Power of Strength

Legend of the Five Rings card from Embers of War

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality with 7 or higher base Force and target two enemy Personalities, each with unit Gold Cost lower than your performer's Gold Cost: Bow one of them. Ranged Attack with strength equal to the first target's Force, which may only target the other Personality (if legal).

Focus Value

1

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor)

Deck

Fate

Notes

Clarification: The targets are chosen simultaneously during the choose targets step of taking an action; the "first target" in the final sentence refers to the target that was bowed, which only becomes known at the time the bowing effect is resolved.

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Power of Strength: Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality with 7 or higher base Force and target two enemy Personalities, each with unit Gold Cost lower than your performer's Gold Cost: Bow one of them. Ranged Attack with strength equal to the first target's Force, which may only target the other Personality (if legal).
  Goju Sawaki: Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets Sawaki, destroy him: Create two 1F/1C/0PH Spider Clan • Shadowlands • Ninja Personalities at the current battlefield.
  I target Sawaki and a 7G unit with an 11G unit performing Power of Strength. Sawaki splits at the targeting, but before I choose which target bows or gets hit by the ranged attack. What happens?
  A) Sawaki split personalities are not targets of the action and I only get a bowed personality. B) Sawaki split personalities are considered Sawaki for the purposes of the target (the personalities have 0G are still valid per the card's targeting restrictions). C) I don't know because L5R is hard.
  A: A - you targeted Sawaki, not the Personalities created by his ability. Alex Jones, "Power of Strength and Goju Sawaki", 27 Oct 2013
• Q: Extension of Power of Strength vs. Followers
  I am confused by this ruling specifically since the targeting has already occurred when I targeted with Power of Strength. So in the second stage "targeting" when I re-target the personality I have already targeted, he becomes an illegal target and invalidates the Range Attack.
  So When using Power of Strength the proper procedure would be to:
  1. Announce the Use of Power of Strength 2. Target two Personalities. 3. Simultaneously bow one target and announce a ranged attack. 4. Target and Resolve Range Attack (which there is only one target available according to the card).
  With the current restrictions to use the card in the first place (Base 7 Force, higher gold cost than the targeted unit's gold cost, two targets) the use of this card is greatly diminished in the environment filled with free followers and essentially becomes a "bow one personality" strategy card when facing an army with free followers attached to all personalities (i.e. KH xp, Nakanu Technique, Ashigaru Recruits), not withstanding the plethora of expensive attachments that are popular which make Power of Strength unable to target in the first place (i.e. Kensai, Battle Shugenja, Commander) due to having higher unit gold cost than my base personality.
  I hope this was not the intent of the card when printed.
  A: That is essentially how the card works - the bowing and the ranged attack are not simultaneous, but otherwise you are correct.
  Your hope is unwarranted. Alex Jones, "Re: Power of Strength vs. Followers", 7 Jun 2012
• Q: So my opponent attacks with Hotako and I defend with 2 Yurishi. He plays power of strength targeting both the Yurishi. I react with both the Yurishi and move them both home. If he plays Inexorable can he still target the second Yurishi with the ranged attack?
  We figured that if both reacted and moved home the power of the strength would be able to bow one of the Yurishi but because it targets both personalities in the constraints block when it gets to the effects and you have to declare the optional target of the ranged attack the personality isn't a legal target so you wouldn't be able to declare the ranged attack.
  A: Your assertion is correct. You cannot target the Ranged Attack in the above scenario, as the Yurishi, being at home, is not a legal target at the time of targeting. Jon Palmer, "Goju Yurishi vs Power of Strength and Inexorable", 1 Jun 2012
• Q: Hi there. Apologies if this has been covered. I can't seem to find the thread.
  Power of Strength: Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality with 7 or higher base Force and target two enemy Personalities, each with unit Gold Cost lower than your performer's Gold Cost: Bow one of them. Ranged Attack with strength equal to the first target's Force, which may only target the other Personality (if legal).
  versus
  Ryoshun's Guidance: Reaction: When another players action would target one of your cards, discard this card: Choose another of your non-Stronghold cards at the same location. The action targets it instead, if legal.
  Chugo Seido: Reaction: When another player's action would target one of your Personalities, destroy this card: Choose one of your Samurai at the same location. The action targets him instead, if legal.
  Based on the rules of playing an action and targetting, here is the scenario:
  1. I announce Power of Strength in battle 2. I choose my performing unbowed personality 3. I choose two enemy target personalities 4. My opponent announces a reaction (Chugo or Ryoshun) to redirect one of the targets. 5. The redirection resolves and I confirm the two targets as final 6. When resolving Power of Strength, I get to choose which of the two targets is bowed (not my opponent). Is this correct?
  Thank you very much for your attention.
  A: You are correct, as the choice of which to bow happens after both have been targeted and re-targeted. Jon Palmer, "Power of Strength versus Ryoshun's Guidance/Chugo Seido", 26 May 2012
• Q: Power of Strength: Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personality with 7 or higher base Force and target two enemy Personalities, each with unit Gold Cost lower than your performer's Gold Cost: Bow one of them. Ranged Attack with strength equal to the first target's Force, which may only target the other Personality (if legal).
  "subtle" doubts on the phrasing:
  - can you make an RA against the target that you bowed? (in other words, does "the other Personality" refer to the personality which was not chosen as the first PoS target, or to the personality not affected by the "Bow one of them" part?)
  - since the order of targeting does not seem to affect which is "the one" and which is "the other", can you use whatever is the higher enemy Personalities' force for the RA strength? Example: PoS against a 3F dude + a 5F dude. Choose 5F dude as first target. Bow 3F dude ("one of them"). RA 5 against 5F dude ("the other").
  A: The phrase "the first target" refers to the target chosen for the first effect.
  The targeting is simultaneous, as described here, so the choice of which of the two targets is the "first target" (and thus, which is the "other target") is not made until the Resolution Step of the action: Two or more targets are chosen simultaneously if they are grouped together by a number (such as, “target two Holdings.”)
  You must choose one Personality out of the two targets to bow, and the other to make a Ranged Attack against, with strength equal to the force of the Personality you chose to bow. Alex Jones, "Power of Strength targets", 24 May 2012