Strike With No-Thought

Legend of the Five Rings card from Pearl Edition, Forbidden Knowledge, Jade Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

You may only play one Strike With No-Thought per duel.
Reaction: Before you announce a strike in a duel, if both Personalities are using Chi as their duel stat: Add this card's current Focus Value to the total of your other focused cards' values in the duel's resolution.

Focus Value

2

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Though its focus value is added normally, playing this card is not considered focussing. It may be played by a Personality who cannot focus. [DW, l5info, 11/4/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 3
• When played for effect, the bonus of 2 is affected by things that alter the focus values of cards when played "in a duel", such as the Double Chi trait and Toshimoko Sensei. The bonus of 2 is not affected by things which have already changed the card's actual focus value, such as Touch of Amaterasu. [l5rinfo, 2/6/2000] [partial REVERSAL] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 3
• On the other hand, since you gain Chi "as if it were used as a focus", it is affected by things like Double Chi and Strike of Flowing Water. [card text] Accumulated Rulings, April 22, 1998, p. 32

Rules Q&A

• Q: 5) Does a Bend Like a Reed count as +4 for a personaility with double chi? Likewise does a Strike with No Thought count as +4 for a personality with double chi?
  A: Yes, yes (sort of -- it's not really +4, it's +2 twice). Jeff Alexander, "post for 3 April 2003", 4 Apr 2003
• Q: like bend like a reed or "Strike with no though"?
  No. Those two cards are not played "as a focus". They cause some value to add to your duelist following all the rules that focus cards do -- the Double Chi trait works on them, and they add to the stat used in the duel even when it's not Chi -- but they are not actually focused.
  What Jeff describes here refers to Bend Like a Reed, which "counts as a Focus", but does NOT refer to Strike With No Thought, as that a) does not count as a Focus and b) only adds to Chi (which makes it ineffective in duels not based on Chi), right Jeff?
  A: Wrong. Strike with No-Thought says it adds to Chi, but it also says it adds like a focus card, so it always adds to the proper stat. Jeff Alexander, "post for 15 January 2003", 16 Jan 2003
• Q: Strike with no Thought
  A: Your Personality. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 November 2001", 9 Nov 2001
• Q: If Daidoji Megumi is in a duel, and she is the challenger, and her opponent strikes, and she plays bend like a reed, what is her chi? 4, because the Bend was a focus that removed her trait bonus. 7, because the bend was only like a focus, and did not affect her trait bonus. What about if she is challenged and plays Strike With No Thought
  A: Reactions to striking which add as a focus are not actually focused, so Megumi would not lose her extra Chi. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-16 September 2001", 17 Sep 2001