Mountains of the Phoenix

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition, Honor Bound, Lotus Edition, Samurai Edition, Training Grounds 2, Onyx Edition, Shattered Empire, Three Dynasties, Promotional–Samurai

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Mountain, Terrain

Card Text

Before this battle's resolution: The Attacker and the Defender each choose a unit in their own army; the active player decides who chooses first. Then, destroy the chosen units.
Battle: If there are no Terrains at the current battlefield: Put this card into play there.

Focus Value

1

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Destroyer War (Celestial), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Race for the Throne (Samurai), Shattered Empire, Three Dynasties, War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Mountains of the Phoenix 0G 1FV Mountain • Terrain. Battle: Before this battle’s resolution, the Attacker and the Defender each choose a unit in their own army; the active player decides who chooses first. Then, destroy the chosen units." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 146
• Erratum: Reads, "Mountains of the Phoenix 0G 1FV Mountain Terrain Battle: Before this battle’s resolution, the Attacker and the Defender each choose a unit in their own army; the active player decides who chooses first. Then, destroy the chosen units." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 148

Rules Q&A

• Q: 3) What about for actions where an effect doesn't happen for a while like Mountains of the Phoenix. Do my opponent and I now have to choose our targets before the costs are paid and the card enters play?
  A: Delayed Terrains are an aberration, and Mountains of the Phoenix is a Delayed Terrain. They need to have their targets chosen by all players on resolution due to their time-bomb nature. They have special rules, but it really boils down to "all players pick targets on resolution." Martin Lund, "Rules for 25 June 2004", 28 Jun 2004
• Q: 4) Specifically for Mountains of the Phoenix, if I have to pick the target immediately, does having the unit leave the army then make it an illegal target (thus preventing the destruction
  A: Don't worry about it. Delayed Terrains don't play by the same rules as everything else. Pick targets when the effect resolves that needs the target.
  That should probably go in the Rulebook somewhere next edition ... Martin Lund, "Rules for 25 June 2004", 28 Jun 2004
• Q: New player here. Ive spent two days searching the forums before posting but am not impressed by the search engine. Apologies if this is elsewhere.
  I have a question about delayed actions and removing a Personality from that battle.
  Specifically, Utaku Tayoi (or really any similar effect) and, say, Mountains of the Phoenix.
  Mountains says: "Battle: Before this battle’s resolution, the Attacker and the Defender each choose a unit in their own army; the active player decides who chooses first. Then, destroy the chosen units."
  There are only 2 units at this battlefield: one attacking and one defending. Therefore all combatants currently present will be destroyed before this battle resolves.
  Can removing your chosen Personality from this battle save him? For example, by using a power such as:
  "Battle: If Tayoi is at a battlefield: Move her to another battlefield. Gain 1 Honor if Tayoi is attacking, or gain 2 Honor if she is now opposed."
  This would allow her to "escape" the fight, but would it prevent her from being destroyed?
  My guess is NO, it wont save her, since the Strategy MotP has already 'resolved" by being played, but Im curious because it WOULD remove her from the battle's resolution.
  Thanks. Kealios San Jose, CA
  A: Just playing the terrain as a Battle action does not doom a Personality when he or she is the only one in the battlefield.
  The only time a Personality is selected is "Before this battle’s resolution." If a Personality moves out of the battlefield before then, they are not in the army and cannot be selected.
  And welcome aboard. Zen Faulkes, "Delayed Actions and escaping them", 2 Jan 2011
• Q: I'm still a little unsure about how Furumaro interacts with delayed kill effects. I get that the action window closes for someone like Udo to be able to react off of Mountains of the Phoenix or The Dead Do Not Rest. The problem I'm having is that Furumaro doesn't refer to an actions resolution.
  Furumaro has Reaction: Before an action destroys Furumaro: Negate his destruction.
  Udo has Maho Reaction: After the resolution of an action that destroyed a Follower or Personality: Create a 2F/2C/0PH Shadowlands • Undead Personality at Udo's location
  Is the resolution part implied and prevent Furumaro from using his react on delayed effects, or, can he react to a delayed kill effect, due to the omission of the 'after resolution?'
  Thank you
  A: The timing of the destruction effect (delayed or not) is irrelevant. Only the source is (is it from an action?).
  Furumaro's Reaction works fine with delayed effects. Zen Faulkes, "Furumaro", 17 Mar 2010
• Q: If the answer is "yes," and I don't see any logical possibility of this being the correct anwer, it would create the conumdrum of when exactly to play the Ring of Water, since the Ring has to be played in response to the "successful resolution" of the battle action on Mountains of the Phoenix, and the action on the Mountains has finished resolving long before we know whether or not it will be successful.
  A: I think the point of confusion is that you're looking for a physical change on the table to occur -- a card bowed, destroyed, rehonored, token generated, card moved, etc. "Game state" is more broadly defined, and includes things that are "lurking" off-table, as it were.
  Before an action with a delayed effect is played, nothing will happen some particular trigger occurs. After the action is played, the delayed effect will occur when its trigger is met. That wasn't the case before the action, so the game state has changed. Zen Faulkes, "Delayed Effects, Reactions and Rings", 9 Sep 2009
• Q: Mountains of the Phoenix. At which point does the "Terrain action" resolve when you play Mountains of the Phoenix?
  A: It has only delayed effects, so will resolve after those effects are activated, which is nearly right after the card is played.(http://rules.l5r.com/CE_Abilities_and_a ... resolution) Zen Faulkes, "Terrains and Ring of Water", 30 Aug 2009
• Q: Which of answers is right? The question about Ring of the Phoenix. viewtopic.php?f=59&t=63977&hilit=Ring+of+the+Phoenix OR viewtopic.php?f=59&t=74442
  [Mod edit: Thread title. Please make them descriptive. -ZF]
  A: EDIT: No longer under discussion, and...
  Surprise! Both answers you linked are correct.
  In the case of the first link, it may not be clear due to the vaguery of the question that the answer is from the point of view that Mountains of the Phoenix is intended to be the triggering action for Ring of the Phoenix. In such an instance, it does not count because after it resolves (when RotP would trigger), it has not yet destroyed anyone. So, it's not that Mountains of the Phoenix can never count for Ring of the Phoenix (it CAN be one of the previous two resolved actions, as seen in the second link), but its resolving can never be the trigger for the Ring. Brook Cunningham, "Ring of the Phoenix and Mountains of the Phoenix", 6 Mar 2009
• Q: Example: One Phoenix personality was already killed with an appropriate action. Mountains of the Phoenix are played. Before the battle resolution another personality is destroyed by its action. Reaction from Assigning Blame targets the third Phoenix personality and he commits seppuku in reaction. That is the third action that killed personality to the time when the ring of Phoenix could be played. Does killing action from the Mountains counts for the Ring in this case?
  A: In this case, yes it does. Brook Cunningham, "Ring of the Phoenix and Mountains of the Phoenix", 5 Mar 2009
• Q: If you have one timing trigger of "after" something ends in a sequence and another timing trigger of "before" the next thing in a sequence begins, the "after" trigger to the first thing in the sequence comes first.
  A: Citation Martin Lund, "Mountains of the Phoenix vs. Furious Assault", 23 Apr 2008
• Q: Mountains of the Phoenix: I was wondering if after playing the card, presence was necessary to use the effects.
  A: No. You need presence to take the action -- that is, to put the Terrain into play. You don't need presence to resolve delayed effects. Zen Faulkes, "Mountains of the Phoenix question", 26 Sep 2007
• Q: Opponent plays Mountains of the Phoenix. So before resolution he destroyes his one bowed personality and react with Death After Life bringing that personality back to play unbowed in the army. Can he do stuff like that?
  A: It would help if the question were more specific.
  Nothing illegal. Zen Faulkes, "Death After Life and stuff", 30 Aug 2007
• Q: If my opponent only has one unit at the current battlefield can he use Strength on it in order to prevent it from being destroyed if I play a Mountains of the Phoenix and the card is still in play upon battle resolution?
  A: A Terrain is not "battle resolution" (Strength card text). Zen Faulkes, "Strength + Moutains of the Phoenix", 26 Aug 2007
• Q: Does the destruction effect on Mountains of the Phoenix (MotP) occur in the combat phase or is it an effect that occurs in reaction to the start of the resolution phase?
  A: Comprehensive Rules, Battles: "Effects 'before a battle resolves' happen after the Combat Segment ends and before the Resolution Segment begins." Zen Faulkes, "Mountains of the Phoenix timing", 7 Aug 2007
• Q: he "proclaims" when dying in battle (and also specifically from a battle action, not from resolution nor from trait effects like Mountains of the Phoenix) regarding Ejio, best I can find in the 20F CR is under Timing Conflicts (pg 39-40), specifically the last sentence in step C of resolving timing conflicts: active player chooses order (in this case, if I could proclaim Motoi, then I'd choose to resolve Sincerity first, then Proclaim for the Honor interrupt, whereas with Ejio, I Proclaim first with the Honor interrupt, then resolve Sincerity)
  A: No. The order of the gain versus the Sincerity doesn't matter. You don't/can't Interrupt then, only before the Recruit's effects resolve, which is well before either. So, in answer to your initial question, the Honor card is definitely in your discard by then and can be picked up, and the rest is irrelevant. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 9 Feb 2024
• Q: So if I have a Shugenja with Stepping Behind the Tapestry as my only unit in the battle, I can drop Mountains of the Phoenix and not have to destroy anything on my side?
  A: Yep! C-c-c-combo! 🙂 Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 15 Dec 2023