Hoshi Eisai

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Soul of the Empire

Card Type

Personality

Force

2

Chi

4

Honor Requirement

0

Gold Cost

8

Personal Honor

1

Clan

Brotherhood of Shinsei, Dragon

Keywords

Unique, Dragon Clan, Experienced, Monk, Tattooed

Card Text

Remote Repeatable Battle: Set Eisai's Force to equal one of your other target unbowed Personalities', who may be at any location if Eisai is at the current battlefield.

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Counts as copying her target's Force. [DW, December 1998] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 102

Rules Q&A

• Q: One of the new Dawn of the Empire cards is "Troll War Band".
  It has the trait "While Troll War Band is unbowed in the current battle, you cannot pass."
  It also has two Battle actions which bow Troll Warband.
  I was just wondering what happens in the following situations:
  1) Your opponent plays Deadly Ground. You cannot take an action, and cannot pass.
  2) Troll Warband has both it's abilities removed (Say, by Same Old Tricks after multiple Well Prepareds). You have no other Battle actions you can play.
  3) As above, Troll Warband has both it's abilities removed (Say, by Same Old Tricks after multiple Well Prepareds). You have a Battle action you can use any number of times (For example, Hoshi Eisai XP).
  I realise that it's a little premature, I just thought that it was a really interesting situation.
  A: If you can't do anything at all, you have to pass. Martin Lund, "Rules for 22-25 August 2004", 30 Aug 2004
• Q: 4) Sorry if I missed the initial discussion, but why does Shosuro Technique target the opponent when copying force, but not when copying Chi? I compare this to the ability of Hoshi Eisai experienced, which I have always ruled must target. Furthermore, the rules archive states:
  A card is targeted when some aspect of it is targeted (e.g., when copying a stat on another card). [Extension of Ninja Shapeshifter ruling, JA, 7 October 2002]
  I don't understand then why Shosuro Technique would ever not target the person whose Force or Chi is being copied.
  A: Because of the general method used to determine what ANY targeted action targets: anything that is affected or that must be chosen. I'm trying to apply the rule consistently. Copying the Force as a Battle action requires selecting one Personality out of several. Copying the Chi of the one opponent in a duel does not.
  You are also reading the NSS ruling wrong. It is not about targeting something else, but about BEING targeted. The ruling is that if something like a card's stat, trait, or action is targeted, then so is the whole card. But under the paragraph above, there is no Chi targeting. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 May 2003", 23 May 2003
• Q: And while I'm here, couple other targeting questions. Can Hoshi Eisai exp copy the force of a bowed personality?
  A: No. You cannot target your own bowed Personalities with your actions. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 April 2003", 29 Apr 2003
• Q: I am curious about how Hoshi Eisai Experienced interacts with various things. To whit:
  1) If she has an attached item giving her a Force bonus, and she uses her ability to copy the Force of another of my Personalities, does the item no longer give a Force bonus because her current Force now equals someone else's?
  A: Her item does not raise her Force above the value she just set it to. If she loses it, though, her Force will still go down. [AOF rulebook pp. 32 & 41-42] Jeff Alexander, "post for 21 January 2002", 22 Jan 2002
• Q: I attach Troll War Band to Hoshi Eisai (exp) and declare an Ambush with him. My opponent plays Refugees on his personality as his first action. None of us has any more Battle or Open actions playable, neither on cards in play, nor in our hands, except of course Eisai's ability. I cannot pass because the War Band is unbowed (and I cannot use its abilities), but I can copy someone's Force infinitely many times with Eisai. Is the game a draw?
  A: No, you lose for annoying a deputy rules guy. Look, use a little common sense here. Send the War Band unit home and get on with the game. (No, this is not a rules based solution. This is a pragmatic recommendation of what I would do as a tournament judge to ensure that games progress in a timely manner.) Zen Faulkes, "Troll War Band", 12 Mar 2005
• Q: I attach Troll War Band to Hoshi Eisai (exp) and declare an Ambush with him. My opponent plays Refugees on his personality as his first action. None of us has any more Battle or Open actions playable, neither on cards in play, nor in our hands, except of course Eisai's ability. I cannot pass because the War Band is unbowed (and I cannot use its abilities), but I can copy someone's Force infinitely many times with Eisai. Is the game a draw?
  A: No, you lose for annoying a deputy rules guy. Look, use a little common sense here. Send the War Band unit home and get on with the game. (No, this is not a rules based solution. This is a pragmatic recommendation of what I would do as a tournament judge to ensure that games progress in a timely manner.) Zen Faulkes, "Troll War Band", 8 Mar 2005