Shinsei's Staff

Legend of the Five Rings card from Dark Allies

Card Type

Item

Force

+0

Chi

+1

Gold Cost

2*

Keywords

Weapon

Card Text

Attaches to a Monk paying 2 less Gold.
Reaction: Any number of times per turn, after this Personality enters a duel, bow this card: Until duel ends, the other Personality's controller's Focus Values have a maximum of 3.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Four Winds (Gold)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: 2. If I have in play
  Mirumoto Zenko
  with two weapons, one of wich is:
  Shinsei's Staff
  And my opponent plays a Focus 5 in a duel against him. How much does his Focus aport to his Chi? one?
  One.
  Jeff,
  I thought you had originally ruled that it was dependant upon whose turn it was as to which effect happens first since both take effect at the same time.
  A: I also generally rule that when multiple modifiers stack, any minimums or maximums only matter if all the modifiers share them. In other words, if one effect reduces a value by three and another, applied at the same time, reduces it by three to a minimum of 1, that the minimum of 1 just doesn't matter and the value always goes down by the full 6. I'll see what the Rules Team says, though. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 December 2002", 4 Dec 2002
• Q: 2. If I have in play
  Mirumoto Zenko Dragon Clan Samurai. Zenko may attach two Weapons. Reduce the Focus values of all cards Focused against Zenko in duels by the number of Weapons he has (to a minimum of 0).
  with two weapons, one of wich is:
  Shinsei's Staff Costs 2 less gold when attaching to a monk. Reaction: Bow Shinsei's staff after this personality enters a duel. For the rest of the duel, reduce your opponent's focus value to 3 if they are above three.
  And my opponent plays a Focus 5 in a duel against him. How much does his Focus aport to his Chi? one?
  A: One. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 December 2002", 3 Dec 2002
• Q: And my opponent plays a Focus 5 in a duel against [Mirumoto Zenko + Shinsei's Staff + other weapon]. How much does his Focus aport to his Chi?
  A: Not such what "aport" means, but... There is not a single correct answer. This one falls under the third cardinal rules: when two effects create conflicting effects simultaneously, the current player picks the order. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 29 November 2002", 30 Nov 2002
• Q: And a follow up, can Shinsei's Staff reaction be used in Lesson?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 21 October 2002", 22 Oct 2002
• Q: How does Shinsei's Staff work against Double Chi, does it reduce the focus value to 3 after it has been doubled or before? I just subscribed to this list (hello everybody!) and don't know if this has been answered before, I couldn't find it from the rulings at least.
  A: As of Gold Edition, the Double Chi trait makes you add each Focus value twice instead of once during duel resolution, rather than doubling the actual value. There is no timing conflict with things like Shinsei's Staff that way. The Staff reduces it to 3, then that 3 is added twice. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 June 2002", 5 Jun 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: hehe what do you think of Shinsei's Staff? AFAIR, it makes all focusses over 3 become 3.
  BTW, Jeff, 2 questions:
  1) Asaku Yuya and Light a Candle. Can I bow the spell an keep it bowed?
  A: No. In fact, if Yuya is unbowed and you bow the Spell instead of Yuya, the effect ends immediately. Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 April 2002", 4 Apr 2002