La Voix De Rokugan

Rise of the Shogun Previews: Mantis
August 2, 2006

Sometimes it’s difficult to present these previews without injecting my own opinion on them. I obviously haven’t a background in journalism, and at times, can barely craft a decent sentence without structural or grammatical errors such as a run-on sentence such as this…

: )

…but I try.

Today is the day we look at some Mantis cards that will release in Rise of the Shogun. A new Stronghold, a handful of new Personalities, and a clutch card here and there. Many more Actions in the set will help out Mantis decks, but we’ll be reviewing those in a couple weeks.

Mantis must be a tough clan to design… or, maybe just tough for this group of designers. What we have here — other than the absence of Orochi support, which we all knew wasn’t forthcoming — is an attempt to return the clan to its origins. But what ARE those origins? Mantis has always suffered from a lack of mechanical identity, and it’s especially clear in this set, because the Personalities are all over the map. For the sake of reiterating the obvious, I am going to rattle off the standard Mantis clan themes for those who might be reading and are new to the game:

Ranged Attacks
Naval
Gold Production

Generating extra gold could be argued as being a minor theme for the clan, but Drums of War saw a healthy dose spread out among several cards. While many players were excited to receive said cards, I personally wasn’t. (NOTE: I am about to start interjecting here my own views, so take them or leave them, and please remember to formulate your own opinion regarding the topics I cover.) The reason Gold production — for Mantis — doesn’t light my fire is: the theme is dependent on having something to do with that Gold. Sometimes it is quite obvious what Gold can do to help out a clan: pay for expensive Action cards (which usually have some form of Personality-kill), pay for Personalities in Provinces to accelerate the game, or pay for attachments (Followers, Items, and Spells). All these are good targets for that extra Gold… but the hiccup lies in designing Personalities that can then capitalize on the spent Gold.

Mantis Personalities currently don’t offer a mechanical benefit or advantage for having attachments (unlike Unicorn, Phoenix, or Crab for Items, Spells and Followers respectively), and must rely on extra card slots in the Fate deck to capitalize on the attachments once they are in play. This doesn’t offer any card advantage… in an environment that has become littered with attachment destruction (take a 2 second look at the Lion Personality base to see what I mean). In short, I think Gold Production — while a good secondary theme for a Clan — needs more support in order to make it effective.

Where I applaud the Design Team is in the first ability of the new Stronghold (“Naval Personalities you control may attach cards as Battle actions.”). I like it when Mantis is given an ability that *breaks* the normal rules. The Naval trait does this (it allows Mantis to perform the first normal action with an attacking army), as does the Raiding Stronghold (it allows Mantis to launch an extra Attack Phase each turn), so this is the most exciting ability I see with BWC. For those that remember Jared almost walking away with the first GenCon SoCal victory with his Mantis Travelling Ronin deck, BWC will effectively relaunch that decktype. Couple the deck with Yoritomo Ryouta (which is basically a reinvented Yoritomo Utemaro) and Yoritomo Tadame (producing 5G to attach an Follower, Item, or Spell as a Battle action has just got to be good), and the foundation of a deck has been laid. It is just too bad that Tadame had to have a 0HR, which cramps the flow of the early game for the deck.

With Allegiance cards running around all over the place (there’s 3 more in ROTS), unbowing a Mantis Personality to capitalize on BWC’s second ability should be a no-brainer. This will help to counteract NOT packing Honor-loss inflicting Personality kill cards, but it leads to wonder why put out Tadame knowing that he won’t mesh as well. I would assume that was intentional… and hopefully there were justifiable reasons that the playtesters found (please chime in if there was guys). But if not, that means we’re being forced to play Design’s vision of Mantis, and not necessarily the players’.

The Mantis cards in ROTS certainly aren’t as bad off as what Phoenix received in DOW, but there’s nothing that jumps out and grabs me. Maybe I’m just missing the big picture (wouldn’t be the first time, would it?), but the reenvisioning for Mantis in both DOW and ROTS just isn’t tickling my fancy. This is the one time where I can say that I, for one, miss Jared’s vision for the clan… because whether it was “the original conception” or not, it was on the right track.

Looking ahead, Broken Wave City is a good replacement Stronghold for the next environment. It can safely take the spot that Aramasu’s Pride holds, and with a little tweaking (I’m confident Mark Wootten is able to rise to the challenge here), it could really be a solid decktype for Mantis. At this stage in the Lotus environment however, even I somewhat doubt that it will win the hearts and minds of Mantis players, who have two other strongholds with plenty of support.

Last thought: Is it just me, or does Mantis need more families? We all know that any clan shouldn’t have an abundance of families running around… it should only have enough that can establish thematic and mechanical individuality for themselves. But Mantis seems short-changed in this regard. Could we get some Komori? What about Kitsune? Is the Tortoise Clan still aligned to Mantis? Can someone help a brother out?

I’d love to see more families, and new mechanics invented for the clan. I’m glad that L5R is returning to its roots, and clans are being adjusted to fit that goal… but Mantis needs some clear vision. Vision that will EXCITE the players. Branding is good and all, but let’s not forget L5R is a game about Samurai that demolish Provinces and win the Favor of the Emperor. Mantis needs some cool.

In the meantime, I’ll be tinkering with BWC and the Mantis Personalities in this set… but please give me a couple of turns before taking all of my Provinces away from me… even if it’s just to humor me.

Broken Wave City
8PS, 4G, 3FH
Naval Personalities you control may attach cards as Battle actions.
Open: Even if this Stronghold is bowed, bow a target Human Naval Personality you control: Target a unit. It may not assign this turn.__

Moshi Sakae__
3F/3C
—HR, 7G, 0PH
Mantis Clan Pirate • Fire Shugenja • Naval
Limited: Target a Personality. After the next time this turn he assigns or moves to an army, even if Sakae is not opposing him, she produces one consecutive Ranged 4 Attack per card in his unit. These must target cards in his unit.
“I do not fear the Phoenix. I crave the day they seek to take back their lands.”__

Tsuruchi Chion__
3F/3C
—HR, 7G, 2PH
Mantis Clan Samurai
Battle: If Chion is at the current battlefield: Take up to three consecutive Battle actions producing Ranged Attacks.
Battle: Ranged 3 Attack.
“Our scouts report outbreaks of conflict among the Phoenix,” Chae reported. “We do not know why.”__

Tsuruchi Futoshi__
3F/2C
2HR, 6G, 2PH
Mantis Clan Samurai • Magistrate • Bounty Hunter • Naval
Reaction: Any number of times per turn, after another player draws a card from his own card effects: Ranged 3 Attack. If this is the Action Phase, this can target cards in players’ homes.
Battle: Ranged 3 Attack.
“The Shogun promises order. The Tsuruchi shall enforce it.”__

Yoritomo Ryouta__
4F/3C
2HR, 7G, 2PH
Mantis Clan Samurai • Retired Magistrate • Naval
Open: Pay 2 Gold: Attach a 2F Naval Follower token to a target Personality you control.
“The City of Broken Waves is protected by the most ruthless of men.”__

Yoritomo Tadame__
5F/3C
0HR, 8G, 2PH
Mantis Clan Samurai • Naval
Reaction: When paying a cost during the Battle Action Segment: Produce 5 Gold.
“The Empire has seen our might,” he said with a grin. “Now give us the open sea, and our destiny is fulfilled.”__

Holding:
Torii no Orochi__
3G
Bow this card: Produce 2 Gold, or 4 Gold if paying for an Orochi Personality or Orochi action.
Battle: If you control no Shadowlands cards, target an Orochi you control: Bow a target unit opposing him with lower Force than the Orochi’s unit.
The death of Yoritomo Kaigen left the Storm Riders without a leader. Will the Orochi recognize any other authority?__

Action:
Kaimetsu-Uo’s Lineage__
0G
Battle: If a Mantis Clan Personality is in your discard pile, target a Personality you control and pay 0 or more Gold: He produces a Ranged Attack with strength equal to 3 plus the amount paid. He may not be Dishonored for the rest of the game.
“Only a Yoritomo can lead the Mantis,” Naizen said.__
3FV

Kihos:
Lightning Strike__
0G
Kiho Fire Battle: Bow a target Shugenja you control at the current battlefield: Target a card without attached cards opposing him with more than 8 Force, or up to 3 cards without attached Followers opposing him each with less than3 Force. Destroy the opposing targets.
“Enemies or lovers? So little difference.” —Moshi Amika__
3FV

petite precision, svp, la production d'or en reaction il faut qu'on soit deja en train de payer avec un holding, ou est ce qu'il peut payer tout seulle coup d'une carte ?