Suitengu's Uncertainty

Legend of the Five Rings card from Reign of Blood

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Kiho, Terrain, Water

Card Text

Before a unit moves from this battlefield: You may target an adjacent battlefield and have it move there instead of its original destination, if possible.
Battle: If there are no Terrains at the current battlefield, choose your performing Monk or Shugenja: Put this card into play there.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• If you cannot pick an alternate destination, you cannot have the unit move there instead of where it was going. [JA, email, 10 December 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 59

Rules Q&A

• Q: I have been looking at Suitengu's Uncertainty today to try and figure out if I can use it to send my personalities to adjacent battles instead of sending them home after the battle.
  A: No. Suitengu's only looks for Movement, as clarified by Jeff in his email "rules for 1 March 2004"
  Check it out on Deathseeker: http://www.deathseeker.com/email/2004/03/02/150215.shtml Martin Lund, "Rules for 18-21 August 2004", 29 Aug 2004
• Q: does that mean that if I have a Suitengu's Uncertainty in battle, after destroying an opposing province in "A.)", when it's "B.)", time to send my units home bowed, I can choose to send them to adjacent provinces?
  A: "A unit returning home after battle is not considered to be moving. [JA, March 2004]" (Accumulated Rulings, "Battle":"Resolution") Martin Lund, "Rules for 27 June 2004", 29 Jun 2004
• Q: Ok I know there was a discussion early on:
  Suitengu's Uncertainty Immediate Terrain Elemental Water Kiho Battle: You must target one of your unbowed Shugenja or Monks in this battle to play this card. Each time any unit leaves this battle, you may have it move to an adjacent Province of your choice instead of its original destination.
  If the attacker has played this terrain, at the end of the battle attacking units:
  a) move to another province bowed.
  b) go home cause it is not movement
  c) other ________
  I believe the consence was B but would like an official ruling for tourneys
  A: It is B. Returning home because a battle ends is not considered movement. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 1 March 2004", 2 Mar 2004
• Q: Terrains last till after battle resolution. Diamond Rulebook, pg 85:
  After the Battle
  The battle has now resolved, or perhaps a card’s effect ended it without resolution. Either way, destroy any Terrain still in play for the battle (even indestructible Terrains).
  An attacking unit returning home takes place before this (pg 84), thus still in the Battle, and before battle resolution has completed. The battle is still taking place, though you can no longer take battle actions.
  Suitengu's Uncertainty says:
  Immediate Terrain Elemental Water Kiho Battle: You must target one of your unbowed Shugenja or Monks in this battle to play this card. Each time any unit leaves this battle, you may have it move to an adjacent Province of your choice instead of its original destination.
  This is a battle action that grants an ability to a player, if I read correctly (IE: it's not a matter of using a battle action, or reaction) to do the movement redirection.
  Can you then redirect an attacking unit to another province when he is returning home after winning a battle? If not, why not? I can't see anything contradicting it.
  [ADDITIONAL] Hope someone sees this...
  I get what you're saying Zen, but Suitengu's Uncertainty says nothing about triggering off movement, only about leaving battle, which surely is what is happening. The movement is what you choose to do instead.
  A: Archive, General rules, Battle, Resolution Segment: "A unit returning home after battle is not considered to be moving."
  Just saw this while going to archive.
  To clarify, Suitengu's Uncerainty only keys off of cards moving out of a battle. It does not recognize units going back home after Resolution.
  That's straight from Jeff.
  - Marty Lund
  Deputy Rules Monkey Zen Faulkes, "March 2005 Ruling Archive", 10 Mar 2005
• Q: If I use a Well-Prepared on one of my bowed personalities to unbow him, can my opponent use Misdirection to redirect the action to one of his unbowed personalities?
  A: Well, Well Prepared says: Martin Lund, "Suitengu's Uncertainty and Battle Resolution", 10 Mar 2005
• Q: Bow or straighten one card in the current battle.
  A: So there are two effects this card could produce:
  Bow target.
  Straighten target.
  Nothing about that restricts you to targeting only Unbowed or Bowed cards. You can choose to straighten an unbowed card. The effect simply fails, going to waste.
  When Misdirection gets played, another player gets to choose the targets of the Action. However, he does not get to change the decision made on announcement about whether Well Prepared will Bow or Straighten its target.
  So, if you tried to use Well Prepared to bow one of your enemy's cards, he could Misdirection it to one of his already-bowed cards, but he could not make the Well Prepared straighten that card. Martin Lund, "Suitengu's Uncertainty and Battle Resolution", 10 Mar 2005
• Q: I am not sure how these two cards interact.
  Khol Wall relevant text - Battle: Bow a Region you control: Target two unbowed Personalities with the same controller. Switch their locations.
  Suitengu's Uncertainty relevant text - Each time any unit leaves this battle, you may have it move to an adjacent Province of your choice instead of its original destination.
  Real question - I play this as the defender against an attack by the Unicorn player. He tries to switch the location of two personalities (mine or his) and do some nasty reaction to said movement. However I redirect the movement of the leaving personality to the adjacent province. Does this a) negate the action entirely and all personalities remain where they were, b) move the leaving personality to the adjacent province and negate the movement of the new personality into the battle, c) allow the new personality to move into the battle and the leaving personality moves to the adjacent province, or d) some other outcome I have yet to think of.
  The only ruling I can find related to this is -
  Switching units counts as moving the units, and is one effect. Preventing one unit from moving prevents switching. [VRD, 10 December 2000]
  You are not really preventing the movement of the unit leaving the battle, however you are preventing the units from switching their locations. I believe the answer would be b) but really am not sure.
  Frankly stumped
  UK Ronin
  A: C. The effect of Suitengu's Uncertainty comes into play as a unit leaves, meaning the switching effect of Khol Wall is already legally resolving. Zen Faulkes, "Khol Wall and Suitengu's Uncertainty", 10 Mar 2005