The Sun Returns

Legend of the Five Rings card from Soul of the Empire, Ivory Edition, Three Dynasties

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Interrupt: Bow your target unbowed Tactician. Negate the effects of a Battle or Engage action.

Focus Value

3

Legality

A Brother's Destiny (Ivory Edition), A Brother's Destiny (Twenty Festivals), Hidden Emperor (Jade), Three Dynasties

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: For example, if Doji Kuwanan exp2's Reaction is canceled, by Fall On Your Knees or The Sun Returns, can it immediately be re-used on the same use of Tactician?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-16 September 2001", 17 Sep 2001
• Q: Since Kuwanan doesn't bow to use his reaction, cancelling it has no effect as he can promptly repeat his reaction, true?
  The rules say that "you cannot use a Reaction on a single copy of a card more than once per trigger". However, cancelling has been ruled to work such that the cancelled action is not considered to have occured - "once per turn" actions can be reattempted - although any costs are not refunded.
  So if I make a use of Tactician, which is cancelled by Kuwanan, I can cancel his reaction with, say, "The Sun Returns" [which isn't a use of Tactician, so Kuwanan can't cancel it], but Kuwanan can promptly repeat his reaction as he's not considered to have used it.
  A: That is correct. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 29 March 2001", 5 Apr 2001
• Q: (the original question was, what are the conditions under which The Sun Returns can be used - and I'd still like to know that...)
  A: I thought I already corrected myself on this one. The Sun Returns works the same as Shoju: you can only cancel an action of a player who has units opposing yours in the current battle. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 22 March 2001", 29 Mar 2001
• Q: First question, the one I wouldn't be asking if I didn't need to put it on paper for someone.
  Are reactions subject to the 'Present in Battle' rules.
  No. Only Open and Battle actions are subject to the Rules of Presence and Relevance.
  Does this mean that if you have no one at a battle, you can still play The Sun Returns, and bow one of your tacticians not in the battle, to negate the action?
  A: Yes. (And you mean "cancel".) Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for late February 2001", 10 Mar 2001
• Q: Sequence:
  Attacker Announces reserve equip of Dark Naga Ambusher. Attacker interrupts with Dark Naga Ambusher to take additional action. Defender interrupts with the Sun Returns to negate the equip action.
  Question: will the Dark Naga Ambushers be discarded during step F?
  A: It stays in your hand.
  When Equipping an attachment using the rulebook ability, or other ability not on the attachment itself, the attachment stays in your hand if it does not enter play.
  (Conversely, if the Equip effect comes from an ability on the card itself, such as Hidden Reserves, the card is played like a strategy: it enters a Resolution Area when the action is announced, and is discarded after the Resolution of the action if it fails to enter play.) Alex Jones, "Negation of Reserved Equipped attachments vs. Negation", 3 Jun 2015
• Q: this is totally not meant to be a troll post, just got confused when I saw a recent ruling and need further classification.
  viewtopic.php?f=59&t=113667
  in the 5th part of this ruling at the bottom, it is stated that gold will not be paid if a reserve recruit is cancelled by a Sun returns. is this only referring to the invest cost or the entire cost of the peep? if it's the entire cost then what happens to the gold paid for a Deliberations that is cancelled by the Sun Returns. would the result be different if a turtle's shell is used instead?
  why is gold paid in the ruling regarding ivory courtroom? viewtopic.php?f=59&t=113749
  A: The action sequence is this:
  A. Announce B. Pay costs C. Declare targets D. Interrupt action round E. Action Resolution F. End
  In particular, note what happens in step B: During the Pay Costs step, if the action has a Gold cost (or if a targeting paradox makes it potentially have one), its player may produce Gold and then pay for the action using the Gold just produced and Gold in that player’s Gold pool. Any Gold produced that is not spent on the action goes to the player’s Gold pool.
  During this step, you not only produce gold, you spend it. Gold which you've produced but not spent goes into the pool at this stage. You can't pay more gold for the action later (except with cards like In Stillness, Forge the Soul which explicitly allow you to make payments at other times). If the action is a Recruit or Invest action, and you intend to Invest the card entering play, you must pay the entire gold cost now: you don't for example pay the printed cost now and the Invest cost later.
  Once you've spent that gold on the action, it's gone beyond your reach, regardless of what happens to the action. As stated previously, if the action is cancelled, you don't get it back.
  You'll note that I didn't say that the gold isn't paid when the Recruit action is negated by The Sun Returns. What doesn't happen is "the gold paid for the action" becoming also "the gold paid for the Personality". Alex Jones, "action negation and cost", 13 May 2015
• Q: Hello,
  My army includes a Tactician with Taketori attached. My opponent plays an action, and I bow my Tactician to pay the cost for The Sun Returns to cancel the action. May I bow Taketori to straighten my Tactician, because the bowing was required by The Sun Returns?
  Relevant text:
  Taketori Battle, (bow): If your card bowed this Personality this battle, straighten him.
  Thank you for your time.
  A: Yes, you may. Your card (The Sun Returns) bowed him, so Taketori will straighten him. Jon Palmer, "Taketori and Bowing Due to Paying a Cost", 9 Apr 2015
• Q: Following this: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=110475
  What about Goju Saido? If I invested him the first time, and I bring him back later with Blood of the Preserver xp, he still costs 15G... but does he produce a new Melee 5 attack?
  Also, what happens to his GC and Melee Attack if I try to Recruit him from my province (the first time) and I choose to Invest, but he doesn't enter play? (example 1: I don't have enough gold, example 2: he became Reserve and the Battle Recruit action is negated by The Sun Returns)
  Goju Saido Invest 10: Melee 5 Attack (this cannot be Interrupted) that may target a card in a player's home (if otherwise legal).
  A: Each Invest is a seperate triggered trait, that looks to see if the Invest cost was played the most recent time this card a) entered play for Personalities/Followers/Holdings, or b) was played for it's ability for Strategies.
  If you Invested a Goju Saido, then that card was destroyed, then subsequently recruited again (without becoming face down and out of play), it's current Gold Cost would be 15, and if you wanted to get the Melee 5 Attack again, you'd have to Invest again, raising the Gold Cost of Saido to 25.
  As for your second question, if for some reason an Invested Personality fails to enter play, the Invest increase of his GC has already happened, so assuming he doesn't go face down and out of play, he will remain at his higher Gold Cost, but you will not get the Invest effect. Ben Higgins, "Re: Returning Invested Personalities to play", 11 Nov 2014
• Q: Hello,
  Let's say I play Victory through Deference (as a battle action) and my opponent negates it with the Sun Returns.
  Can I still invest 1g to get the card draw? I ask because invest is technically a trait and I don't think we have any cards in the current environment that can stop traits from triggering.
  Would the answer be different if they used the scorpion box?
  Just trying to understand mechanically where Invest on Fate cards falls.
  Cheers!
  Victory Through Deference: Invest : Draw a card. Battle/Open: Remove one to three non-Ring cards in discard piles from the game. You may target a Personality and remove one of his abilities or boldface keywords (this turn). Take an additional action.
  The Sun Returns: Interrupt: Bow your target unbowed Tactician. Negate the effects of a Battle or Engage action.
  The Shadowed Estate of the Scorpion: Tireless Open: Name a Fate card, or name a Dynasty card in play. Negate the effects of the next action from a card with that title.
  A: The Sun Returns would also negate the card draw.
  Comprehensive Rules, page 55, "An Invest cost on a Strategy.... If it creates distinct effects, as opposed to just modifying the action, the are added to the action's effects, resolving last, and become part of the action." Brook Cunningham, "Negate a Strategy + Invest", 9 Sep 2014
• Q: Did a search and didn't find too much other than targeting. I have a battle with 2 tacticians and my opponent as his first battle actions drops Come one at a Time and wants to duel one of my guys. Can i react with The Sun Returns to negate the playing or effects of the terrain or would i just cancel the effects of the 1st duel off the terrain? If the battle action on terrain is negated does the card remain in play?
  Come one at a Time: While there is exactly one defending Personality here, he has the ability, "Repeatable Battle: Challenge a target enemy Personality. Destroy the loser" and each player has the ability, "Repeatable Battle: Move home your target attacking Personality. Bow him as he moves." Battle: Destroy a Terrain (if able). Put this Terrain into play. Take an additional action granted by it.
  The Sun Returns: Bow your target unbowed Tactician. Negate the effects of a Battle or Engage action.
  A: You can choose to Interrupt either the playing of the terrain, or the challenge action taken.
  If you do the former, the terrain never enters play. If you do the latter, that challenge is negated, but the terrain remains in play and can be used for its actions. Jon Palmer, "The Sun Returns Versus Terrains/Come One at a Time", 13 May 2014
• Q: Could I get a little more clarification on my question. You said that you can't negate the action if you don't target an unbowed tactition. I don't under stand why that's a requirement. I totally understand the INTENT of this card's design but it seems there has been a lot of talk about second effects on cards still going off even if the first effect fails and this card appears to work the same way. I play the interrupt, I bow a tactition if possible and I negate the battle/engage action. If bowing the tactition is not a cost then anyone should be able to play it.
  A: All targeting is mandatory unless imeadiately prefaced with "you may."
  Unless you can actually fulfill all mandatory targeting, the action cannot be announced and thus not taken.
  This is covered under the second part of the Good Faith Rule, as found in the Reference Rules document. Ben Higgins, "The Sun Returns continued...", 25 Mar 2014
• Q: The Sun Returns Interrupt: Bow your target unbowed Tactician. Negate the effects of a Battle or Engage action.
  I tried a cursory search about paying costs in Ivory but couldn't find the answer I was looking for. Reading this card it doesn't seem that bowing the Tactician is a cost it's just another effect of the card. If it were a cost wouldn't it read Interrupt: Bow your target unbowed Tactician TO Negate the effects of a Battle or Engage action.
  A: The Sun Returns has no costs. Bowing your Tactician is part of the actions effects.
  However, you are required to control at least one unbowed Tactician, as you need one to target otherwise the action cannot be announced. Ben Higgins, "The Sun Returns", 24 Mar 2014