Restricted List Update

We knew it was coming and finally, we have an updated restricted list. Let’s have a look at the cards that were added, the ones removed, and how it shakes up the game.

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The old restricted list contained the following cards.

• Mirumoto’s Fury
• For Greater Glory
• Against the Waves
• Forged Edict
• Charge!
• Pathfinder’s Blade
• Policy Debate
• Iron Mine

In the new list, Against the Waves and Iron Mine were removed and Void Fist, Feast or Famine, Rebuild, Isawa Tadaka, Guest of Honor, A Fate Worse than Death, and Niten Master were all added.

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So that leaves us with a chunky list of 15 restricted cards.

• Mirumoto’s Fury
• For Greater Glory
• Forged Edict
• Charge!
• Pathfinder’s Blade
• Policy Debate
• Rebuild
• Feast or Famine
• Guest of Honor
• Void Fist
• Niten Master
• Isawa Tadaka
• A Fate Worse Than Death
• Young Rumormonger

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The Neutral cards, of course, are Charge!, Policy Debate, and Feast or Famine (which really is locked into the Fire role which currently is Crane or Uniorn). Most clans have pretty difficult decisions to make without even considering the neutral cards.

Crane now need to decide between Feast or Famine or Guest of Honor. Our Shogun Erik was playing Mirumoto’s Fury as his restricted card as Crane had options, so this shift is going to make a difference. To be fair, both are fine options. Feast or Famine as a province will regularly have impact in games while the appearance of Guest of Honor has sealed games.

Crab need to decide between Rebuild and Pathfinder’s Blade. Charge! may become a more viable option with either Iron Mine or Reprieve keeping the character around another turn. Although they would lose some consistency and much sought after reliability by not playing Rebuild, this gives Crab options. Alternatively, the current build with Rebuild remains unchanged with the restricted card changing from Iron Mine to Rebuild.

Dragon now need to decide between Mirumoto’s Fury, Niten Master, or Void Fist. Pathfinder’s blade was also very common in Dragon decks may finally get shunted out. This should differentiate the Bushi and Monk decks somewhat. I suspect Void Fist will be the card of choice as it is one of the few problem solvers Dragon have. This should also open up some slots in what otherwise was a very fixed deck.

Lion still choose between For Greater Glory and Charge! probably going with the later, so no real change there. For Lion, who are currently bottom of the pack, the real impact is going to be how the other clans get pulled down.

Phoenix get Against the Waves back but Isawa Tadaka goes on the list instead. The current top Phoenix decks don’t change a thing, but this does open up the option to abandon Tadaka (he’s in Crab lands right now after all) and instead move Charge! back into the deck along with Fushichō.

Scorpion are probably are hit the worst by this restricted list. They now need to choose between Forged Edicts or A Fate Worse Than Death. Young Rumormonger, a staple for so long, simply gets cut. Scorpion are getting taken down peg or two, but the deck was already flexibile enough

Unicorn continue to dodge the list but now have to choose between Charge! and Feast or Famine. 

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This definitely is enough to shake up the meta. Crane, Dragon, and Scorpion are the worst hit clans which will go some way towards leveling out the environment. The changes seem to open up new options in clans where specific slots have been locked in for a long while. It’s not massive, this isn’t a seismic shift for the game, but the changes certainly appear to be well considered and should result in a more enjoyable game with some interesting decisions to make during deckbuilding.

I look forward to the Cork Kotei where we will get to see all of this in action!

If you have any comments or feedback please post them in the comments section below. Check us out on the Imperial Advisor website, podcast, and YouTube channel for more discussion about the L5R LCG.