Imbue Chi

Legend of the Five Rings card from Samurai Edition, Enemy of My Enemy, Promotional–Samurai

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Kiho

Card Text

Kiho Reaction: Before battle resolution destroys one of your Provinces, if you control no Personalities, target your performing face-up Shugenja in any of your Provinces to turn all cards in your Provinces face-up and bring into play in your home zero or more face-up Personalities in your Provinces, ignoring costs.
Kiho Limited: Bow your target performing Shugenja to draw an additional card at the end of your next turn.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• First ability may not be used if you have any Personalities in play (card text). Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 57
• The face-up Shugenja targeted for the first ability is the caster. [ML, web, 4 April 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 57
• The first ability may be used in City of Remembrance, because the caster is out of play, and City of Remembrance prohibits Shugenja you control from casting Kiho. [ZF, web, 9 April 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 57
• Erratum: Reads, "Imbue Chi 0G 4FV Kiho Reaction: Before battle resolution destroys one of your provinces, if you control no Personalities, target a face-up Shugenja in any of your provinces: Turn all cards in your provinces face-up. Bring into play any number of face-up Personalities in your provinces, waiving costs. Kiho Limited: Bow one of your target Shugenja: Draw an additional card during your next End Phase." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 139

Rules Q&A

• Q: If I target a province with Cartographers recon actions and then destroy and my oponent plays Imbue Chi after it, is it canceled by the Cartographers recon?
  A: If the the Imbue Chi was your opponent's first Reaction or Terrain action, yes (although it's technically "negated"; no such thing as "canceled" in L5R anymore).
  http://rules.l5r.com/Battles#Choose_Battlefield: "“During a battle” includes both the Combat and Resolution Segments, as well as the Final Steps before the battle ends." Brook Cunningham, "Cartographers and Imbue Chi", 1 Apr 2009
• Q: If my oponent destroys a province can I target a shugenja to bring all my personalities but him into play and then use another Imbue Chi targeting him again?
  A: No. After resolving the first Imbue Chi, you are no longer meeting the requirement of amy subsequent ones.
  [quote="Imbue Chi"]Kiho Reaction: Before battle resolution destroys one of your provinces, if you control no Personalities, target a face-up Shugenja in any of your provinces: Brook Cunningham, "Cartographers and Imbue Chi", 1 Apr 2009
• Q: Here is the situation:
  I control no personalities and have a shugenja in one of my provinces who is aligned to my clan, but I do not meet his honor requirement. My opponent destroys one of my provinces during battle resolution. I cast Imbue Chi with said Shugenja, which of the following happens.
  a) The Shugenja cannot enter play because I do not meet its honor requirement
  b) I need to pay 2 gold in order to ignore the Shugenja's honor requirement and bring him into play
  c) The Shugenja enters play at no cost
  How would this situation play out if the Shugenja were not aligned to my clan?
  Imbue Chi
  Kiho Reaction: Before battle resolution destroys one of your provinces, if you control no Personalities, target a face-up Shugenja in any of your provinces: Turn all cards in your provinces face-up. Bring into play any number of face-up Personalities in your provinces waiving costs. Kiho Limited: Bow one of your target Shugenja: Draw an additional card during your next End Phase.
  A: The question rephrased: Do honor requirements apply at all time?
  http://rules.l5r.com/Card_types#Using_Personalities: "When bringing a Personality into play, a player follows this sequence:
  "A. The personality enters a specially created entering-play area.
  "B. The personality’s Honor Requirement and other restrictions on its entering play are checked." [In other words, at all times - ZF] "At this point, if the Personality is aligned to the player's clan and it is the player's Dynasty Phase, the player may waive the Personality's Honor Requirement and increase his Gold cost to enter play by 2. If these conditions are not met, the Personality card returns to where it came from and it does not enter play." (Emphasis added). Zen Faulkes, "Imbue Chi question", 7 Aug 2008
• Q: Before Samurai Edition an attacking army used to destroy the defending army and the province simultaneously. Now, according to the Comprehensive Rules it isn't the case anymore...
  Does this mean that under SE rules I can play Imbue Chi even if I had some Personalities in play but they were all destroyed by the battle?
  A: Yes, that looks correct, for the reasons you imply. Army destruction occurs first, then province destruction. Just before the latter, you can announce Imbue Chi. When you do, you are meeting its "if you control no Personalities" restriction if, as in your example, all your Personalities were destroyed in that battle. Brook Cunningham, "Imbue Chi", 16 Jun 2008
• Q: Lets assume I have no personalities in play, and 3 of my provinces are face down (for simplicity). The only province that is face up holds a Daigotsu Takayasu. My opponent is about to destroy one of my Provinces.
  Can I use Takayasu's trait to give him the Shugenja trait, and target him with Imbue Chi's Reaction?
  Daigotsu Takayasu Spider Clan • Shadowlands • Lose 2 Honor. Once per game, before Takayasu enters play: He goes through his Gempukku. Permanently give him Samurai, Shugenja, or Monk.
  Imbue Chi Kiho Reaction: Before battle resolution destroys one of your provinces, if you control no Personalities, target a face-up Shugenja in any of your provinces: Turn all cards in your provinces face-up. Bring into play any number of face-up Personalities in your provinces waiving costs.
  A: No.
  You can't use a keyword not already there (Shugenja) to play a card (Imbue Chi) that's effects (bring Personalities into play) eventually trigger another effect (gempukku trait) that cause the keyword to appear.
  Similar question, same answer, same reasons Martin Lund, "Imbue Chi and Gempukku Personalities", 4 Mar 2008
• Q: There's a new rule in town: "When simultaneous effects caused by a single piece of text create multiple game procedures containing more than one step, each step of each procedure takes place simultaneously, in parallel".
  Thanks to this rule, are the following sentences correct please ?
  I am a Unicorn Clan player and my opponent is not. I control no Personality, he attacks and is about to destroy a Province where Moto Akikazu (basic) is face-up, I play Imbue Chi's Reaction, performed by Akikazu. Thus Moto Chagatai (Experienced 4) and Moto Chagatai (Experienced 5) are also revealed face-up in my provinces, next to the performing shugenja's province. I follow the normal sequence of five steps to bring them all into play, each step taking place simultaneously. I check both Chagatai's uniqueness during step B : no player controls a Unique card with the same title at that time. I don't pay their Gold cost during step C (Imbue Chi's text). I don't check their uniqueness again during step D so I simultaneously put them into play. I ride to victory.
  Thanks for your help.
  A: Bringing in two Unique cards with the same name at the same time works just fine. We saw it coming with Isawa's Fire and Imbue Chi when we were debating the issue.
  You know, there is nothing keeping you from using Hall of the Ancestors to copying "Unique" trait off of some dead Lion onto Matsu Aoiko while you have Matsu Aoiko XP (who is already unique) in play either. Martin Lund, "Imbue Chi and uniqueness", 7 Feb 2008
• Q: Can I use Kyoso no Oni's (ex3) entering play affect to target a person in the CURRENT battle even though it's entering resolution?
  A: Yes, but it won't change the outcome. You only get to calculate force totals once (Comprehensive Rules, Battle, Resolution). Zen Faulkes, "Complex Imbue Chi/Kyoso/Akuma Question", 28 Jun 2007
• Q: When Oni no Akuma enters play and destroys my rightmost province does this take effect before the end of battle resolution thus creating a null battle field?
  A: Yes.
  Note for those playing along at home: This is a change in Samurai Edition. Comprehensive Rules, Battle, After Resolution: "If a province is destroyed for any reason other than resolution during a battle or attack, its battlefield ceases to exist and any Terrain in play there is discarded. All units still there return home. These units bow if they were in an attacking army or if they were allied units." Zen Faulkes, "Complex Imbue Chi/Kyoso/Akuma Question", 28 Jun 2007
• Q: Could it occur like this: Kyoso no oni ex0 enters, Obsidian Dragon enters, Kyoso ex3 enters (sac Kyoso ex0, trigger Kyoso ex3 effect destroying a pers. in the non-current battle's army), Akuma enters (sac Rightmost province creating null field), first battle resolves within null field, start second battle?
  A: No.
  You have Personalities entering consecutively.
  The Resolution segment of the battle is aborted due Province destruction. Zen Faulkes, "Complex Imbue Chi/Kyoso/Akuma Question", 28 Jun 2007
• Q: You say Shugenja under City of Remembrance cannot be used to cast Imbue Chi, but then, the piece of cardboard that says "Your Shugenja cannot cast Kihos" was printed before Dawn of the Empire, so its "Your" means "that you control", right? What is it that makes it impossible to play Imbue Chi under CoR?
  A: Hm. You are correct. Imbue Chi can be used. Zen Faulkes, "City of Remembrance vs Imbue Chi", 9 Apr 2005
• Q: only if you control no personalities, may you turn all cards in your provinces face-up and then bring into play any number of personalities, ignoring costs
  A: No shugenja need be in play. Zen Faulkes, "Imbue Chi Redux", 2 Apr 2005