Strength of Purity

Legend of the Five Rings card from Emperor Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Battle of Beiden Pass, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Diamond Edition, Gold Edition, Pearl Edition, Storms Over Matsu Palace, Training Grounds, Top Deck Booster Pack, Hidden City

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Choose your performing Personality with 3 or higher Personal Honor: Give him +3F.

Focus Value

1

Legality

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

MRP

No longer gives a Chi bonus

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Here's the question:
  1. When will an effect produced by a BATTLE ACTION CARD(e.g. STRENGTH OF PURITY) lasts? This is a bonus from a BATTLE ACTION CARD that do not specify how long it will last ... until end of the battle? or until the end of the current turn?
  A: End of the turn. [DE p. 70] Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 March 2004", 26 Mar 2004
• Q: IF it'll last until end of turn THEN: -a 3PH Personality targeted by STRENGTH OF PURITY even when moved out in the current battle will still have the bonus of +3F/+3C until the turn ends. Any succeeding bonus are CUMMULATIVE even if this personality moves into a new battle being resolve(e.g. move in by T.ASSAULT) right?
  A: All bonuses with a "+" or "-" sign or that say they are bonuses, pelanties, additional, or cumulative will stack. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 24 March 2004", 26 Mar 2004
• Q: (Does the bonus from Strength of Purity go away if the personality is Dishonored after it is gained?
  A: No, because Strength of Purity is one of the former types of card. He would lose the bonus from Rising Sun, though. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 April 2003", 2 Apr 2003
• Q: This is a lead-in to the real question of "What happens when I Strength of Purity Domotai?"
  Does Domotai get +3f/+3c, or does he only get +2f/+3c, because at the time SoP resolves, his chi is 3, and he can't get more than a 2f bonus?
  A: He gets +3/+3 and becomes a 4/6, which is allowed because his Force of 4 is not over his maximum allowable Force, which is now 6. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 June 2002", 5 Jun 2002
• Q: There are (according to L5RSearch) 67 personalities in gold that can use Strength of Purity. However there is 320 personalities that can use Destiny has no secrets. With out something like Last gift / Yoshis Fan ect, you cant draw a comparison between strength of purity versus Destiny.
  We're all agreed that "balance" is a good thing, yeah?
  I reckon that almost by definition, a card that gives a *bigger* bonus to *fewer* Personalities (thus is more readily used by only some clans) is *less* balanced than one that gives a *smaller* bonus to more Personalities.
  A: Higher opportunity cost = stronger effect. On a per-card basis, that's an accepted balancing mechanism (though if you take it too far you get things like the Narrow Salvo rule in Starfleet Battles, which is not used in tournaments because it decides games on a single lucky die roll -- or Iris Festival, which is missing from Gold for much the same reason). Certainly, card games that invert that guideline are exceptionally poor ones.
  I think your argument is "Strength isn't balanced because, although most Factions find it difficult to use, some can build some decks where its use is almost trivial, therefore it doesn't matter how hard it is to play overall -- decks that do play it play it just as easily as they play Destiny." And in that, you're ignoring the other cards in the environment that are *easier* to play by the Clans that have trouble with Strength, like Dead Eyes and Frenzy. You're also ignoring the hidden costs behind Strength of Purity: high PH Personalities have high Honor Requirements as well, mandating a deck that's good at gaining honor and not just lacking in its own honor losses, but resistant to others'. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 May 2002", 9 May 2002
• Q: _1_ Does Strength of Purity give Matsu Domotai its full Force and Chi bonus? If so, why? "Domotais force cannot exceed his chi." If the bonuses are both instantaneous, the result is slightly ambiguous.
  A: As per the Gold rulebook, minimums and maximums are applied after all other adjustments. It's no longer ambiguous. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 1-2 July", 5 Jul 2001
• Q: Three questions.
  _1_ Does Strength of Purity give Matsu Domotai its full Force and Chi bonus? If so, why? "Domotais force cannot exceed his chi." If the bonuses are both instantaneous, the result is slightly ambiguous.
  A: The bonuses both happen simultaneously, so Domotai's force never actually exceeds his Chi. He would instantly go from 1/3 to 4/6, with no stops in between. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 3rd", 3 Jul 2001
• Q: [Imperial]
  Does Strength of Purity give the bonus until end of turn?
  A: Yes. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 4 Dec 2025