Disciples of the Void

Updated 26 April, 2020

Masters of elemental magic, the Phoenix clan and their powerful shugenja are caretakers of the empire's soul. They are also keepers of great knowledge and, despite their pacifist beliefs, are capable of fielding powerful armies if the need arises.

Phoenix are currently a top-tier clan in Legend of the Five Rings with Phoenix player Jose Luis Saenz holding the rank of Shogun. Despite receiving several nerfs with the most recent restricted and ban lists, Phoenix are still able to compete competitively with a variety of deck archetypes.

The Phoenix have excellent tempo with a multitude of ways to ready their characters or prevent them from bowing at the end of conflicts. They can also buff their characters cheaply and repeatedly, and can use their mastery of elemental magic to manipulate the five rings to powerful effect.

When allied with the Lion clan the Phoenix are also able to make use of the Kitsu family's ability to convene with their ancestors to enable powerful recursion effects. While the most recent Imperial Law document restrained this deck somewhat, it remains powerful in most matchups.

Finally, when assisted by the Scorpion clan the Phoenix are able to lock down opponents by preventing characters from participating in conflicts, manipulating glory, and draining honour.

This guide covers the most commonly-encountered Phoenix cards in competitive play, and ends with a rundown of the current competitive deck archetypes.

Strongholds

The Core Phoenix stronghold, Isawa Mori Seido is able to manipulate a character's glory, for better or for worse. When used on a friendly honored character this results in a +2/2 buff, while the opposite is true for an opposing dishonoured character. Note that this lasts for the entire phase, rather than just a single conflict like many similar effects. The stronghold can also be used to help gain the Imperial Favor as the glory count is completed during the Conflict Phase.

If an opponent reveals Isawa Mori Siedo at the beginning of a game then check their flop very carefully. While Kyuden Isawa will generally support a deck with relatively straightforward spells and buffs, Isawa Mori Seido is usually indicative of lockdown or honour/dishonour decks that require careful thinking to defeat.

Recently nerfed to cost a Spell event card to use its ability, Kyuden Isawa remains a very playable stronghold. Its power increases the longer a game lasts as a larger discard pile means more available Spell events to recur. Common targets include Supernatural Storm, Against the Waves, and Clarity of Purpose to maintain tempo, and Consumed by Five Fires or Forebearer's Echoes to establish board control or swing key conflicts.

Note that because its ability is an action, the stronghold cannot be used to play reaction cards such as Display of Power.

Provinces

The setting for the excellent novella The Sword and the Spirits, Sanpuku Seido is also an excellent province for the Phoenix. When using Isawa Mori Seido to buff a character's glory, this province is almost impossible to break. That said, if no characters are available to defend, only one attacking character with a single glory point is needed to secure a break.

Restricted, unrestricted, and now errata'd, Koroi Mori no longer has the stranglehold on stronghold defence it once did. That said, it is once again seeing regular play, only this time in the province row. Here it will still cause groans when revealed as no amount of Fine Katana or Banzai! will help secure a break when the conflict is set to political. Combined with Sanpuku Seido, this makes breaking provinces very difficult for low-glory, high military clans such as Crab and Unicorn.

While this is the most common use of Kuroi Moroi's ability, it can also be used to switch the conflict to military against politically-focused clans, or to switch the contested ring to a more favourable one (perhaps to enable Solemn Scholar or Prodigy of the Waves).

Holdings

Free cards are nice. Forgotten Library offers no strength bonus and will clog up a province row, but unlike Imperial Storehouse it will provide a free card every turn. This a powerful effect which ensures that Forgotten Library is an easy 3x in Phoenix decks. When facing a Phoenix player, look to knock these out early as their value only increases the longer the game goes on.

Recently released from the restricted list, Secluded Shrine provides a number of powerful benefits. To begin with, the claimed ring does count towards the glory count for the Imperial Favor at the end of the Conflict Phase. It also synergises with Solemn Scholar to provide a cheap bow against an attacking character, or Prodigy of the Swift Waves to gain an extra ready.

Thankfully, the card is no longer needed to help against the banned Isawa Tadaka during mirror matches.

Ancestral Shrine provides an excellent cushion against dishonour decks. In general, the action should be used during the action window in the Fate phase (after framework step 4.4), as this means claimed rings will still count towards the glory count for the Imperial Favour in the Conflict Phase. Note that this is after fate is placed on unclaimed rings, so any rings returned by Ancestral Shrine will not have fate on them for the next turn.

Ancestral Shrine can also be used to return a ring during the conflict phase so it is available to be chosen again. This helps push the deck towards its win condition, particularly if that be 25 honour as the Air ring can be claimed twice, netting a total of 5 honour (including the 1 from the Ancestral Shrine action).

Characters

There are a number of high-value, 1-cost Phoenix characters that it is worth being aware of.

Ethereal Dreamer is a cheap Shugenja to help fuel Supernatural Storm, and she can also pump her military and political stats by 2 when contesting a chosen ring. A Phoenix player can use this to either push for a ring they hope to claim, or to deny their opponent the same. In the heat of battle it is easy to forget this buff, particularly when multiple Ethereal Dreamer select multiple rings at the beginning of the Conflict Phase. Don't be shy about asking your opponent to remind you which characters have which buff.

A Courtier rather than a Shugenja, Naive Student provides excellent value when contesting the favour with his 2 glory, and when leaving play as he draws his controller a card. He is immune to military duels, but will be sent home if a conflict is flipped to Military.

Shrine Maiden is a conflict character who can potentially draw her controller Spell orKiho cards when entering play. Consider Shrine Maiden's ability carefully when building a Phoenix deck: the more cards with the Spell trait that are included, the higher the hit rate when playing Shrine Maiden. Note Shrine Maiden's ability to can be used to find both Spell events and attachments.

The ability to bow an opposing character is one of the more powerful effects in Legend of the Five Rings and Solemn Scholar can provide an effective way to achieve this once the Earth ring is claimed (or considered claimed). The easiest way to enable this is with Secluded Shrine, and this can be sped up with City of the Rich Frog and cards with the Rally keyword.

Isawa Uona and Seeker of Knowledge are two of the more commonly-played 2-fate Phoenix Shugenja. Uona's ability, whilst seemingly an edge case, is relatively easy to achieve, and is certainly easy for an opponent to forget about. Commonly-played Air cards in Phoenix include Benten's Touch, Trick of the Light, Cloak of Night, Seeker of Knowledge, Walking the Way, and Cloud the Mind. If Isawa Uona is in play, and you have a non-unique character participating in a key conflict, expect to see any of these cards played to bow said character.

Seeker of Knowledge is a conflict character who, while attacking, adds the Air element to the contested ring. This can be used to in an honour deck to claim multiple air rings, or, occasionally, in the Kaito Kosori artillery deck to ensure Kosori's skill is added to the current conflict.

The Phoenix clan's staunch pacifism is represented in game through characters such as Meddling Mediator, Mediator of Hostilities, and Pacifist Philosopher. While considered a novelty for much of the games early years, such cards have recently reached a critical mass, allowing them to compete competitively.

Meddling Mediator punishes an opponent for repeated attacks, and as a non-unique character her ability can be repeated with more copies of her on the table. Depending whether the Phoenix player's win condition is conquest or honour, they can take either 1 fate or 1 honour from their opponent.

At first, Mediator of Hostilities and Pacifist Philosopher may read as if they rely on an opponent passing a conflict. However, "a player" can also refer to the Phoenix player, and thus by passing two conflicts a turn, said player can draw multiple cards and gain multiple fate depending on how many of each character is on the board. Such a strategy can generate significant resources, allowing a Phoenix player to use powerful cards such as Consumed by Five Fires to disrupt their opponents plans, whilst they work towards their own victory condition.

Like all Magistrate cards, Haughty Magistrate disrupts an opponent by ignoring the skill value of characters of a particular type. In this case, characters with a lower glory than Haughty Magistrate do not contribute their skill toward the resolution of the conflict. At only 1 glory this does not appear threatening, but with the buff from Isawa Mori Seido this quickly becomes 3 (for the entire phase), and suddenly all defenders with 2 or lower glory are rendered useless at the end of a conflict.

While Haughty Magistrate is not a Shugenja, and thus cannot be readied with Against the Waves, Clarity of Purpose will still work to allow participation in multiple attacks.

A number of Phoenix Shugenja offer synergy with the Void ring. All feature sub-par stats, but their abilities are noteworthy.

If the currently conflict is Void then Isawa Atsuko will buff each friendly character by +1/+1, while doing the opposite for the opponent. Isawa Kaede can ensure the current ring is Void while attacking, and can resolve both rings upon resolution.

While is is expensive to buy both of these characters and then have them present in a single conflict, Forebearer's Echoes is a cheap workaround. Either or both can be brought back directly, or Fushicho can summon one upon leaving play after an earlier conflict.

If the Void ring is claimed (by any player), Isawa Ujina must remove a character without fate from the game. Ideally, this will be a powerful opposing character, but if only friendly targets are available then one of these must be chosen (including Ujina himself). Isawa Ujina is a potentially risky buy, so be careful when putting him into play. If faced with Isawa Ujina, be very wary of the Phoenix player switching conflicts to Void without warning as this will enable his ability. That said, his ability targets a character so Finger of Jade can be used for protection.

While not as grossly overpowered as his early Dynasty version, the conflict Isawa Tadaka remains a threatening character. His Disguised keyword allows him to enter play where needed, and his ability allows him to select a card to be removed from an opponent's hand each turn. The requirement for this is that a number of characters be removed from his controllers discard pile, so when running Tadaka look to cycle Dynasty characters wherever possible, and when playing against Phoenix, avoid discarding cards when breaking provinces.

Due to her high cost and lack of the Shugenja trait Shiba Tsukune, Champion of the Phoenix clan and protagonist of The Sword and the Spirits, did not see much play until recently, when she was found to slot nicely into the Phoenix Forebearer's Echoes deck.

When recurred with Forebearer's Echoes, Fushicho will leave play at the end of the current conflict, allowing another character in the discard pile to be returned with one fate. If Shiba Tsukune is returned in this way her 4 glory can be used to all-but-guarantee the favour, her ability can be used to resolve up to two unclaimed rings, and she remains in play for another turn (as an 8/8 if the Fire ring is used to honour her). This is a tidy package, provided all the pieces come together.

Like similar 6-cost Spirit, characters, Fushicho offers a solid 6/6 body with no attachments allowed. And, like its contemporaries, Fushicho is almost never played in the Dynasty Phase, but rather is cheated into play by other means (in this case, through Forebearer's Echoes).

The terror of Gencon 2019, this deck was hit by the banning of Charge! and nerfs to Kyuden Isawa. It remains powerful, however, being able to also make use of My Ancestor's Strength to set the stats of a participating Shugenja to 6/6 until the end of the conflict for just 1 fate.

As mentioned, when leaving play Fushicho allows a Phoenix character in the discard pile to be returned with 1 fate. As with all recursion effects, the effectiveness of this ability increases the larger the discard pile is, as this allows more flexibility in choosing the right character for the current board state.

Attachments

Embrace the Void provides a handy fate boost each turn as long as it stays in play (and the attached character has fate). Multiple copies can be played, but the effect of each can only be used once per turn. That said, more than 1 fate can be returned through Embrace the Void, provided this happens in a single interaction. Most commonly, more than 1 fate is removed from a character in a single action through Consumed by Five Fires, resulting in it, and Embrace the Void, being placed on the restricted list.

Peacemaker's Blade prevents characters from declaring as attackers. It is cheap, but still allows the attached character to defend (with +3 military). It also does not stop characters being moved into a conflict once it is underway.

Pacifism is more exclusionary, but also more expensive. For 2 fate it prevents the attached character from participating in any military conflict, whether by declaring as an attacker or being moved in. It has no effect on political conflicts, and cannot be played during conflicts.

When combined with the Scorpion attachment Stolen Breath, it is possible to lock down many, if-not-all, of an opponent's characters. Such a strategy is expensive, vulnerable to attachment control, and ineffective against swarm decks, but in other circumstances can be powerful when combined with effects that punish players for not declaring or participating in conflicts.

Events

Supernatural Storm synergises very well with the many Phoenix Shugenja. That said, a deck does not necessarily have to go wide exclusively to gain benefit for it. Unlike cards such as Banzai! (once per conflict), Fine Katana (2 per character), or A Legion of One (no more than one friendly character), Supernatural Storm can be played 3 times in a battle on any participating character, with the possibility of a fourth thrown in from Kyuden Isawa for good measure. Also, and easily missed, Supernatural Storm is a rare political buff, making it invaluable outside of military conflicts.

These 3 spells represent the primary Phoenix bow and ready control resources.

Against the Waves can be used to ready a friendly Shugenja, both inside or outside of conflicts. If recurring this Spell with Kyuden Isawa, remember that the stronghold can only be used during conflicts, and thus is unable to ready a key character after a conflict is completed. It can, however, be used in this way to ready a bowed character at home. Now errated to only target friendly characters, Against the Waves is rarely used to bow a Shugenja, although this can be done to prevent dangerous 'on break' provinces such as Upholding Authority and Restoration of Balance from triggering.

Clarity of Purpose prevents opposing card effects from bowing the targeted character (who does not need to be a Shugenja), and also prevents said character from bowing as a result of political conflicts. It can still be played in military conflicts, but will only offer the first of these benefits.

A powerful card, Clarity of Purpose ensures that a key character can remain unhindered in the current conflict, whilst also participating in another this round. The character is still vulnerable to discard and send home effects, and if the conflict is switched to military they will bow as usual at the resolution.

Earth Becomes Sky was significantly hyped upon its announcement, when clans were still roll locked and players were scrambling for either an Earth role for this, or an Air role for Forebearer's Echoes. While it has not quite lived up to the hype, it is still a commonly-played card in Earth decks, both Phoenix and Scorpion.

Playable whenever a character readies (whether in the usual framework effect in the fate phase, or through a card or ring effect), Earth Becomes Sky can be used to bow them again. Note that it does not target a character so cards such as Finger of Jade will not protect against it, however, cards that prevent characters from being bowed such as Ready for Battle do still work.

Like Clarity of Purpose, Cloak of Night prevents the chosen character from being targeted by opponent's card effects. It synergises well with glory-focused Isawa Mori Seido decks, and, like the stronghold, can be used on a dishonoured character to further lower their skill for the current conflict. As an Air Spell it can can also be used to bow a non-unique character with Isawa Uona.

Display of Power costs two fate, one honour (for an unopposed conflict), and a conflict card. Is all of this worth it just to claim a ring? Yes. The answer is yes.

The titular rings are a key component of Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game. The reason Display of Power is so, well, powerful, is that it can deny an opponent the ring they most need. Are they on low honour and desperately need to resolve the Air ring? Denied. Are they low on cards and need the Earth Ring? Denied. Do they need to remove the last fate from a Phoenix character with the Void Ring? Denied. Oh, and said fate will now be removed from their character instead.

Display of Power also denies card effects that rely on claimed rings. Does a Unicorn player need a military conflict to enable Shiotome Encampment? Nope. Does a Lion player need to claim 2 rings to use Heroic Resolve? Nope.

When playing against Phoenix (and Scorpion with an Earth role) expect Display of Power to follow any unopposed conflict. This requires that you select rings that will not affect you too badly if your opponent claims and resolves them. It is argued within the community that this breaks the game: the elemental rings are a fundamental part of the framework, and to deny their benefits is unfair, even for the cost of 2 fate and 1 honour.

As yet Display of Power has avoided restriction, but there are always grumbles before the arrival of a new Imperial Law document.

Currently tied for as most expensive event in the game, Consumed by Five Fires, a restricted card, is nonetheless capable of costing an opponent far more.

Suppose an opponent has 3 characters in play: A 5-cost character with 2 fate, a 3 cost character with 2 fate, and a 2-cost character with 1 fate. A single Consumed by Five Fires can strip all the fate from these characters, causing them to leave play at the end of the round unless another card intervenes. An opponent has lost 15 fate worth of investments (not to mention attachments and status tokens) for the cost of only 5 fate.

While not quite a fair comparison (the characters will still contribute during the current round, and may have been in play in previous rounds), this shows what an impact Consumed can have on a game.

The elephant in the room is cancel effects. If interrupted, Consumed by Five Fires will cost its owner 5 fate for no benefit at all. Be very careful playing it against, for example, Crane if they have more honoured characters, Scorpion if they have non-dishonoured courtiers, and anyone who has the favour. Also avoid playing it in conflicts against opponents with Keeper roles and high-military characters.

Consumed by Five Fires is also Seeker locked so there is no reason to fear it in Keeper decks. If an opponent is running a Seeker role, however, it is a common pick so be wary of putting too much fate on key characters.

Archetypes

- Justin Walsh

Echo Bird

This archetype is named for Fushicho, Phoenix’s giant 6-cost Mythic avatar. It runs exclusively out of Kyuden Isawa, whose spell-recycling ability is fundamental to the deck’s operation.

Essentially, this is a combo deck, utilising City of the Rich Frog, A Season of War, and Walking the Way to dump a large number of dynasty cards into the Phoenix player’s discard pile. From there, the Lion splash card Forebearer’s Echoes can bring a character into play during a military conflict for a cost of 2 fate, with Fushicho being by far the preferred target. Not only is Fushicho an imposing 6/6, she also has an incredibly powerful leaving play effect that allows you bring another Phoenix character into play, for free, with 1 fate attached.

The standard Echo Bird archetype runs a Void sub-theme, with Isawa Kaede as its main Fushicho target, and Isawa Atsuko to pump Void conflicts (which Kaede automatically creates when she attacks). The deck is also notable for its slew of 1-cost Shugenja who can be powered up to disproportionate sizes with the other part of the Lion splash, My Ancestor’s Strength, and for the incredibly high number of spells that it runs.

Echo Bird is an explosive archetype, and among the more aggressive decks in the current environment. It can create overwhelming board positions out of nowhere, but can also struggle defensively, and relies more than most decks on variance. Nevertheless, it remains Phoenix’s strongest archetype, and a terrifying prospect to face.

Midrange

Phoenix Midrange was, at one point, a juggernaut of value and blatantly unfair card effects, until most of the deck’s key components got banned or errata’d. It is now a shadow of its former self – but still a capable deck – and has tended to morph toward a self-honouring archetype. It sees play out of both Isawa Mori Seido and Kyuden Isawa, with the former being more generally favoured.

The deck almost exclusively runs Dragon as its splash and Seeker as its role choice, though the Seeker element can vary. Featuring a strong lineup of characters in all range bands, the Midrange deck seeks to build a powerful board, honour up key characters with Acolyte of Koyane or the slightly more risky Inferno Guard Invoker, and use the value generation of Against the Waves and Clarity of Purpose to grind an opponent down. The Seeker role also grants access to Consumed by Five Fires, so the deck can go nuclear if required.

Isawa Mori Seido and Ancient Master give the deck consistent Imperial Favor control, which makes Censure a reliable cancel effect, further ensuring the deck’s lockdown.

If given the chance to establish itself, Phoenix Midrange remains an incredibly potent deck, but it is vulnerable to aggressive archetypes. Still, with an established formula and proven success, it is not to be overlooked.

Pass

The Phoenix ‘Pass’ archetype is one of the newest to emerge, with Mediator of Hostilities finally creating a critical mass of card draw effects, enabling a strong, reliable, bid-1 deck out of Isawa Mori Seido.

The deck has a few key features. First, being able to consistently bid 1 on turn one puts a lot of decks under immediate dishonour pressure, while also activating Assassination as a key, early defensive measure. The deck also generally plays a Scorpion splash, which further controls the board and pressures an opponent’s honour.

Next, the deck has one of the nastiest province rows in the game, with four possible heartbreakers on any given turn. The deck is also defensively quite powerful, which only makes attacking it an even riskier and more punishing prospect. This in turn is made even worse by the deck’s draw being largely bid-independent. So when an opponent is quickly forced into bidding 1 as well, to avoid losing, the Pass deck will continue to draw three or four cards a turn, which makes defending easier, which makes the province row even more destructive. The Pass deck can be a tough nut to crack.

Finally, it doesn’t need to attack. It can, and to great advantage, but once it brings Shiba Tsukune into play, it can stall the game to a standstill while still resolving ring effects, and grind an opponent to death. Being able to achieve a lot while doing absolutely nothing is a unique kind of power.

However, the deck falters badly against many Lion archetypes, and can have a difficult time against Scorpion dishonour. Its games also go long, which can make it exhausting to play in a tournament situation. But it is also a new archetype with a lot of refinement still possible, and a completely distinct way of approaching the game

Conclusion

Masters of the elemental, the Phoenix clan use their spiritual connections to the kami to serve the emperor and search for arcane knowledge and wisdom. While strictly a pacifist clan, the Phoenix, when roused, can prove to be fierce opponents.

When playing against Phoenix it is vital to check their role, stronghold, and opening flop very carefully. If Kyuden Isawa appears you can expect to plenty of Shugenja and Spell cards, and potentially a Lion splash with plenty of recursion interaction with Fushicho. If Isawa Mori Seido appears, expect to see manipulation of glory numbers and plenty of honour and dishonour play.

Regardless of the stronghold being played, however, it is best to expect the unexpected with Phoenix. Capable of both careful patience and furious burst, Phoenix matchups should always be approached with care.