"A sudden gust of wind stirred the tent flap, and Tsuko felt her eyes fixing on the image painted upon it—a lion stalking through the tall grass. They were lions here, on the Osari Plains, stalking and running down their prey, reclaiming what was theirs."

–Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda, The Fires of Justice

With the Great Clans of Rokugan besieged on all sides by forces both external and internal, the Great Clans need concepts like honor and glory to maintain peace and order. In the hardest of times, it is honor and glory that keep a samurai from losing themselves completely and assist them in finding a path through the darkness.

A few weeks ago, we announced For Honor and Glory, the second Dynasty Pack in the Imperial Cycle for Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game, along with the other packs of the Imperial Cycle. Within For Honor and Glory, you'll find three copies of twenty new cards divided between each of the Great Clans. Like the other packs of the Imperial Cycle, the cards in For Honor and Glory continue to introduce powerful Imperial cards while expanding on the themes found in the Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game Core Set.

Today, we'll preview a few of the cards that you can expect to find in For Honor and Glory. Then, look for this Dynasty Pack at your local retailer this Thursday!

For Honor

The Crane boast some of the finest duelists in the Emerald Empire. These swordsmen are not only known for their skill with the blade, but for the grace with which they wield it. The Kakita Blade (For Honor and Glory, 33) is useful in military conflict, boosting the military skill of its user by two, but truly shines when its wielder is involved in a duel. Whenever the wielder of a Kakita Blade wins a duel, you gain one honor. Against decks that focus on draining honor, like the Scorpion, this can provide a massive boost when equipped on a character like Kakita Kaezin (Core Set, 49), who can continually duel every turn. Furthermore, when the attached character is participating in a duel, they get plus two political skill. This boost to political skill is perfectly timed, as For Honor and Glory introduces the very first political duel in the game.

While many duels are fought in the battlefield, others are fought with the back-and-forth verbal sparring of the courts. Policy Debate (For Honor and Glory, 40) is a zero-cost event that lets you challenge an opponent’s character to a political duel. The loser reveals their hand of cards to the winner, who discards a card of their choice. This can be particularly effective if you are the defending player. Opening your conflict actions with a Policy Debate can give you a view of what your opponent is planning and discard a card that may give them an advantage in the conflict to come. Casting aside a Fine Katana (Core Set, 200) or Ornate Fan (Core Set, 201) could potentially save one of your provinces from breaking, while discarding I Can Swim (Core Set, 187) can potentially save one of your characters completely.

For Glory

Few exemplify the concepts of honor and glory better than the Lion Clan. Not only are they the undisputed masters of battle, they have a reverence for tradition and history that defines them as a Clan. Last week, the Lion proved their superiority when Samuel Benies claimed the title of Shogun, leading the mighty Lion to victory at the Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game Winter Court World Championship. For Honor and Glory gives the Clan even more tools to overrun their foes.

Ikoma Ujiaki (For Honor and Glory, 26) strikes an important balance between political and military skill. As both a Courtier and a Bushi, Ujiaki enables many cards, including the many Lion cards focused on Bushi as well as politically focused cards like For Shame! (Core Set, 207). Furthermore, with five political skill and three military skill, Ujiaki provides a major boost to both types of conflict. But Ujiaki’s real strength comes in his powerful Action ability. During a conflict, you may discard the Imperial Favor to turn each facedown card in each of your provinces faceup, and then put up to two characters from your provinces into play participating in the conflict. With a heavy focus on characters, you’re likely to have a few potent targets when using Ujiaki’s ability, and the bonus skill point you could be giving away with the Imperial Favor will be more than made up for by the Lion horde waiting in the wings. It's also important to note that the characters you bring into play don't have to be flipped up by Ujiaki's ability. If you have Akodo Toturi (Core Set, 79) faceup in your province, you can use Ujiaki's abiity to discard the Imperial Favor and bring the Lion Clan Champion to the conflict, along with another powerful warrior.

As a Bushi, Ikoma Ujiaki has access to the Kamayari (For Honor and Glory, 35), a deadly Weapon that not only boosts military skill but can trip up and shut down opposing characters. If you have a character equipped with a Kamayari in a conflict, you can bow an enemy character whenever it triggers its ability. If that character happens to be participating in the conflict, bowing them with Kamayari will negate their skill; if the character is not in the conflict, they will no longer be able to participate in future conflicts. Either way, Kamayari is a devastating attachment that can swing a game in the favor of the Lion Clan.

For Rokugan

Honor and glory are important to any samurai of Rokugan, but the Lion and Crane exemplify these qualities like few others. With For Honor and Glory, all seven clans will get the opportunity to hone their skills with new cards. What Clan will come out on top when For Honor and Glory is released this Thursday?