L5R Ivory Edition card previews – Alliance and Fall Back!

Alliance

Giving us a peek at how some of the previously printed Events will be templated for Ivory Edition, Alliance shows us how the new designs under the Ivory ruleset simplify the need to track when and how these Events impact the game state. Where previously Events would resolve their effects then get put in the discard pile (even if their effects were permanent), this card now puts itself into play, allowing all players to more easily reference it over the course of the game.

Also of note for this printing is the lack of the Unique keyword. Where previous editions that featured Alliance only allowed the card to be in any deck once, this new printing now encourages the player to balance whether they want the chance of seeing this Event earlier in the game at the potential cost of a dead Dynasty flip later on. Intentional or not, this risk/reward mirrors the often tenuous alliances between the clans in the storyline itself.

Fall Back!

A strong reprint, Fall Back! saw a lot of play in the Celestial Edition tournament arc, but failed to really make an impact in the power-charged Emperor Edition environment. With the apparent power down evident in Ivory Edition, it would be no surprise if Fall Back! took its place as a versatile card with minimal drawback and ended up appearing in many a tournament deck come this Spring’s Kotei season.

In addition, Fall Back! gives us a look at another new wording template, where the unbowing effect happens with the movement and is not conditionally subsequent to it, as was the case in previous printings. This may seem like a subtle change, but clearly exemplifies the move to make cards sound less like a computer program, and instead take on a more conversational tone while still maintaining technically correct wording.

Make sure and check out our next preview of two new Ivory Edition cards on December 11th!