The Time Is Not Right

Legend of the Five Rings card from The Fall of Otosan Uchi

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Keywords

Political

Card Text

Reaction: After a Limited action targets one of your Personalities, bow your performing Courtier: Negate the action's effects.

Focus Value

3

Legality

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

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rules Q&A

• Q: Also can Keen eye cancel The Time is Not Right, Dismissed, or any other canceling actions.
  A: Keen Eye says, "Reaction: Negate the effects of a Reaction taken by another player duing a challenge or duel involving one of your Personalities. Draw a Fate card."
  The Time is Not Right says, "Reaction: Bow one of your Courtiers when one of your Personalities is targeted with a Limited action to cancel the action."
  This interaction depends on when the targeting happens. Iaijutsu Art targets well before the Challenge begins. You can't play Keen Eye against the Time is Not Right there.
  Temple of the Ninth Kami's Action does not target its controller's personality until the Challenge is issued, ergo Keen Eye could be played in Reaction to "The Time is Not Right" - just don't ask me why the Tot9K player felt a need to cancel their own stronghold ability with "The Time is Not Right."
  Dismissed says, "Political Reaction: Bow one of your Courtiers to cancel a Political Limited action. Political Reaction: Bow one of your Courtiers to negate a Challenge during the Action Phase."
  The first Reaction is played at the targeting step of the Political Limited action, before Keen Eye can be played (no challenge or duel yet).
  The second Reaction is played after the Challenge is issued, so it is during the time that Keen Eye can be played (during a challenge or duel). Martin Lund, "Rules for 5 April 2004", 7 Apr 2004
• Q: However, if I cancel such a Limited action with (Outmaneuvered by Force/The Time is Not Right/Balance in Nothingness/etc), does the action count as not having resolved, and thus my opponent's next attempt to target my Personalities will still be the "first time" that phase?
  A: The action did not resolve, was never even attempted (Diamond rules, pg. 72). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 17 December 2003, Part 2", 18 Dec 2003
• Q: @Brook Cunningham another question. If miroki's ability is canceled with the time is not right, is the cost of her death canceled? or she does dies? I think it does dies as thats a cost
  the oracle says it negates its effects
  A: Right. In contemporary and OBH Rules, there's no concept of "cancel" (which used to ignore costs) as the Oracle wording shows, and Miroki's Oracle text is still Emperor-formatted, so her destruction is still a cost. Don't get me started about how if Miroki were updated to Ivory templating, her destruction wouldn't be a cost because Ivory got rid of all costs that were not (bow icon) or (Gold). Oops, I said it anyway. 🙁 Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 2 Jun 2026