Kharmic Strike

Legend of the Five Rings card from Diamond Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, Ivory Edition, Soul of the Empire, Reign of Blood, Promotional–Ivory

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Kharmic

Card Text

(Repeatable Limited, : Discard a Kharmic card to draw a card.)
As a Focus Effect, when this duel resolves, both Personalities lose the duel. (This is not a tie.)

Focus Value

0

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

MRP

Both Personalities lose now rather than tie.

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Renamed from Karmic Strike. [MRP, Reign of Blood, 8 December 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 22
• Doesn't necessarily kill both duelists; it makes both suffer whatever would normally happen to the loser. [Card text] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 22
• Changing one duelist's Chi (e.g., Poisoned Weapon) will not break the tie (although it could kill one of them prematurely). [Card text] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 22
• If named by Hantei Sensei, it is considered to have a blank text box. [JA, 7 July 2000] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 22
• This card was mistakenly identified as Rare in some early lists. Cannot be used to put the Ring of Fire into play. The Ring requires that you "win a duel" [Emerald Edition card text], and a tied duel is a loss for both duelists [rulebook]. Doesn't necessarily kill both duelists -- it only makes both suffer whatever would normally happen to the loser. [card text] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 36
• Changing one duelist's Chi with Poisoned Weapon or poison tokens will not break the tie (although it could kill one of them prematurely). Kharmic Strike forces a tie result regardless of stats. [card text] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 36

Rules Q&A

• Q: Let's say I have Shattered Focus at home when a strike is called. Kharmic Strike is revealed after being focused against my duelist. If I use Shattered Focus to discard Kharmic Strike, would it:
  A. Do nothing. Kharmic Strike has been revealed and the duel will unerringly end in a tie. B. The duel resolves normally as Kharmic Strike is now in the discard pile; its trait no longer has an effect on the duel's outcome.
  A: A. By card text, Kharmic Strike triggers as soon as it is revealed. Discarding it after it is revealed won't change anything that has already triggered. Martin Lund, "Rules for 13 December 2004", 15 Dec 2004
• Q: I just had a thought, would Asahina Nizomi prevent the destruction of one or both of the combatants in a duel when Kharmic Strike is used?
  A: Both. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 9 Feb. 2004", 10 Feb 2004
• Q: If this is not the case, what about focusing a Kharmic Strike?
  A: Yes; it was used for printed effect. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 13 October 2003", 13 Oct 2003
• Q: Can Oracle of Thunder exp. cancel Kharmic Strike, or any other Action card that is played as a focus?
  A: Yes (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 26 September 2003", 27 Sep 2003
• Q: If you are dueling a personality (let's say, with three chi) and you Poisoned Weapon them, thus bringing their chi to zero, does Kharmic Strike still resolve?
  A: Kharmic Strike resolves as soon as it's revealed, but it has no effect until the time the winner and loser are normally determined and the results of the duel are applied. Since this is after Poisoned Weapon kills one duelist, you never get to that stage. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 May 2003", 9 May 2003
• Q: Ok Jeff then what if, I am facing Reju xp2 in a duel. I focus Kharmic Strike, then I focus Rend the Soul. What would happen if my personality would have won the duel?
  A: Karmic makes it a tie. Reju makes him win. Rend makes it a tie. Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 March 2003", 1 Apr 2003
• Q: Extending the last question: If I had played Kharmic Strike, could his dead personality be chosen as VD check personality on his discard pile?
  A: No. The death is still caused by the card that started the duel. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 February 2003", 5 Feb 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: I'm writing this to check if Poisoned Weapon can beat a Kharmic Strike in the right situation.
  Specifically, I'm thinking that a 6 Chi Fushiki challenges 1 Chi Hida Tenshu. Tenshu focuses a Kharmic Strike and then Fushiki strikes. The duel will be tie because of Kharmic Strike, but each player still has an opportunity to play reactons before the duel resolves. Fushiki's player drops a Poisoned Weapon and Tenshu-chan dies immediately. Because Tenshu is dead, the duel does not resolve and Fushiki lives to smite another day.
  I'm pretty sure that is a kosher play, but it would be nice to have confirmation.
  A: It's legal. The MRP of Kharmic Strike says the duel will result in a tie during resolution. It specifically does NOT end the duel immediately, allowing Reactions such as Poisoned Weapon to be taken and have effect. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 Oct. 2002", 8 Oct 2002
• Q: If I play Judgement of Toshiken, does that stop Kharmic Strike from rendering the duel a tie?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 August 2002", 6 Aug 2002
• Q: On the other hand, I'd just like to clarify a handful of cards:
  - Kharmic Strike
  Doesn't specify. But it says "The duel results in a tie". If used in a head-punching duel, I'm not sure whether it's automatically assumed to "result in a tie", but if a Duel Of Force is a Duel proper, then I assume it results in a tie (help us Jeff!).
  A: Kharmic Strike's effect is to change how the duel gets resolved. The actual post-focusing values of any stats are ignored. Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 March 2002", 21 Mar 2002
• Q: First, silly question: does Judgement of Toshiken trump (that is, render useless except for focus values, if used to focus): Another Time Kharmic Strike Concede Defeat (when played for its ability)
  A: Judgement of Toshiken is played after focuses are revealed, by MRP. Another Time and Concede Defeat will still defeat it because they both resolve before then and both produce an immediate end to the duel. Judgement will re-override Kharmic's change to how the duel gets resolved. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 February 2002", 9 Feb 2002
• Q: Assuming you are the active player for the turn:
  If you resolve the FE on SD first, would it save you from KS, or do you stop resolving focus effects immediately upon resolving SD?
  If you resolve KS first, then SD, do both players have their consequence negated since SD does not specify which player's consequence is negated and instead refers to the duel consequence itself?
  A: Neither Kharmic Strike nor Spirited Dispute's Focus Effect causes the duel to end immediately, so if both are focused in the same duel, both will resolve.
  Regardless of the order the Focus Effects are resolved, Kharmic Strike sets the result of the duel to a loss for both Personalities. The rule that setting a Personality's result to a loss sets the other Personality's result to a win does not apply if there is another effect which itself directly sets that Personality's result to a loss, regardless of the order these effects are applied. The choice to lose the duel can always be made, even if you are already losing, and the consequences of losing are then negated for both Personalities by Spirited Dispute.
  Kharmic Strike: As a Focus Effect, when this duel resolves, both Personalities lose the duel.
  Spirited Dispute: As a Focus Effect, you may choose to lose this duel to negate its consequences for losing. Alex Jones, "Spirited Dispute + Kharmic Strike:", 5 Aug 2014
• Q: Say I challenge a 3 chi personality with Doji Reju. My opponent focuses Kharmic Strike, and I proceed to strike.
  According to the rules for resolving a duel in the comprehensive rules, focus effects resolve in step 4. So it is at that point that Kharmic Strike resolves, setting up the delayed effect of both personalities losing the duel when it resolves. However, in step 5, the scores are added up, and are tied, so Reju's trait triggers then, saying that he wins the duel. Which take precedence? I can see a few potential outcomes:
  1.) Active player decides whether to apply Kharmic Strike's effect before Reju's, and so he will either win or lose the duel based upon that order. 2.) It doesn't matter the order they are applied, as they are not contradictory effects, the other personality will lose and Reju will both win AND lose the duel. 3.) Reju's trait doesn't matter as Kharmic Strike says the duel is not a tie (doubtful, as that is reminder text and seems to refer to the outcome NOT to the adding of scores which Reju is concerned with).
  Thanks
  A: Outcome 3 is the correct answer.
  Focus Effects are applied before Duel Resolution, so when the duel goes to resolution, Kharmic Strike's effect has modified any result to a double loss, which is as the reminder text states, not a tie. Ben Higgins, "Doji Reju vs. MRPed Kharmic Strike", 17 Apr 2014
• Q: Hi there,
  Very sorry if this has been asked before in some other form, but I couldn't find it so here goes: I have a personality with Ominous Armor. Said personality is challenged to a lethal duel (for example A Magistrate Falls). I focus Kharmic Strike. Is the Ominous Armor destroyed to save my guy and the challenger destroyed (due to the Kharmic Strike)? Or is my Kharmic Strike responsible for the destruction, mooting my Armor?
  I am pretty sure my Ominous Armor would save my personality in this situation, but a discussion has emerged and it needs your quelling!
  Thank you.
  A: The destruction comes from the card that created the duel; it says right on A Magistrate Falls to destroy the loser. Just because Kharmic Strike made both Personalities lose doesn't mean the source of the effect is somehow "transferred". So, what I'm obviously try to say is, yes you are correct; in your described scenario, your Ominous Armor would get destroyed instead of your Personality. Brook Cunningham, "Kharmic Strike and Ominous Armor", 22 Mar 2014