Sundering Strike

Legend of the Five Rings card from Forgotten Legacy

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Target an enemy Personality: You may target one of his attachments and pay Gold equal to its Gold Cost minus four. If you did, destroy it. Move the Personality home.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Age of Conquest (Emperor), Destroyer War (Celestial)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: A follower is destroyed and placed under Tachikaze. Is it in play?
  Can it be targeted for a force bonus by Asasko Heiwa?
  I have a 2 gold cost follower attached to my personality, and my opponent has Yoritomo Kanahashi in play. My follower is destroyed(Sundering Strike). Can I put the follower under the Tachikaze? At the time of its destruction it has zero gold cost, but when it is destroyed it then leaves play, so its gold cost goes back to 2 and then I can slide it underneath?
  Paul Ashman
  A: Cards under another card are out of play
  Cards out of play may not be targeted by actions (unless specifically overriden). Heiwa is gonna have to hit something else.
  The trigger on Tachikaze is "After an action resolves whose effects destroyed your follower with a Gold Cost of 1 or more". That's an entire condition, and it's dependent on the cost at the time of destruction. So Kanahashi will hurt (or in some situations, help) your use of the Tachikaze. Jon Palmer, "Tachikaze", 2 Jul 2013
• Q: "You're still paying for an action, it's just an optional payment since it's not in the constraints block. You may use Luxurious Silk's Reaction.
  Alex"
  In that case can it be used for action such as Peace and The Heir's Wrath?
  A: Peace has no gold cost, and its ability reads: Limited: Search your Dynasty deck for a non-Unique Holding. Bring it into play (bowed), paying all costs.
  The cost you must pay (underlined) is that of the holding, not of the action, so Luxurious Silk's Reaction may not be used.
  The Heir's Wrath' s ability reads: Limited: Target another player's Personality, pay Gold equal to his unit's total Gold Cost, and discard the Imperial Favor or bow a Personality with five or more Force: Lose 2 Honor and destroy the target; these effects will not be negated.
  Here, the cost you must pay (underlined) is equal to that of the target's unit, but it's a cost of the action, not of the target. so Luxurious Silk's Reaction may be used. Alex Jones, "Lusxurious Silks and Sundering Strike pt2", 30 Sep 2012
• Q: If I target a person with sundering strike who has the The Arcane Cloak of the Chameleons on and another attachment can I target the cloak with the attachment destruction portion of the sundering or will I have to target the other card in the unit.
  The Arcane Cloak of the Chameleons
  Will only attach to a Scorpion Clan or Naga Personality. Other players may not target cards in this unit with actions if there are any other legal targets in this army. Battle: Move this Personality home.
  Sundering Strike
  Battle: Target an enemy Personality: You may target one of his attachments and pay Gold equal to its Gold Cost minus four. If you did, destroy it. Move the Personality home.
  A: If you can target the Personality with the Arcane Cloak attached with Sundering Strike, then any attachment in his unit is a valid target for the optional targeting of Sundering Strike. Alex Jones, "The Arcane Cloak of the Chameleons + Sundering Strike", 30 Jul 2012
• Q: EDIT: Just wanted to add a request for a description of how Goju Yurushi's reaction and attacment destruction works in general. Are there any effects that would target him and destroy an attachment where his reaction protects the attachment?
  A: Within the broad scope of L5R, "in general" can be a very dangerous term.
  Please see the above ruling for an example of what you have asked for, but keep in mind that each different card interaction is it's own special case, and should be looked at individually. Ben Higgins, "Goju Yurishi and Sundering Strike", 24 Feb 2012
• Q: If I have Goju Yurishi at a battlefield with an attachment on him and my opponent plays Sundering Strike, I react with Yurishi and move him home as soon as he is targeted as the cost of Sundering Strike. Since he is at home, is his attachment still a legal target for the effects of Sundering Strike?
  Thank you
  Edited subject to include full card title. -Ryushi
  A: In your example above, your opponent can not use the optional effect on Sundering Strike to destroy one of Yurishi's attachments.
  Optional targeting happens during an actions resolution, which is in your example well after Yurishi is targeted by and has reacted to the targeting by Sundering Strike with his Reaction. At that point he is home and it is the Rule of Location that prevents his attachments from being targeted by Sundering Strike. Ben Higgins, "Goju Yurishi and Sundering Strike", 24 Feb 2012
• Q: Show of Restraint: Battle: Choose your performing Monk: Negate all current Force penalties on him from actions. If he has a Weapon, negate the next card effect that moves him home or bows him.
  For purposes of example, Sundering Strike: Battle: Target an enemy Personality: You may target one of his attachments and pay Gold equal to its Gold Cost minus four. If you did, destroy it. Move the Personality home
  If I target my Monk with a Weapon with Show of Restraint and then he targets me with Sundering Strike, does Show of Restraint stop all effects of the card (ergo disallowing him to destroy my attachment), or does it only stop the Movement portion of the card effect?
  Thanks!
  A: Show of Restraint only stops the effects that move home or bow the Personality. All other effects of the action (such as Sundering Strike's item destruction) still take place. This differs from an action such as Effortless Counterattack, which has no limitation on which effects it negates and therefore would negate both the movement and bowing as well as the item destruction. Jon Palmer, "Show of Restraint, "card effect"", 19 Feb 2012
• Q: Does the 'may' in Sundering Strike apply to the attachment targeting and gold payment separately (like 'Shadowlands personality or follower' is read [Shadowlands personality] or [Shadowlands follower]) or are they a single optional clause? Can you target the attachment but not pay the gold and so not destroy the attachment?
  Player A targets player B's personality with an attachment. He chooses to target the attachment and player B wishes to play Near Miss. The window for Near Miss appears to be before the gold is paid. If the targeting and gold payment are separate options player A could choose not to pay the gold (as they attachment isn't going to be destroyed) or be unable to pay the gold and just want to bait out a potential Near Miss. If the targeting and gold payment are the same single optional clause this cannot happen.
  Incidentally if the latter is true:
  Player A targets player B's personality with an attachment whose gold cost is 5. He chooses to target the attachment and player B wishes to play Near Miss but player A has no available gold. Before playing Near Miss can player B request that a judge confirm that player A can pay the required 1 gold from their hand (ie confirm the good faith)?
  Card Text:
  Sundering Strike:
  Battle: Target an enemy Personality: You may target one of his attachments and pay Gold equal to its Gold Cost minus four. If you did, destroy it. Move the Personality home.
  Near Miss:
  Reaction: After another player's Battle action targets one of your attachments: Negate the attachment's destruction from the action's effects.
  A: The "may" applies to the targeting and the cost payment together, from the rules for Effects, Choices: A choice involving multiple effects following a "may" must be taken in an all-or-none fashion, unless they are phrased as alternatives to each other using "or." Example: "He may target one of his Shugenja and discard a card." If this choice is taken, the targeting and discard are both either carried out or not carried out; there is no option to target a Shugenja and not discard. Compare with "he may target one of his Shugenja and may discard a card," in which the two choices are separate; either, none, or both options may be taken. Also, in "he may target one of his Shugenja or discard a card," one choice or the other (but not both) may be taken.
  The Good Faith Rule only applies to the announcement of actions, so you may target an attachment even though you cannot pay the subsequent cost. However, if you can pay the cost, you must: although the cost is an optional cost, once you have chosen to activate the "You may ..." clause, it ceases to be optional. Alex Jones, "Sundering Strike and Attachment Destruction", 12 Jan 2012