Armor of the Heavens

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Glory of the Empire

Card Type

Item

Force

+3

Chi

+0

Gold Cost

4

Keywords

Armor, Imperial

Card Text

Political Reaction: After another player targets this Personality with an action, choose a player, who gains or loses 2 Honor.

Focus Value

4

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor), Destroyer War (Celestial), Race for the Throne (Samurai)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: If i have 2 personalities in play with one having an armor of the heavens on it, when my opponent bows for touch of ice and I bow my two personalities. Can I use the reaction on the Armor of the Heavens?
  A: No.
  Touch of Ice does not target your Personalities. It targets you, and then you choose two Personalities. Targeting will always be stated explicitly, no targeting is implicit, and "choosing" =/= "targeting". Brook Cunningham, "Touch of Ice vs Armor of the Heavens", 18 Sep 2010
• Q: I have a Unique personality in play (Hida Bob) and another personality wearing an Armor of the Heavens (Kakita Joe). The opponent targets Hida bob, and I play Imperial Command to redirect his action to Kakita Joe. Can I gain 2 honor with the armor (as it says when the other [player] targets).
  A: (Change made in brackets, to what I believe was a typo in your question)
  Yes, you may react with Armor of the Heavens. The other player is still considered to be doing the targeting, even though you changed his choice.
  Targeting: "A "change to targeting" is anything that changes the target. Choosing a target is different from, and comes before, the actual targeting. Specifically, if an effect interferes with an action so that another player chooses one of the action’s final targets, the player who originally would have chosen the targeting is still the one who targets the final target." Brook Cunningham, "Armor of the Heavens and Imperial Command", 22 May 2010
• Q: Zen said: "Incidentally, a dishonored Personality can refuse Imperial Adjudication. Dishonoring is an effect of refusal, not a requirement for refusal."
  Isn't being honourable a requirement for the option to refuse an Imperial Adjudication?
  "If that Personality is honorable, his controller looks at the top three cards of his Fate Deck, then may refuse the duel"
  A: Doncha hate it when you misread cards? You are correct. Sorry. Zen Faulkes, "Armor of the Heavens", 13 Nov 2009
• Q: When a dishonor personality with armor of the heavens attached is target by Imperial Adjudication, Does the dishonor personality rehonor and thus be able to refuse the duel?
  A: Because Armor of the Heavens responds to targeting, which comes before effects, the Reaction will occur and resolve before the Personality does anything in the duel.
  If you choose to gain 2 Honour, your Personality is rehonoured and can then refuse the duel. [Incorrect statement removed: see correction, below.] Zen Faulkes, "Armor of the Heavens", 12 Nov 2009
• Q: Player B plays Hand of Osano-Wo targetting the Armor of the Heavens on Player A's personality.
  Question: Can player A use the reaction of Armor of the Heavens?
  I was not sure after consulting page 14 of the Celestial Rulebook - "... When a unit is targeted, this targets its Personality..."
  A: No, you cannot use the Reaction.
  Note, the rule you quote says "When a unit is targeted" not "When a card in the unit is targeted".
  Hand of Osano-Wo targets the attachment, then the Personality, never the unit as a whole. For an example of such an instance, see Dramatic Assassination. Brook Cunningham, "Armor of the Heavens vs Hand of Osano-Wo", 26 Jul 2009
• Q: Would someone who is wearing Armor of the Heavens dishonor if targeted by a dishonoring action, or would the honor gain rehonor them instead?
  A: Because Armor of the Heavens responds to targeting, which comes before effects, the Reaction will occur and resolve before the Personality can ever be dishonored by an effect. Zen Faulkes, "Armor of the Heavens / Dishonoring", 8 Jul 2009
• Q: Regarding: http://www.alderac.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=75002
  The question is a bit hard to understand, so I just want to clarify the ruling.
  If I am targeting an honorable person, who has the armor of the heavens attached, with an action that would dishonor him, does the above ruling (no honor is gained, personality is honorable) stand or am I just misinterpretting the question?
  A: Assuming your action's effects dishonor the personality who has Armor of the Heavens attached:
  A) Announce your action B) Target the personality B1) Personality reacts with Armor of the Heavens, choosing to gain two honor C) Pay costs of action D) Effects occur, the personality is dishonored. Dan Jacobson, "Armor of the Heavens", 31 Mar 2009
• Q: Assuming that i gain honor with the armour how does the armour work regarding when the personality is dishonored with an action and assuming its possible to that how does it react to actions that target dishonored personality.
  im ofcourse a noob and im assuming that the personality is the source of the honorgain when he has the armour.
  A: Actions on Items are performed by the Personality to whom the Item is attached, so the Personality is rehonoured and no honour is gained.
  See Perform: A Personality or Follower is performing an action if its controller is the player taking the action ... and any of these things is true: * The action comes from an ability on an Item or Spell in the Personality’s unit.
  and Honourable and dishonourable: There are a number of ways to rehonor a dishonorable Personality. * Before a player gains Honor from an action or trait that ... was performed by one or more of his or her dishonorable Personalities, the Personality is rehonored and the Honor is not gained. Alex Jones, "Armor of the Heavens", 31 Mar 2009