Matsu Gohei

Legend of the Five Rings card from Obsidian Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, Scorpion Clan Coup Starter

Card Type

Personality

Force

1

Chi

3

Honor Requirement

6

Gold Cost

4

Personal Honor

3

Clan

Lion

Keywords

Lion Clan, Samurai

Card Text

Gohei has +2F while attacking.

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Q: And the Matsu Gohei that attacked me originally ("Gains a 2F bonus when attacking.") which my opponent played Charge on ("Add a 3F bonus to one attacking Lion Personality") still has +5F in his defense? A: Only +3F actually. Gohei's built-in bonus is only active "when attacking". It continually checks whether Gohei is attacking and automatically turns itself on or off, depending. Charge, on the other hand, can only be played on someone who is attacking right that moment, but like Dispersive Terrain, it then lasts the whole turn. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 17
• Focus on... In Search of the Future: This will zero out all Force-increasing effects not provided to a card by another card attached directly to it. That includes bonuses cards give themselves, like Matsu Gohei's +2F when attacking, and bonuses from Items or Followers to other Items and/or Followers. Of particular interest is the fact that an Ancestral Sword's own variable Force bonus to itself is stopped before its total stats get added to its Personality. It will only be a 0/(X+1) weapon. It's a very wide-reaching effect, catching even things like Oath of Fealty, Evil Portents, and Stronghold bonuses like on the Spawning Grounds and New Akasha. Attaching is a two-way relationship, though, and bonuses that a Personality provides to his own cards stay just as live as the ones he receives from them. The Imperial Herald, Issue 14, p. 45

Rules Q&A

• Q: This also goes for other cards, like Matsu Gohei, whose cost has been increased,
  A: Gohei is not in Diamond. A "Soul of..." card is a new card, and does not impact the previously printed card. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 September 2003", 10 Sep 2003
• Q: 3) Finally -- a stupid question, just to check -- attaching cards is a targeted action, yes? So, if Matsu Gohei were to attach a Bandit Gang from my hand (lose 2 honor), I could correct his behavior with an Honorable Seppuku, yes?
  A: Sure looks like it. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 2001
• Q: Nightmare at first glance seems to make a card that is immune to fear now vunerable to fear. At second glance it appears to say that fear action now does affect the cards immune to fear. Thus a fear 4 with nightmare targeting a unit contianing naga warlord and naga token would bow both of them. However a unit contianing elite light infantry (which is immune), spearman (which is not immune) and Matsu Gohei (who is not immune) targeted by fear 4 with nightmare would bow the spearman and the elite light infantry but not Matsu Gohei. Am I reading this right?
  Nightmare's effects are in addition to the normal effects of Fear.
  I'm sorry I poorly phrased that question. Nightmare says that the Fear it reacts to now affects personalities and followers immune to fear. Fear affects things by bowing them. Does this override the fact that personalities can't be bowed by fear?
  A: No. That's not immunity. Immunity is something explicitly granted, beyond the normal state of affairs. Small Farms are not "immune" to duels, for example, and in that exact same way, Personalities are not naturally immune to Fear. You have to find some other way to make Fear affect Personalities -- then and only then, if that Personality is "immune" to Fear (say, due to being Undead, or being controlled by a Sepulcher of Bone player), will Nightmare matter. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 22 January 2001", 25 Jan 2001
• Q: Nightmare at first glance seems to make a card that is immune to fear now vunerable to fear. At second glance it appears to say that fear action now does affect the cards immune to fear. Thus a fear 4 with nightmare targeting a unit contianing naga warlord and naga token would bow both of them. However a unit contianing elite light infantry (which is immune), spearman (which is not immune) and Matsu Gohei (who is not immune) targeted by fear 4 with nightmare would bow the spearman and the elite light infantry but not Matsu Gohei. Am I reading this right?
  A: Nightmare's effects are in addition to the normal effects of Fear. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 18 January 2001", 22 Jan 2001
• Q: Is it legal to play Matsu Gohei instead Matsu Tayuko (which is Soul of Matsu Aoiko, which is Soul of Matsu Gohei)?
  A: Sorry, sadly, no.
  The "Soul of" rule is that you may only proxy the named card for the one upon which it's named, not any along the "chain". This was established with Bayushi Irezu in EE, wherein it was ruled you could only use Kwanchai as his proxy, not Tangen. Brook Cunningham, "Soul of...", 25 Dec 2013