Importune Kami

Legend of the Five Rings card from 1,000 Years of Darkness

Card Type

Spell

Gold Cost

3

Keywords

Kami, Ritual

Card Text

Limited: Any number of times per turn, bow this Shugenja and zero or more of your other performing Shugenja: Give all your provinces a strength bonus equal to three times the number of performers until your next turn begins.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: From Earth on the subject Province for the duration of the ability of Barbarian Wall (end of turn).
  Same thing for Importune Kami.
  A: Same answer. Martin Lund, "Rules for 30 September", 4 Oct 2004
• Q: Importune Kami Ritual Limited: Bow this Shugenja and any number of your other Shugenja to raise the strength of each of your Provinces by three times the number of Shugenja bowed until the beginning of your next turn.
  If a single shugenja uses Shinden Horiuchi's ability to cast this spell without bowing, does the +3 province strength occur considering the spell checks for BOWED shugenja?
  A: By a completely literal reading, no. They only get +3 per Shugenja that bowed to pay the cost - not every Shugenja who participated in the ritual. If you waive the bowing cost for a Shugenja, that Shugenja won't count towards the number bowed. Martin Lund, "Rules for 5 July 2004", 7 Jul 2004
• Q: If a spell like Importune Kami or Essence of Gaki Do has already been cast and has a few other shugenja bowed in the ritual. I play Ryoshun' Last Words to destroy the spell, do the tokens go away or do they stay or with Importune Kami, does the increased province strength stay or go away?
  Ryoshun's Last Words Kiho Open: Bow one of your Shugenja or Monks to destroy a Spell.
  A: Destroying a card does not normally have any effect on the duration of effects that card has created. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 March 2004", 26 Mar 2004
• Q: Second, can Chithith be in a ritual, i.e. Importune Kami?
  No. Chithith is targeted by the Ritual. Technically, this also means that Chithith cannot cast Spells without a non-Ratling Follower attached, because Spells target their attached caster when they are used. Oh, those funky Gold targeting rules...
  This was ruled the opposite way when Chithith came out. We were told that Kihos always target the caster but spells only target the caster when the spells say so.
  A: I think that, since then, we realized that all attached cards implicitly target their holder when bowing the holder is a cost of the action on the attached card.
  For example: if a Follower said, "Limited: Bow the attached personality to draw a card," that action targets. This is a simply extension of that ruling. Spells have no special rules granting them exceptions from the general targeting rules, so, an attached Spell that bows the caster as a cost targets the caster. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 25th, 2003", 25 Jul 2003
• Q: Second, can Chithith be in a ritual, i.e. Importune Kami?
  A: No. Chithith is targeted by the Ritual. Technically, this also means that Chithith cannot cast Spells without a non-Ratling Follower attached, because Spells target their attached caster when they are used. Oh, those funky Gold targeting rules... Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 22nd, 2003", 22 Jul 2003
• Q: So this just came up in a game...
  Bob the Shugenja tries to cast Importune Kami. Yogo Tjeki exp says "You me, fight now!". Bob's controller tries playing Balance in Nothingness. Does Tjeki get cancelled?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 June 2003", 3 Jun 2003
• Q: So I have a question...
  - Do the "Masters of the Bells" count as a Shugenja in the ritual for Importune Kami ?
  A: Yes. Shugenja Followers may participate in Rituals. [GE p. 63] Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 May 2003", 21 May 2003
• Q: Follow up question 2: If I have a shugenja with a Ritual spell attached (e.g. Importune Kami) who later Retires, can I bow that ex-shugenja to initiate the spell and have other shugenja contribute to the ritual to create an effect?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 May 2003", 3 May 2003
• Q: ***(and now to relevance and beyond!!!)*** Question: can i bow firestorm legion to fuel the Importune Kami engine?
  A: Yes. [GE p. 63] Shugenja Followers can do anything that requires a "shugenja" but does not specifically require a Personality. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 March 2003", 4 Mar 2003
• Q: Yes, APC is a _stupid_ card. The designers must have been smoking M:TG cards when they thought it up. It's an automatic win if you get to focus with it. How about comparing a card like this with it's closest equivalent, Kharmic Strike, before loosing it on the play environment. It is THE most broken gold-legal fate card! Yes, I do think it's more broken than Importune Kami.
  A: How is it "an automatic win"? Your opponent gets at least one focus as well, which means you'll lose if his focus meets or exceeds YOUR duelist's Chi, which is possible without any tricks at all if your duelist has a Chi below 6. And then there's Mirumoto Ukira, Snow Crane Tattoo, Bend Like a Reed, Poisoned Weapon...
  It's hardly superior to Kharmic Strike in every way. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 December 2002", 3 Dec 2002
• Q: Hello guys, question under gold edition rules. Does Asako Yuya, can bow the spell and herself for 2 shugenjas for rituals, like Importune Kami ?
  A: No. She substitutes bowing the Spell for herself, you can't go back and bow her additionally. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 13 Nov 2024