to Blind Cards, 4 gold is paid, and the card is discarded without any further effect. e) Other
  A: From a strictly CCG Rules standpoint wherein we assume in examples that all plays are made intentionally with full knowledge of all factors and we just evaluate their correctness, "c" and "d" are never true due to their second part (that announcing the action AND targeting the ronin are legal) due to ruling you linked.
  However, beyond that, the CCG Rules provide no definite "right" answer from your other choices. At what point your opponent's "mistake" is forced upon him or not is between the two of you in a casual game, or a matter for a judge in a tournament, so this question probably would be better answered here. Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 27 Apr 2010
• Q: And does any of this change if the Ronin is the ONLY legal target compared to if there are non-ronin targets.
  A: That one is easier, because as in your link, paying the cost would then be known to be impossible and announcing the action would definitely be illegal. Again, if your opponent does announce it by "mistake" in this case, that's between you, him, and possibly a tournament judge. Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 27 Apr 2010
• Q: Also covering any other similar cards played from HAND, such as Greater Sacrifice.
  A: I don't understand the distinction you're making, why you would be wondering about other such cards separately? Do the above answers not already cover similar scenarios? And if not, don't I need further information in order to give another anwser? Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 27 Apr 2010
• Q: (NB. By ronin I'm just referring to non-shadowlands unaligned human personality. It's faster to type.)
  A: Noted. Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 27 Apr 2010
• Q: Followup to http://alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=83090: does the attacker still have to destroy the rest of his army?
  A: He would not have to destroy his army, and the Celestial would remain in play.
  The destruction of all Personalities occurs simulataneously, but due to Timing, the negation of the unaligned Personality is applied first. At which point, this set of Rules kicks in:
  http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Abilities_and_actions#C._Pay_costs: "From the point when the action is announced legally to the point where the individual cost is required, if payment of any of an action’s mandatory costs is interfered with, the player taking the action may choose to pay the costs another way, or choose not to pay the cost.
  If he or she cannot pay the costs another way, or chooses not to, then any remaining costs do not need to be paid, but costs already paid are not refunded, and the action’s effects do not happen. The action is still considered taken and ended, but not resolved, and the ability that created it is considered used. If the action was on a Strategy card, the card is discarded normally."
  Discarding the Guidance comes after the Personalties' destructions, so the Crab player could refrain from paying that too, per the above.
  And in case you're wondering, there's no "other way" to pay the cost. Once the unaligned Personality's destruction is negated, you can't "re-destroy" him as an "alternative payment". He has to go, and since he doesn't, the payment is interfered with and will fail. Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 22 Apr 2010
• Q: Here's the scenario: The Badgers Live has resolved, and no non-Shadowlands Unaligned Human Personalities have been destroyed since. A Crab player, who has Hida's Guidance in play, attacks a defender with at least two provinces. At one battlefield, the Crab has an army (with more force than the province strength of the province at that battlefield) containing at least one non-Shadowlands Unaligned Human Personality. While the battle at that battlefield is being resolved, the Crab player takes the Battle action on Hida's Guidance. As they attempt to destroy their army to pay the cost, The Badgers Live prevents destruction of the non-Shadowlands Unaligned Human Personality. What happens?
  A: If the costs are not fully paid, the action's effects fail. Brook Cunningham, "Hida's Guidance and The Badgers Live", 21 Apr 2010
• Q: My Crab opponent attacks with 1 personality at a province with the intention of using the guidance, if I use Unstoppable Force on his personality, does that make him unable to use his guidance?
  Hida'a Guidance: Battle: If you are an attacking Crab Clan player, the Defender has 2 or more provinces, and your current army's total Force is greater than the current battlefield's province's strength, destroy all your Personalities there and discard this card: Destroy the province and end this battle without resolution.
  Unstoppable Force: Battle: Target an opposed unit: Give each Personality and Follower in it +1F. Before the next time this turn another player's effect destroys the unit or a card in it, negate that destruction.
  A: Destruction of the unit is a cost of Hida's Guidance, not an effect.
  He may still use Hida's Guidance at the province. Dan Jacobson, "Unstoppable Force vs Hida's Guidance", 22 Mar 2010
• Q: My opponent is Crab and has Hida's guidance in play. We are at a battle at one of his provinces If I play determined force for its first action - what happens? a The province strength is reduced to printed for the remainder of the turn or b The province strength is reduced to printed for an instant, then the Hida's Guidance trait re applies and province strength = Printed + 2
  A: The answer is "a".
  The setting of the province's strength to its base has no stated duration, so it lasts until the end of the turn. Like a stat bonus that comes under a subsequent penalty, contiuous effects like Hida's Guidance's won't try to "re-apply". Brook Cunningham, "Determined Force vs Hida's Guidance", 30 Jan 2010
• Q: If I have Hida Ikraukani attacking at a province and the opponent has personalities there opposing him, if I use Hida's Guidance on the province where Hida Ikarukani is attacking, as a result of his destruction from Hida's Guidance would my opponent have to destroy one of his personalities before the battle ended due to the wording on Hida's Guidance?
  A: No, because the battle ends first. You have to actually do the effect before you get to "after" its resolution. Zen Faulkes, "Hida Ikarukani and Hida's Guidance", 9 Jan 2010
• Q: Player A has Hida's Guidance in play and attacks player B, who's got two provinces and Fu Leng's Guidance in play. Player A uses his Hida's Guidance and destroys his army (and the province, with its battlefield). Can Player B react with Fu Leng's Guidance to that action and (successfully) bring into play one of the personalities destroyed to pay Hida's Guidance's cost?
  A: This question boils down to: Can you "Bring him into play... in your current army" when there is no current army?
  First, this is one effect, not two. It's not "enter play and join the army" or any such thing. Thus, the "all effects are independent" rule does not apply.
  Second, I cannot find any rule that says if a card cannot enter play in a specified location, it defaults to some location. (This is a rare enough situation that it might be in there somewhere, but I can't find it.)
  Based on those, the effect fails because there is no current army for the Personality to enter play in. Zen Faulkes, "Hida's Guidance Vs Fu Leng's Guidance", 9 Sep 2009
• Q: Hida's Guidance takes care of Sorrows since it ends the battle without resolution I'm sure there is maybe 1 or 2 strategies that do the same thing.
  A: Torrential Rain is the OG classic. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 7 Nov 2025
• Q: EE: Hida's Guidance. Can the Battle action be used without presence in the battlefield? since it doesn't require a performing personality. My guess is it can't
  A: No, you can't use it without Presence.
  EDIT: To elaborate, not having a performer is not an implicit exception to Presence; such a thing will be explicit. See "Indomitable Home".
  (Replying to a player: "You need an army with more force that the defender province") Wrong one. David asked EE, not CE. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 12 May 2025