Greetings!
Welcome to the beginning of the previews for the next expansion set for Legend of the Five Rings CCG, Drums of War. For those of you who are recent to the game and do not know me, my name is Mark Jelfo, and I had the pleasure to work as the Creative & Marketing Director for AEG for four years. I moved away from L.A. in late 2004, but still work with AEG on primarily graphic design-related projects. Like many others who’ve worked on L5R over the years, I am very devoted to the success of the brand, as well as my friends back at AEG.
For the next five weeks, we will explore the contents of Drums of War, in batches of 8-12 cards, three times a week. I will do my best to group them together by Clan, but that in no way means that the cards should be considered exclusively for the Clan they preview with. You will see lots of cards in this set that will make you think, “Hey, this would also work really well in this deck as well…” so do not limit your evaluation of these cards by how they appear.
Also, you’ll notice that I will give a very brief overview of the cards, and type up the card text for those who are having difficulty previewing the images (yes, it happens). I should note that while I have been playing L5R for several years, I do not consider myself a good player. Matter of fact, I will go as far as to label myself a *bad* player. I just enjoy the game. That means from time to time, I might flub up a ruling, or not realize the true potential of a card in my comments. That’s okay. That’s what the veteran L5R community is for. You’ll find that they are a friendly bunch and will jump in when necessary to point out the other potential uses for a card.
For a quick, bird’s-eye view of Drums of War, we can expect to see:
• More boxables
• Some new themes for Clans with aging decktypes
• Draft cards, and some Constructed cards that function stronger in Draft
• More storyline results in the cards
Unlike Path of Hope that saw a lot of mechanics revolving around Dishonor, Drums of War does not focus on a general mechanic for each Clan. Instead, we see attention paid to each Clan’s particular needs at this point in time. Many of the cards you’ll see are following the storyline much closer, as the L5R Team is beginning to put the effects of the major tournaments back into the cards much quicker than ever before. There are many cards in Drums resulting from Tournament / Storyline results, as well as cards that tell Rokugan’s unfolding story. Storyline cards that you’re hoping for that do not appear in Drums are more than likely appearing in the next set.
We also see cards for new decktypes, since many Clans now have some aging decktypes that have received support for well over a year now, and have nowhere to grow. Clans that have a fewer variety of viable decktypes in the Lotus environment will receive a push in a new direction. Other Clans that were missing a few “pieces” of a particular deck get them in Drums.
(pour Rheda)
