The Shadowlands Horde

Legend of the Five Rings card from Gold Edition, Anvil of Despair, Jade Edition, Pearl Edition, Time of the Void, Promotional–Imperial, Promotional–Jade

Card Type

Stronghold

Province Strength

5

Gold Production

0

Starting Family Honor

-19

Clan

Shadowlands

Card Text

You do not gain or lose Honor; this is not negation.
You may not take Political actions or actions that cause other players unconditional Honor losses.
You may not be invited as an ally, or invite allies.
Negate all Fear effects upon your cards.
Repeatable Reaction, w: When paying for a Shadowlands card, lower the card's Gold Cost by 4 until it is paid.

Legality

Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Hidden Emperor (Jade)

Deck

Pre-Game

Notes

Before Obsidian Edition, the stronghold cards weren't printed with the deck, but as promos and on the back of the starter deck boxes.

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "The Shadowlands Horde 5PS 0GP -19FH You cannot gain or lose Honor, take Political actions or actions that cause unconditional Honor losses for other players (even if the players are immune to honor loss), ally, or have allies. Your cards are immune to Fear. Your Personalities will not swear fealty. Reaction: When paying for a Shadowlands card, bow The Shadowlands Horde to lower the card's Gold cost by 4." [MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 152
• Renamed from "Yogo Junzo's Army." Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 152
• May use the Alliance event. [Reversal; MRP, Gold Edition, 1 July 2001; JA, email, 13 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 152
• The following rulings also apply to The Spawning Ground, Citadel of Daigotsu, The Imperial Palace of Fu Leng, Temple of the Ninth Kami, and Iuchiban's Citadel. Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 152
• Personalities who join (e.g., with Kage Sensei) gain no traits, because there is no Faction trait for Shadowlands players. [JA, email, 13 July 2001] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 152
• May not play a Clan Sword if there is a player of that Clan. [DW, l5rinfo, 1/7/96] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Since you cannot gain honor, you cannot re-honor a dishonored Personality by having him perform an honor-gaining feat. [RD, l5rinfo, 1/20/97] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Cannot achieve an Honor Victory. This is implied by the fact that its honor can't rise above -19. It's not stated outright because there's only so much room on the box and there were a lot of other things that needed to be included as well. May hire Yoritomo's Alliance Personalities, as they are not "allying" with Junzo. [DW, l5rinfo, 5/9/97] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Cannot play Investigation or pay off an opponent's Blackmail, as these are actions that cause another player an unconditional honor loss. [card text] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Can, however, pay ransom to a Ninja Kidnapper, as the honor loss is not a direct result of paying the gold. [card text] [REVERSAL of an incorrect ruling] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Effects that cause an honor loss or gain do not generate the change in the first place for Junzo, so there's nothing to redirect. This overrides stipulations on losses that can't be changed, such as the Dark Oracles. [DW, personal email, 2/20/98] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• May fully participate in a contested lobbying attempt by giving a gift and/or bowing Personalities. These activities are not actions. Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 68
• Q: Some cards refer to Yogo Junzo's Army by name. Do they apply to the Shadowlands Horde too? A: Yes. These two alignments are completely equivalent, just like "Mantis Clan" and "Yoritomo's Alliance" are. Also note that "Shadowlands Horde" is a single phrase and is NOT equivalent to "Shadowlands"! A Horde player can not purchase Shadowlands Personalities for 2g less. The Imperial Herald, Issue 10, p. 11
• Erratum: Yogo Junzo's Army: Changed: Now produces 4g for Shadowlands cards instead of reducing their cost. The Imperial Herald, Issue 9, p. 11
• Changed in v3.4: Junzo's Army: He also can't make use of the Alliance event. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Issue 6), p. 12
• Q: Junzo's Army can't have allies. Does that mean he can still be an ally to someone else? A: No. Junzo can't have allies in any way, and no one can ever take an action which would make him an ally, like playing Tides of Battle. He also can't make use of the Alliance event. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Issue 5), p. 14
• Q: If Junzo's Army can't lose honor, how can he use all those Shadowlands cards that cost honor to use? And what about the Dark Oracles? Their honor losses can't be changed. A: Honor loss is never a cost for playing a card. It's more like a side effect. And Junzo's Army doesn't change honor losses, it outright ignores them. The Dark Oracles work just fine for him. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Issue 5), p. 14
• Q: I'm not sure how to figure out what cards Junzo can't use, or why he's allowed to use the ones listed in the rulebook. A: For one, he can't do anything Political. Besides actions which say "Political" right on them, the Glossary tells us that anything that alters an honor loss or gain is Political, as are both lobbying for the Favor and giving it up to play an action or a card. Note that actions which "cause" an honor loss or gain aren't necessarily Political, nor are reactions which involve the Favor. He also can't perform any actions which immediately and consistently cause an honor loss to another player. He's allowed to use effects which aren't actions (Dragon Sword is Broken), which don't cause an immediate loss (Utter Defeat), or that don't always cause a loss (Iaijutsu Challenge). The Imperial Herald, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Issue 5), p. 14

Rules Q&A

• Q: Can a Shadowlands player running the Shadowlands Horde run Alliance in their deck?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 8 May 2003", 9 May 2003
• Q: I'm thinking of making a tsuno deck. My question is this: I have a Tsuno Kira, I have The White Guard, I am using The Shadowlands Horde as my stronghold. Since Kira's ability lowers the honor cost and gives shadowlands to the White Guard, can I use my stronghold to lower the gold cost of the White Guard?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 24 April 2003", 25 Apr 2003
• Q: Sorry Zen but are you sure this is correct ?
  Under Nio Sensei (Rules Archive):
  Nio Sensei Gold production is the value printed in the gold coin / grey diamond on a stronghold. [ZF, 5 August 2000] The Shadowlands Horde stronghold has zero gold production. [Stronghold text, ZF]
  If the SH stronghold has zero gold produccion, then produces 0 gold (zero is a number, right?)
  A: Correct, and effects which would modify that gold production could be used to increase and decrease it. Vaughn Derderian, "Rulings for January 5th", 6 Jan 2003
• Q: The Shadowlands Horde stronghold produces no gold. Can it fetch a G&F?
  A: Sure. "Bow your Stronghold to do 'X'." Where is gold production mentioned? Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 September 2002", 20 Sep 2002
• Q: In a message dated 04/30/2002 6:44:45 PM Pacific Daylight Time, writes:
  No, by the MRP of the Shadowlands Horde and Spawning Grounds. You're not allowed to take the action even if the person who would suffer the loss is immune to it.
  I was actually refering to if you yourself were the shadowlands player.
  A: Okay, that's allowed. You're not "another" player. Jeff Alexander, "post for 1 May 2002", 2 May 2002
• Q: Another question regarding the prohibition on the Shadowlands Horde taking actions that cause an unconditional honor loss. Does this include having events revealed in your provinces that cause uncontional honor losses (e.g. Suspicions)?
  A: No. Events aren't actions. Jeff Alexander, "post for 4 April 2002", 5 Apr 2002
• Q: Two things - consequences of the changes to the rules since Gold Edition, that I don't think I've ever seen mentioned here.
  * the Gold rulebook specifies that the faction formerly known as "The Shadowlands Horde" is now simply called "Shadowlands". AFAIK, the only consequence is that The Spawning Grounds (and Sepulcher of Bones, and Yogo Junzo's Army out of Gold format) now have to pay 6G for the Experienced West Wall of Otosan Uchi [which mentions "Shadowlands Horde" and "Kitsu Tombs" players]. Right?
  A: Right. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 24 September 2001", 25 Sep 2001
• Q: If Personalities can never be members of the Shadowlands Horde regardless of card effects, but a Shadowlands Sensei makes them "members of your clan", this is creating a paradox. Why creating a card for the Shadowlands Horde for an effect forbidden by the rules?
  A: To answer your question of "intent" and paradox, the card isn't completely useless to a Shadowlands Horde player; he would still receive the benefit of paying 1 less Gold for Ratling Followers.
  But no, Cardinal Rule 1 will not override the fact that there is no Faction keyword to give and Ratling Personalities will not be members of that Faction, even if playing with that Sensei. Brook Cunningham, "Legacy: Ak'tok'tuk Sensei", 9 Nov 2011
• Q: My opponent is bringing a Shadowlands holding (let's say the Dark Oracle of Water) into play by using the Shadowlands Horde stronghold's (or the Festering Pit of Fu Leng's) ability to reduce a Shadowlands card's cost by four (or five respectively), making it 0. Later, I flip Plague of Locusts. Is the Oracle destroyed?
  A: http://rules.l5r.com/Older_Card_Rulings ... of_Locusts: "Destroys all Holdings that entered play with a Gold Cost of 0, regardless of their current cost or whether Gold was paid anyway; does not destroy Holdings whose costs were ignored." Emphasis added. If it came in for 0G, it's locust munchies. Zen Faulkes, "Plague of Locusts and The Shadowlands Horde", 23 May 2011
• Q: How can I say if "Shadowlands" means the faction called "the Shadowlands Horde" or if it refers to the "Shadowlands trait" ?
  A: When you see "Shadowlands Personalities", it means Personalities with the "Shadowlands" keyword, because there are no "Shadowlands Horde" Personalities; as you quoted, there is NO keyword to denote such a Personality. Again, as you quoted, "Shadowlands" is only used as shorthand for "The Shadowlands Horde" when on a Sensei or describing a player (and, by extension, his Stronghold). Brook Cunningham, "At'tok'tuk Sensei and the Shadowlands horde Faction", 13 May 2008
• Q: If it is possible, is the Corrupt Jade Vein producing gold equal to 2 + the number of personalities I control? => I can only control personalities member the shadowlands horde faction, does the corrupt jade vein count only personalities of the Shadowlands Horde Faction, only personalities with the shadowland trait, or both?
  A: I hope I've made it clear before, but I'll say again: There are no such thing as "Shadowlands Horde" Faction Personalities and no way for there to ever be any. Brook Cunningham, "At'tok'tuk Sensei and the Shadowlands horde Faction", 13 May 2008
• Q: Okay, I was reading 4a and 4b, and thinking that said "Shadowlands is not a Clan Alignment", but it actually says, "The Shadowlands Keyword is not a Clan Alignment" and that's a very different thing.
  That being said, why doesn't "The Shadowlands Horde" show up in list of Factions, if Shadowlands is a Faction? The keyword on personalities may not be a faction, but the Stronghold is. eh... I know that's not a question that can reasonably be answered, sorry for asking it.
  A: Because the Oracle was made post Samurai Edition when they weren't a Faction any longer in the current environment. As I understand , it was a big pain to add the sort feature for "defunct" Factions, and prohibitive/potentially confusing to put it a special new field just for the few SLH boxes. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 28 Oct 2025