Shosuro Hametsu

Legend of the Five Rings card from Obsidian Edition, Emerald Edition, Shadowlands

Card Type

Personality

Force

0

Chi

1

Honor Requirement

-

Gold Cost

5

Personal Honor

1

Clan

Scorpion

Keywords

Poison Master, Scorpion Clan

Card Text

Limited: Any number of times per turn, bow Hametsu and target a Personality who must be unbowed if he is yours: If he does not have a Poison token, give him a Poison token with the ability, "Reaction: After this Personality enters a duel, destroy this token: When a strike is declared in this duel, give the other Personality in it -2C. You may not use other Poison tokens' abilities this duel." Lose 2 Honor.

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial)

Deck

Dynasty

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Shosuro Hametsu 0F/1C -HR 5G 1PH Scorpion Clan Poison Master. Limited: Bow to give a Personality a Poison token if they do not have one. Lose 2 Honor. A Personality with a Poison token may destroy it as a Reaction to entering a duel. When a strike is declared, the opposing Personality's Chi is reduced by 2 until the end of the turn." [MRP, Obsidian Edition] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 124
• If the -2C kills the opponent, the duel is abandoned without resolution. [FAQ 3.2] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 124
• If this version of Hametsu has ever been in play, any poison token on any player's Personality can be destroyed to perform his printed reaction, regardless of what created that token. [FAQ 3.5; JA, 30 March 2002] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 124
• If the -2C kills the opponent, the duel is cancelled without a winner or loser. [FAQ 3.2] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 54
• Erratum: Changed: Personal Honor from 0 to 1. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 19
• Q: Speaking of poison tokens, could you explain how Shosuro Hametsu, the Poison Master, works? Why would I want to poison my own people? A: The poison tokens aren't -2C tokens. They cause no ill effects to the person holding them. If a Personality with a poison token enters a duel, you can destroy the token in response, and this will cause your opponent in the duel to suffer -2C until the end of the turn as soon as either of you strikes. Like Poisoned Weapon, if this kills your opponent immediately, the duel is cancelled without a winner or loser. Unlike Poisoned Weapon, Another Time won't prevent the penalty. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 11

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have some questions about the "poison effect" in duels. The poison token produced by Shosuro Hametsu reduces the chi of the personality before the bonus of the focus cards? I mean ... if a 1 chi personality challenges a 2 chi personality, and it's controller decides to focus (a 2 focus card), then the first personality strikes and uses the token, who dies?
  A: The 2-Chi person goes to 4 Chi as soon as he focuses the 2. The token will bring his total Chi back to 2, which means he'll still win the duel against the 1-Chi person (which may or may not result in the 1-Chi person dying...it depends on the duel). Then the duel ends and the focus bonus wears off, but the -2Chi poison penalty is there for the rest of the turn. That 2-Chi person will now die. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 18 September 2001", 19 Sep 2001