Avoid Fate

Legend of the Five Rings card from Diamond Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: Before the triggered trait of an Event in a Province resolves, the trait does not resolve. Before the next phase begins, the Event's player shuffles it into his deck and refills the Province.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Avoid Fate 0G 3FV Reaction: Play before an Event resolves. The Event does not resolve. When the Events Phase ends, the Event's player shuffles it into his deck and refills the Province." [MRP, Diamond Edition, 27 October 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 7
• Cannot be played in reaction to the second or later appearance of an Event that has already resolved [DW, 9/3/96], unless the Event can resolve more than once due to a card effect (e.g., Moon and Sun). [VRD, 26 January 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 7
• Under the optional "each Event only happens once" rule, Avoid Fate cannot be played in reaction to the second or later appearance of an Event which has already resolved. [DW, l5rinfo, 9/3/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 16
• Clarified: is played before the Event resolves, not in response to it resolving. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 2
• Erratum: Changed: Province is refilled at the end of the Events Phase, not immediately. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 2
• Focus on... Yokuni Sensei: You cannot voluntarily discard a delayed Event, though you can force it out with another card effect, such as Bayushi Aramoro's. Yokuni Sensei delays all Events that "discard" or "destroy" themselves the turn they resolve, including Inheritance. The Sensei does not affect Events that do something more unusual, like physically "stay in play" (not just stay in effect) for multiple turns, or that get reshuffled into the Dynasty deck. Yokuni Sensei only delays Events that resolve. Avoid Fate prevents an Event from resolving. So does the optional rule that each Event can only happen once, when the Event appears a second or later time. The Imperial Herald, Issue 12, p. 33

Rules Q&A

• Q: When an Event is reshuffled into the Dynasty deck due to Avoid Fate, which happens first: the refilling of the Province or the reshuffling of the Event?
  A: Shuffling (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 16 July 2004", 17 Jul 2004
• Q: A couple of odd questions. 1. Can Agasha Hamanari react to an Avoid Fate being played? (This on my own turn & on my event)
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 March 2003", 1 Apr 2003
• Q: If an event is about to resolve, and you have 2 copies of Avoid Fate in your hand, can you play them both (say, so you can empty your hand...)?
  "Avoid Fate 0G 3FV Reaction: Play this card before an Event resolves. The Event does not resolve. When the Events Phase ends, the Event's player shuffles it into his or her deck and refills the Province."
  A: No. GE rulebook, page 48 (emphasis added):
  ] You may react as many times as you like to any trigger, but remember ] that you can't take your second Reaction until everyone else has had ] a chance to take one, AND THAT SOMETIMES A REACTION CHANGES THE ] TRIGGER IN SUCH A WAY THAT FURTHER REACTIONS AREN'T LEGAL.
  The first Avoid Fate is played before an Event resolves and stops it from resolving. This prevents any further Reactions to an Event resolving from being taken, as there is no longer a trigger for them. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 February 2003", 26 Feb 2003
• Q: ---- The Celestial Pattern: The next event card is negated and is discarded without effect. The negated event is still considered to have occurred. ----
  Avoid Fate is played "before an Event begins to resolve." Does Celestial Pattern trump Avoid Fate?
  A: Yes. Celestial Pattern stops Avoid Fate's trigger from occuring. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 Oct 2002", 11 Oct 2002
• Q: ---- Unavoidable Destiny: Until the beginning of your turn two turns from now, Events may not be cancelled, nor their effects negated, by cards or Strongholds. ----
  Avoid Fate does not use the word "cancel", despite the fact that it essentially behaves as a cancellation effect. Is Avoid Fate playable while Unavoidable Destiny is in effect?
  A: Technically, it's still playable, but it will do nothing. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 Oct 2002", 11 Oct 2002
• Q: Also, does Avoid Fate target?
  A: Yes. [DA rulebook p. 45] It targets the Event.
  I do not want a Stinky Sanzo, so I won't answer your first question. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 May 2002", 8 May 2002
• Q: Just to confirm: If my opponent plays a Master of Destiny when my Welcome Home resolves, so the honor will be gain by him, right? So, if he is a Spirit player, the Welcome Home simply won't resolve? It's something like an Avoid Fate when played by a Spirit player?
  A: Master of Destiny does not make an Event resolve for you immediately. It steals the Event from your opponent before it resolves and puts it in your Province. Then, on YOUR first following Events Phase, it resolves using all the normal rules...which means that, as a Spirit player, you won't get anything. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 8 September", 11 Sep 2001
• Q: Not worried about the personalities, but I am curious-there's no problem using older versions (non-Gold bugged) of actions like Avoid Fate, right?
  A: No problem whatsoever. Just, as always, make sure you know if any text has changed. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 28-30 June", 5 Jul 2001
• Q: In Gold, does Avoid Fate when it says 'the province is refilled' ... does that mean face up?
  A: No. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 2001
• Q: I was looking in the accumulated rulings at http://www.planet.net.au/~zfaulkes/rulings.html and found the following ruling:
  Under the optional "each Event only happens once" rule, Avoid Fate cannot be played in reaction to the second or later appearance of an Event that has already resolved. [DW, 9/3/96]
  Does this mean that if I reshuffle an event, that has successfully resolved, into my deck because of Moon and Sun, my opponent cannot play avoid fate when it resolves the second time?
  A: No. That ruling has been outpaced by the flow of the game. When it was made, there was no real way to get an Event to resolve a second time (though I think that right after it was made, someone brought up Architects of the Wall as an exception). Essentially, you can only play Avoid Fate in response to the real, live resolution of an Event. An Event that fizzles due to something preventing it from resolving (including Norikazu Sensei and Troll Raiders) is not a legal trigger for Avoid Fate. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for January 26th", 27 Jan 2001
• Q: Hi again,
  I have a question regarding Event resolution.What happens if I flip an event, and pass upon the opportunity to react (for example with Avoid Fate) and my opponent then wants to react with Whispered Rumors. Can I still react with Avoid Fate, because opportunity to the original trigger passes back to me? What happens to the event? Is it negated by Whispered Rumors, or is it shuffled back by Avoid Fate? Or is this a case of active player decides?
  Thank you!
  A: Yes, since they both have the same timing, after your opponent reacts with Whispered Rumors, you can then choose to react with Avoid Fate.
  Since Avoid Fate prevents the Event from resolving at all, there are no effects for Whispered Rumors to then negate, and nothing prevents it from being shuffled back per Avoid Fate's other effect. Brook Cunningham, "Event resolution (legacy)", 29 Nov 2010
• Q: {obh} in the case: is my turn, my event phase, an event appears in a province
  What happens if i play avoid fate and my opponent wants to play a dharma technique to discard It? Who has the priority or how is It resolved?
  A: You as the active player have the first opportunity to React to a given trigger. Avoid and Dharma have the same trigger, so you play Avoid Fate, it resolves, shuffling the Event back into your deck, and now there is no more trigger for your opponent to React to with Dharma. The End. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 3 Jun 2026
• Q: I knew these were too good to be true. Thanks [Imperial] Can I use Avoid Fate on the 2nd showing of my Kachiko's Kiss?
  A: Yeah, same answer as saaam; I don't see why you'd think not? :/
  (Replying to a player: "Avoid Fate Under the optional "each Event only happens once" rule, Avoid Fate cannot be played in reaction to the second or later appearance of an Event which has already resolved. [DW, l5rinfo, 9/3/96]") @saaam That doesn't apply to Kachiko's Kiss. What it means is there's no legal trigger for Avoid Fate because the Event isn't going to Resolve a second time under that Rule, but Kiss does re-resolve, even under that Rule. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 17 Apr 2025
• Q: any event that gives players the option to destroy one of their own provinces, even a small amount of information is a big deal. if I flip an Evil Feeds Upon Itself, and it's hitting me, and I don't yet know what's in my right-most province, the original rules would have me making the decision to use my Avoid Fate before I see what that card is. These rules would allow me to see it first.
  Admittedly, it's probably an easy choice anyway, but having more information, if I know that card isn't Abandoning the Fortunes, I might be more inclined to just let it hit.
  A: Ok, yeah, I'm still not following? Are you saying that the "Ivory wording" of old Events somehow makes them work differently? Insofar as revealing info? Or are you just talking generally, Ivory cards/Rules versus old? Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 10 Feb 2024
• Q: Of course. I like avoid fate for sure, but rumors is so versatile
  A: Avoid Fate was in every base set from Imperial to Diamond. Whispered Rumours only appeared in Lotus. Alex Jones, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 10 Jun 2021
• Q: So whispered rumors vs avoid fate, etc. What's the downside minus the focus value? It just seems a whole lot more versatile when I'm reading it. Are events that stay in your home technically not resolving until used maybe?
  A: With Whispered Rumours, the Event gets discarded With Avoid Fate, it gets reshuffled. Ie, it could turn up again next turn Alex Jones, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 10 Jun 2021