Imperial Gift

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, Onyx Edition, Shattered Empire

Card Type

Event

Keywords

Unique, Imperial

Card Text

After you reveal cards in your Provinces at the start of your turn, if this Event is face-up in one of them, gain 2 Honor and search your Fate deck for an Item, show it, and put it into your hand.

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Shattered Empire, War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can I use Shrine of the Sun to end the effects of Welcome Home, Imperial Gift, Chrysantemun Festival etc[?]
  A: No. See Rules Archive, General Rules, Effects: http://www.legendofthefiverings.com/rulings/#Effects Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 16 October 2003, Part 3", 16 Oct 2003
• Q: 2) If my Opponent's Imperial Gift went off, and then mine fizzled, could I target my own gift and recycle it, allowing it to resolve the next time it appeared in one of my provinces?
  A: Yes. If you reveal an Event that has already resolved, yours is discarded without resolving. [GE p. 28] Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 February 2003", 1 Mar 2003
• Q: Does the ruling for Gifts and Favors also work for Imperial Gift or even Boundless Sight. My opponent stated before he even went looking that the only item he had in his deck was his clan sword which was already in play, but he looked through his deck and then shuffled anyway.
  A: There is no ruling on Gifts and Favors. The "you lose if you don't find one" result is new text written onto the Most Recent Printing of the card. There is nothing to extend to other cards. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 January 2003", 24 Jan 2003
• Q: 2-Last night I turned up Retirement AND Imperial Gift on a Plains of Otasan Uchi. How do they resolve?
  A: In the order they were revealed. Pick one of the face-down cards to reveal first. If it's an Event, resolve it before revealing the other card. Jeff Alexander, "post for 6 June 2002", 7 Jun 2002
• Q: 2. If Imperial Gift comes up, is this considered drawing a card?
  A: No. Retrieving cards from somewhere is not drawing them. Drawing is taking the top card of your deck and putting it into your hand. Note that draw-and-discard effects will still count as drawing, though. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for November 23rd", 23 Nov 2000
• Q: I noticed a change in the Rules Glossary for "Search" between CE and EE. In particular, this piece of text is missing in EE.
  Since that rule is now gone, what happens now if an effect directs me to search for a particular kind of card (for example, Imperial Gift) and I don't find any, or I choose not to select any? Am I obliged to find an Item if there's one in my Fate deck? Can I choose my search to fail without any penalties?
  A: Imperial Gift's selection is not optional - if there is an item in your deck, you must take it.
  However, in general you are correct. If you searching and do not find an item, this no longer precludes you from further searching. Jon Palmer, "Searching and non selecting or failing to find", 23 Mar 2012
• Q: No one in the play group was completely sure of this, but it seems we might have missed something simple.
  Imperial Gift "Gain 2 Honor and search your Fate deck for an Item, show it, and put it into your hand."
  Simply put, are you required to put an item into your hand to gain the 2 honor? It seems strange that there is no "." after Gain 2 honor if you are not required to get an item.
  Thanks in advance.
  A: The two parts are independent.
  If the honour gain were dependent on putting an item into your hand, the text would be something like: Search your Fate deck for an Item, show it, and put it into your hand; if this put an item into your hand, gain 2 Honour. Alex Jones, "Imperial Gift requirements", 2 Mar 2012
• Q: Are the Imperial Gift 2 Strongholds legal for Legacy events? - I think yes because they do not appear in the banned list(.)
  A: Er. I see Lost Traveler Castle and Sunrise Keep in the "Banned" list (http://www.l5r.com/errata-and-bans/), with the description: "These two strongholds from the Imperial Gift 2 set are not legal for AEG sanctioned non-War of Honor L5R tournaments" (my emphasis). It doesn't specify "Current Legal Arc" or have any other qualifier, besides the text regarding War of Honor.
  Are you looking at some other page? If so, can you link to it so I can see where the conflict lies? Zen Faulkes, "Card Legality - Sorry I do not know where to ask", 30 Sep 2011
• Q: We are now able to take your questions about The Imperial Gift, Part 2. Let 'er rip!
  Is the Isawa Tanaka From IG2 considered a MRP card? Can I include the Lotus version of this card in my phoenix decks?
  A: Sorry about the general neglect to the Legacy Rules, but a lot of CE Rules issues have taken precedence. Have you heard of a man named... Kuon?
  Also, there was some uncertainty as to whether he'd be printed with that title at all, or if it had been changed before going to print. You'll notice Obfuscation is spelled correctly, when it wasn't previewed that way.
  So, no, your Path of Hope Isawa Tanaka is not an older printing of the Imperial Gift 2 Personality. It is a separate, distinct card and cannot be included in lieu of the latter in your Celestial Edition decks. Brook Cunningham, "Isawa Tanaka", 29 Jul 2009
• Q: When can we start asking questions about this set?
  A: Some Rules Team members already have cards to refer to, so we should be good to go now. Zen Faulkes, "The Imperial Gift, Part I?", 13 Nov 2008
• Q: On what date does the Imperial Gift become legal? Will promos released beforehand (such as Imperial Dojo) become legal with it?
  A: Legality dates are not under the authority of the Rules Team. Dan Jacobson, "Legality Date of Imperial Gift", 13 Nov 2008
• Q: [Jade Extended] Do spells count as items? Like, for the purpose of imperial gift?
  A: No. Those are two different card types. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 8 Mar 2026