The Emperor's Legion

Updated 22 October, 2020

By Saibrock#3886

Welcome, young lion. I am Akodo Saibrock, but you can call me Sensei. I am here at the behest of our great Clan Champion to instruct you in our ways, and I intend to ensure that you pass your gempuku. Learn the Way of the Lion, and you shall surely bring honor to our great clan!

Why should you serve the Lion Clan? Well, simply put, we are the heart of the Emerald Empire! We are the Right Hand of the Emperor, and it is we who best exemplify the bushido tenant of honor. We are warriors, first and foremost, and it is in battle that we show our quality.

The Lion Clan is known for two major play styles: military aggression, and high-honor play. Many of our mechanics function only while attacking, or only during military conflict, or interact directly with honor totals. Unlike the Crane Clan, whose mechanics are concerned specifically with having honored characters, the honor of the Lion Clan is shared by us all, so it is the honor totals that we care most about. Although, make no mistake, our characters are a force to be reckoned with once they have been honored; our glory values tend to be on the high side.

Where the Lion Clan is less concerned, is with defense. In the zeal of combat, a wily opponent may often find opportunities to exploit our provinces. This is of little concern, as you'll soon find out, because not only are we fully capable of winning the race to break the stronghold, but breaking our provinces tends to be part of our plan all along!

Additionally, while the Lion Clan is not the weakest when it comes to the courts, we are not the strongest there, either. Sure, the Crab and the Unicorn can offer little resistance to our stronger Courtiers, but our honest ways often leave us little defense against the likes of the Crane and the Scorpion.

Let's go over some of the strongholds that our clan favors.

Strongholds

Yojin no Shiro - The quintessential stronghold for swarming the enemy and crushing them beneath sheer numbers. It's a "free" military boost every round, so it's quite attractive if you're looking solely to win military conflicts. If your plan is to race the opponent, or if you have ways to change a political conflict to a military one (see: Captive Audience), then consider Yojin no Shiro. As a bonus, it has one of the highest starting honor totals in the game, as befits our noble clan.

Lion now have an impressive 4 strongholds to choose from, but until recently only Kyuden Ikoma saw regular competitive play. While it is still new, Hayaken no Shiro is proving popular with its reliable ready for a 2-cost Bushi.

This ability can be used in swarm decks, but it is not uncommon to see Lion players tower up a powerful cheap character such as Ikoma Tsanuri or Samurai of Integrity with Finger of Jade or Stand Your Ground for protection from Assassination.

It's 12 honour is still impressive, and 10 influence is also respectable.

Provinces

The Art of War is an excellent source of card draw that can benefit all archetypes. Like other 'on break' provinces it is usually desirable to allow an opponent to break it, although it can be worth making them play cards to do so. It is particularly helpful for honour decks, which rely on card draw outside of their low honour bids to retain card parity.

Spectral Visitation is an excellent province for decks with powerful characters. The Reaction takes place before defenders are assigned so if necessary a big body can used to defend the province. Or, this character can be put into play at home to be used in a subsequent attack.

Importantly, any characters put into the discard pile by the Reaction are now available to be recurred through Kitsu Spiritcaller, Forebearer's Echoes, My Ancestor's Strength, or even Champions of Yomi.

While playing Spectral Visitation means giving up Upholding Authority, many Lion characters have chosen to do so since the card's release.

Kenson no Gakka is an excellent addition to the Lion honour deck. It should be defended, but only with the goal of preventing a break, rather than outright winning. Each honoured defender will (after a losing conflict) provide 1 honour when leaving play, providing critical honour from minimal investment.

Dishonourable Assault is a solid province that can be found under the stronghold in most Lion decks. It is most effective against clans with high-glory characters, but the requirement to discard a card for each affected character is high, and means that it is best used only as a last resort (as stronghold defences usually are).

Because it is expected in most decks it can also be played around to a certain extent. If you know that most (or all) of your attacking characters will be dishonoured you can take this into account when preparing an attack (along with the possibility of For Shame! if Courtier are present).

Lastly, it is worth noting that a single Finger of Jade will cancel the entire effect, meaning no characters will be dishonoured if such a character is targeted.

Holdings

Hall of Victories will also benefit the opponent (who will likely win more conflicts in the game), but is nonetheless an important tool to help Lion honour decks reach 25. Because a low bid is essential to the strategy, Hall of Victories is a way to gain extra honour without the need to play conflict cards.

Staging Ground synergises well with Those Who Serve in swarm decks to put extra bodies on the board with a 1 fate discount. Staging Ground potentially allows 4 characters be played using 3 provinces, while Those Who Serve discounts each of those characters by 1 (to a minimum of 0).

Characters

Lion have a large number of high-quality, cheap dynasty characters, with a number of these featuring unique qualities that are worth mentioning.

Ashigaru Levy work well in the Lion tower deck to ready characters with In Service to My Lord. Attachments in the tower deck don't come cheap, and the value of each Ashigaru Levy card increases as the game continues with more and more free bodies flooding the board, each ready to bow themselves to allow the tower to participate in yet another conflict.

Matsu Berserker is excellent value at 1 fate for 3 military, and his (—) political skills means he cannot be targeted by political duels.

Tactician's Apprentice's ability is an effective way for Lion to gain value from low honour bids. The apprentice essentially means that if an opponent bids 5 they are giving a Lion player free honour, as the Lion player need never bid 5 with an apprentice on the board. The cat-and-mouse game of outbidding continues down the dial: if the opponent bids 4 will the Lion player reveal 3? And so on.

When playing against Tactician's Apprentice it is important to recognise what win condition the Lion player is aiming for. If conquest, a 5 bid is probably safe. If Lion is pushing for an honour victory, however, it may be best to switch immediately to 1 and engage in a low-card brawl for the remainder of the game, as the risk of Contingency Plan and Way of the Chrysanthemum is too great.

At the 2-fate cost level, Akodo Gunso also synergises well with Those Who Serve, allowing another cheap character to enter play during the Dynasty phase. The keyword Pride can be a double-edged sword, however, particularly with such high glory.

Battle Aspirant features an excellent harpoon ability that can force characters to defend against their will. This can be used, for example, to put politically-focused characters in a military conflict, or to force offensive-focused characters (such as Magistrate characters) into defensive conflicts.

Tireless Sodan Senzo is very helpful in an honour deck as she can ensure that no conflicts are left unopposed while defending. This stops critical honour bleed, and she can also enable Cloud the Mind if desired.

Samurai of Integrity is outstanding vale. The only undesirable number on the card is the 2-fate cost, leaving him vulnerable to Assassination, and thus a risky tower platform. When honoured, however, he becomes a fearsome 5/5, and if he does survive potential assassination he becomes an excellent candidate for a disguised Akodo Zentaro.

Special mention in the 2-cost slot must go to Ikoma Tsunari who is tearing up the current meta. Province blanking effects are powerful (Pathfinder's Blade has been restricted since the first year of the game), and Ikoma Tsunari can be used to prevent any province she is attacking from triggering its ability (whether Action, Reaction, or Interrupt). Importantly, because her's is a passive ability this effect can be repeated in subsequent attacks if she is readied or moved in.

As a 2-cost character Ikoma Tsunari can be easily readied by Elegant Tessen or Hayaken no Shiro, but is vulnerable to Assassination provided no protection or saved are available.

Lion have a number of excellent 3-cost Commander characters who provide synergy with the tower deck.

Akoda Zentaro's Disguised keyword allows him to stand a bowed non-unique character during or after an attack, and his ability allows him to steal non-unique holdings such as Kuni Laboratory or City of Lies and use them against their former owner.

Kitsu Motso has another harpoon ability that can be used to move characters to a conflict that they would rather not be involved in. The requirement for this (that the Lion player have fewer cards than their opponent) is more accessible for the tower deck with the banning of Spyglass, and it can be helpful in the honour deck to draw potential attackers into undesirable defences.

Matsu Agetoki features the Cavalry trait and can thus use Shiotome Encampment after Akoda Zentaro steals it from a Unicorn player. He also has the finest moustache in Legend of the Five Rings. More practically, his 4 military skill makes him a more desirable Way of the Lion target (as will be discussed later), and his ability while attacking to move the current conflict to another province (provided the Lion player is more honourable) has several useful applications. Firstly, it can move away for potentially dangerous on-break provinces such as Upholding Authority or Restoration of Balance, and it is a direct counter to Talisman of the Sun. It also denies provinces with abilities that trigger when an attack is declared them from activating (eg. Sacred Sanctuary or Endless Plains.)

Lion also have a number of characters which contribute effectively to an honour victory.

For 2 fate Ikoma Prodigy can provide 1 honour and a 2 political skill character for two turns of the game. She is also a Courtier, enabling For Shame! and Regal Bearing.

Chronicler of Conquests also provides 1 honour if there is a Battlefield in play. These usually come from in-clan options such as Prepared Ambush or Makeshift War Camp, or the neutral Favourable Ground. Importantly, this ability can be repeated each round, meaning it is often worth putting at least 1 fate on Chronicler of Conquests.

Finally, Hero of Three Trees also allows 1 honour to be gained each turn, provided the Lion player has fewer cards in thand than their opponent. This is usually not too difficult given the preference for 1 bid in the Draw phase for an honour deck, and this also synergises with other Lion cards with similar requirements.

Lion's Pride Brawler is a good card. Not only is she outside of Assassination range, she also has the Bushi and Courtier traits and a powerful ability that can be used to gain a tempo advantage over an opponent. While attacking, Lion's Pride Brawler can bow a defender or a character at home with equal or lower military skill than the her. It is not difficult to pump a character's military skill with Lion, meaning her ability can be either used on a defender to secure a win, or a character at home to dampen a potential counter attack.

When faced with Lion's Pride Brawler, look to either match her military skill (tricky), use a Finger of Jade or other anti-bow ability, or take her ability into account from the beginning of the Conflict phase and accept that a key character will be bowed during a Lion attack.

Now married to Akodo Toturi, Akodo Kaede is a powerful shugenja who can reach into the void to prevent a character's soul being taken from them. This is a wonderfully flavourful ability and it is worth reading the backstory to it in Falling Stars.

There a number of factors which make Kaede a strong pick for Lion players. Firstly, while she is a tempting target for the void and fire rings, she is immune to these, something that is easy to forget in the heat of battle. She also cannot be targeted by Assassination. Lastly, and importantly, she can remove one of her own fate to prevent another character from leaving play.

There is a unique quirk here that takes a moment to appreciate.

In the fate phase, all characters without fate are removed simultaneously. Following this, one fate is removed from the remaining characters. In practice, this means that if Kaede has one fate she is not affected by the framework step in which characters without fate are removed. However, she can use her last fate to prevent another character from leaving play. The next framework step (removing fate from characters still in play) also does not affect her, since she now has no fate to remove.

There is a certain level of cognitive dissonance here, but it has been confirmed that if Kaede goes into the fate phase with one fate, she can prevent a character with no fate from leaving play, whilst also remaining in play herself.

Brother. Husband. Champion. Traitor.

Akodo Toturi is a beloved and maligned character in Legend of the Five Rings - both the CCG and LCG incarnations. What cannot be denied, however, is the impact this card has on a game.

It was recently ruled that both Toturi and Doji Hotaru can trigger their abilities when claiming a ring as the defender, meaning if Toturi wins a conflict, he is going to resolve a ring effect (twice if he is the attacker).

In an honour deck he gains a massive 4 honour when claiming the Air ring as an attacker, while in a conquest deck he can shred an opponent's hand or board with the Earth or Void rings respectively. He has an impressive 3 glory, and becomes military skill 12 with Way of the Lion (which then multiples to 24 and then 48).

While expensive, he can be cheated into a conflict with Ikoma Ujiaki, Kitsu Spiritcaller, Forebearer's Echoes (or occasionally Appealing to the Fortunes).

A powerful Courtier, Ikoma Ujiaki makes use of the Imperial Favor to put 2 characters from his owner's provinces into the current conflict. There is an element of randomness as to how useful this is, but careful deckbuilding can ensure that useful targets are likely to be available. In general, he is best used in decks with expensive characters that offer maximum value when cheated into play.

While the reign of Bayushi Shoju led to a waning of of Ikoma Ujiaki's influence, the restriction of the Scorpion regent will likely lead to a resurgence of his inclusion in competitive decks.

Lion's roster of impressive high-fate characters continues to grow with Master Tactician. A non-unique Commander who is often cheated into play through Spectral Visitation or Kituski Spiritcaller, and then kept in play by Stand Your Ground or Called to War (or replaced for free by Akodo Zentaro), he provides a powerful passive ability that allows the top card his owner's conflict deck to be played during a conflict he is participating in if a Battlefield is in play.

This deck can be shuffled by Tactical Ingenuity if needed (which can also take In Service to my Lord off the bottom), allowing subsequent cards to be played up to 3 times a battle.

Each clan has a 6 cost Spirit card that never sees play because it costs 6 fate. That is, unless there is a way to cheat it into play.

Champion's of Yomi is a 6-cast Spirit card that has an innate ability that allows it to be cheated into play. Thus, it does see play and is worth being aware of.

The text of Champions of Yomi reads very similarly to that on Kyuden Ikoma in that it can make a successful defence even more painful for an opponent. In such situations it gives the Lion player a choice between bowing a key opposing character, or putting a 6/6 character into play for a phase (note that using Champions of Yomi bows the stronghold, which then cannot be used for the rest of the round).

Like all Lion recursion cards, it is worth constantly checking an opponent's discard pile to see whether Champions of Yomi is there. As with other Spirit cards there are restrictions on the attachments that can be played on it (sadly, no weapons this time), but it remains a worthy target for Way of the Lion.

Attachments

A sleeper hit, Sharpen the Mind has become a key component of competitive Lion decks in recent months. To begin with, political pumps are rare, making +3 skill a handy boost. Lion can also gain advantage from having lower hand size than their opponent so Sharpen the Mind can also aid in this. The cards true power, however, comes from its synergy with In Service to My Lord.

Given that In Service to My Lord can be played from the discard pile, there is no penalty to discarding it with Sharpen the Mind. Thus playing Sharpen, using Sharpen, and then playing In Service will provide a +3/3 boost and a ready for zero fate.

This interaction will leave In Service to My Lord on the bottom of the conflict deck, but with sufficient game length, high card draw, and Tactical Ingenuity, this is not a significant problem.

Tactical Ingenuity can only be attached to a Commander character, and for 0 fate it provides +1 military and the ability to search the top 4 cards of the conflict deck for an attachment once per turn. It is not unique or Restricted (as in, it does not count towards the two Restricted attachments a character can carry), and thus can be stacked to provide multiple searches per turn.

This is an incredibly powerful effect which allows a Lion player to select the best event for the job depending on the current board state.

While it was restricted in the most recent Imperial Law document, this is not a significant issue for Lion players as Policy Debate, their other prefered restricted pick, is now banned completely.

Fan of Command offers powerful synergy with movement effects in tower decks. The blunt-force synergy of repeated move in and straighten actions is hard to counter, leading to a numbing inevitability once Voltron is assembled in Lion and Unicorn decks. Combined with additional straightens from In Service to My Lord, Fan of Command has helped put Lion in a high tier position in the competitive scent.

It is difficult to choose the best target for attachment removal when facing this deck. Fan of Command is a strong target due to its 1-fate cost and reliable ability. It is dependent on move-in effects, however, making Favored Mount another strong candidate. Sharpen the Mind and Tactical Ingenuity are also tempting targets due to the synergy they provide with In Service to My Lord. Hovering above all of these are the fearsome Blade of 10,00 Battles and Adorned Barcha.

Blade of 10,000 Battles provides powerful recursion for Lion decks and, while somewhat risky at 2 fate, is generally a safe play in the late game for tower decks as an opponent's attachment removal is likely to be exhausted.

Assuming the Lion player is more honourable than their opponent, the blade allows them to tutor their entire discard pile for a card of their choice: a powerful effect that then can be repeated each round.

Sashimono provides no stats for its expensive cost, but, if an opponent cannot remove it, the attached character will not bow after any military conflicts. They can still be bowed by the usual card effects, however.

Lion have recently received a number of conflict cards that attached to a province to provide impressive benefits. These Battlefield also synergise well with characters such as Chronicler of Conquest and Master Tactician.

Prepared Ambush can be used on attack or defence to play a character from the province row into the current battle. This allows a Lion player to pass early in the Dynasty Phase to save fate, and to wait until a particular character is needed for the current game state.

Makeshift War Camp works best in swarm decks that play a larger number of cheap characters. While it is tempting to match this card with Yojin no Shiro, this stronghold has generally fallen out of favour because it can only be used in one conflict per turn. Nevertheless, being able to provide +2 military on the offensive or defensive is powerful, particularly during stronghold conflicts.

Each of these cards can also be moved by the excellent Logistics when their benefit at the current conflict has expired.

Events

In Service to My Lord is seeing regular play in Lion decks and has also made Lion a popular splash given its ability to provide a free stand if a ready non-unique character is available.

As mentioned, what truly sets it apart is the fact that it can be played from the discard pile. This means it is an easy choice when tutoring one's hand with cards such as Sharpen the Mind or Spoils of War, and it is always a nice feeling to see it discarded by the Ring of Earth.

Ready for Battle is a common inclusion in Lion decks and provides excellent defence against bow effects from cards such as For Shame! or Duelist Training. It can also defend against the Ring of Water, so be sure to take this into account when deciding whether to bow an opponent's character, or ready your own.

Way of the Lion is unique among cards that boost military skill as it multiplies with each use. Rather than add to a character's existing skill (eg. Banzai!), Way of the Lion doubles the character's base skill (eg. from 4 skill to 8). If played again on the same character in the same conflict, this doubling effect continues (8, becomes 16, 16 becomes 32). Taken to the extreme, this can result in a Matsu Seventh Legion becoming an awesome 64 force. Of course, this relies upon the character being ready and in the conflict, so be careful of bow, send home, or discard mechanics.

Be aware that if a Lion really wants to win a military conflict, they can probably do so with 2 or 3 copies of Way of the Lion in hand. Knowing this, look to apply constant pressure over multiple conflicts to draw out single uses of Way of the Lion, rather than attempt to engage in one apocalyptic conflict in which the multiplier effect can spiral out of control.

For Greater Glory is a powerful core card that can have a significant swing effect on the game. It is generally easy to spot (a Lion player buys out their row, stockpiles one fate, and attacks with a large number of characters), but it can also be used to keep a tower in play for another turn, or to retain other key characters.

Note that the card requires the Lion play to not just win the conflict, but also break the attached province. If it is clear that For Greater Glory is the goal, it may be worth investing in a strong defense to, if not win, at least prevent the break. Cancels are also effective as For Greater Glory is maximum 1 per conflict.

Called to War and Stand Your Ground provide similar effects that allow a character to stay in play beyond their use-by date. The former is the more commonly played as it does not require the target character to be honoured, although they must be a Bushi and each opponent can pay 1 honour to repeat the effect.

A Commander character who is dishonoured and affected by Cloud the Mind can become honoured and suddenly clear-headed through Prepare for War. This can have a powerful swing effect, particularly on a high-glory character (as many Lion Commander are). Other detrimental attachments that can be removed include Peacemaker's Blade, Pacifism, and Stolen Breath.

My Ancestor's Strength and Forebearer's Echoes play into the Kitsu family tradition of communing with one's ancestors to gain their wisdom and, quite literally, their strength.

The former changes the base skills of a participating shugenja to that of a character in the discard pile (ideally a high-value character such as Akodo Toturi), while the latter moves a character from the discard pile to the conflict until the end of said conflict.

While these cards do see some play in Lion, in the competitive scene they are more commonly found in Phoenix decks where they synergise with Kyuden Isawa, and can take advantage of the unique wording of Fushicho to powerful effect.

Lion have a number of playable Courtier and Regal Bearing uses these to good effect. In most games, players bid 5 in the draw phase unless they have a particular reason not to. Regal Bearing allows a Lion player to thus use 1 card and 1 fate to draw 4 cards - effectively a 3 card increase.

When faced with a Lion row filled with Courtier there is a decent chance that Regal Bearing is coming. Dropping your own honour bid to 4 will reduce Regal Bearing to a 2 card increase, and so on. The problem here is that cards win card games, so it is best not to play into the hand of a Lion opponent too much. As always, having a form of additional card draw in your deck is advisable.

Strength in Numbers is the primary Lion send home tool. While it is naturally suited to swarm decks, the requirement to match an opposing character's glory with a number of attacking characters is generally not difficult.

Expect to see this played in key conflicts, and particularly stronghold attacks. Finger of Jade will stop it, as will the usually interrupts. Move in effects such as Favorable Ground are also a solid counter.

Archetypes

Tower

By kehda pahr#4387

Tower is an archetype that seeks to create a single character that can compete in all or almost all conflicts and win by sheer stats. It's not a fast deck and prefers to defend early and save some fate or tactically deny or even win rings to set themselves up for a turn later. Never hesitate to go for a low investment break though, your primary win condition is breaking the stronghold. The earlier the pressure the better.

Primary targets are Lion's 3 cost commanders Kitsu Motso, Matsu Agetoki and Akodo Zentaro in order of relevance. This because Tactical Ingenuity and Prepare for War give a lot of advantage. This supported by value attachments like Blade of 10,000 Battles and Adorned Barcha in addition to the move in package of Favored Mount plus Fan of Command is the method of propelling your Commander into as many conflicts as you want.

Finally a reminder to play it safe with your precious pile of cards. You invest heavily into a single character and need to protect it. Finger of Jade and Defend your Honor being a must to navigate most threats.

Honour

By Saibrock#3886

Honor Lion is a different game than other archetypes, on account of it not trying (or even generally wanting) to break provinces. You're all about honor-gains, valuing every decision based on how much honor you're going to gain (or not lose). You're playing defensively, spending most of your resources to slow down the opponent's progress while moving steadily, inexorably toward your own. Losing well is preferred over winning poorly, as your conflict-winning resources are less plentiful than your opponent's, so you devote most of your time to consuming your opponent's resources.

Your star players are the Hero of Three Trees and Ikoma Prodigy, while some older cards have found new purpose in a dedicated Honor deck, such as Command Respect and Honored Blade; where previously they served little purpose, now the honor they can gain you is easily the difference between winning and losing. Called to War is now a card with no downside, since your opponent should never be so foolish as to give you honor willingly.

Playing Honor Lion is a chance to approach the game from a fundamentally different perspective than any other deck uses, and you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't at least give it a try

Swarm

By AkodoT1#8381

Hi this is AkodoT1, I am known from being the top Lion at worlds 2018. When I first started to play L5R it was a huge challenge as Lion were really 'military focus'. So here's some swarm strategy in a list that I did perfect for beginners.

Yojin No Shiro is first perfect to manage a break without spending a card it is helping with cards like Lion's Pride Brawler that needs to trigger on military stats to be able to bow an opponent etc. You also need to be able to have some stands for further conflicts, so play 3x Elegant Tessen and 3x Take up Command.

Mulligan conflict side is to get Those Who Serve and For Greater Glory. The trait Commander is very important to help you play Tactical Ingenuity to be able to have the key card in hand as well as For Greater Glory or some pump to manage the break and so on. You'll have a few in your deck to be able to 'tutor' for a great win!

Now I am going to suggest Support of the Unicorn so that means you can have the best Unicorn card for more strategies and stability. Also experimenting with a support role can be good ;-) With Captive Audience you can turn a political conflict into a military conflict. Very useful against a lot of things you will experiment this for sure! Spoils of War Is another tool to be able to draw your For Greater Glory on the win and be able to put fate on your crazy army! Shinjo Ambusher I manage to really like that conflict character as it can deny province effect and is really key against mirror, scorpion, dragon, a few others. I will say if you want you can play instead Ujik Tactics but I think this is a bit over killing as you already have the stronghold etc.

So mainly this deck is focus on attacking and not defending (except for the stronghold if needed). As all your province row is an 'on break' effect you will take a lot of advantage if that resolve that way.

The deck has several weaknesses to watch out for. Assassination will manage to get rid of a 2 coster or less. You need to be aware of this and play around it. Defend your Honor: make sure that there's always a bigger guy in your army than your opponent in some match up you won't be able all the time, but be aware of it as it can cancels your For Greater Glory. Forged Edict, Censure, Voice of Honor are there to cancel your Captive Audience, Those Who Serve, and, well, any great event you'll play so try to play in the right order to manage to still have some benefit. Also, at times your honor may drop fast so don't be shy to go for an air ring at times when you known it is starting to be on his self limits

RINGS!

Void ring is the 1st pick you need to go as it will manage to not screw a big part of your board generator. Earth mainly to be able to discard some cancels etc.. Hand advantage is huge in the game and remember your opponent can bid 5. Water to be able to ready and do a 2nd conflict. Also helps if you need to win on political you have Sharpen the Mind to help for it as well as Take Up Command to bring as much political as you can. Air to seriously get out of dishonor etc.. Note that honor is very subtle when you start playing the game. All the time you think you are ok but it ain't. Fire isn't that bad against Crane to try to be more honorable etc.. or to dishonor Scorpion courtier to avoid Forged Edict. Depends really on the match up.

Conclusion

Proud and regal, the Lion have awoke after years of slumber to once again terrorise the Legend of the Five Rings competitive scene. Able to threaten opponents with a variety of strategies and win conditions, Lion are a force to be reckoned with.

When facing Lion it is important to recognise right from the opening flop what their strategy is. If there is a powerful Commander, but prepared to apply pressure early and often before the engine of move in and straighten effects is is fully online. If cards such as Ikoma Prodigy or Hero of Three Trees are present, consider a low bid and attempt to outmuscle your opponent with your dynasty deck before they reach 25 honour. Finally, if the opening flop includes a larger number of cheap characters, be prepared to block For Greater Glory, and attempt to knock out Staging Ground and City of the Rich Frog before the swarm overwhelms you.

The most important thing to remember when facing a Lion opponent is not to underestimate them. Lion have cards that offer from maximum value from minimal investment, and a good Lion player knows exactly when to wait, and when pounce on an unprepared opponent.