Knife in the Darkness

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Wrath of the Emperor, Celestial Edition, Lotus Edition, Samurai Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, Emperor Edition Demo Decks, Twenty Festivals, Three Dynasties, Promotional–Samurai, Promotional–Twenty Festivals

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Ninja Battle: Move home your target Ninja Personality and a target enemy Personality; these movements will not be negated. Bow them.

Focus Value

3

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Age of Conquest (Emperor), Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Destroyer War (Celestial), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Rain of Blood (Diamond), Three Dynasties, War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Knife in the Darkness 0G 3FV Ninja Battle: Target your Ninja Personality: Target an enemy Personality. Move both Personalities home; this movement will not be negated. Bow both of them." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 143
• Erratum: Reads, "Knife in the Darkness 0G 3FV Ninja Battle: Target one of your Ninja Personalities: Target a Personality opposing him. Move both home; neither movement can be negated. Bow both targets." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 142

Rules Q&A

• Q: Knife in the Darkness can't be negated, according to its text. However, after reading plenty of these Rules posts and the rules themselves, Negate and Cancel are two different things. Can Knife in the Darkness be cancelled by A Test of Courage or an equivalent?
  A: Indeed it can be Canceled. Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 September 2004", 23 Sep 2004
• Q: If A Test of Courage is used against Knife in the Darkness and it's successful, does the Ninja still go home, or does he stay like the target?
  A: The Canceled Action produces no further effects. It will not send anyone home. Martin Lund, "Rules for 16 September 2004", 23 Sep 2004
• Q: Interrupt the Void's Flow says: Void Interrupt: Negate a Battle action....
  CR says NEGATE AN ACTION # To prevent all the action’s effects and targeting, from the time the negation is applied.
  Since the targeting would be prevented. Would actions from Knife in the Darkness and Desperate Sacrifice simply fail and/or will not move any personality since there were no targets of the action?
  A: The definition of Negate an action has changed: To prevent all the action’s effects, from the time the negation is applied. This does not negate targeting.
  Interrupt the Void's Flow will not negate the movement from Knife in the Darkness. Alex Jones, "Interrupt the Void's Flow negation question", 1 Sep 2015
• Q: Is Daigotsu's ability permanent? If I can prevent the destruction of the personality is his control permanent?
  A: Change of control is not "permanent" in the game sense of being an effect with a duration that last until the end of the game. Rather, it is an instantaneous effect with no duration; like dishonor, it happens and that's that. Unlike "permanent" effects which could later have their duration ended by negation, there is no un-doing it, except by a further effect.
  So, that's a long way around to "yes", but yes. If you can prevent the destruction somehow, there is nothing default or implicit that would return control of the stolen Personality to his original controller. Brook Cunningham, "Daigotsu's ability; Knife in the Darkness movement", 4 Jul 2009
• Q: Which wins out kuon's text that says negate the first action targeting him or Knife in the Darkness which says the movement cannot be negated?
  A: Kuon doesn't say "negate", he says the effects "do not" happen. Knife only prevents "negation", explicitly, so Koun's trait would stop the effects of Knife. Brook Cunningham, "Daigotsu's ability; Knife in the Darkness movement", 4 Jul 2009
• Q: [Celestial] iron will vs Knife in the darkness. IW wins over KitD?
  A: It's a "tie"? 😛 Knife will still move them, but it won't bow them. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 4 Jul 2026