Solitary Engagement

Legend of the Five Rings card from Broken Blades

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Personlity and target an enemy Personality: Move them both home. Your Personality challenges the target. He may refuse. Destroy the duel's loser.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Four Winds (Gold)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Q: Can Solitary Engagement's challenge be refused? A: Yes. It can be refused without penalty, which is true of all duels that don't say otherwise. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, May 21, 2003, p. 11
• Q: Can I play Solitary Engagement or Overwhelmed by using one of my own bowed Personalities? A: No. You cannot target your own bowed cards with your actions. But -- and this is important! -- in the case of Overwhelmed, your opponent can target his bowed Personalities to either send two home or destroy one because the Overwhelmed was not his action. It was yours. Also, Overwhelmed cares about the Personality's own Force, so bowed Personalities do not automatically count as 0F. If all your highest-Force Personalities are bowed (or are untargetable by you for any other reason, such as an earlier A Test of Courage), you cannot play Overwhelmed. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, May 21, 2003, p. 11

Rules Q&A

• Q: I just had a couple questions regarding what happens in certain situations with Solitary Engagement. The card itself reads: Battle: Send home one of your units and one opposing unit. Your Personality challenges the other Personality to a duel.
  1) I was wondering what exactly happens when you do this to Snak, the KYD 6 gold rat that cant be challenged. "Snak may not be challenged while controlled by a Ratling player." ex. Snak is attacking one of my provinces, i defend with a Hoshi Yoson and play Solitary Engagement, what happens?
  A: You send home both Personalities, and then try to issue a challenge, but Snak's trait prevents it. The action is done resolving. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 8th, 2003", 8 Aug 2003
• Q: 2) Can Solitary Engagement be play when there arent enough attackers/defenders to choose from. ex. There are two personalities attacking my province, can i still play Solitary Engagement even if i cant send home one of my own peeps. And can i do it the other way around, no attacking army can i still send home my guy even if i cant send home an attacking personality.
  A: You can't play the card unless you have *both* required targets. You need a Personality in the battle, and you need a legally targetable opposing unit. If you don't have both of those, you can't play the card. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 8th, 2003", 8 Aug 2003
• Q: 3)Test of Courage vs. Solitary Engagement, Test cancels the entire action and neither person goes home correct?
  A: Correct.
  -- Vaughn
  * Rules Guy * The Random Ninja Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 8th, 2003", 8 Aug 2003
• Q: If you are playing a duel deck, and you play Blue Skies [...Challenges may not be refused], then play Solitary Engagement [send a unit of both players home, then yours challenges the other to a refusable duel], can that duel be refused? The terrain says it cannot, but they are no longer at the battle when the challenge is made. Thank you.
  A: The challenge would be unrefusable. Terrains can have effects that go beyond the battle that they are played in, it's just that most usually don't. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for June 23rd, 2003", 23 Jun 2003
• Q: So the local Ratling player would like to know whether he can target his own Snak (cannot be challenge or issue challenges) with Solitary Engagement. He argues that since there is a period after the send home portion, both units get sent home and then the rest of the action (the challenge) gets cancelled.
  So can Snak Solitary Engage?
  A: Yes. Snak can even play Iaijutsu Challenge. It just won't do anything. Snak does not say that he cannot take actions that involve challenges -- only that he cannot challenge. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 March 2003", 11 Mar 2003
• Q: Why will anyone play with more limited send home actions like Needed at the Wall and Solitary Engagement when they can play BSL instead?
  A: To send home units that BSL can't be played on. Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 February 2003", 21 Feb 2003
• Q: Solitary Engagement and Blue Skies
  If Blue Skies is in effect and Solitary Engagement is played, is the duel refuseable?
  A: No. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 January 2003", 11 Jan 2003
• Q: And the real question. If I have Blue Skies in play for the battle, and play Solitary Engagement, is the duel refusable or not?
  A: It is not. Blue Skies affects all challenges while it is in play, not just those made by cards in the battle. [card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 6 December 2002", 7 Dec 2002
• Q: If I play Solitary Engagement, and my Personality and an opposing personality go home, and then my opponent accepts and wins the duel, would Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves be legal at this point?
  A: Yes, but the only legal target is the Personality you pulled out of the battle, since that's the only one opposing the one of yours who died. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 December 2002", 6 Dec 2002
• Q: Armour of the Mountains includes the text:
  "You may not move this Personality into or out of battles with actions."
  Does this make the personality an illegal target for Solitary Engagement or Luring Tactics?
  A: No. Those actions are playable, and, furthermore, will only move the other Personality. For Solitary Engagement, there will still be a challenge. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 December 2002", 6 Dec 2002
• Q: And while I've got your attention, Solitary Engagement. Question about the wording of "during a battle." Are effects that happen outside but concurrent with a battle (IE, the duel created after Solitary Engagement resolves) considered to be "during" a battle?
  A: Technically, yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 September 2002", 6 Sep 2002
• Q: Exactly how does Solitary Engagement work?
  how I interpret it, and please correct me if I'm wrong. That's actually exactly what I want. This card caused confusion galore.
  Wording:
  Battle: Send home one of your units and one opposing unit. Your Personality challenges the other Personality to a duel.
  My interpretation:
  a) There must be a unit of yours and a unit of theirs to target, both of which must be legal.
  A: Correct. That part is straightforward. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 August 2002", 15 Aug 2002
• Q: Well, It doesn't say whether the challenge is refuseable or not, so I'd say the matter is up in the air.
  A: As has been pointed out, according to the rulebook, challenges are normally refusable without penalty. Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 July 2002", 1 Aug 2002