Tattoo of the Void

Legend of the Five Rings card from Heaven & Earth

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Tattoo, Void

Card Text

Limited: Choose your performing unbowed Tattooed Personality who has not performed a copy of this action this game: Until the game ends, targeting him with, or choosing him as the performer of, actions while he is in an army has the additioal cost, "Discard a card," and he is ignored when determining whether or not his controller has units in a battle (such as determining Presence or whether the enemy army is opposed). Determining the number of units his controller has at a battle is unaffected.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• If you need to know whether you have units in the battle (a yes/no question between "zero" and "more than zero"), ignore a unit led by a Personality with a Void Tattoo. If a particular number of units matters (e.g., "one" for Come One at a Time), do not ignore the unit. [JA, 30 May 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 36

Rules Q&A

• Q: From www.dragonstrategy: Is this a valid combo?
  Attach Void Tattoo to a personality with enough unit force to take a province. Attack province Go Home Use Tireless Assault to attack another province.
  Tattoo of the Void says that this personality does not count as having a unit in the battle. Tireless Assault says that if the unit has not been in a resolution of a battle to straighten and move into the province. Does this work?
  A: Dear Tattoo of the Void,
  How I hate thee. Couldst thou not find a more obtuse wording to use in describing thyself? Be a dear, please scuffle off and shoot thyself at the earliest possible opporunity.
  Thanks!
  Anyways, I'm going to go with no right now. Tattoo of the Voids second clause is mostly relevant to determining Presence. The unit is actually there, and Tireless Assault can't be fooled into thinking that the unit was never there. Stop trying to fool the cards. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for July 25th, 2003", 25 Jul 2003
• Q: 4. Tattoo of the Void vs Stand Against the Waves Relevant text on Tattoo of the Void: For the rest of the game, the Personality has a Tattoo of the Void, may not be targeted with actions while he or she is in an army unless the action's player discards a card as an additional cost of the action, and does not cout towards whether his or her controller has units in a battle. Situation: A battle is underway. My opponent and I each have 3 units in the battle. All of my opponent's units have followers and none of mine do. 2 of my units (A & B) are led by personalities who have a Tattoo of the Void. My opponent plays Stand, after playing Stand he has only 1 card left in hand. Question: Is the targetting of Stand sequential or simultaneous?
  A: Sequential.
  *However*, this does not save your units from the Stand. When your opponent plays the Stand, he has the option of discarding cards to meet the additional cost. If they choose not to discard the cards, you cannot target your Void Tattooed personalities with Stand - the action is *not* canceled. So, you are unable to target your personalities with the Stand, and they then become bowed by the second, untargeted effect. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for July 15th, 2003", 15 Jul 2003
• Q: When a Personality has a Tattoo of the Void, that unit does not count towards Presence or for any other card or effect that requires you to have a Personality in the battle, such as Barbarian Horde or declaring a naval invasion. But it is still there, can still be targeted and affected by things, and can still use its actions.
  What about not having a personality in the battle?
  A: Huh? Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 May 2003", 30 May 2003
• Q: So there's some discussion about Void Tattoo on the Dragon mailing list, and it's gotten me a little paranoid...
  "Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait and without a Tattoo of the Void. For the rest of the game, the Personality has a Tattoo of the Void, andmay not be targeted with actions while he or she is in an army unless the action's player discards a card as an additional cost of the action, and does not count towards whether or not his or her controller has units in a battle."
  The above text is from L5RSearch, so it may not be TOTALLY accurate, but let's go with it.
  If I have a personality with a Void Tattoo and a battle action, like Hitomi Maya and her ranged attack schtick, can that personality take that action if they're in battle? Same applies to said personality with a follower that has a battle action. Because the personality with the Void Tattoo doesn't count towards whether or not you have units in the battle, can you use battle actions on cards in a unit led by a personality with a Void Tattoo?
  If you can't, that makes the tattoo pretty... well, pretty useless, frankly. Jeff?
  A: When a Personality has a Tattoo of the Void, that unit does not count towards Presence or for any other card or effect that requires you to have a Personality in the battle, such as Barbarian Horde or declaring a naval invasion. But it is still there, can still be targeted and affected by things, and can still use its actions. Jeff Alexander, "post for 27-28 May 2003", 29 May 2003
• Q: If an army (attacking or defending) consists only of units with Tattoo of the Void:
  All the Void Tattoo does is prevent the Personality from counting towards the Rule of Presence for his or her controller. Players can still target it, including you, though you have to think harder than usual whether you meet the Rule of Presence, and even you have to pay the higher cost of the extra discard.
  So if all of my units have the Void Tattoo, other than actions that move one of my units into the battle can I only play actions which say "May be played in a battle in which you have no units"? (ie refugees)
  A: Correct. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 May 2003", 14 May 2003
• Q: 6)Tattoo of the Void -> What's the meaning of 'does not count towards whether his or her controller has units in a battle'
  A: It does not count towards the Rule of Presence or for any action that cannot or can only be played while you have at least one unit in the battle. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 May 2003", 14 May 2003
• Q: Tattoo of the Void reads:
  Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait and without a Tattoo of the Void. For the rest of the game, the Personality has a Tattoo of the Void, may not be target with action while he or she is in an army unless the action's player discard a card as an additional cost of the action, and does not count towards whether his or her controller has units in a battle.
  If an army (attacking or defending) consists only of units with Tattoo of the Void:
  1) Can my opponent take actions that target my units in the battle - since I am considered to not have any units per the wording of Tattoo of the Void.
  2) What happens during resolution? Obviously, I have no units - but can I destroy their army if I win or tie? And can they destroy my army if I lose or tie?
  A: All the Void Tattoo does is prevent the Personality from counting towards the Rule of Presence for his or her controller. Players can still target it, including you, though you have to think harder than usual whether you meet the Rule of Presence, and even you have to pay the higher cost of the extra discard. The unit also still adds its total unit Force to the army. Jeff Alexander, "post for 12 May 2003", 13 May 2003