To Do What We Must

Legend of the Five Rings card from Lotus Edition, Anvil of Despair, Diamond Edition, Gold Edition, Training Grounds 2, Celestial Edition 15th Anniversary, A Perfect Cut, Code of Bushido, Path of Hope

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Battle: Destroy your target unit led by your performing unbowed Personality and target an enemy unit with total Force less than or equal to your unit's total Force, plus your Personality's Personal Honor, plus 2 if your Personality is Crane Clan: Destroy the enemy unit.

Focus Value

3

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Clan Wars (Imperial), Four Winds (Gold), Rain of Blood (Diamond)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "To Do What We Must 0G 3FV Battle: Target and destroy a unit you control led by an unbowed Personality: Target a unit opposing it with total Force less than or equal to your unit’s total Force, plus your Personality’s Personal Honor, plus 2 if your Personality is Crane Clan. Destroy the opposing unit." [MRP, Lotus Edition, 31 October 2005] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 37
• If the unit's Followers are moved away (e.g., Rally Troops, Hardy Infantry), they won't count towards the strength of the effect since they're removed before the leader is destroyed. [DW, email, 2/7/97] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 37

Rules Q&A

• Q: [9]. Missdirection + To Do What We Must
  If I'm not wrong when you take an action... 1- Choose the targets 2-Pay the costs 3-Apply effects
  What about if I choose the target of TDWWM, and the personality controller plays a Missdirection to redirect the destruction to another personality. May I choose not to pay the cost of destroy my personality? What about the TDWWM card, does is return to my hand or is discarded?
  A: "You can redirect an action or effect only to something else it could have targeted originally." (Diamond Edition Rulebook, page 74, first paragraph)
  "You can not redirect costs, either." (Diamond Edition Rulebook, page 74)
  No, you can't choose not to pay the cost. You have to destroy the personality you targeted for the cost destruction, even if the effect destruction gets redirected to a target you don't care about. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 December 2004", 13 Dec 2004
• Q: Ok, this came up at the Detroit Tourny and I didn’t have a rulebook on me to help make an appropriate determination. I was under the impression that a unit with a bowed personality counted as 0 force for determining the force of the unit for purposes of To Do What We Must.
  A: Barring special specific card effects (like Chuichi's trait), that is correct. The criteria for determining - unit - Force totals is the same both inside and outside of the Resolution Segment, just like it says on page 83 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook. Martin Lund, "Rules for 12 November 2004", 14 Nov 2004
• Q: Let's say I got a non-Crane 3F 2PH Peep in the current Battle and my opponent a 5F Berserker Peep +2F Tenshu Bonus (so 7F alltogether). Is it possible to play To Do What We Must? I think this would be an illeal action, because the Berserker has 2F too much. But if I destroy my Peep as the cost of Tdwwm then the Berserker is not opposed any more, looses his bonus so he would be a legal target. Is this an example of an illegal action becoming legal?
  A: That won't work. During the Targeting Step, you must select a Legal target for your Action. The target wouldn't be legal until you'd paid the Cost, which comes at a later step.
  There is no "unit with total Force less than or equal to your unit's total Force, plus your Personality's Personal Honor," when you have to select legal targets, so the play can not be made.
  A better example of what you are looking for comes from playing Tsuruchi Technique when you have no gold available from publicly viewable sources. You could declare it, target it, and then use "One Koku" when the time comes to pay the cost. Martin Lund, "Rules for 12 September 2004", 15 Sep 2004
• Q: How many PH this personality card has? I want to know because of "To Do What We Must", "Show Me Your Stance" , innate duel of PH from Kurorito etc.
  A: If the stat is not defined when the card is created, the value defaults to 0. Martin Lund, "Rules for 2 June 2004", 6 Jun 2004
• Q: Iron Pillar "negates" the destruction of the personality being used to pay the cost of the To Do What We Must. Does the To Do What we Must Still Resolve?
  A: Not unless you use further resources to pay the cost, as per page 72 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook "Canceling Actions and Negating Effects." You can try to destroy your Personality again, or let the Action be canceled due to failed payment and return it to your hand. Martin Lund, "Rules for 29 May 2004", 2 Jun 2004
• Q: If one of my personalities (unbowed) is in a battle with a bowed personality, that unit's total force is considered zero for purposes of TDWWM, right?
  A: Right. Page 83 of the Diamond Edition Rulebook says regarding bowed cards and unit force the following:
  "These rules hold true any time at which you need to know a unit's or Army's force total, not just just
  during battle resolution." Martin Lund, "Rules for 13 May 2004", 16 May 2004
• Q: 2) If the personality is destroyed by some means (Overwhelmed, To Do What We Must, someone Peasant Vengancing my guy, Yoritomo Rui, etc.), does the "win becomes a tie" trait remain?
  A: It isn't really a trait. It is an effect on the battle. This effect only cares about the Personality as a reference to which side it affects - Attacker or Defender.
  Heck, the Personality could switch sides after Rend the Soul is played and take his +5 Force to the other team. The side he was on before is still the side that is stuck with the "win becomes a tie" effect.
  Silly Kolat / Ninja players. Stop thinking bad things. You know who you are.
  That's right, I mean you. Martin Lund, "Rules for 8 April 2004", 11 Apr 2004
• Q: I play a To Do What We Must, and my opponent is playing Kyuden Ikoma. I have a reaction I want to play in response to the destruction of my personality, but I don't need to play it if the To Do goes through. Can I wait to see if my opponent cancels the action?
  A: Jeff provides a nice, concise answer for this back in February.
  "Kyuden Ikoma, like all Reactions that implicitly or explicitly cancel an action upon it first being taken, are used after all the preliminaries are done (announce, target, pay costs) but before any effects resolve." ("rules for 11 Feb. 2004")
  Destroying your Personality is paying the cost. The opportunity for Reactions to such a death pass long before Kyuden Ikoma must be played. Martin Lund, "Rules for 31 March 2004", 2 Apr 2004
• Q: This came up in a game this weekend, I thought it had been ruled on already but couldn't find it, at least not under the cards being played.
  The cards in question are:
  Reserve commander: Reaction: When another player's card or action destroys one of your personalities in the current battle, bow and destroy Reserve Commander to prevent that unit's Followers from being destroyed and create a 0f/1c Personality with 1 Personal Honor leading that unit.
  To Do What We Must Battle: Destroy one of your units in this battle to destroy an opposing unit with total Force less than or equal to your unit's Force, plus your Personality's Personal Honor, plus 2 if your personality is Crane Clan.
  If you are in a battle, and use TDWWM to destroy the UNIT, can your opponent use Reserve Commander to save the followers?
  A: No. The Followers are being destroyed twice: once by the explicit effect of TDWWM and once as an implicit result of their Personality being destroyed. Reserve Commander only prevents the second. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 8 March 2004", 9 Mar 2004
• Q: my personality can commit seppuku if targeted by an action that will cause a honor loss. Does it apply if I have a dishonored personality in battle and my opponent plays To Do What We Must?
  A: No. That's honor loss caused by destruction, not an action. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 14 December 2003", 14 Dec 2003
• Q: What happens if I To Do What We Must a unit with Shireikan attached?
  The entire unit must be destroyed, including Shireikan, as a cost (card text). Nothing comes back.
  Does this effect your answer in any way? Since Rally troops has a similar wording as Shireikan?
  A: No. The wording is not similar. Rally Troops is before destruction, Shereikan when. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 4 December 2003", 5 Dec 2003
• Q: What happens if I To Do What We Must a unit with Shireikan attached?
  A: The entire unit must be destroyed, including Shireikan, as a cost (card text). Nothing comes back. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 3 December 2003, Part 2", 4 Dec 2003
• Q: When are chosen the second target of TDWWM? Before the costs are paid (before destroying your personality)? or after?
  A: Before. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 2 December 2003, Part 2", 3 Dec 2003
• Q: If I use [To Do What We Must] to destroy a unit led by a shugenja, can my opponent bow his shiba danjuro to redirect the action to him?
  A: Yes. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 30 November 2003", 1 Dec 2003
• Q: [D]oes it not follow that one can 'To Do What We Must' any entire bowed unit with even a force 0 unit with 1 personal honor[?]
  A: Correct. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 8 November 2003", 8 Nov 2003
• Q: If I target one of my Personalities with To Do What We Must and an opposing Personality, I then cast Fires of the Phoenix on my Personality. So I have temporarily stopped the destruction of my Personality but he is still going to be destroyed at the end of the Attack Phase so I am still paying for To Do What We Must.
  A: No, you're not. You cannot set up a loan, where you pay for an action now by promising that you'll kill the personality later. Either you kill the personality as a cost of the action, or you get no effect from the action. Vaughn Derderian, "Post for June 23rd, 2003", 23 Jun 2003
• Q: For example, Hida Yagamaki and another personality who has 3 followers attached are in a battle. The other personality's unit gets hit with To Do What We Must, does Yagamaki gain +1F/+1C or does he gain +4F/+4C (+1F/+1C for the personality and each of the followers)?
  A: +4/+4. To Do What We Must destroys an entire unit, so it would kill every card in it directly, not just the Personality. Jeff Alexander, "post for 2 June 2003", 3 Jun 2003
• Q: I'd like to know what actions I can cancel with this card... I see that Send Home, Ranged Attacks, To Do What We Must are actions that can be canceled with it but what about Duels?
  A: According to the card, you can cancel any action -- Battle, Open, Reaction, and (in theory) Limited, and not just red-bordered Action cards -- when it targets one or more cards in the Scouting Maneuvers unit. Remember that targeting a whole unit at once also targets just the Personality. Jeff Alexander, "post for 26 May 2003", 29 May 2003
• Q: Okay, this probably was asked before, but I want to be sure...
  Can I use the reaction of the Golden Obi of The Sun Goddess to avoid the destruction of the personality I sacrified with To Do What We Must ?
  The destruction of the personality is a cost, but the Golden Obi does not prevent the destruction... well, actually it does, but the word "prevent" is not explicitly written on the card, it is written that the obi is "destroyed instead", is it the same ?
  A: Yes, it's the same. The Golden Obi negates the destruction, and in doing so will prevent the cost from being paid and cancel the action unless you go ahead and destroy the Personality anyway. Jeff Alexander, "post for 31 March 2003", 1 Apr 2003
• Q: Once Pulse of the Black River takes effect...
  If I use To Do What We Must on one of my Shadowlands personalities to blow up a Shadowlands personality, I gain 4 honor and may taint two personalities correct?
  A: Yes. Notice that you are forced to "select one Personality ...to permanently gain the Shadowlands trait", twice -- it is not an optional effect. However, it can be the same Personality both times and it can be a Personality who already has the trait. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 March 2003", 26 Mar 2003
• Q: If I used say To Do What We Must to blow up the unit, I would get credit for all three right?
  A: Right. To Do What We Must destroys entire units directly. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 March 2003", 26 Mar 2003
• Q: Here is the question, quite tricky:
  Kisada's Fist and To Do What We Must.
  I know that you can't protect your unit from your own TDWWM because the destruction is a cost.
  But
  If your OPPONENT target your unit with a TDWWM, can you bow Kisada's Fist to prevent your personnality from being destroyed. As I read the card, as Kisada's Fist react BEFORE the personality is destroyed, you can bow him, then all cards in the unit except the personality is destroyed. Am I reading the card wrong?
  A: No. That's exactly what happens. Jeff Alexander, "post for 30 October 2002", 31 Oct 2002
• Q: 3) Can I play To Do What We Must from my bowed Personality ?
  A: No. You can't target your own bowed Personalities with your actions. Jeff Alexander, "post for 25 September 2002", 26 Sep 2002
• Q: I'm playing the dreaded Lesser Oni deck. One of my personalities has a horde of Lesser Onis attached. I To Do What We Must my opponent's personality with it. Do I gain honor for ridding the world of the Oni?
  A: Yes. TDWWM destroys every card in the unit directly. Jeff Alexander, "post for 17 September 2002", 19 Sep 2002
• Q: Ok, these questions have come up during tournaments in my area and was curious as to the official view on them:
  1) It was debated that if you kill your own character (To Do What We Must, Desperate Act, etc.) that Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves could not be played. (As far as we could tell it should be legal to play it, but just checking)
  A: It is legal to play by the Gold Edition wording. Jeff Alexander, "post for 19 August 2002", 20 Aug 2002
• Q: Even when a unit is just one Personality card with nothing attached, there's still a distinction between individual card Force and total unit Force. Some card and game effects, like To Do What We Must and the Resolution Step at the end of a battle, care about one, and some, like Test of Might and ranged attacks, care about the other. You need to read the card or the rulebook carefully and decide which kind of Force it refers to. A ranged attack below strength 8 won't kill that samurai.
  So does this mean that TDWWM can be used with say, someone with 0F and 1PH, to kill off a unit with a bowed personality?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "post for 11 April 2002", 12 Apr 2002
• Q: I was wondering what would happen if someone used the Golden Obi's reaction in response to using To Do What We Must?
  A: Then the destruction of the Personality is prevented, which means the cost of TDWWM is no longer met (you must destroy the whole unit). That player now has the option to try to pay the missing part of the cost again (i.e., destroy the Personality he just saved) or allow To Do What We Must to be canceled. [AOF rulebook p. 45...sort of. Until now, the rulebooks have said the action "fails" if the missing piece of the cost is not filled. That changes to "canceled" in the upcoming Dark Allies set because "fail" is not defined.] Jeff Alexander, "post for 18 March 2002", 19 Mar 2002
• Q: 2) Will To Do What We Must allow a weenie to take out any unit with a bowed personality?
  Yes, since TDWWM compares unit Force to unit Force.
  ??? I have always thought a bowed unit doesnt give force to the army but the unit still has force and by extension the cards in the unit still have force (ranged attacks).
  A: The individual cards in the unit still have Force. It's the Force total of the unit that suffers. Jeff Alexander, "post for 14 February 2002", 15 Feb 2002
• Q: 2) Will To Do What We Must allow a weenie to take out any unit with a bowed personality?
  A: Yes, since TDWWM compares unit Force to unit Force. Jeff Alexander, "post for 13 February 2002", 14 Feb 2002
• Q: Next, Exploding Crane doesn't refer to Crane exploding themselves with To Do What We Must.
  A: Actually, yes, it does. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 7 September", 11 Sep 2001
• Q: Ok, we had a debate about this recently in the local group, and we all have our own thoughts on it so I thought I put it out here:
  If I play To Do What We Must, and it is cancelled by Flee the Darkness, does my guy still die?
  A: If you check the MRP of To Do What We Must, you should find it reworded so that it's clear you destroy your unit "to" destroy the opposing unit. That makes it a cost. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 6-9 July 2001", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: Does my To Do What We Must go back in my hand?
  A: No. Gold rulebook, p. 45. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 6-9 July 2001", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: (html) (DIV) (P)Greetings,(/P) (P)I have a question regarding O-Ushi Sensei, specifically how it reacts with To Do What We Must.(/P) (P)(I don't have the cards in front of me, but just thought of this...)(/P) (P)If you are playing this sensei, and in a battle, you target one of your own personalities with TDWWM, can you add force twice? In other words, it looks at Force, plus Personal Honor (plus 2 for Crane) can you use O-Ushi to change that PH to Force?(/P)
  A: O-Ushi Sensei only interacts with other card effects, so you can't use it this way if you're the one playing TDWWM.
  Furthermore, you can't use it against your opponent's either, since TDWWM cares about total unit Force, not the Personality's own. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 29 March 2001", 5 Apr 2001
• Q: Third question is, are the following costs or effects of the action:
  blowing up your own guy for To Do What We Must
  discarding your hand for Flattery
  bowing your monk/ shugenja for Kiho
  A: Cost, cost, cost. Jeff Alexander, "Rulings for 16 March 2001", 22 Mar 2001
• Q: Hi,
  Courage in Death:
  Before one of your personalities is destroyed during battle: Give another target personality a force bonus equal to your personalities chi. If you are a Crab Clan player, delay your personalities destruction until after the battle ends.
  As far as I know this is the first time that an action allows destruction from my own card effects (the card does not mention whose effect destroys, so it could be my own) to be delayed.
  What if I play a card that has a cost of destroying a personality, e.g. To Do What We Must, and then delay the destruction?
  1. Cost not paid, action fails
  2. Cost is paid but delayed, action succeds
  Is it 1. or 2. ?
  A: Cost is not successfully paid, you may attempt to use other resources to pay the cost or allow the action to fail. Chris Fuchs, "Courage in Death", 24 May 2007
• Q: If I play a To Do What We Must what we must and have an Explored Territory in play which negates the next destruction of my personality, will the opposing personality still be destroyed?
  A: Explored Territory won't save a unit through To do what we must because destruction is a cost, not an effect. Zen Faulkes, "Explored Territory and To Do What We Must", 11 Apr 2005
• Q: I challenge a duel in one of my opposing peeps, then my opponent uses this card. Can he/she redirect it to my own peeps? What about I use Rain of Death or To Do What We Must? Can he/she do the same way?
  A: Diamond rules, pg. 74. Zen Faulkes, "Misdirection", 31 Mar 2005
• Q: imagine 2 scorpions and 3 cranes .... scopion attack, as the defender cranes have firts batle o open action, the crane use To Do What We Must. the cranes player choose the personalitie.
  1. can u redirect that personality to another crane ...
  2. if i choose one my personalities die can i redirect to cranes personalities.
  all these are legal targets .... can i redirec my personlities to them??
  A: This question is very difficult to understand. I'll guess at the answer.
  The initial destruction (usually Crane) is a cost, and cannot be redirected (Diamond rules, pg. 74). The second destruction is an effect, and can be redirected to a target that could have legally been picked in the first place (Diamond rules, pg. 74). Zen Faulkes, "Redirection", 30 Mar 2005
• Q: Zee with one single ratling pack token follower attacks Crane province. Defenders assigns Hayaku. Plays To Do What We Must on rats unit.
  A: This one, because Hayaku's Ranged Attack is before his destruction: Zen Faulkes, "Doji Hayaku / To Do What We Must / Few Against Many", 25 Mar 2005
• Q: [OBH] Question. Can Hantei the 39th pay the destroy cost of To Do What We Must? 39th 's trait says "Before Hantei is destroyed" so no destruction takes place? Or does the destruction still take place but 39th's trait substitutes bowing and moving?
  A: He cannot. There is no destruction. Substitution replaces the original effect before/without it happening. Brook Cunningham, "Sun and Moon #rules-questions", 16 Apr 2026