Kuroiban Compound

Legend of the Five Rings card from Rise of the Shogun

Card Type

Holding

Gold Cost

3

Keywords

Ninja

Card Text

w: Produce 2 Gold, or 4 Gold if paying for a Ninja card.
Ninja Open: Turn this Holding face-down. Until it leaves play or is turned face-up, it is a 2F/3C/0PH Ninja Personality with an Honor requirement of "-" and a Gold Cost of 4. After it turns face-up, it returns to your home, bowed, as a Holding.

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Is a new Personality each time its ability is used. [ZF, web, 14 October 2006] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 83
• Effects on the card when it is a Personality do not reapply when it becomes a Personality again. [ZF, web, 1 March 2007] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 83

Rules Q&A

• Q: Situation: Kuroiban Compound is a face-down Ninja. It performs Sly Deceiver or another action which copies abilities or keywords. When it gets turned back into a face-up Holding, does it keep the copied abilities and keywords?
  Does this memory go away if it dies as a Personality? The Ninjutsu rules state that Personalities cannot be face-down in the discard pile, so it will never be face-down and out of play. My guess would be no.
  A: Yes, the holding will keep the abilities it gained via Sly Deceiver, and will also keep them when it becomes a Personality again. If this leads to any situations generally not covered by the rules (a holding gaining the ability to assign while bowed, for instance, when holdings can't normally assign) they will not work while it is a holding as these do not specifically override the rules. Jon Palmer, "Kuroiban Compound & Sly Deceiver", 2 Apr 2013
• Q: I have "Kuroiban Compound" face down after use it Open action in play. ("Open: Turn this card face down: Until it leaves play or is turned face up, this card is a Ninja Personality with 2F, 3C, an Honor Requirement of "-", Gold cost of 4, and Personal Honor of 0. If turned face up, it returns to your home bowed as a Holding." ) in play.
  I play Mysterious Deaths (Unique Kolat Limited: Lose 4 Honor. Destroy each player's lowest Gold Cost unit. If any player has more than one unit tied for lowest Gold Cost, he choses which of his units is destroyed. Remove this card from the game.). My lowest Gold Cost unit is "Kuroiban Compound" Ninjitsu Ninja (4 Gold Cost).
  I choose "Kuroiban Compound" and use it Ninjitsu Reaction (Any number of times per turn, after an action targets a facedown Ninjutsu Personality you control, pay Gold equal to his Ninjutsu value: Turn the Personality face-up. If he is now an illegal target for the action, negate its effects on him.) so :
  A. My Kuroiban Compound will be destroyed B. My Kuroiban Compound will negate destruction on it, but I need choose other lowest gold cost personality C. My Kuroiban Compound negate destruction on it.
  A: Mysterious Deaths doesn't target, so you can not use the Ninjutsu Reaction in response to it. Therefore:
  A. My Kuroiban Compound will be destroyed
  However, there is good news. When the Kuroiban Compound turns face-up in the discard pile from having been destroyed as a Personality, the final delayed effect of its ability will trigger and return it to play bowed. Hurray! Brook Cunningham, "LEGACY: Kuroiban Compound + Mysterious Deaths", 17 Mar 2010
• Q: If Kuroiban Compound is turned into a Personality, and becomes Dishonored, does it remain dishonored when it changes back into a holding?
  A: No. Lotus rules, pg. 40: "Some effects Dishonor Personalities." (Emphasis added.) It does not apply to other card types. Zen Faulkes, "Kuroiban Compound", 23 Jun 2007
• Q: Question about Kuroiban Compound. If the Ninja permanently gains an ability, will this ability still be present even if KC reverted to a holding and you turn it into a Ninja again?
  A: (Replying to a player: "Just to clarify, is this a functional errata? if so, could this be reflected in the oracle? I'm unable to find any contemporary rules in 20f CR tied to card memory which supports this citation. So far, a card needs to be both face-down and out of play to lose card memory. Neither of which happens …") The same card memory Rules were true in Lotus Edition contemporarily.
  (Replying to a player: "Hmmm - so which rules back then made it so that the face-down personality is treated a new one?") I think it was probably an arbitrary, fiat Ruling for a highly unusual case. I definitely will add some Oracle text to support it. Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 26 Jul 2024
• Q: Question about Kuroiban Compound. If the Ninja permanently gains an ability, will this ability still be present even if KC reverted to a holding and you turn it into a Ninja again?
  A: Thanks for digging that up! I should probably add some explicit Oracle text or notes to better support it.
  On another note, can you please see if you have any precedents on Regal Furisode or Kakita Yusugi for this question on Onyx's Tatewaki? (link) Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 25 Jul 2024