Mysterious Deaths

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Stronger Than Steel

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

6

Keywords

Unique, Kolat

Card Text

Limited: Each player targets a unit he controls with the lowest total Gold Cost of all units he controls, if possible. Destroy all targets. Remove this card from the game. Lose 4 Honor.

Focus Value

1

Legality

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

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Subject: Mysterious Deaths VS Undetectable Enemy or Fields of Pyrrhic Victory
  Good Day,
  I would like to ask a follow-up question regarding the ruling for Mysterious Deaths and Undetectable Enemy.
  I showed the ruling to my playgroup and they contest that Mysterious Deaths can't be negated by Undetectable Enemy due to the wording on the target of Mysterious Deaths. The way they interpret it is that Mysterious Deaths targets the player and then in turn the player targets his own personality and thus the destruction can't be negated by Undetectable Enemy since you are the one that targeted your personality and not the other player.
  The question is, are they right on this scenario? or Will Undetectable Enemy still negate the Destruction?
  A: Regardless of which player chooses any particular target, the action is still targeting the card.
  When Mysterious Deaths is played, the action targets each player's Personality, but each player only targets his or her own Personality. Alex Jones, "Follow-Up Question: Mysterious Deaths VS Undetectable Enemy or Fields of Pyrrhic Victory", 6 Mar 2015
• Q: If a player controls two units tied for lowest gold cost, is it considered "possible" to target the "lowest"...?
  May I assume that, even with the MRP, players would have to target a unit even if there are two or more units tied for lowest total gold cost?
  A: Yes to the first question above (slight correction to your question, though; the card asks you to target "a" unit with the lowest, not "the" unit, so as you point out later, the English itself accounts for the possibility of ties), and therefore also yes to the second. The "if possible" portion is there in case your lowest Gold Cost unit has Kitsuki Kaagi's Journal attached (or a similar effect upon it). Brook Cunningham, "Mysterious Deaths and ties", 28 Jan 2012
• 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: a, b and c are about to be destroyed by the same effect. There are potentially Reactions to take before each is destroyed. what happens?
  possibility 1:
  A) reactions to the trigger "before a is destroyed" B) reactions to the trigger "before b is destroyed" C) reactions to the trigger "before c is destroyed" D) a, b, c are destroyed
  or possibilty 2:
  A) reactions to the trigger "before a is destroyed" B) a is destroyed C) reactions to the trigger "before b is destroyed" B) b is destroyed D) reactions to the trigger "before c is destroyed" B) c is destroyed
  A: "Possibility 1" is the proper way to resolve the scenario, insofar as A), B), and C) all occur before D). However (as also cited in your link), the active player may choose the order of A) B) and C). Brook Cunningham, "Mysterious Deaths + Personality + Fortified Cavalry", 22 Jun 2008
• Q: As the active player, I choose to kill my personality first...
  A: Sorry, that's not what happens.
  http://rules.l5r.com/Effects#Order_of_effects: "If multiple effects are caused by a single piece of text they occur simultaneously..."
  You're slightly misinterpreting this, from http://rules.l5r.com/Timing: "If the order of simultaneous triggers to an occurrence needs to be determined, the active player determines their order. Example: Two personalities destroyed simultaneously in battle resolution, A and B, each have a Reaction or trait that trigger before they are destroyed. The active player decides whether Reactions and traits triggered by A’s destruction happen before or after Reactions and traits triggered by B’s destruction." Brook Cunningham, "Assigning Blame and Mysterious Deaths interaction.", 17 Jun 2008
• Q: ...triggering assigning blame targeting my opponents six gold cost samurai.
  A: In your example, your opponent's Samurai died simultaneously with your 6 cost Personality; you would react "after" that with Assigning Blame, but the opponent's Samurai is no longer around for it to target.
  Now, as far as what you COULD do in this situation as the active player, imagine that the first instance of the word "before" in the italicized example is "after" and that your opponent ALSO wanted to play an Assigning Blame. You could decide that YOUR Personality's death is the one everyone is allowed to take turns Reacting to, BEFORE his. But that doesn't change the fact they both died at the same time. Brook Cunningham, "Assigning Blame and Mysterious Deaths interaction.", 17 Jun 2008
• Q: I have a couple card usage questions under Yodin Sensei.
  Yodin Sensei reads: You cannot target other players' personalities with card effects. The player or players with the most personalities in play cannot bring a personality into play if he or she has brought one into play this turn.
  My questions deal with the bold faced line. Do the effects of the following cards work against opposing players since they don't specificly state that you target, and are more or less global?
  Fields of Foolish Pride (action) 0 Delayed Terrain Battle: Even if you control no units at the current battlefield: Give each personality at the current battlefield -2F. Give each follower there -1F. Focus 1
  Mysterious Deaths (action) 6 gold cost Kolat Limited: Lose 4 honor. Destroy each players lowest Gold Cost Unit. If any player has more than one unit tied for lowest Gold Cost, he chooses which of his units is destroyed. Remove this card from the game. Focus 1
  -Matt
  [Mod edit: Thread title. -ZF]
  A: The two cards you reference could be played by a Yodin Sensei player and still affect opponents' cards.
  For cards printed in Dawn of the Empire or later, their effects only target if they explicitly say "target". Both of your examples were printed after Dawn and do not say "target"; therefore, they don't. Brook Cunningham, "Yodin Sensei questions", 16 Jun 2008
• Q: [OBH]
  If I play Mysterious Deaths and target my own face down ninja, can I react with ninjitsu so that they become an invalid target?
  If I do so, will my opponent still have to target one of their own personalities?
  A: Yes and yes. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 16 Jun 2026
• Q: [EEEX] Mysterious Deaths says: "Each player targets their lowest cost personality", and Muscle and Steel says: "After another player's action targets one of your personalities"
  Can you respond to the targeting of Mysterious Deaths with Muscle and Steel, provided that personality has a 7+ cost attachment to bow?
  A: Sure, but what are the odds that he will, if he's your lowest-cost unit? ;P Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 8 Feb 2026