Introspection

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Heaven & Earth, Onyx Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: After one of your Rings enters play: Search your Fate deck for a card. Put it in your hand.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor), Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond), War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: --- In, Jeff Alexander Can you play (as an example) three spell effects. When the timing window for playing the Ring of Air appears, you announce that you are playing the Ring of Air, Introspection off that "played" to grab the Ring of Air from your deck, then resume where you left off and play the Ring of Air that you just fetched?
  You cannot merely say you are playing a card and respond to that with Reactions to actually playing one. This has nothing to do with timing.
  In that case, at what points does an action have to be legal and what happens if the action becomes not legal? If I announce an action that is not legal and it becomes legal as I play the action, then I thought that I got to play the action. Is this not the case?
  A: That is not the case. You cannot announce an illegal action. Martin Lund, "Rules for 31 July 2004", 5 Aug 2004
• Q: When does the honor loss for playing a Dark Ring occur? Does it occur before I get to play Introspection, or do I get to Introspection before the honor loss?
  A: You'll lose the honor first. Introspection happens "after" by card text. Martin Lund, "Rules for 6 May 2004", 9 May 2004
• Q: 2) If I'm in battle and I just took my 4th battle action (which also happens to be my 3rd kiho action) can I play Ring of Water from my hand, Introspection off of it to get Ring of Air, and then play Ring of Air? or vice versa?
  Yes and yes.--(jeff)
  Ring of air:play after casting three or more spells/or kiho in one turn.
  So if you have played 3 kiho in one turn, you may choose to play the ring of air whenever you want, even during battle resolution, even(I think) during the end phase and so on.
  Not true. You must still play it immediately following its play condition.--(jeff)
  Isn't that a contradiction? Shouldn't you then have to be required to play the Ring of Air/Water before taking a reaction (Introspection). Otherwise what would be the difference in taking 1 action to get the Ring of Whatever and however many actions in between enter play and playing the ring?
  A: It is always possible to play more Reactions to the same original trigger until one of two things happen: A) All players elect in a row not to react anymore, or B) The trigger itself gets removed or mutated into something that can no longer be responded to.
  A Reaction puts the game "on hold" right where it was until the Reaction finishes. That includes preserving whatever triggers are still "live" and legitimate to respond to. This is not the case when you are talking about delaying an arbitrary length of time to a later phase that same turn.
  The thing is, Reactions can occur even during other Reactions. [DE p. 75] So you can have several layers "on hold" that become live again once these lower stages of Reaction are done.
  So the two Ring example goes something like this:
  Player 1's response to the fourth action: play Ring of Water Player 2's response to the Ring of Water: none Player 1's response to the Ring of Water: play Introspection Player 2's response to Introspection: none Player 1's response to Introspection: none. End. Player 2's response to the Ring of Water: none Player 1's response to the Ring of Water: none. End. Player 2's response to the fourth action: none Player 1's response to the fourth action: play Ring of Air Player 2's response to the Ring of air: none Player 1's response to the Ring of air: none. End. Player 1's response to the fourth action: none Player 2's response to the fourth action: none. End. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 Feb. 2004", 26 Feb 2004
• Q: 2) If I'm in battle and I just took my 4th battle action (which also happens to be my 3rd kiho action) can I play Ring of Water from my hand, Introspection off of it to get Ring of Air, and then play Ring of Air? or vice versa?
  A: Yes and yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 23 Feb. 2004", 24 Feb 2004
• Q: So I have the Ring of Air in my hand. For my third spell I cast Aid of the Grandmaster. I play the ring before I search for a card by the current timing. I then want to play Introspection. Do I do this before searching for the Aided card, after searching (and thus shuffling the card I aided for back into the deck), or can I choose?
  A: Leon, get off my list.
  For the rest of you: before searching due to the Aid's effect. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 5 Feb. 2004", 6 Feb 2004
• Q: Can I use Introspection if I used the non-favor Voice of the Emperor action to put a ring into play?
  A: Yes (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 24 November 2003, Part 2", 25 Nov 2003
• Q: Can you play Introspection when putting the Ring into play at the begining of the game using House of Tao?
  A: You have no Fate hand then. No. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 19 November 2003, Part 2", 20 Nov 2003
• Q: Can I use Introspection after using The Voice of the Emperor to put a ring into play?
  A: Yes (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 19 November 2003, Part 2", 20 Nov 2003
• Q: Is it correct to: Cast Aid of the Grand Master. Play Ring of Air. Play Introspection. Resolve Air of the Grand Master by finding a card and putting it on top of the deck.
  A: No. You can't play the Ring before "resolving" Aid of the Grand Master. The spell effect must be done before the Ring of Air can be played. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2 July 2003", 3 Jul 2003
• Q: Can I take reactions to the house of tao putting a ring in play at the beginning of the game? (introspection)
  Yes.
  Since all you have in play at the time House of Tao puts a ring into play is your Stronghold and Wind, and you haven't drawn your Fate Hand yet, how would you play Introspection? Or are you just ruling that reactions to the House of Tao's ability are legal, even though it's unlikely that there would be one available for it to trigger?
  A: I'm answering in the general sense. You're right, there is no possible way to play a Reaction out of your hand to something that occurs before you draw your first five cards, but it is *technically* legal. There is always the possibility of usable Reactions on Strongholds, Winds, and Sensei. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 May 2003", 2 May 2003
• Q: Recently in a game I had Shiba's Guidance out and took a province. After resolving all my onboard traits/reactions (dropping rings, and playing Introspections) I drew into another Introspection with the guidance. Now my question is am I able to play said Introspection? My opponent and I decided yes as the card draw from guidance isn't a reaction thus the timing window for Introspection hadn't closed yet. Any help would be awesome thanks.
  A: Actually, the answer is no. The card draw from Shiba's Guidance is a separately timed effect, so when it resolves, your window to playing Introspection off the Rings has already passed. Jon Palmer, "Shiba's Guidance Timing", 8 Jan 2013
• Q: Is discarding a ring to its ability the same as it entering play for the purposes of Introspection?
  A: No.
  In that case, it never enters play. The cost of its ability that discards it from your hand sends it directly from there to the discard pile. Brook Cunningham, "Introspection and playing rings", 20 Mar 2012
• Q: Hi,
  With the updated House of Tao text in the Oracle of the Void, can one react with Introspection when the starting Ring is put into play?
  I would say no in practice, because from http://rules.l5r.com/EE_Sequence_of_play#Start_of_game revealing strongholds is prior to drawing your hand (and thus you'd have no Introspection in hand to react with yet, even though the Ring you put into play with HoT would be a valid trigger), but still...
  House of Tao (relevant Oracle text): After all players reveal Strongholds: You may search your Fate deck for a Ring and put it into play. This counts as putting it into play by its own text.
  Introspection: Reaction: After one of your Rings enters play: Search your Fate deck for a card. Put it in your hand.
  A: Correct. You may not React with Introspection for the very reason you stated. By the time you have a hand in which you may find it, it's too late to React to the Stronghold putting the Ring into play. Brook Cunningham, "Introspection off House of Tao's starting Ring", 13 Mar 2012
• Q: Hi
  The following situation occurs:
  A player introduces a ring and plays Introspection as a Reaction. From the effect, he chooses another Introspection from his deck and plays it as another Reaction (and then chooses another card).
  Introspection: Reaction: After one of your Rings enters play: Search your Fate deck for a card. Put it in your hand.
  The question: Is that legal? I mean: are Reactions of the same player played simultaneously (in which case that wouldn't be legal), or is there a "one-by-one" order?
  (I've found a post about a similar matter: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=96686&p=1276710&hilit=multiple+reactions#p1276710, yet it doesn't answer my question, it refers to the order of play between two players, not just sequential or simultaneous nature of one player's actions in the given case).
  A: Please use the search function before asking questions.
  Until both players pass, a player may continue to react to the same trigger, and all such reactions are fully resolved before moving back to that trigger. Jon Palmer, "Multiple Introspection", 6 Mar 2012
• Q: I have a question about the timing of Introspection and putting either the Ring of Fire or Earth into play. If I win a battle at a province and satisfy the conditions for both Rings, would I be able to play one, Introspect for the other and then play it? Or would the 'window' have closed by that point?
  A: Yes, as Introspection is a reaction to the Ring entering play, there will still be opportunities for both players to respond to the destruction of the province. Jon Palmer, "Introspection timing", 9 Feb 2012
• Q: Then let's say I want to play Introspection, am I allowed to, or I can't because I've lost my chance to react to putting the ring in play?
  A: The chance to play a Reaction is not "lost" because something else happened. Any trigger can be responded to as many time as there are Reactions to play. Zen Faulkes, "Playing a ring and reactions", 5 Mar 2005