Ninja Shapeshifter

Legend of the Five Rings card from Promotional–Jade, Scorpion Clan Coup 2

Card Type

Personality

Force

0

Chi

2

Honor Requirement

-

Gold Cost

8

Personal Honor

0

Clan

Ninja

Keywords

Unique, Inexperienced, Ninja

Card Text

Ninja Repeatable Limited, w: Ninja Shapeshifter challenges another player's target Personality. If Ninja Shapeshifter wins the duel, it may copy the target's Force, the target's Chi, or one of the target's abilites that does not itself copy abilities, until the next time this game it performs this action. If it loses the duel, destroy it.

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Ninja Shapeshifter 2F/2C -HR 10G 1PH Unaligned Ninja. The Ninja Shapeshifter will only attach Ninja Followers. Open: Once per turn, the Ninja Shapeshifter can copy the Force, the Chi, the Personal Honor, or one ability of any one Personality in play, until the end of the turn. All tokens created by a copied ability are destroyed at the end of the turn." [MRP, Pearl Edition] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 117
• The Shapeshifter does not count as using an innate ability when he uses an ability copied from a shugenja. An "innate ability" is, by rulebook definition, something only a shugenja can possess, and the Shapeshifter is not a shugenja. When he copies an ability which refers to the copied card by its own name, consider the text to refer to the Shapeshifter instead. [RD, l5rinfo, 4/30/96, and rulebook] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 44
• Can repeatedly copy an ability which is usable only once per game, because at the end of the turn he forgets that he's used it. [RD, l5rinfo, 7/8/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 44
• Clarified: only tokens created by a copied ability go away at the end of the turn, not all effects of the ability. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 18
• Erratum: Errata/Changed: can NOT copy traits. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 18
• Q: If I use my Ninja Shapeshifter's copy-ability to copy the Unique ability, are all my opponents’ Shapeshifters destroyed? A: Check out the definitions on p. 31. "Unique" is not an ability, it is a trait, and the Shapeshifter cannot copy traits. Only Limited, Open, Battle, and Reaction actions are "abilities". Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 23
• Q: I have a Ninja Shapeshifter, initially 2F/2C with a +2/+2 weapon token, and I want him to copy an Ogre Bushi's Force of 6. That means the Ninja becomes a total 8F/4C creature, right? Six Force from the Ogre, plus two from the weapon? A: Actually, no. Check out p. 32 again: "If a card copies a value from another card, the current value of the card being copied replaces the current value of the copying card." The important phrase is "current value", which is the base value plus al/ modifiers. The current value of your Ninja's Force before the shapechange is 4: a base of 2 plus 2 for the weapon. After the change it's 6, since that's what the Ogre's current Force is. Since this 6 is now the Ninja's current Force, we don't add anything to it -- "current value" already includes all bonuses and penalties. If your NSS has any kind of a weapon, you'll almost always end up in a situation where The Whole Is Not Equal to The Sum of the Parts if you copy someone else's Force or Chi. In our example above, the +2F from his own sword apparently disappears. The sword doesn't change from a +2/+2 weapon into something else, nor does the NSS's base Force of 2 change. What does happen when you copy a stat is that you stop using basic math to figure his total and just use the copied value on faith (plus or minus any further changes that happen after the shapeshift, of course). That's ninja trickery for you. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 23

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have read something strange in the accumulated rulings in the Experienced chapter: "An Experienced card can be overlaid on a less Experienced card even if the title of the less Experienced card does not match the trait on the Experienced card, as long as there is a chain along the experience levels. E.g., the Experienced 7 Shosuro can be overlaid on either Shosuro (whose trait reads, "Experienced Ninja Shapeshifter") or the Ninja Shapeshifter. [ZF, 10 April 2003]"
  Please explain beccause Shosuro require me to overlay her on a scorpion personality and there are not.
  A: Well, it starts with the misconception that Shosuro requires you to overlay her on a Scorpion Clan personality. Shosuro says, "May overlay any Scorpion Clan Personality you control."
  Note the word, "May." You can bring Shosuro into play by any other method as normally permitted by other card effects or the rulebook. You can pay Shosuro's Gold Cost and buy her out of the Province just like any other Personality. You can also overlay Shosuro on a less-experienced version of her character, just like any other Experienced Personality. It just so happens that Shosuro has a funny experienced-versions chain that goes: Ninja Shapeshifter - Nonexperienced, Shosuro - Experienced Ninja Shapeshifter, Shosuro - Experienced 7 - Scorpion Clan Thunder. Martin Lund, "Rules for 6 January 2005", 10 Jan 2005
• Q: OK this came up in a game a few nights ago. If Ninja Shapeshifter copies Hida Wukau (Experienced) Ability and uses it on say Hida Kuon does it last until The ninja shapeshifter uses it again or does it fall into the "May remained Bowed" Catagory on PG68?
  A: It falls into the latter category. It ends when the ability disappears. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 1 March 2004", 2 Mar 2004
• Q: 4) Sorry if I missed the initial discussion, but why does Shosuro Technique target the opponent when copying force, but not when copying Chi? I compare this to the ability of Hoshi Eisai experienced, which I have always ruled must target. Furthermore, the rules archive states:
  A card is targeted when some aspect of it is targeted (e.g., when copying a stat on another card). [Extension of Ninja Shapeshifter ruling, JA, 7 October 2002]
  I don't understand then why Shosuro Technique would ever not target the person whose Force or Chi is being copied.
  A: Because of the general method used to determine what ANY targeted action targets: anything that is affected or that must be chosen. I'm trying to apply the rule consistently. Copying the Force as a Battle action requires selecting one Personality out of several. Copying the Chi of the one opponent in a duel does not.
  You are also reading the NSS ruling wrong. It is not about targeting something else, but about BEING targeted. The ruling is that if something like a card's stat, trait, or action is targeted, then so is the whole card. But under the paragraph above, there is no Chi targeting. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 May 2003", 23 May 2003
• Q: Here are a few followup questions to what is already been answered:
  1) The Ninja Shapeshifter (who has copied nothing) and the Naga Warlord are in a duel. Both have a Chi of 2. The NSS challenged with an action card. The Warlord strikes. The Warlord plays Poison Weapon; the NSS is dead. Can the NSS player play Poison Weapon in retaliation (the Warlord, due to Reaction order, had first opportunity to play PW)? Or is the duel over before he can send the Warlord to an equally ignominious fate?
  As soon as either participant dies, the duel ends without resolution. The NSS player cannot respond with his own Poisoned Weapon.
  What about if both personalities have focused? If both of them have over 4 chi with focuses added, can both players play Poisoned Weapon?
  A: Anyone whose Chi + focuses totals 4 or more will not die instantly from one Poisoned Weapon, giving that player a chance to play a Poisoned Weapon of his own. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 March 2002", 6 Mar 2002
• Q: 1) The Ninja Shapeshifter (who has copied nothing) and the Naga Warlord are in a duel. Both have a Chi of 2. The NSS challenged with an action card. The Warlord strikes. The Warlord plays Poison Weapon; the NSS is dead. Can the NSS player play Poison Weapon in retaliation (the Warlord, due to Reaction order, had first opportunity to play PW)? Or is the duel over before he can send the Warlord to an equally ignominious fate?
  A: As soon as either participant dies, the duel ends without resolution. The NSS player cannot respond with his own Poisoned Weapon. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 March 2002", 5 Mar 2002
• Q: To All,
  I had a few questions on different subjects. First of all with regards to In Search of the Future -
  1. How does In Search interact with cards like Shosuro Technique and Ninja Shapeshifter since they are "raising force"? Does "raising" and "copying" force equate "force bonus?"
  A: Raising a stat, or copying a value that's higher, both count as bonuses. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 15-16 April 2001", 19 Apr 2001
• Q: Can Shosuro (Experienced 7 Thunder) overlay the Ninja Shapeshifter or Shosuro (Experienced Ninja Shapeshifter)?
  A: Archive, General, Experienced - even lists that example. Yes. Zen Faulkes, "overlaing thunders and actions", 21 Feb 2005
• Q: Ohhh… so in the case above Ninja Shapeshifter can keep copying the abilities take control of multiple personalities(in the case of shadow dragon and sachina) and breed multiple false ninja nimuro’s in the case with Nimuro
  A: Lol, c c c combo! The trick is losing the F&L duel; better hope they table a guy with 5 or more Chi. 😛 Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 27 Oct 2025