Asako Karachu

Legend of the Five Rings card from Forgotten Legacy

Card Type

Personality

Force

4

Chi

3

Honor Requirement

2

Gold Cost

7

Personal Honor

2

Clan

Phoenix

Keywords

Air, Golden Arm, Henshin, Monk, Phoenix Clan

Card Text

After Karachu bows: Straighten him.

Legality

Destroyer War (Celestial)

Banned

Banned from constructed Emperor Edition tournaments, effective September 21st, 2013

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: This came up in a game the other night, and my poor comrade almost went into a fit of shocked anger over it so we wanted to be sure.
  He performed the Limited action on Aramasu's Legacy. I defended with no one, so he won the battle. My sole personality was Asako Karachu. He then tried to bow Karachu and negate his straightening, but myself and others argued that it wouldn't work because immediately after Karachu bowed he straightened and therefore the negation didn't work much like a single copy of Caught Unawares wouldn't keep him bowed.
  His counter argument was that its a different case then Caught Unawares, because the bow and negation is all one effect, not separate effects. Because CA has a period between the "Bow them" and "Negate their straightening" while AL does not ("you may target a Personality or Holding, bow it, and negate its straightening until after your next Straighten Phase ends.") that it worked differently.
  A resolution would be much appreciated.
  Asako Karachu After Karachu bows: Straighten him.
  Aramasu's Legacy Limited: Create an additional Attack Phase, during which battle resolution does not destroy defending armies or provinces and does not bow your Mantis Clan Magistrates or your attachments. After it ends, if you won any of its battles (even against no units at resolution), you may target a Personality or Holding, bow it, and negate its straightening until after your next Straighten Phase ends.
  A: According to Definition of effects, bowing a card and negating its straightening are two separate effects: An effect is anything, other than a cost, that creates a card or other thing in the game, changes the characteristics or state of a card, stat or other thing in the game, adds restrictions or permissions to the game’s procedures, or creates a new instance of a game procedure. Each individual change or creation of a card, a player, a game entity (such as Provinces), a game procedure is a separate effect.
  Bowing a card is a change to its physically marked state. Negating its straightening is a modification to changes to its physically marked state.
  The use of a comma or a full stop (or nothing) does not determine whether one or two effects are created. Alex Jones, "Asako Karachu and Aramasu's Legacy", 20 Dec 2012
• Q: Scenario: I am attacking my opponent with an army consisting of solely Karachu with no attachments, and have no unbowed holdings in play.
  My opponent drops Barren Fields into play, and then we both consecutively pass to end the Battle Action Segment. What happens then?
  a.) I target and bow Karachu as per the text of the terrain, and then he immediately straightens and stays that way through resolution.
  OR
  b.) I target and bow Karachu as per the text of the terrain, and he immediately straightens. Since I now have more unbowed cards in my army than unbowed holdings, I have to target and bow a card...etc, etc.
  Cards referenced: Barren Fields - http://www.imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=709 Asako Karachu - http://www.imperialassembly.com/oracle/#cardid=551
  A: In this particular case, Barren Fields' provision of its effect ending when the only cards remaining are those that "cannot bow" should be more loosely interpreted.
  So, the effect would end with Karachu straight, since he "cannot [stay] bow[ed]". Brook Cunningham, "Barren Fields vs. Asako Karachu", 31 Aug 2012
• Q: Asako Karachu Personality Force: 4 Chi: 3 HR: 2 GC: 7 PH: 2
  Phoenix Clan • Air • Monk • Golden Arm • Henshin After Karachu bows: Straighten him.
  Caught Unawares Strategy Gold Cost: 0
  Open: If you control no Personalities, target one or two Personalities: Bow them. Negate their straightening (this turn). If it is not your turn, draw a card.
  The question is this... If Karachu is bowed as an open action does he remain bowed or is the straighten trait applied between effects?
  EG: Effect 1: bow a guy. Effect 2: Negate straightening. Does the straightening trait happen between these 2 effects?
  A: Yes, Karachu straightens immediately after he bows, and before the "negate his straightening" effect is applied.
  It does stay in effect for the rest of the turn, so if a separate effect then bows him again, he will not straighten. Jon Palmer, "Asako Karachu vs Caught Unawares", 27 Aug 2012
• Q: So I use Rin's ability, target Asako Karachu, and his controller chooses not to dishonor him. Does Karachu straighten before Rin's negation effect kicks in, or will he stay bowed?
  A: To quote my colleague: Karachu straightens immediately after the "bow him" effect. The negation of his straightening then applies after he has straightened. Alex Jones, "Asako Karachu vs.....", 8 Jun 2012
• Q: Hi,
  Refering to : viewtopic.php?f=59&t=96411
  Can you confirm that Asako Karachu unbows after being bowed by The Gozoku Sensei ability ? And later if he bows once more, the gozoku Sensei ability will prevent him from straightening ?
  Card Text : Asako Karachu : After Karachu bows: Straighten him.
  Gosoku Sensei : All Factions Sensei You may not play this card if you have a Wind. Political Open: Discard the Favor to bow a Personality. He may not straighten until after you discard the Favor again or his controller pays 6 Gold as an Open action.
  Thanks in advance, Regards, Rémi.
  A: Can you confirm that Asako Karachu unbows after being bowed by The Gozoku Sensei ability? And later if he bows once more, the gozoku Sensei ability will prevent him from straightening? He will be bowed by the first effect of the action taken using Gozoku Sensei's Open ability, and immediately straighten. The second effect will then prevent him straightening. Alex Jones, "Bow and Preventing from Straightening", 27 Feb 2012
• Q: Greetings!
  Player A has Asako Karachu in a battle. Player B uses a card effect to bow karachu and uses the reaction of Togashi Hizumi to prevent Karachu from straightening. Since traits come first before actions, does karachu still straiten from player B's bowing action, and will later be prevented from straightening the next time he bows?
  Asako Karachu After Karachu bows: Straighten him.
  Togashi Hizumi Reaction: After the resolution of an action that bowed a Personality at Hizume's battlefield, target the Personality: Negate his straightening (this turn). Battle: Give the current battlefield's province +4 or -4 strength.
  Thanks!
  A: Here's the sequence:
  1. Player B begins resolving his action's effects. One of them is to bow Karachu. 1b. Immediately after Karachu bows, his trait straightens him. 2. Player B's action finishes resolving. 2b. Player B may now react with Hizumi to the resolution, since the action DID bow Karachu, targeting him and negating any of his future straightening until the turn ends. Brook Cunningham, "Asako Karachu vs. Togashi Hizumi", 10 Jan 2012
• Q: So saw this.
  And it seems like this is somewhat of a new class of infinite loop from those described in the floor rules. In that no player is actively doing anything to keep the loop going. This is three(or four) cards interacting continuously with each other which prevent the advancement of the game state.
  There is however, a second question that needs to be addressed. Does the resolution of this infinite loop change if there are additional unbowed personalities on the side with the 2-3 Karachus? Should the game state of those other units be changed? The resolution is infinite without Turn the Tide affecting those other personalities, but the game result could be drastically different.
  A: Turn the Tide says: "The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so."
  "Do so" here refers to the procedure of targeting and bowing a different unbowed Personality in your army. I think that is key to understanding that there is no infinite loop, contrary to what my colleague has supposed.
  So with 3 Karachus, you target and bow one, who straightens. You cannot target and bow that one again. You go on to the next copy, and the next. Now you can "no longer do so". So the procedure ends.
  With 1 Karachu and 2 normal Personalities, assuming the opposing army has 1 unbowed Personality, targeting the Karachu would not do anything to fulfill the stopping requirement, so you have to go on and target and bow the 2 normal Personalities whether or not you target him. Of course if one of them has an anti-bowing effect, you run out of Personalities to target, even though the other requirement is not met. Roger Giner-Sorolla, "Turn the Tide and Asako Karachu", 28 Dec 2011
• Q: Greetings!
  My lone unbowed samurai is defending against 3 Asako Karachu and i play Turn the tide. What happens?
  a.) Game is draw since there is an infinite loop that will never end. b.) None of the Asako Karachu gets bowed (Broken!) c.) insert explanation here?
  Thank you.
  A: In a casual game, it would be up to you and your opponent to resolve the issue. Logically, Turn the Tide can never successfully bow Karachu, so a good choice for resolution of the problem would be "b".
  For how to resolve it in a tournament setting, see here: Infinite Loops. Brook Cunningham, "Turn the Tide and Asako Karachu", 10 Dec 2011