Isawa

Legend of the Five Rings card from Dawn of the Empire

Card Type

Personality

Force

6

Chi

5

Honor Requirement

6

Gold Cost

14

Personal Honor

3

Clan

Phoenix

Keywords

Experienced 7, Loyal, Unique, Disciple, Kami, Phoenix Clan, Seven Thunder, Shugenja, Thunder, Void

Card Text

Isawa may overlay any Phoenix Clan Shugenja you control.
Isawa may cast Spells in your hand as if they were attached to him, except those whose effects upon which other effects are conditional would remove the Spell from play. Discard any Spell that he casts this way, after its action resolves.

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Spells cast from the hand do not enter play [ZF, web, 28 February 2005] but are still considered to have been played and to have resolved (similar to how Action cards do not enter play but have been played and resolved). [ZF, web, 1 March 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 104

Rules Q&A

• Q: 1) I have Sezaru and Isawa in play and a face-up spell in the top of my deck. can isawa cast that spell?
  A: Yes. Sezaru allows you to play it as if it were in your hand. Isawa lets you cast something in your hand. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 February 2005", 7 Feb 2005
• Q: 2.- After Miyoshi is hired, I have a Isawa (Experienced 7) face-up that I want to overlay. How much gold I have to pay if I overlay him over Miyoshi?
  A: Miyoshi has a printed Gold Cost of 7 and a trait that reduces her cost to 5. Your reduction to 3 Gold only lasted until you brought her into play, as per the Rulebook page 59. So Miyoshi is 5 Gold for the purposes of overlaying with Isawa. The difference in their costs is 9 Gold. Martin Lund, "Rules for 15 December 2004", 22 Dec 2004
• Q: [7]. Foo Rule: Kami Card
  Is a Disciple of the Kami card a Kami Card? It means, Is Isawa a Kami card?
  A: Yes. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 December 2004", 13 Dec 2004
• Q: I have a few questions regarding Isawa, from Dawn of the empire
  A) When Isawa cast a spell that do not destroy itself as a cost from my hand, can the spell be recovered with The kami watch over me?
  A: My gut instinct is to say, "yes," but I want to run it past Jeff to clarify a couple of points. Martin Lund, "Rules for 23 November 2004", 26 Nov 2004
• Q: Destroying a spell is considered removing it from play? Is this ruling due to Isawa and Kan'chek specifically? Destroying just about anything else isn't removing it from play, because it goes into your discard pile and can still be targeted, so I just want to get a ruling on this from the Rules Junta. Thanks
  A: Destroying something moves it from In Play to the Discard Pile, which is out of play. That qualifies as removing it from play. Kan'chek doesn't have good mojo with spells that destroy themselves as a cost to cast them. Martin Lund, "Kan'chek and Fist of Osano Wo", 27 Mar 2005
• Q: Mirumoto can overlay and "Dragon Clan Samurai".
  Can Mirumoto overlay Gukochi? (Dragon Clan Sentry. Samurai.) Similarly, can Isawa overlay Agasha Miyoshi (Phoenix Clan Fire Shugenja)?
  A: Yes and yes. Zen Faulkes, "Traits: X Clan Samurai", 25 Mar 2005
• Q: In another post about Isawa, was said that spells that isawa cast never enter play, sooo...
  Can those spells be recovered with The kami watch over me?
  When Isawa cast a spell, can I use the reaction on Kyuden Tombo to draw a card?
  And about Asako Bairei:
  Can i use his second abilitiy to draw a card after a surged unit containing spells returns to play?
  If the first answer is Yes, does this happen in my turn or in my opponent's turn?
  A: I'm going to say no, because it did have effects that resolved. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 3 Mar 2005
• Q: When Isawa cast a spell, can I use the reaction on Kyuden Tombo to draw a card?
  A: I'm going to say no here, too. Look at action cards: action cards don't enter play, but I doubt anyone would want to argue that you could use Kyuden Tonbo after resolving the effects of an action card. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 3 Mar 2005
• Q: Can i use (Asako Bairei's) second abilitiy to draw a card after a surged unit containing spells returns to play?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 3 Mar 2005
• Q: (D)oes this happen in my turn or in my opponent's turn?
  A: When the unit returns to play, before your turn (Suitengu's Surge text). Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 3 Mar 2005
• Q: Can those spells be recovered with The kami watch over me?
  A: I'm going to say no, because it did have effects that resolved. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 1 Mar 2005
• Q: When Isawa cast a spell, can I use the reaction on Kyuden Tombo to draw a card?
  A: I'm going to say no here, too. Look at action cards: action cards don't enter play, but I doubt anyone would want to argue that you could use Kyuden Tonbo after resolving the effects of an action card. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 1 Mar 2005
• Q: Can i use (Asako Bairei's) second abilitiy to draw a card after a surged unit containing spells returns to play?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 1 Mar 2005
• Q: (D)oes this happen in my turn or in my opponent's turn?
  A: When the unit returns to play, before your turn (Suitengu's Surge text). Zen Faulkes, "Questions about Isawa and Asako Bairei", 1 Mar 2005
• Q: Is he able to cast spells like walking the way or fist of osano-wo?
  A: "Except those whose costs would remove the Spell from play". No. Zen Faulkes, "Isawa", 28 Feb 2005
• Q: is it considered putting a spell into play so that i could react with talented apprentice?
  A: No. The spell never enters play; it is "in your hand," then discarded. Zen Faulkes, "Isawa", 28 Feb 2005
• Q: I came up with the question, when I was wondering, wether Isawa can cast the Walking the Way in my hand or not.
  A: He can't. One of Walking's costs is destroying itself, which is a way of leaving play. (Notice, by the way, that he wouldn't be able to cast it anyway, since you cannot pay the cost. You can't destroy a card in your hand.) Jeff Alexander, "Discarded from play and removed from play .. and so on", 7 Feb 2005
• Q: I came up with the question, when I was wondering, wether Isawa can cast the Walking the Way in my hand or not.
  A: He can't. One of Walking's costs is destroying itself, which is a way of leaving play. (Notice, by the way, that he wouldn't be able to cast it anyway, since you cannot pay the cost. You can't destroy a card in your hand.) Jeff Alexander, "Discarded from play and removed from play .. and so on", 7 Feb 2005
• Q: [Imperial]
  Can Isawa’s Helm cancel an action that is targeting a card attached to the unit and not the personality itself?
  A: (Replying to a player: "Hello @Brook Cunningham what do you think of this one? To add, Warrior Monks has this text") Despite an exhaustive search, I couldn't find any contermporary Rulings or errata/clarifications. So... yeah, given that comparison to Warrior Monks' text, it appears that in Contemporary/[Imperial], Isawa's Helm can only negate effects which specifically target a "unit" (for example, Block Supply Lines). The definition of "targeting a unit" equating to "targeting the Personality" per the Rules came later (though I can't exactly recall when). Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 11 Nov 2025
• Q: [Imperial] Does Isawa’s Helm negate all the effects of The 12th Black Scroll when targetting a unit in battle?
  A: Per the current Oracle wording of the 12th Black Scroll, it does not target, which I believe is correct per contemporary Rulings, though I am on my phone and cannot verify. Thus, the Helm cannot react.
  Actually, put a pin in that, as I am finding some information that conflicts with the Oracle text, so I'll have to research more. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 10 Apr 2025
• Q: Hello guys, question with Isawa, he says he will cast spells in hand as if they were attached to him. If its attached to him it means I already paid for the spell. So am I able to use the spells for free or I need to pay to use it?
  A: No Gold needed. Have fun. 🙂 Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 8 May 2024