Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves

Legend of the Five Rings card from Training Grounds 2, Pre-Imperial Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition, Obsidian Edition, Diamond Edition, Gold Edition

Card Type

Strategy

Gold Cost

0

Card Text

Reaction: After a Personality with your Clan alignment is destroyed while at a battlefield, target a Personality who was opposing him immediately before his destruction: Until the game ends, Personalities with your Clan alignment have +2F/+2C while opposing the target or facing him in a duel.

Focus Value

3

Legality

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

Deck

Fate

Printings

Rulings

• Erratum: Reads, "Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves 0G 3FV Reaction:When a Personality from your Faction is destroyed while in an battle, target a Personality opposing him. For the rest of the game, Personalities from your Faction gain +2F/+2C while facing the target in a battle or duel. This does not target the destroyed Personality." [MRP, Diamond Edition, 27 October 2003] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 7
• Clarified: may be played on behalf of any Personality aligned with your Clan, regardless of ownership. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 2

Rules Q&A

• Q: 2 - Can you confirm that Keen Eye will cancel Feign Death, Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves, Kisada's shrine used in reaction to the death of the loser of the duel ?
  A: "Everything that occurs after a challenge is accepted is "during a duel." [JA, 7 November 2001], including destroying the loser. Thus, if Reactions are not allowed during a duel, a Reaction played after the death of a Personality is illegal (e.g., Feign Death), unless the Personality dies before duel resolution. [JA, 28 August 2003; email, October 2003]" (Accumulated Rulings, "Duels")
  Yes. The results of losing and winning a duel are also considered to happen "during a duel" and thus happen during the time it is legal to play Keen Eye. Martin Lund, "Rules for 11 April 2004", 13 Apr 2004
• Q: 1) An opponent has targeted one of my personalities with Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves. I later use The Egg of P'an Ku to make a copy of that personality. Is the Be Prepared effect considered a permanent change to that personality?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 26 Feb. 2004", 27 Feb 2004
• Q: This can be used with action cards too? If my personality dies in a battle can I use 3 Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves on different personalities? And on the same case, can I target all 3 reactions on the same personality?
  A: Yes and yes. Jeff Alexander, "rules for 17 Feb. 2004", 19 Feb 2004
• Q: kill one of my opponent's Personalities with a duel, he plays Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves. Can I negate it with Keen Eye?
  A: Yes (http://l5r.alderac.com/rulings/#Duels). Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 7 December 2003", 7 Dec 2003
• Q: I have a rules question on Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves (I searched the acc. rulings and didn't find the answer). Do your personalities gain the bonuses when opposing ANY card with the title that was targeted with it originally?
  A: No. It says "the Personality", not "all copies of the Personality". [card text] Jeff Alexander, "post for 29 April 2003", 30 Apr 2003
• Q: If I play Solitary Engagement, and my Personality and an opposing personality go home, and then my opponent accepts and wins the duel, would Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves be legal at this point?
  A: Yes, but the only legal target is the Personality you pulled out of the battle, since that's the only one opposing the one of yours who died. Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 December 2002", 6 Dec 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: we weren´t sure about situation when you only have one personality in a battle and he is destroyed. [...] Can i still play the BPTDTG, even though i basically have no presense anymore?
  A: It's legal. Reactions are not subject to the Rule of Presence. See Dark Allies rulebook, page 53. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 17 July 2002", 18 Jul 2002
• Q: 1) I have Hoshi's Claw on a dragon clan personality. I'm opposed by four crane personalities. One of the Crane personalities dies for some reason and the Crane player plays Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves.
  I can't use Hoshi's Claw because it's not a bonus but a stat change.
  A: Wrong. Dark Allies rules, page 31: No distinction between "bonus" and "stat change" exists in L5R. Zen Faulkes, "Rules for 6 July 2002", 7 Jul 2002
• Q: When a personality dies in a duel during battle, when does he actually die, during the duel or after? I ask because I need to know whether or not Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves can be played against Kakita Rensai or Blade of Truths. Thanks for your help.
  A: He dies during duel resolution, which is part of the duel. But if he's in a current army, he's also dying during a battle, so the question is moot. Jeff Alexander, "post for 21 May 2002", 22 May 2002
• Q: Can I use Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves in response to one of my personalities dying to a Sorrow's Path? (assuming they have defenders)
  A: Yes. It is still "during a battle" when Sorrow's Path happens. Jeff Alexander, "post for 10 May 2002", 15 May 2002
• Q: And you can't use your card effects that trigger for destroyed personalities (Duty to the Clan, Be Prepared To Dig Two Graves, etc.). In Open, Kakita Shijin cannot write poems about dead people if they were bowed when they died.
  A: He always could and still can, regardless of whether this ruling was kept. Shijin reacts after the Personality dies. [card text] Dead cards are not considered bowed. [DA rulebook p. 61] Jeff Alexander, "post for 5 April 2002 pt. 1", 5 Apr 2002
• Q: 1). Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves: If I have one personality in a battle, and they die while being opposed by 2 personalities, can I play two copies of this card, each targeting a personality opposing mine?
  A: Yes. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 19 September 2001", 20 Sep 2001
• Q: I have a quick question about Nemesis and Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves and their interaction with the Keyword Rule (pg 33 Gold Rulebook).
  When you have used the above actions and targeted "a Personality" your opponent controls do all copies of that personality then trigger the secondary effects of the cards mentioned.
  In other words does use of Nemesis or Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves create a situation were a Personalities name becomes a Keyword for the purposes of looking for it?
  Or do those two cards only interact with a single copy of the personality?
  A: The single copy. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15-20 July", 26 Jul 2001
• Q: I have a quick question about Nemesis and Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves and their interaction with the Keyword Rule (pg 33 Gold Rulebook).
  When you have used the above actions and targeted "a Personality" your opponent controls do all copies of that personality then trigger the secondary effects of the cards mentioned.
  A: No, just the one that you targeted. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: In other words does use of Nemesis or Be Prepared to Dig Two Graves create a situation were a Personalities name becomes a Keyword for the purposes of looking for it?
  A: No, no more than Biting Steel creates a situation where all 'keyword' personalities gain +2/+2. You target a guy, that guy becomes a nemesis (Hi Hawke!). It's not a general case situation. Vaughn Derderian, "Rules for", 19 Jul 2001
• Q: Trevor, I believe the bonus would actually stay with the army and not get deflated. It was a gain. Please correct me if I am wrong.
  The card says, "Until the end of the game, any Personality aligned with your clan opposing target Personality in a battle or duel gains a 2F/2C bonus."
  Since the bonus is gained and there is nothing that says the bonus is lost, if the opponent goes away. It is just like a tactician bonus. It stays until the end of the turn(unless said otherwise)like during a counterattack.
  A: It's a continuous bonus. It only lasts so long as the condition holds. Trevor is right. Jeff Alexander, "replies to 15 June", 20 Jun 2001