Turn the Tide

Legend of the Five Rings card from Celestial Edition, Drums of War, Samurai Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

5

Card Text

Battle: If your army has one or more unbowed Samurai and the enemy army has more unbowed Personalities than yours: The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so.

Focus Value

1

Legality

Age of Enlightenment (Lotus), Destroyer War (Celestial), Race for the Throne (Samurai)

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Turn the Tide 5G 1FV Battle: If your army has one or more unbowed Samurai and the enemy army has more unbowed Personalities than yours: The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so." [MRP, Celestial Edition, 29 June 2009] Comprehensive Rules, Celestial Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, February 2012, p. 161
• Erratum: Reads, "Turn the Tide 5G 1FV Battle: If your army has one or more unbowed Samurai and the enemy army has more unbowed Personalities than yours: The enemy leader must repeatedly target and bow a different unbowed Personality in his army until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so." [MRP, Samurai Edition, 25 July 2007] Comprehensive Rules, Samurai Edition, with specific card rulings, final version, May 2009, p. 166

Rules Q&A

• Q: So saw this.
  And it seems like this is somewhat of a new class of infinite loop from those described in the floor rules. In that no player is actively doing anything to keep the loop going. This is three(or four) cards interacting continuously with each other which prevent the advancement of the game state.
  There is however, a second question that needs to be addressed. Does the resolution of this infinite loop change if there are additional unbowed personalities on the side with the 2-3 Karachus? Should the game state of those other units be changed? The resolution is infinite without Turn the Tide affecting those other personalities, but the game result could be drastically different.
  A: Turn the Tide says: "The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so."
  "Do so" here refers to the procedure of targeting and bowing a different unbowed Personality in your army. I think that is key to understanding that there is no infinite loop, contrary to what my colleague has supposed.
  So with 3 Karachus, you target and bow one, who straightens. You cannot target and bow that one again. You go on to the next copy, and the next. Now you can "no longer do so". So the procedure ends.
  With 1 Karachu and 2 normal Personalities, assuming the opposing army has 1 unbowed Personality, targeting the Karachu would not do anything to fulfill the stopping requirement, so you have to go on and target and bow the 2 normal Personalities whether or not you target him. Of course if one of them has an anti-bowing effect, you run out of Personalities to target, even though the other requirement is not met. Roger Giner-Sorolla, "Turn the Tide and Asako Karachu", 28 Dec 2011
• Q: Greetings!
  My lone unbowed samurai is defending against 3 Asako Karachu and i play Turn the tide. What happens?
  a.) Game is draw since there is an infinite loop that will never end. b.) None of the Asako Karachu gets bowed (Broken!) c.) insert explanation here?
  Thank you.
  A: In a casual game, it would be up to you and your opponent to resolve the issue. Logically, Turn the Tide can never successfully bow Karachu, so a good choice for resolution of the problem would be "b".
  For how to resolve it in a tournament setting, see here: Infinite Loops. Brook Cunningham, "Turn the Tide and Asako Karachu", 10 Dec 2011
• Q: Had this come up in a tournament. Could you play Smoke Cover as a reaction to your opponent playing Turn the Tide?
  A: Sorry, no.
  Smoke Cover reacts to "After another player targets your Ninja Personality" (emphasis mine). With Turn the Tide, you do the targeting, even though it is your opponent's action.
  Same with Flanked by Nightmares, much to the chagrin of my own Ninja deck when I play against Spider breeder. Brook Cunningham, "Turn The Tide vs. Smoke Cover", 13 Jan 2011
• Q: I have several personalities at the battle, at least one of whom is a Commander. My opponent plays Turn the Tide with only one personality on his side. If I react with hold, how many of my personalities will be unbowed after Turn the Tide finishes resolving?
  A: One.
  Hold! will negate the bowing of your selected Personality from Turn the Tide, but that doesn't end the effect of Turn the Tide. The effect of Turn the Tide will continue "until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so." The latter condition shouldn't kick in under the conditions you described, so you have to target and bow until your army does not have more unbowed Personalities than the one who played Turn the Tide. Zen Faulkes, "Turn the Tide vs. Hold!", 2 Oct 2010
• Q: I play Turn the Tide, having only a single personality in play, and want to use Debt Collector to pay 3 gold by bowing my personality. Is this legal? My personality was initially straight so I can meet the cost of having an unbowed Samurai, but he's bowed from the Debt Collector usage. Is there an order to paying costs?
  If it is legal it bows all the enemy Personalities, correct?
  Turn the Tide Battle: If your army has one or more unbowed Samurai and the enemy army has more unbowed Personalities than yours: The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so.
  Debt Collector Retainer Bow this card: Produce 2 Gold. Bow this card and one of your Personalities: Produce 3 Gold.
  A: Looks like it works to me.
  Enjoy bowing armies! Dan Jacobson, "Turn the Tide costs", 13 Apr 2010
• Q: I attack my opponent with three copies of Daigotsu Churo and he defends with a single samurai. As his first action, he plays Turn the Tide.
  Can I use the reactions on my Churos to negate their bowing as I target them, leaving me with three straightened Churos that have all used their reactions? I'm assuming that Turn the Tide doesn't go back to re-target Personalities that have had their bowing negated, but I just want to make sure.
  Turn the Tide Battle: If your army has one or more unbowed Samurai and the enemy army has more unbowed Personalities than yours: The enemy leader targets and bows a different unbowed Personality in his army, one by one, until his army no longer has more unbowed Personalities than yours, or until he can no longer do so.
  Daigotsu Churo Reaction: After an action targets Churo: Either negate the action's effects that bow Churo or negate the action's effects that move Churo.
  A: You can't re-target Personalities with Turn the Tide, because that would not be a different unbowed Personality (card text). Zen Faulkes, "Turn the Tide and bow negation", 20 Jul 2009
• Q: I have only one unbowed Samurai against ten Personalities. I play Turn the Tide and my opponent react with Caught in the act. How many of his personnalities will be bowed?
  A: In this case, Caught in the Act will only negate one case of bowing, because there are multiple and sequential bowing effects, one for each Personality. If Caught in the act were used against bowing effects that occur simultaneously to multiple Personalities (which would say something like, "Bow all of them"), it would negate all the bowing. See http://rules.l5r.com/Effects#Order_of_effects.
  [Incorrect addition removed.] Zen Faulkes, "Caught in the act & Turn the Tide", 17 Mar 2009
• Q: If I play Caught in the act to negate the bowing of my people, does it end Turn the Tide(?)
  A: No. Zen Faulkes, "Caught in the act vs Turn the tide.", 3 Feb 2008