JCWamma, VonWibble, Veetek and 2 others like this

Howdy all! We're back with more card reviews, this time for the widely anticipatedAs the core set contains a lot of cards, we're going to break it down into sections - one article for each clan, plus one for neutrals and one for provinces! We're beginning with the game's neutral cards, since those will be usable by every clan: Note that this article does not include Keeper Initiate or Seeker Initiate - just the options that are available in standard deckbuilding. Similarly, these cards are being graded for the 3x core set experience - some, like the unpopular Wandering Ronin, are much better in 1x core, but we didn't factor that into our ratings.A brief summary of the rating scale is below:5/5 - Autoinclude or game-defining cards. You should either always have these or should have a strong argument for not including them, and they will play key roles in shaping the metagame.4/5 - Strong cards. These will be staples, but not necessarily warping. A lot of decks will probably play this card, and people might think about splashing for it.3/5 - Average cards. These are solid and will see play, but aren't anything exciting. Once stronger cards are printed, they might be swapped out.2/5 - Weak cards. These are either inefficient or overspecialized and likely won't see play except in specialty decks.1/5 - Near-unplayable. Hugely inefficient or strictly worse than other options. Don't play these.Onto the reviews!(average score: 3)– 3/5This is a filler card that will likely be played until more viable 1 drops come out for each clan—its main attractions are having a efficient political stat, decreasing average fate cost flops, and having only a minor drawback for that efficiency.- 4/5Almost certainly going to see play in any deck looking to shore up its Pol deficiencies, activate Courtier requirements, or just lower their curve in general. Not a great card by any means but good enough for the core set environment.- 3/5An effective investment of fate in the core set environment, and provides the important Courtier trait for factions that could use it for the powerful neutral effects. This value is artificially higher than it should be due to the lack of competition for card slots. Unless the Imperial trait is played upon in a meaningful way, I expect this to drop in value significantly as the game develops.- 3/5While not amazing, 1 cost for 2 strength is relevant even with the disadvantage. This is probably a bit stronger than Seppun Guardsman thanks to enabling For Shame, but not vastly so.– 2/5A solid filler neutral for decks that want the cheap courtier or the political shore-up. I don’t see many 3 core decks running this card at all, however. I rate this higher than the guardsman because it has better combos with political cards like For Shame, Spies at Court, and Forged Edict that typically don’t rely on stats.(average score: 3)– 3/5Similar to Otomo Courtier, except the stats are reversed—this one is likely a little less useful because the clans that will need the extra military seem fewer out of a core set only environment.- 4/5Almost certainly going to see play in any deck looking to shore up its Mil deficiencies, activate Bushi requirements, or just lower their curve in general. Not a great card by any means but good enough for the core set environment.- 3/5An effective investment of fate in the core set environment, and provides the important Bushi trait for factions that could use it for the powerful neutral effects. This value is artificially higher than it should be due to the lack of competition for card slots. Unless the Imperial trait is played upon in a meaningful way I expect this to drop in value significantly as the game develops.- 3/5See Otomo Courtier. Both this and Courtier may get cut as the game advances and stronger cards become available, but for now they'll be common fill-ins.– 2/5Pretty much the same deal as the Otomo Courtier but slightly worse due to cards like Rout and Charge wanting your guy to have more stats than just 2. Again, I don’t see many decks running any copies of this card.(consensus score: 2)– 2/5This is an extremely situational card as its effect is unique among all dynasty cards at the cost of inefficient stats and the vulnerabilities of being a 2 cost or less character.- 2/5Kind of a neutral, very expensive, Let Go that comes with a 1/1 for a turn. The fate system makes it such that you can’t just plop this down and wait around for a good attachment to target, so it functions very closely to an event. Shugenja trait is pretty relevant, that’s something. With attachments capping out at 2 cost out of the core set, your best case scenario here is a 2-for-2 trade (with a chump attack or defense thrown in), not amazing by any means.- 2/5You are paying a lot of fate for a character who can do a lot of things at a not very good value, whereas things that are specialized tend to have a very high ROI for their specialty like the Matsu Berserker or Bayushi Liar. The effect though is a somewhat limited effect in the game as a whole, and if needed is present for a problem is present.- 2/5Two fate for 1/1 stats is very weak, and two fate for an attachment discard is too. Even if you can make use of both components, you still don't wind up efficient.– 2/5Let Go outshines this card in almost every way besides the Shugenja trait, and Calling in Favors is also better. This card pretty much only gets run in a deck that really doesn’t want to splash Dragon or Scorpion but still wants the attachment hate.(average score: 1.2)– 1/5This is a very inefficient card, costing minimum 4 to have an ability that can be duplicated in multiple ways for 0 fate cost on lower cost and more efficient characters.- 2/5In a world where fate is everflowing, this guy would allow you to convert excess fate into winning conflicts, with 100% efficiency. (you would never spend more fate than you need to exactly win the conflict) In the last conflict for the last province he burns all excess fate for zero wastage too. Unfortunately, fate is likely going to be incredibly tight in the game. Burning 1 fate for 2 temporary strength is also not the most economical trade.- 1/5I think this is objectively the worst character and potentially the worst card in the coreset. He tries to do everything and fails to be good at any of it. I think there could be some what ifs that change the value of this card like adding fate to him to mid combat or reducing his cost, unfortunately that is not what it is.- 1/5This has some use as a "game ender" (pay 5 for 6 stats in either challenge) but is so inefficient otherwise that it may be the worst card in the game.– 1/5This card trades flexibility for a massive decrease in fate efficiency and it just isn’t worth it. It’s very vulnerable to many of the common control effects like Cloud the Mind, Mirumoto’s Fury, and Rout/Outwit. Easily the worst 3 cost card in the game.(average score: 3.2)– 4/5In the core set only environment, this card is fairly strong with its game unique ability offering bilateral movement. However, as future sets come out, it is likely other cards with greater utility and less opportunity cost will come out, which would lower the rating of this card. This will likely be initially included in decks to avoid splashing Unicorn for movement.- 3/5I find holdings rather hard to evaluate with 0 gameplay thus far. In a sense, holdings grant you ‘free’ effects/benefits at the cost of one dynasty slot. This is great when you have not enough fate to play out your entire dynasty flop anyway (and works well with extra Dynasty flip effects), but not great if there’s ever a scenario where you have too much fate and too little to spend it on. Fortunately, this game allows you to direct excess fate to keep characters around longer, whereas the reverse is not true (you can’t underspend fate to buy half a character).Favorable Ground itself is worth something close to a situational stand/bow effect on a character, if you are able to use it optimally. For no fate cost and in conjunction with extra dynasty flips, it’s pretty decent.- 3/5A very powerful ability. The ability to exit out of conflicts with a bomb after forcing your opponent to over commit is well worth the cost of a dynasty card. A very heavy tempo play at an expensive cost, but I think it is worth it in the decks that don’t have holdings they want to run.- 3/5This card allows for some great moves that other things - even Unicorn - can't really do, though being a holding may be a bit of a weakness.– 3/5This card is very flexible when it shows up, allowing you to back out of an attack after your opponent committed to a defense, or to reinforce your side in a conflict, or even counter a move home effect which are the most common form of conflict removal. The main downside is the clunkiness of wanting it to show up the turn you use it, because you don’t really want it sticking around and clogging its province slot.(average score: 3.8)– 5/5This is one of the few cards and the only neutral card that draws you a card. It will likely be auto-include for most factions in the core set only environment, being phased out as more efficient and higher utility holdings are released.- 4/5Imperial Storehouse trades a single turn’s dynasty slot for a conflict card. I like that trade.- 2/5My rogue opinion is that currently in the game these are not worth running unless you are bidding 5 every turn or ending every game at 1 honor. Losing the opportunity to play a character is very devastating as tempo decides a lot in this game, and watching the board state reset after a turn only to flip your provinces and *draw a conflict card* instead of a Lions Pride Brawler.I could be proven wrong as to how the competitive meta will develop though.- 3/5While mostly appealing only to decks that will be bidding low, this provides a bit of extra draw - the problem being that dynasty draws are often more valuable than conflict ones. In situations where dishonor is more of a threat, this card will increase significantly in value.– 5/5For the current environment, I expect this card to be in every deck. Trading a Dynasty slot for a card is a fantastic trade, as you can often saturate your fate expenditures amongst 2-3 slots with just about any combination of cards. Simply put, winning conflicts wins games, conflict cards win conflicts, and this card gives you conflict cards.(consensus score: 5)– 5/5As one of two 0 fate cost neutral attachments that give a +2 force bump in a given stat along with attachment protection, this card will be auto-include in every deck in a core only environment and likely stay so in times to come barring future average character stats rise significantly and/or future average force bumps rise significantly.- 5/5Straightforward +2 Mil for 0 that is amplified for each fate on that character. Dragon obviously really likes it for all their attachment synergies, but out of the Core set I expect every clan to be using these too.- 5/5I don’t know if there will ever be a time when this won’t be played as a 3x. I think Fine Katana and it’s sister devalue every other attachment by making attachment hate cards like Let Go and Calling In Favors main deck worthy.- 5/53x autoinclude for at least the early environment. Zero fate for two strength with upside if you stick around and favorable trait synergy - fantastic.– 5/5Anything that costs 0 fate is worth looking at, and oh boy does Fine Katana do a lot for 0. Typically on a 1 cost character will you get 2 in a stat, and this potentially works well with actions that rely on the characters stats like Rout and duels. Every deck starts with 3 of these and I think one in a million will end up cutting down to 2.(consensus score: 5)– 5/5As one of two 0 fate cost neutral attachments that give a +2 force bump in a given stat along with attachment protection, this card will be auto-include in every deck in a core only environment and likely stay so in times to come barring future average character stats rise significantly and/or future average force bumps rise significantly.- 5/5Straightforward +2 Pol for 0 that is amplified for each fate on that character. Dragon obviously really likes it for all their attachment synergies, but out of the Core set I expect every clan to be using these too.- 5/5I don’t know if there will ever be a time when this won’t be played as a 3x.- 5/53x autoinclude for at least the early environment. See above re: Fine Katana - even without the trait synergy it's still amazing.– 5/5Same arguments for Fine Katana also apply to Ornate Fan, except that the Fan is arguably a better card due to the lack of political skill increases in the game. Auto-include in the core set environment.(average score: 3.2)– 3/5The card’s trait requirement restricts it from easy use in a number of clans as the player has to choose between having more efficient dynasty buys vs. playing the card itself—a good ability, to be sure, but the trait requirement and limited use in multiple board states will keep it from being auto-include.- 3/5Realistically, only some clans will have access to this card reliably - Phoenix, Dragon, Scorpion, Unicorn, Crane, in that order. Once you get past the play requirement, the card is a pretty amazing catch-all solution for any annoying character abilities.- 3/5Stronger than initially appearing as most higher cost characters are paid for their ability and not their stats. Its restriction is very relevant though.- 3/5This stacks up unfavorably to Thrones's similar Milk of the Poppy for two reasons. First, the Shugenja requirement means many clans will have a hard time playing this. Second, the cost means it's not as good a deal in a game where many great combat tricks are free. However, it's still a powerful effect for dealing with those problem characters.– 4/5Any deck that can reliably run Cloud the Mind should run Cloud the Mind. Most characters of cost 3 or more have lackluster raw stats but make up for it with crazy abilities. This card is a cheap counter to those cards assuming you have enough Shugenja to turn it on. Lion’s Pride Brawler, Doji Challenger, Kitsu Spiritcaller, Radiant Orator, Utaku Yumino, Kaiu Shuichi, Yogo Hiroue, and not to even mention the clan champions. The list goes on and on.(consensus score: 5)– 5/5This is the only neutral character removal card and it costs 0 fate, although it has a honor loss cost. Even so, the ability to remove a character has only a minor restriction in most game states means this will be auto-include in a core set only environment, and likely one of the later cards to be phased out of decks in future sets.- 5/5Amazing no-fuss neutral character kill option. Niten Adept with attachments / fate get you down? Assassinated. Scorpion in particular will likely appreciate the loss of honor to activate their stronghold more consistently. Note that the loss of honor is a cost, so getting hit by a cancel effect is painful.- 5/5Perhaps the only true meta warping card in the core set. The only time I see not this being a 3x is if honor becomes a cost for more powerful effects.- 5/5This is a game-defining card, both in terms of how you play and interact with low cost guys and how you look at honor totals. The fear of this card will likely shape the low-cost meta for some time to come, and I see it as basically a 3x autoinclude unless honor becomes much more of a resource - and even in games where dishonor seems likely, this effect is so strong that you'll often still want to play it.– 5/5This card is a blowout if your opponent doesn’t respect it. 3 Honor is a small price to pay for a surprisingly efficient removal. That said, it’s difficult to run a lot of assassinations in a deck because drawing too many will potentially leave you in a situation where you can run out of honor. I run 2 in most decks.(consensus score: 5)– 5/5With the ability to pump military force on a character for by 4 at the cost of 1 honor, or 2 without any loss, all at 0 fate cost, this will be an auto-include for some time to come for all decks, as it can boost virtually any character to a province threatening military force.- 5/5Without paying the additional cost, it’s almost always worse than a Fine Katana. 1 honor, however, is actually not that big a cost (it’s half a conflict card), so getting to essentially repeat the effect for only half a card is a steal.- 5/5I don’t know if there will ever be a time where this won’t be played as a 3x.- 5/53x autoinclude for at least the early environment. Zero fate for two strength or one honor for four - this card means even the weakest military attacks threaten to break most provinces if unopposed.– 5/5Alongside Fine Katana and Ornate Fan, I expect most decks will be packing at least a couple copies of Banzai for the reach it gives towards breaking provinces. Another auto-include, in my opinion.(average score: 1.2)– 1/5This card is the epitome of niche, because it’s likely only used to clinch a win by playing the card or is there to mess with your opponent when you’re already winning as a result of the rules providing it does not actually manipulate your honor dial to combo with other honor dial referencing cards.- 1/5Yeah….this at most ‘fixes’ your dial by 1 when you could have just chosen the correct number in the first place. I could see a use for it if the spread was bigger (say, increase/decrease the value of your bid by 2-3) but at 1 it’s nigh unplayable. Would almost always rather have a do-something conflict card than this.- 1/5Potentially the worst event in the game. It potentially goes to a 2/5 if there is a valid dishonor deck.- 1/5If you use this to add to your bid, it says "spend a card to give an honor to your opponent and draw a card" - awful. If you use this to subtract from your bid, you can go to 0 and potentially get that last point to beat someone who is very low on honor - cool, but so situational that it isn't worth a slot. Note that this card does not change your bid's value for later cards like Good Omen or I Can Swim - if it did, it would be much more valuable.– 2/5I don’t think this card is absolutely awful, though it is certainly really niche. This pretty much only belongs in dedicated dishonor decks as a one or two-of finisher to close out a game and that’s about the breadth of its use until we see a dueling deck come together… maybe.(consensus score: 5)– 5/5The two choice ability to dishonor or honor a character for 0 fate cost makes this an efficient force bump or neg in a core set environment, and allows the player to gain resources as a result. This will likely be auto-include for some time.- 5/5Great card. The fact that it’s neutral and not strictly worse than Way of the Crane or Scorpion speaks volumes about it. Sure, it’s usable only in Pol conflicts, but realistically it’s not hard to find a good use for it then.- 5/5Very strong, everyone is going to fight in political conflicts. Might be the only thing that can save you from a Way of the Scorpion + I Can Swim combo. Roughly equivalent to a Ornate Fan/Fine Katana with the stipulation of being used in a political conflict but can affect future challenges of the other type with a slightly more transitive state on the board due to a fire ring. Probably a 5/5 in the coreset environment.- 5/5.While not quite as universally amazing as Katana/Fan/Banzai due to its immediate impact depending on glory, this is still going to produce big swings and will likely be seen in almost all decks - even if you don't have high glory guys, your opponent might!– 5/5Another auto-include in most decks. Court Games is very flexible and powerful as every deck can make use of it. Essentially the political equivalent of Banzai!(consensus score: 4)– 4/5This card is really 5/5 for the clans that have enough courtiers to viably run this without relying on Otomo Courtier for the trait restriction, and is a 3/5 for clans that don’t have enough in clan courtiers to do so or do have the courtier count but for play style purposes do not necessarily want it.- 4/5Few hoops to jump through with requiring a participating Courtier character, but the decks that are willing to make those jumps will likely enjoy playing this card a lot.- 4/5Courtier trait can be a huge limitation for this card and the selection makes this card worse as the value of dishonor can range from being impactful to completely irrelevant. All that being said I think this card will be played fairly frequently in the core set environment as a free combat trick is a free combat trick.- 4/5This is a strong combat trick that is somewhat hampered against low glory opponents or in decks that don't run very many Courtiers. However, I think it will still be a staple for several factions.– 4/5If your deck has a fair number of courtiers, there’s basically no reason not to run For Shame!. This card pretty much always does work except against 0 glory guys who aren’t already dishonored. Almost any deck can also import Steward of Law and run this in combination with it for a guaranteed bow on anyone for 1 fate. Note it can be used in either conflict type, unlike Court Games.(average score: 2.6)– 2/5With an honor dial referencing restriction, the card may never be playable if bidding meta runs high, but it increases fate efficiency with its 0 fate cost action to add 1 fate to a 3 cost or greater character. In certain decks this can have more than minimal value given play style, so it’s 2/5.- 3/5Essentially trades a conflict card for a post hoc fate on any character you want, which is a sweet deal. Not gamebreaking by any means, but pretty decent.- 2/5A conflict card for a fate is pretty good value. The stipulations are a bit rough and depending on the meta bidding style can reduce/increase its potential effectiveness a lot. If a deck comes around that can engineer the stipulations I could see this even being very playable in it.- 3/5While potentially quite strong, Good Omen's triggering condition may be hard to achieve. It's currently too early to tell how the meta will end up looking with respect to common bid strategies, but if your deck can consistently activate this it's solid.– 3/5The effect here is certainly powerful, and the 3+ cost requirement is really not much of a downside. The problem with Good Omen is you have to be lower, and being equal is not lower so you can never guarantee this card will be active.(average score: 3.4)– 3/5This is the only neutral card that directly manipulates the opponent’s hand and it does so at a relatively minimal cost to potentially 40% of the cards in your opponent’s hand, which can be game winning. However, it does not proactively help you win the conflict it would be relevant in and may be difficult to play in certain honor situations, and will likely be phased out from being near auto-include as dishonor and honor victory based decks become more viable.- 2/5The math here is 1 card + 1 dishonor (worth slightly more than 1 honor loss which is half a card), for 2 cards from your opponent, with an additional requirement to win a Pol conflict. Not great.- 4/5A win more card with a cost that can be irrelevant at times. Very good and highly playable, but I can see it not making the cut for some decks.- 4/5Trading one of your cards for two of theirs is often a good deal, and of course even better in decks that want to set up low bid situations. Note that dishonoring a guy matters more for some factions than for others.– 4/5This card has a lot of mixed opinions on it, but it’s one of the most powerful effects in the game at the cost of an honor if you use it on a guy who was going away anyways. As I said earlier, conflict cards win conflicts and conflicts win games. Trading 1 of your cards for two probably very good cards of your opponent is a sweet deal.(average score: 3.8)– 3/5For the clans that have other options to play characters outside of the dynasty phase, this card is great, possibly auto-include. For everyone else, it’s a high risk-high reward card that gives up efficient dynasty buys for a surprise action, which can be good, but just as likely will be a “cute” move in a game that relies on mitigating variance.- 4/5This will always be a relevant threat, so relevant that your opponent is never surprised by it. Crab can push this card very far with Vanguard Warrior and Reprieve.- 5/5This card is nuts. My pick for one of the best conflict cards in the entire Core set. By itself, it’s +X Mil worth of extra strength, depending on what character you get with it. In conjunction with stuff like Good Omen, Vanguard Warrior, For Greater Glory, or Reprieve, you start going into nuts-o territory.- 3/5I don't know that Charge is the right play for a lot of decks, given that it's somewhat telegraphed and costs a resource while many other tricks don't, but the potential upside (getting a clan champion or other powerful ability into play) may make it worth it for many. Note that this synergizes well with cards that flip up facedown Dynasty draws - Lion in particular is well suited to play this.– 4/5Ah yes, every game needs the card that makes people scream that the sky is falling and Charge! seemed to be that card here. This card does not reach 5/5 auto-include status because not every clan will run it. It’s great in Lion and Unicorn, solid in Crab and Dragon, and mediocre in Crane, Scorpion, and Phoenix. You do also need to have the card you want to charge face-up in your province, so if you are going second your opponent can play around it by breaking the province with your best guy politically. Still, the cards top end is insane and its average is still good, so Charge! Is a fantastic card overall.(average score: 2.2)– 2/5When this card hits a high investment target, it’s amazing. But, it will often require spending more resources than necessary to meet its restriction and can only target participating characters in up to 50% of a turn’s conflicts. You can likely find more utility in other non-character removal cards for fewer restrictions or generally more useful effects- 3/5The fact that you have to choose a participating character makes this a lot less obnoxious than it could have been otherwise. Winning by 5 on military is also not an option available to all clans readily.- 2/5Spies at Courts bad cousin. Can blow an opponent out occasionally, but you can’t ever really run it more than a 1x because of the strict board state requirements.- 2/5Unlike Put to the Sword from Game of Thrones, this card requires that your victim be in the same conflict as you. That stipulation, coupled with the fact that this game tends to have impermanent characters anyway, means this is only good in quite niche scenarios. However, if most disregard it you can still give an opponent a nasty surprise from time to time.– 2/5At a glance, players of Game of Thrones might look at this card and think it’s the equivalent of Put to the Sword in this game; but what makes this card distinctly worse in my opinion is that the target needs to be participating, which means it usually only generates value if they have fate on them, and then you still need to reach the “5 or more skill” requirement and pay a fate on top of it. Just a little too restricted to see much play.(average score: 3)– 4/5This is one of two cards that will send a character home in a conflict utilizing a particular stat for comparing higher-lower values. It is keyword restricted, but is one of only two neutral send home options, the other being the same but for the other type of conflict comparing the opposite skill type number. Auto-include for the clans that focus on this card’s particular stat and have enough of the trait restriction keyword to utilize it and a strong consideration for the clans that plan to consistently have at least one of the corresponding trait on the field whenever available.- 1/5Requires participating Courtier character, has to be lower skill than said Courtier, sends home for potential re-use, costs 1 fate. Nope.- 3/5This card gets interesting with courtier trait characters that are strong in military conflict. Usually the first to make the cut, but can usually find the room for a 1x as an appropriately costed and relevant tempo play.- 3/5Sending an opponent home is powerful and hard to resist, but it does mean they'll get to fight in potential later conflicts in the round. Further, 1 cost is expensive in a game where big swings can cost 0. I think this is a comparatively niche card - it's best for final attacks on the enemy stronghold or for the last attack in a turn - but when you want this type of ability it can be a game winner.– 4/5A great card for political clans with beefy courtiers. The card is straight tempo and note again that this can be used in any conflict. Move home is more powerful than you might think, as it can generate unopposed conflicts for dishonor and can be a big swing in military conflicts where guys generally have less political skill. Even though your opponent can use the character in a later conflict, you still deny them using it in the best conflict – the one they originally sent it into to begin with. Needless to say that this drawback is practically non-existent in the last conflict of each round.(average score: 3.2)– 4/5This is one of two cards that will send a character home in a conflict utilizing a particular stat for comparing higher-lower values. It is keyword restricted, but is one of only two neutral send home options, the other being the same but for the other type of conflict comparing the opposite skill type number. Auto-include for the clans that focus on this card’s particular stat and have enough of the trait restriction keyword to utilize it and a strong consideration for the clans that plan to consistently have at least one of the corresponding trait on the field whenever available.- 1/5Requires participating Bushi character, has to be lower skill than said Bushi, sends home for potential re-use, costs 1 fate. Nope.- 3/5Outwit's brother and all the above applies in its relevant context.- 3/5Same as Outwit except military/Bushi instead of political/Courtier, and the same comments broadly apply.– 5/5While rout is basically a military version of Outwit, that has a lot of implications: namely that there are a lot more Bushi than Courtiers in the game and also a lot more military pumps in the game. I also rated this card one point higher because the decks that can use Rout make generally better use of it than the decks that run Outwit. Both cards are great, and expect them to see play in a lot of decks for awhile.