Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
 
Lion Speed Deck - Final Chapter
by Matsu Kusinagi

Finally, we will plan a rough idea of the Fate Deck you might use when playing a Lion Speed Deck. Personally I find the Fate Deck to the both the most interesting, and the hardest part of the deck to create. Your deck relies solely on your fate hand, because a dynasty deck alone won't cut it. For an LSD, you will need very many different varieties of cards. Followers, Force boosters, Supportive Cards, and other cards to help you run and destroy the enemy provinces. The easiest part of the Fate Deck, is the follower base, so we'll do the follower base first. There are plenty of followers in Legend of the Five Rings that can be considered. With the Lion Gold scheme, we'll need the best personalities we can find that come off the SH. Here's a list of personalities that fit our gold scheme:

-Light Infantry
2 Force
1 Personality Honor Required
2 Gold
1 Focus

-Elite Light Infantry
2 Force
2 Personality Honor Required
3 Gold
This Follower contributes its Force Total to its army's total during the resolution phase of the battle even if this unit's Personality is bowed. This Follower is immune to fear effects.
3 Focus

-Spearmen
2 Force
1 Personality Honor Required
3 Gold
Battle: Bow for a Ranged 2 Attack
2 Focus

-Ashigaru
* Force
0 Required Personality Honor
0 gold
Ashigaru have 1F for every Small Farm you have in play. Lose 2 Honor if Ashigaru are destroyed.
3 Focus

Of these followers, I like the Spearmen and the Ashigaru best. Spearmen can bow for a Ranged 2 Attack which can help eliminate early threats at the cost of 2 Force. 2 Force for a 2 force personality on the other side of the battle is well worth it. Ashigaru is a definate addition to this deck because with 3 Large/Small Farms, it has a potential 6 force for 0 gold!

Okay, there's 6 cards off the board. Now, we need to look at which Terrians that this deck will need. It's quite easy to decide really, because there are only 2 useful Terrains in a speed deck. Those are:

-Deadly Ground
0 Gold
Battle Terrain: No player may take actions unless it is an action which would destroy this terrain.
1 Focus

-Contentious Terrian
0 Gold
Battle Terrain: Each of your personalities gains a +1 Force bonus.
1 Focus

Deadly Ground allows you to stop the battle if you have the upper hand, and the Contentious Terrain gives you force, even more if you have multiple personalities in the attacking/defending army. Although, there may be too many cards, so Contentious Terrains may or may not make the final decklist. Now that we've found some good Terrains, we'll need to know which supportive actions to add to the deck. Here is a good list of possible additions:

-Charge
0 Gold
Battle: Target an attacking personality which gains a +2 Force bonus, +3 Force if it is a Lion personality.
1 Focus

-Destiny Has no Secrets
0 Gold
Battle: Target personality gets a +2 Force +2 Chi bonus. You must show your hand to all players.
1 Focus

-Strength of Purity
0 Gold
Battle: Target personality gains +3 Force +3 Chi bonus if their personal honor is greather than 2.
1 Focus

-Rallying Cry
0 Gold
Reaction: Play after the final resolution of a battle. Your units do not bow because of the battle.
3 Focus

-One Koku
0 Gold
Open: Play to produce 1 gold for a card.
1 Focus

-Counterattack
0 Gold
Reaction: Play as a reaction after a battle in which you were the defender. You may immediately commit an attack against that player in which you are the attacker, and they are the defender.
4 Focus

-Refugees
0 Gold
Battle: Target a personality which has no attached followers. That personality is sent home from this battle bowed. That personalities controller may pay 1 gold to attach a 1 Force Ashigaru follower token to that personality. You may use this action in a battle which you have no units if you are the defender.
2 Focus

-Careful Planning
0 Gold
Open: Play to give a personality +1 Force +1 Chi until the end of your turn.
1 Focus

-Crushing Attack
0 Gold
Battle: Play when you have more than twice as much force as the opposing army. The battle action segment is over, and all terrains resolve normally.
3 Focus

-Call to Arms
3 Gold
Reaction: Play this card as the defender after attacking units have been assigned to your provinces. All your units unbow, and may defend normally. You must bow these units again after all battles have been resolved.
3 Focus

-Lies, Lies, Lies...
0 Gold
Political Limited: Gain 8 honor if you have no cards in play that cause an honor loss to put into play, and no Shadowlands, Ninja, or Kolat cards in play. Honor gain above your starting family honor is lost.
2 Focus

-Superior Tactics
0 Gold
Battle: This card may only target one of your Personalities with a Chi of 3 or higher. You may either move this Personality's unit to t different Province, or force a Terrain card to be destroyed.

-Defend your Honor
0 Gold
Reaction: Play when another player's action is causing you a loss of family honor. The honor loss is cancelled. You may step forward one of your unbowed samurai who challenges the other player's honor. This player may accept the challenge with any of his unbowed Personalities. If the challenge is refused or lost, the other player loses family honor equal to the amount you were to lose.
2 Focus

Of these cards, I would add One Koku to help pay full for personalities, Crushing Attack, Charge, Rallying Cry, Strength of Purity, Destiny has no Secrets, Refugees, Lies Lies Lies, and Call to Arms. All of these cards will benefit you in many ways. Call to Arms allows you to unbow in case you are stuck without a Rallying Cry, Rallying Cry allows you to attack without bowing, the beef cards are for......well, beef. Lies Lies Lies is a VERY helpful card because I often find myself in negative honor against those darn Scorpion decks, although they may not make the final cut as well. Just watch out against those.

Finally, we need to decide which items and elemental rings should go in the deck. For elemental rings, you should ONLY need Ring of the Void. Try to get that Ring of the Void as fast as you can, because it allows you to dump your hand every turn without any worries of running out. For items, there are:

-Armor of Earth
+1 Force
+2 Chi
8 Gold
Unique Armor
The gold cost of this card is zero if you have the Ring of Earth in play. Armor gains +2F/+1C while you have the Ring of Earth in play. Elemental Reaction: You may cancel and negate the effects of any action that would move this unit out of the battle it has been assigned to.
3 Focus

-Ancestral Armor of Lion Clan
+1 Force
+1 Chi
8 Gold
Unique
The Lion Clan Armor can only be attached to a Lion Clan Samurai. This Personality gains a +3F/+2C bonus when attacking.
4 Focus

-Ancestral Sword of Lion Clan
+0 Force
+1 Chi
9 Gold
Weapon*Unique
Gain 4 Honor. When controlled by a Lion Clan Personality, Sword gains a 1F/1C bonus for every Lion Clan personality you control. Any other Lion Clan players lose 6 Honor when this item is brought into play.
4 Focus

-Kitsuki Kaagi's Journal
+0 Force
+0 Chi
6 Gold
Unique
Cards in this unit may not be targeted with actions. Actions which target ninja can target cards in this unit, however, even if the target card is not a ninja. This personality may not produce honor gains in any fashion. Reaction: Bow the journal to cancel any ninja or kolat action that is not targeting this unit.
2 Focus

As far as these items go, I'd add the Journal/Sword/Armor. The armor is a total whopping +4 Force +3 Chi when attacking, and the sword gets bigger as you go. The Journal is to protect one unit from virtually any form of actions. The only drawback is that it counts for you as well. You may not target him with actions, or attach ANY cards to the personality after this is played, so be very wise when making the decision of which personality to attach it to.

The Final Decklist is:

Dynasty:
3x Matsu Morishigi
3x Matsu Mori
3x Matsu Agetoki
3x Ikoma Ken'o
3x Matsu Gohei
3x Matsu Domotai
1x Kitsu Motso
3x Jade Works
3x Copper Mine
3x Small Farm
3x Large Farm
3x Merchant Caravan
1x Charter of the Lion Clan
1x Imperial Gift
1x Evil Feeds Upon Itself
1x Inheritance
2x Crossroads

Fate:
3x Rallying Cry
3x Charge
3x Strength of Purity
3x Destiny has no Secrets
3x Deadly Ground
3x One Koku
3x Refugees
3x Crushing Attack
3x Call to Arms
3x Superior Tactics
3x Spearmen
3x Ashigaru
1x Kitsuki Kaagi's Journal
1x Ancestral Sword of Lion Clan
1x Ancestral Armor of Lion Clan
1x Ring of the Void

This is a pretty good Lion Deck as it stands. It takes a bit of skill to play, and a bit of time and money to find, but in the end it is all very well worth it. As a final note, I want to remind everyone who is reading this that you may or may not agree with my strategy. I could be a little more elaborate, but I want everyone to understand what cards are going in the deck, why, and what uses they have. Go out and build a few Lion Speed Decks, and try different strategies. Incorporate your own into the deck, and remember, playtest, playtest, playtest. It is the ONLY way you will find the weaknesses your deck has. After you have found them, incorporate unique strategies to immunize yourself to them. Have fun, and go kick some ass in the name of the Lion Clan!