Superior Tactics

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Pre-Imperial Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Battle of Beiden Pass, Obsidian Edition, Jade Edition, Pearl Edition, Promotional–Gold, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, Twenty Festivals, Shadowlands, Anvil of Despair, Crimson and Jade, Time of the Void, Hidden Emperor Starter, Scorpion Clan Coup Starter, Honor Bound, Ambition's Debt, Fire & Shadow, Soul of the Empire, The War of Spirits, The Fall of Otosan Uchi, Heaven & Earth, A Perfect Cut, Broken Blades, Dark Allies, An Oni's Fury, Winds of Change, Promotional–Twenty Festivals

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Target your unbowed Personality with 3 or more Chi. Either move him to another unresolved battlefield or destroy a Terrain at the current battlefield.

Focus Value

3

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade), War of the Seals (Onyx Edition)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Clarified: you may only move the unit to another of the Defender's Provinces. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 5
• Q: Can I play Superior Tactics to destroy a terrain if I don't have someone with a Chi of 3+? A: No. You must target a Personality you control with at least 3C no matter which effect you're producing. Since you're targetting your own Personality, you can't pick a bowed one either! Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 8
• Q: When can I do an Open or Battle Action? A: Go get your rulebook and follow along. On pp. 30–31, we have the dissection of the Battle Action Segment. You'll want these pages for this whole segment. "If a player does not have a unit in the battle, he cannot conduct any actions. The only exceptions are cards which specifically allow him or her to bring a unit into the battle, such as Superior Tactics." Remember, also, that card text supersedes the rules, so any effect which says "You can do this even if you don't have any units in the battle" are also OK. The upshot is that if you don't send anybody to the attack or defense of a Province, you don't get to play cards there, unless a card says "Play me anyway!" or you're bringing in a unit. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 1, Issue 1, p. 10

Rules Q&A

• Q: Also, since I'm still getting into the newer cards, is there a card comparable to Superior Tactics? Why'd they take it out?
  A: Deploy Scouts is the closest is terms of emulating both abilities. Running Engagement is probably the closest in pure movement. Control the Field is the closest in terms of 3-chi Terrain destruction. Martin Lund, "Rules for 29 August 2004", 2 Sep 2004
• Q: 1. The rulebook says that when the battle at a province resolves, the surviving defenders stay at that province. Are they still considered in a battle for the purposes of cards like Superior Tactics?
  A: Defending units stay at a province they have defended until the end of the Attack Phase. However, Superior Tactics refers to Provinces, not battles. Is there another card you were wondering about? Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 8th, 2003", 8 Aug 2003
• Q: Hello again everyone,
  If I have no units in a battle, I'm obviously allowed to play a card like "Superior Tactics" to move another unit into this battle (because my action creates presence).
  In the same situation, can I play "Mushin" and then do something like "Superior Tactics"? As long as my first action creates the presence necessary for my second action, can I do that? Or do I need presence/relevance to play "Mushin" in the first place?
  A: You need Presence and Relevance to play Mushin in the first place. Very much like Superior Strategist/Superior Tactics/Deadly Ground, the second action cannot be used to make the first action legal. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for June 23rd, 2003", 23 Jun 2003
• Q: I got 2 questions.....
  1. Can I use Superior Tactics on a bowed personality so that he/she does not die in this battle? Some people say I can and some say I can't so I don't know what to do.... The manual doesn't help on this one....
  A: As others have said, the answer is no. If your personality is bowed, you can't target him with the Superior Tactics, so he can't be moved. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for June 11th - Part One!", 11 Jun 2003
• Q: 1. If I declare an attack to one single province and use Superior Tactics to move one of my attacking units to another province will this moving unit be able to destroy the province he/she is entering since I didn't declare an attack to it?
  2. If I can do this can I also declare I will attack all provinces but move my units into only one of them?
  A: You do not declare an attack against separate Provinces. You declare an attack against a PLAYER. You can then assign some units to each of his Provinces, or all of them to one, or none of them anywhere, or anything inbetween.
  Even if you only assign units to one Province, it is possible to destroy other Provinces. Every time there is an attack, there will be a battle at every single one of the Defender's Provinces, even the ones where no one assigns any units. The Attacker chooses the order that the Provinces are fought over. It is possible to move units between Provinces, and if this is done, it is possible and legal to destroy Provinces that had no units assigned at the beginning of the Attack Phase. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 April 2003", 29 Apr 2003
• Q: Hmmmm... Let me see if I get it right
  Let's say I attack (assign units to) province A and B. I resolve province A first then go to province B. You are saying that I can use Superior Tactics to bring my unit from province A to B? Is that it?
  A: Only if your unit is still in Province A, which is nearly impossible to do as the Attacker. All attacking and allied units in a battle return to their controllers' homes after that battle. After the battle at Province A is over, no one will still have units in the Province except the Defender. Jeff Alexander, "post for 28 April 2003", 29 Apr 2003
• Q: From the Rules archives it seems that Agasha Hamanari can cancel a Superior Tactics cause the card satisfy the rule of relevance.
  A: Correct. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 12 April 2003", 12 Apr 2003
• Q: Bobby attack with Paneki Exp. Province A, with Yudoka Exp Province B and Kwanchai is at Home. Freddy defend with Kumari in Province A. Province A is resolved first. Freddy Superior Tactics Kumari into Province B. Freddy reaction with Kumari:
  Q: Which personalities are legal targets for Kumari's duel?
  A: See definition of "opposing" in Gold Edition rulebook glossary. It's this one: Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 10 April 2003", 11 Apr 2003
• Q: Paneki XP's ability (according to Legendary, traded mine away)
  Battle: Once per battle, move a Scorpion Clan Personality into this battle.
  What is it about this action that prevents Paneki from moving himself (or another SCP) into a battle he is not in, in the same manner as the use of Superior Tactics or other movement actions?
  A: From the FOU rulesheet:
  ] An action which refers to "this battle" always refers to the ] battle currently being resolved. In addition, if the card it ] appears on is of a type which can be in battles (such as a ] Personality), the card must be in the current battle for the ] action to be legal.
  Personalities can be in battles, and Paneki Exp. refers to "this battle" in his action. Therefore, it's only legal when he is in the current battle already. Jeff Alexander, "post for 7 April 2003", 9 Apr 2003
• Q: 2.) can Kyuden Ikoma cancel a Superior Tactics that's trying to remove a Deadly Ground?
  A: No, nor can most other action-canceling Reactions. It's one of the odd side effects of Deadly Ground. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 March 2003", 26 Mar 2003
• Q: 3.) Superior Tactics -- I know this card has been debated since. But your most recent text seems a bit clearer. My friend argues that you can only use SupTacs on a personality from another province into the current battle and not the other way around. a.) Is he correct?
  A: No. I'd like to hear his argument. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 February 2003", 6 Feb 2003
• Q: Beachhead is an immediate terrain that grants all Naval cards in the battle a 1F bonus. Does destroying the terrain via Superior Tactics, et al get rid of the bonus? The GE rulebook indicates that all effects of immediate terrains disappear (paraphrasing) when they're destroyed. I'm taking this to mean that things like Higher Ground, for example, and that force bonuses are NOT affected.
  A: The term "effects" covers EVERYTHING. That includes Force bonuses. So, no, Beachhead is not a Terrain that takes full effect regardless of whether it's destroyed. (Ask Zen how I feel about Wide Terrain sometime for clues as to why this might be.) Jeff Alexander, "post for 9 January 2002", 10 Jan 2003
• Q: Can [Superior Tactics be] used to move a personality from another battle to the current battle?
  A: Yes. Why not? Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 30-31 December 2002", 31 Dec 2002
• Q: Jeff,
  I'm a little confused by a couple of rulings that would seem to pertain to the Sup Strategist vs. Deadly Ground situation. In your post for 6/11, you state in re to using SS under DG's restrictions-
  (You can't use SS) "because the only direct effect of Superior Strategist is "get an Open or Battle Action card from your Fate deck and play the card", and that doesn't meet Deadly Ground's restrictions on what's legal. The Smart Cards ruling does not apply because it is not public, guaranteed knowledge that a card like Superior Tactics is going to be retrieved."
  But in the next entry, re Hataki exp., you state-
  "Knowing that some or all of an action's parts will fail does not make using that action illegal."
  This would seem to allow a player to play ANY action under Deadly Ground, even though I know it's not going to destroy the terrain.
  A: There is a difference between failing (i.e., producing no noticable effect) and being outright prohibited.
  Imagine two action cards that say "Limited: Destroy all shugenja." and "Limited: Destroy one shugenja." I can play the first when there are no shugenja in play -- the knowledge that nothing will be destroyed does not make it illegal. But I CAN'T play the second -- I need to pick one shugenja as a target, and that's not possible. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 June 2002", 18 Jun 2002
• Q: Attempt #2
  Relevent text: Target one of your Persoanlities with over 2 Chi in a battle:
  Is a personality or unit at a province where a battle has all ready resolved still considered to be 'In a battle'?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 20 June 2002", 14 Jun 2002
• Q: Are completed battles still considered battles? Can you still Superior Tactics a *defending* personality out of a resolved battle?
  A: Yes. Yes. Any movement into, from, or between battles works for all the Defender's Provinces, even when their battles have ended. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 June 2002", 13 Jun 2002
• Q: 2) Nikushimi is attacking province A and gets hit by In Search of the Future. He then Superior Tactics over to province B. As there's no change in his status (he was attacking and is still attacking with no break in between) I ruled that he doesn't get his force back. Was I right?
  A: Right. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 June 2002", 11 Jun 2002
• Q: Agasha Hamanari: Reaction: When a player plays an Action card from his or her hand that targets you, your cards, or your tokens (or, if Hamanari is in a battle, that affects the battle, such as a Terrain), bow Hamanari to cancel the action. [...]
  Is "affects the battle" equivalent to "targets the battle"? Specifically, let's say I'm attacking a phoenix army that has Hamanari in it, and I try to play Superior Tactics to move Hitomi Kagetora into the battle. Can Hamanari cancel this, even though it targets none of his cards and does not target the battle?
  A: It does target the battle, actually, but, yes, pretty much anything that satisfies the Rule of Relevance will count as "affecting the battle", and that movement certainly does. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 June 2002", 11 Jun 2002
• Q: My second question is easier to understand if I use an example: Player B's provinces have a province strength of 5. Player A assigns an 8 force unit to attack Player B's province 1. Player B defends with a 6 force unit. Player A resolves provinces 2, 3, and 4 first and both players pass (no provinces destroyed). Player A then resolves province 1. Player B plays Outflank, increasing his defending unit's force to 9. Player A plays Superior Tactics to move his 8 force unit to province 2. Both Players pass and the attack phase ends. Can player B now play the Ring of Earth? I would say yes given that the ring specifies that the attacking army needs to exceed the province strength at "any time during the Attack Phase" but does not specify that a battle needs to resolve there.
  A: The Ring is playable. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 June 2002", 6 Jun 2002
• Q: I know this might be asking an old question over but some of the newer players in our group were wondering if it was legal to Superior Tactics or Refugees your own units when your attacking? I had never considered doing this in as many years as I have played and the cards do not specifically say yes or no nor does the rulebook to my knowledge.
  Anyone clear this up for me?
  A: It's absolutely legal to play cards like Refugees and Block Supply Lines on your own units, provided they're legal targets (no Followers for Refugees, attacking for BSL, and unbowed for both because you're targeting your own Personality with your action). It's also legal to play Charge or Outflank on Personalities in the opposing army. And, yes, there really are situations where it's beneficial to do so. Jeff Alexander, "post for 22 May 2002", 23 May 2002
• Q: Just a quick question about the interaction of Scouts and Sneak Attack.
  In a recent game, the following question came up: Can you use a Scout to play a terrain such as Suspended Terrain and then use action from Sneak to play Superior Tactics (or any other action card)?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 April 2002", 11 Apr 2002
• Q: If your oppenent is playing Superior Tactics or Divisionary Tactics to destroy your Deadly Ground, can you use Know the Enemy to cancel the destroying Battle Action?
  A: No, because Deadly Ground is still in effect and Know the Enemy is an action that doesn't meet Deadly Ground's play restriction. Jeff Alexander, "post for 9 January 2002", 10 Jan 2002
• Q: I'm not sure if this has been discussed before but here goes ...
  Quote from the rulebook (p.65): "... as a Battle action once per battle per Tactician, target the Tactician and discard a card from his or her hand to raise the Tactian's Force by the card's Focus value until the turn ends."
  Example of situation: 1) Akodo Ijiasu (or any other Tactician) is in battle A, uses Tactician trait to get a force bonus. 2) "Superior Tactics" (or any other "move to another province" effect) to battle B. 3)Akodo Ijiasu uses Tactitian trait abilitly again to gain a cumulative force gain from both bonuses.
  A: Yeah, sure. That sounds perfectly fine to me. Matter of fact, I've got a really cool Shinjo Yokatsu story that revolves around just such a trick. But that's a story for another day... Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for August 22nd, Part Two", 22 Aug 2001
• Q: Trevor, I believe the bonus would actually stay with the army and not get deflated. It was a gain. Please correct me if I am wrong.
  The card says, "Until the end of the game, any Personality aligned with your clan opposing target Personality in a battle or duel gains a 2F/2C bonus."
  Since the bonus is gained and there is nothing that says the bonus is lost, if the opponent goes away. It is just like a tactician bonus. It stays until the end of the turn(unless said otherwise)like during a counterattack.
  A: It's a continuous bonus. It only lasts so long as the condition holds. Trevor is right. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15 June", 20 Jun 2001
• Q: What about someone who is moved by Superior Tactics but is already assign to attack a province?
  A: That works. It's an action, and it's moving him to attack your Province. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 18 March 2001", 24 Mar 2001
• Q: Scenario 1: Player A has two provinces, and one tactician.
  Player B has two really big units.
  During B's turn, he declares an attack on A, and assigns a unit to each province (called 1 and 2). Player A defends with his one tactician at province 1.
  Player B choses to resolve the battle at 2 first. Player A plays Luring Tactics and brings the unit from the battle at 1 into 2. (remember that "This battle" and "the current battle" are not synonymous; see http://www.planet.net.au/~zfaulkes/rulings.html#Battle; I mentioned this because of the wording of the card.) Player B passes. Player A then plays Superior Tactics and goes back to the battle at province 1 (thereby delaying his doom for another turn.)
  A: You can't use Luring Tactics targeting a Tactician who isn't in the battle currently being resolved. Any action that targets something in 'this battle' has to target something in the battle currently being resolved. However, the reason that the above ruling exists is so that actions which are only usable during 'this battle' are not usable during the battle currently being resolved if the card isn't actually at the battle.
  For example, Daikua. Daikua's ability is only usable if Daikua is actually at the battle in question. If his ability affected the battle currently being resolved, then he could use it no matter where he was. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for December 18th", 18 Dec 2000
• Q: Scenario 2:
  In this scenario, it's the same as the above, except player 2 resolves the battle at 1 first. B does Luring Tactics again, moving both of the units to the battle at 2 as before. The battle at 1 resolves and nothing happens. Then, at the battle at 2, B again Superior Tactics back into the battle at 1 (since, as per the rulings, a resolved battle is still a battle until the Attack Phase ends). B has again bought a turn to live.
  A: This situation is perfectly legit, and a good use of Luring Tactics. Rock on. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for December 18th", 18 Dec 2000
• Q: [OBH]
  I have Fragrant Waters equipped. I assign at Battle A and I am opposed. I start Battle B. I use Superior Tactics to move from Battle A to Battle B. Am I able to trigger Fragrant Waters?
  A: Yes, you have met the condition to take the Limited action later, if they survive. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 9 Aug 2026
• Q: What about strategies like Superior Tactics? Can I use it to move a personality from an unresolved battle into the current one? Or is it also not allowed without "remote"?
  A: Home and Remote are only exceptions to the part of the Rule of Location that states (paraphrasing from memory, emphasis mine), "In order for an ability on a card in a unit to be used during battle, it must be at the current battlefield."
  So, no need for those keywords on Strategies or Holdings. Brook Cunningham, "Onyx Lives #rules-questions", 22 Jan 2026
• Q: also, i would argue that there are a few strategies that are critical, but are limited by deck construction conditions. rallying cry, superior tactics, etc from legacy
  A: Enlightenment has always been designed as a "challenging" win condition (unlike certain Event-based victories which definitely are more "rule of cool"). With skilled deckbuilding and play, Enlightenment should be possible but never easy to pull off.
  How easy an Enlightenment victory is has varied widely by arc; a player gave you testimont here for how his deck performs in the Onyx/ShE environment. (link)
  You're talking about entirely different rulesets from the Onyx/ShE rules under which this rule change applies. For one thing, other arcs had precious few "remove from the game"/banish effects. Onyx/ShE has leaned into the idea mechanically, so we felt the change was prudent. Jeff Williamson, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 26 Oct 2024
• Q: I was always under the impression that the Ring of Water was changed back to the original way of playing it. Your opponent plays a terrain, then you destroy the terrain (Superior Tactics, Discovering Anvil of Earth, etc), then you play a terrain of your own. If you then win the battle with that terrain, you can play the Ring of Water. You might even play a terrain first, then the terrain is destroyed, then you play another. But doesn't it require two terrains to be played in order to play the ring?
  A: Yes, per the Ring of Water's MRP, at least two Terrains would've had to have been played during the battle in order to bring it into play by its trait. Everything you described above is accurate, except "if you win the battle with that Terrain". The conditions are that you destroy any cards or provinces during resolution (so you don't even have to win; could've been a tie, and your Terrain doesn't have to still be around at that time). Brook Cunningham, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 9 Sep 2023
• Q: So superior tactics. Could be worded: Remote Absent Battle: Target of personality with 3C or more. Move them to the current battlefield. Actually I think I have that wrong. That's how it was played back in the day because I think movement got rid of the presents and location rules. However, now I think it is more of a current battlefield to another unresolved battlefield. So you have to be in that battle to move away not move to another battle from another location. So it would simply be, Battle: Target your unbowed personality with 3C or more. Move them to an unresolved battlefield.
  A: It used to be that you could move the Personality to a resolved battlefield, too. Alex Jones, "Oracle of the Void #rules", 14 Apr 2023