A Perfect Cut

Legend of the Five Rings card from Promotional–Gold

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

While this card is focused for a Personality in a duel, its Focus Value equals the value of the other Personality's duel stat before he entered the duel.

Focus Value

0

Legality

Four Winds (Gold)

Deck

Fate

Notes

Some of the Promotional versions of this card were printed with alternate flavor text

Printings

Rulings

• A Perfect Cut Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, May 21, 2003, p. 14

Rules Q&A

• Q: Given that "A Perfect Cut" has no "action for effect", but instead has a focus value which changes, I would think OLOA would have no effect on it (since OLOA says you can still use the targeted card for its focus value, but does not say "printed" focus value.)
  A: Interesting, but I disagree. One Life, One Action cares about Action cards, not actions (see yesterday's post). A Perfect Cut is an Action card. (So far, so good!)
  One Life, One Action allows a card to be used for its focus value. The printed focus value of A Perfect Cut is 0.
  When you use A Perfect Cut in a duel, its focus value *stops* being 0. Some kind of effect is at work here. What is the source of that effect? The card text of A Perfect Cut itself.
  Because A Perfect Cut is an Action card with an effect -- albeit an effect that only applies to itself -- One Life, One Action can you from using A Perfect Cut for effect (i.e., a non-zero focus value).
  Reminder: this is all based on a tentative ruling. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2 January 2003", 2 Jan 2003
• Q: This is straight from the accumulated rulings :
  In Time of War Reads, "In Time of War For the rest of the game, no player's Family Honor may rise over 5 points from what it was when the turn began." [MRP, A Perfect Cut, 4 September 2001] Does not limit changes in honor total for increases that are not considered Honor gains (e.g., Experienced 2 Bayushi Yojiro). [Reversal, JA, 16 December 2001]
  So, if I read it correctly, if I'm at -18, and In Time of War has resolved and I have Yojiro exp2 in play, I can go back to 2 Honor (assuming I'm playing with Yogo Towers or Shadow Stronghold of Bayushi). Am I right ?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 September 2002", 6 Sep 2002
• Q: Do any cards which are played as Focusses target? (Karmic Strike, A Perfect Cut.)
  A: No. Focusing is neither targeted nor an action. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 August 2002", 23 Aug 2002
• Q: Hello all .. I checked the accumulated rulings .. and did not find either of these cards listed.
  Action Title Defensive Duty
  Rarity/Edition C2 A Perfect Cut
  And
  Plain of Fast Troubles
  My question is if you use defensive duty to go get a peep. plop them into the plain of fast troubles .. then bring them into play are they still discarded at the end of the battle ?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 23 July 2002", 24 Jul 2002
• Q: First, the text...
  Type Spell Title Endless Deluge Rarity/Edition R A Perfect Cut Text Limited Elemental Ritual: Target a Stronghold. Bow this and any number of your other Shugenja with a total combined Chi greater than this Stronghold's Province Strength, and destroy this spell to prevent the Stronghold from using any of its actions until the start of your next turn. (Sensei abilities are considered to be printed on the Stronghold.) Gold 6 Focus 3 Artist Mark Evans
  Now, my question is... If a player plays this card against a Shadowlands player and then causes them an honor loss, do they lose the game because of dishonor? (I tend to think no, however my playgroup disagrees)
  A: The inability for his honor to change is not an action. It is not removed. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 May 2002", 17 May 2002
• Q: Just to clarify for other people that don't understand. This is done as long as there are more than two people involved. So technically you cannot play "honor tennis."
  The Wind's Truth Reads, "The Wind's Truth 0G 4FV Kiho Elemental Political Reaction: When any player gains or loses Honor, bow one of your Monks or Shugenja with Chi greater than or equal to the gain or loss to redirect the gain or loss to a different player." [MRP, A Perfect Cut, 4 September 2001] The source and amount of the gain or loss remain unchanged. [7/12/99] The Ring of Air can redirect it, but only to another "different player," so you can't send the gain/loss right back to the player it was just taken from. In a two-player game, the Ring cannot be used on it. [Netnews, 9/2/99]
  Targets the honor gain / loss and the new recipient. [JA, 26 April 2002]
  A: You're getting two rulings confused.
  You can, in fact, use a second Wind's Truth to redirect a gain directly back to the player that the first Wind's Truth took it from. The Ring of Air ruling doesn't apply when you're trying to redirect the gain a second time, but rather when you're trying to change who the FIRST Wind's Truth redirects it to. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: Ok Jeff, explain this to me in VERY simple language (I'm a very simple guy, after all) hypo situation:
  My opponent, George, has a personality with a total of 6 chi and the Shinsei's Staff attached, challenges one of my attacking personalities with a chi of 3 to an Iaijutsu Duel. I have 2 A Perfect Cut in my hand, using them both, and he focuses two 4's. What is the result of the duel? a) His pers. wins because my APC's become 3's as they are revealed. b) The APC's are unaffected and my personality kicks his 15 to 14.
  So, in other words, does the Shinsei's staff JUST look at the little number at the bottom of the card or does it consider the card's effects as well?
  A: Shinsei's Staff and A Perfect Cut both try to change A Perfect Cut's focus value at the same time: when it's focused. You have to fall back to Cardinal Rule #3. The active player decided which happens first. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 April 2002", 5 Apr 2002
• Q: 3) Another dueling question. How does Judgment of Toshiken interact with cards like Burning Your Essence or A Perfect Cut? Do they count as a 0 focus, or do they maintain their text-modified focus values?
  A: Cards which say their "printed" or "base" Focus value changes will use that new value. If neither of these terms is used, then the card is changing its current Focus value but not its printed value. Neither Burning Your Essence nor A Perfect Cut change their own "printed" Focus value, so they both add just the number in the yellow circle, which is 0 in both cases. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 March 2002", 26 Mar 2002
• Q: Hi. I really need help with this, because I am getting seriously confused here.
  I left L5R right after Honor Bound, for reasons of economic nature. :)
  Now I'm trying to get back in, and so have been trying to find out what is out there to buy. Seeing as most people is playing gold legal now, I decided to catchup on the gold collections. This means Gold Edition, A Perfect Cut, An Onis Fury when it comes out, the HOR set I cannot buy because I am not in the assembly, and that's it. But I call an online store and buy 6 different Gold Ed+clan decks and they tell me that there are only 3. Then I go to alderac page and download the gold checklist, only to find out 16! strongholds in GE, two in+SW (is this spirit wars? where do I get this, it seems noone carries it anymore) and one in HOR. APC doesn't have the card types, but I believe it has 3 clans, crab crane and scorpion.
  This is a mess... can anyone please help me? :)
  A: Gold Edition has eight Clan Deck faction boxes, each of which has two different Strongholds included. That's where the figure of 16 comes from. These 16 include two of the three Strongholds from Spirit Wars, so you don't need to look for SW (at least for Strongholds). Heroes of Rokugan has one, which will be reprinted someday. A Perfect Cut has three brand new ones in deck boxes (Crane, Crab, and Scorpion) plus a fouth dual-aligned Crab/Crane one packed only as a random rare card. That gives a current grand total of 21. An Oni's Fury will have three more brand new ones for Dragon, Unicorn, and Shadowlands. Jeff Alexander, "post for 26 November 2001", 27 Nov 2001
• Q: I'm fairly new to the list (but no the game) so if this question has been asked and answered, sorry, but I kind of need this info for a Tournament on the 20th. My question is : When are the following promo's legal for tournament play? 1) The four Ronin 2) APC Box Toppers 3) Akasha 4) A Perfect Cut #16 5) Dark Oracle of Earth Exp.
  A: Akasha and the Hunting Tiger become legal when APC does, which is October 4th (hey, that's TODAY!). None of the others have been formally released yet, so it's hard to say. Any released before An Oni's Fury will become legal when it does. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 October 2001", 4 Oct 2001
• Q: I have a question regarding a card from A Perfect Cut, "Stand as Stone"-
  Stand as Stone 1F 3G Limited: Give a tattooed personality either +2F,+2C,or +2PH permanently.
  I don't suppose one could target a face-up personality in a province with this card, could one?
  A: All effects are limited to targeting cards in play unless a card or rule says otherwise. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 20 September 2001", 21 Sep 2001
• Q: Do the force and Chi of Ancestors have any meaning?
  I suspect that something is missing from the "A Perfect Cut" rulebook.
  A: They add the same way Followers' stats do. You're right, this is missing. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 10 September 2001", 12 Sep 2001
• Q: I guess this is kind of a question for the design team.... I was looking at the card Fire and Air from APC and noticed that the first action says to bow the shugenja and the second action does not, it just say "once per turn". At first I though this meant that the shugenja can use it to move into an adjacent battle and still be able to range attack (or fling a Kiho, or whatever...). But then I remember a longstading rule from the Rulebook. "A Shugenja must bow to use a Spell unless the Spell CLEARLY INDICATES OTHERWISE." (A Perfect Cut Rulebook, p.62.) That means you have to bow to use the second ablility on Fire and Air even though it doesn't say so because it doesn't specifically say not to. Is this right?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 7 September", 11 Sep 2001