The Emerald Dojo

A Legend of the Five Rings Strategy Site

Underhand of the Emperor

Updated 28 June, 2020.

By paulofhallett#7086

When Kami Hantei became the first emperor of Rokugan the Lion and Crane clans were declared his right and left hands respectively. The Lion clan would command his armies and the Crane his courts. Each would act with honour and dignity, and each would see the will of the Jade Throne enforced throughout the land. But Hantei saw that the empire required protection not only in the open, but also in the shadows. Thus, the emperor went to Kami Bayushi and asked him to be his Underhand: the one capable of performing deeds that could not be named. Recognising that sometimes the ends must justify the means, Kami Bayushi gave his solemn vow: "I will be your villain, Hantei."

The Scorpion clan are rightly feared in Legend of the Five Rings. Capable of controlling games through their ability to cancel events, control attachments, discard characters, and relentlessly drain their opponent's honour, Scorpion players can be found regularly at the finals tables in competitive tournaments.

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

Strongholds

The most notorious of the core set strongholds, City of the Open Hand has been errata'd, un-errata'd, and now restricted, although calls for it to be banned remain strong.

It's power lies in its ability to constantly drain honour from an opponent. The requirement that the Scorpion player be less honourable than their opponent is not difficult given that most strongholds begin with 11 honour, and the quick use of a Bayushi Manipulator or Assassination can work to assure this.

The fact that the action steals an honour (which was not the case when it was errata'd) means that it is also very hard to dishonour out a Scorpion player. While Duty is no longer ubiquitous in Scorpion decks since its restriction, the ability of City of the Open Hand to steal an honour each round ensures that Scorpion can effectively stay on very low honour indefinitely.

When playing against City of the Open Hand, protect your honour at all times. While a 5 bid in the first round is reasonable to allow you to interact with the game, be prepared to bid low and brawl soon afterwards. The pressure from the stronghold, dishonoured characters leaving play, and Backhanded Compliment, means that there is a hard cap on how long the game will last: you will need to achieve your own win condition quickly and efficiently to stand a chance of victory.

For non-Scorpion clans a stronghold with a ready action would be an auto include. For Scorpion, however, the power of City of the Open Hand has ensured that Kyuden Bayushi is still relegated to a novelty stronghold for many players.

The ability to ready a dishonoured character means Kyuden Bayushi decks are generally more suited to a conquest win condition, although dishonour is always a viable path for Scorpion. The Stronghold is particularly effective when used on characters with low glory, and especially Shosuro Sadako who actively benefits from being dishonoured.

Not being able to steal an honour from an opponent each turn means Kyuden Bayushi decks are vulnerable to being dishonoured out, and thus Duty is still a reasonable restricted pick for such decks.

Provinces

A powerful Earth province (and one of the few that can replace Upholding Authority), Effective Deception provides a guaranteed cancel during a conflict at this province.

It is important to note the interrupt can cancel not just actions, but also reactions or interrupts. This means that it can, for example, cancel an opponent's Censure, Finger of Jade or Hisu Mori Toride. This powerful ability means Effective Deception can usually be found under the stronghold as a last line of defense against conquest opponents.

The only hard counters to its ability come from cards that can cancel or blank provinces. These include Shinjo Ambusher, Pathfinder's Blade, and Highlight the Flaws. Without these, look to bait its use with low impact plays, allowing more powerful cards to be played later.

Bizarrely unrestricted in a recent Imperial Law document, Secret Cache is once again the Air province of choice for Scorpion players. Yet another tool in the arsenal of Scorpion card draw options, this powerful province allows its owner to search the top 5 cards of their conflict deck for the most valuable card for the current game state. Often this will be an Assassination to blunt a poke attack, Forged Edict to counter a powerful pump, or even Display of Power to swing an unopposed conflict in the Scorpion's favour.

If Secret Cache is not broken immediately it can be a genuine thorn for an opponent, as repeatedly attacking it allows the Scorpion player to choose the best card for the job each time. If possible, never attack Secret Cache once it is revealed, although this can be difficult if the only other options are similarly damaging provinces such as Shameful Display, Effective Deception, or Midnight Reveals.

In the story and lore of Legend of the Five Rings Toshi Rambo is significant. It has traditionally been fought over the by the Lion and Crane, although it is currently under Scorpion control with Bayushi Yojiro the 'Honest Scorpion' as Chief Magistrate.

As a card Toshi Rambo is interesting. A prize claimed by the Scorpion for an early Kotei season, it is a pre-eminent Eminent province that begins the game face up and cannot be turned facedown. Any character played from it has one additional fate placed on them, although this will not work for characters that are 'put into play' using cards such as Ambush. It also has the Imperial card for Seppun Ishikawa tragics.

In any other clan the province would be very powerful, but given the Scorpion preference for a weaker dynasty deck and stronger conflict hand it often fails to make the cut. When it is included in decks, it is often the immediate target for an opponent's attack as its 3 province strength and lack of defensive capabilities means it is easily broken.

Holdings

Scorpion players like to control the Air and Fire Rings. While Phoenix splash used to offer an effective way to achieve this with (the now restricted) Display of Power, Acclaimed Geisha House offers similar control through its ability to switch the current ring with an unclaimed one. Note that the if a ring is switched during a conflict, the attacker will gain all fate on the newly-contested ring.

City of Lies allows a Scorpion player to capitalise on their strong conflict hand. The usual holding problem of clogging up a slot in the province row is not a significant issue given that Scorpion prefer not to spend big in the dynasty phase, and it can help to discount events such as Calling in Favours, Kirei-ko, and I Can Swim.

A requirement for many Scorpion cards is that a friendly character be dishonoured. While the low glory of many Scorpion characters means this rarely impacts conflict resolution, each dishonoured character cannot be used again to enable key Scorpion cards, and there is always the (admittedly low) chance that the Scorpion player will dishonour out. Court of Deception alleviates this by removing a status token from a friendly character, although it requires is controller to have 6 or fewer honour, and the character must be in the home area.

Characters

Scorpion have some of the most powerful 1-cost characters in the game, although the recent banning of Bayushi Liar is significant

Alibi Artist provides consistent card draw as soon as his owner reachers 6 or fewer honour. This is not difficult with a quick Assassination, but he generally does not enter play until Round 2. At this point, a Scorpion player is free to put a large number of fate on him as it takes a brave opponent to play Assassination against the Artist himself.

Bayushi Manipulator is an excellent Round 1 play for a Scorpion player as he allows his owner to bid 6 in the draw phase, thus drawing an extra card, whilst also dropping their honour below their important. While at first this may seem like a bad idea (giving honour to an opponent you plan to dishonour out of the game), in the opening stage of the game it is much more important to gain card advantage, and to enable City of the Opening Hand as quickly as possible.

Meek Informant is a 1-cost conflict character who can be used to scout an opponent's hand. This can be used to reveal information about an opponent's important cards, and in particular, their cancels.

Not to be outdone in the 2-cost category, Scorpion also have a number of characters that play into their powerful archetypes.

In the dynasty deck, Scorpion can play Blackmail Artist, a Courtier who can also take 1 honour from his opponent when he wins a political conflict. This plays into the dishonour archetype very well, although his controller should remember to use City of the Open Hand before Blackmail Artist's ability, in case their own honour rises above their opponent's.

Soshi Illusionist is a Shugenja who can be used to remove an honoured status token for an opponent's character, or a dishonoured token from a friendly one. Removing an opponent's honoured status token can deny cards such as Voice of Honor or Noble Sacrifice, and also prevents an opponent from gaining an honour when an honoured character leaves play. Removing a dishonoured status token from a friendly character allows this character to once again be dishonoured to play cards such as Forged Edict or Calling in Favours, and prevents the Scorpion player from potentially dishonoring out when a dishonoured character leaves play.

Vice Proprietor's action ability functions similarly to Way of the Crab in that it targets a player, who then chooses a character to be negatively impacted. Unlike Way of the Crab, however, both targeting choices (player and then character) are made before the (—) in the card text, and therefore Finger of Jade can be used to cancel the bow effect. As a dynasty character, Vice Proprietor telegraphs his ability clearly, and he can be relatively easily played around by having another low-impact character present in the conflict.

Young Rumormonger has returned from the restricted list to once again redirect honour or dishonour effects on friendly or opposing characters. This can be used to, for example, prevent a key character from being honoured to avoid an incoming I Can Swim, or to move an honoured status token from a character with no fate who is about to leave play, to one who will stay in play (thus preventing the opponent from gaining 1 honour).

While on the restricted list a similar card, Shameless Gossip, was printed which moves status tokens, rather than redirect the effect of being honoured or dishonoured. The differences between these interaction is subtle, but occasionally significant, and you can read the rules clarifications for each card on FiveRingsDB to confirm these.

In the conflict deck, Adept of Shadows features average stats for her cost and lacks the Courtier trait. She can, however, use her action to drop her owner's honour to enable City of the Open Hand or Alibi Artist.

Shosuro Sadako features awful stats for her 2-fate cost. That is, until she is dishonoured, at which point she becomes a fearsome 4/4 who can now be readied with Kyuden Bayushi. Shosuro Sadako synergises well with a number of cards. From the Shadows allows her to enter play for free dishonoured (although with no fate she will leave play at the end of the turn). Discourage Pursuit can be used as a reverse Banzai!, although only with an Earth. Finally, she can be given a set of Infiltrator's Tools to grant her the Covert keyword.

Fawning Diplomat is a 3-cost character who can be used to guarantee the Imperial Favor upon leaving play. As her interrupt takes place in the fate phase, the glory count for the favor at the end of the Conflict phase has finished, leaving Fawning Diplomat free to take the favour immediately from an opponent who has just claimed it.

Governor's Spy can be used to shut down an opponent's holdings. He must be participating in the conflict to use his action, which allows him to turn all faceup dynasty cards in the province row down, and then rearrange these as desired. This can, for example, put a powerful holding (or character) onto a broken province, thereby ensuring that it will be discarded at the end of the turn.

Shosuro Actress can be used to engage in a political conflict with 3 skill, and then sacrifice herself in a later conflict to put a 3-cost character from the opponent's discard into play in the current conflict. Best used later in the game to give more choice in the discard pile, Shosuro Actress can be used to put disruptive characters such as Lion's Pride Brawler, Utaku Tetsuko, or Doji Challenger into play at a time that will most frustrate an opponent. If playing against Shosuro Actress, always keep one eye on your discard pile (your opponent will be). Remember that the actress does not need to be participating in the current conflict to use her ability, nor does she need to be ready.

Each clan has access to an in-clan Magistrate. Each of these is a dynasty character who, when either attacking or defending, nullifies the skill of opposing characters in a particular way. In the case of the Scorpion, however, Cunning Magistrate is a conflict character who can nullify opponents when both attacking and defending.

The strength of Cunning Magistrate has seen him added to the restricted list, and thus he only occasionally sees play in the current competitive meta.

Shosuro Miyako (the conflict version of the earlier dynasty version) is a valuable Disguised character who most often replaces Goblin Sneak, Keeper Initiate, or Seppun Truthseeker). She is one of the few tools Scorpion have to discard a character who is not participating in the current conflict, and offers decent stats and the Shinobi trait once in play.

Special mention in the 3-cost slot must to go to Heartless Intimidator and Master Whisperer, each of whom fit well into the 'mill' archetype. This playstyle attempts to drain an opponents conflict deck, resulting in a 5-honour loss when the deck must be shuffled and redrawn.

Any card which features (Unlimited) deserves attention, and the fact that Heartless Intimidator is non-unique means up to 3 can be play at once, discarding cards from the conflict deck every time an opponent loses an honour. Master Whisperer functions similarly in that he can force an opponent to draw 3 cards after they discard 3 cards from their hand. This can also be used on one's own had as tutor effect if new cards are needed to face the current board state.

Playing against mill is tricky as it adds a metaphorical Sword of the Damocles over an opponent while their conflict deck is slowly stripping away. That said, by including cards that mill, the Scorpion player is forgoing cards that allow them to interact with the game in other meaningful ways. Slovely Scavenger is also an effective defence as it can cycle a discard pile back into its original deck.

Shosuro Ibuki is another Disguised character whose reaction can significantly disrupt an unprepared opponent. As a dynasty character she will be present in the row before revealing herself, so aim to break this province to prevent Scorpion from gaining a ready on a bowed Courtier, and access to a powerful ability.

Note that Shosuro Ibuki herself does have have the Courtier trait.

And now we come to one of the more intriguing family dramas in Legend of the Five Rings.

Bayushi Aramoro is tortured by his unrequited love for his brother's wife Bayushi Kachiko. He must settle for his own wife, Yogo Asami, who by day acts as Kachiko's body double in Otosan Uchi. Aramoro's brother, Bayushi Shoju, was a closer friend and advisor to the late Emperor Hantei XXXVIII (Kachiko is in theory still the official Imperial Advisor), and has become regent until one of Hantei's sons (both are missing) comes of age. Kachiko is currently banished to Toshi Rambo because she interrupted her husband's plans to sit on the throne, and pines for her true love Doji Hotaru, champion of the Crane clan.

Beyond this twisted soap opera, each of these characters offers interesting lines of play in Legend of the Five Rings.

Bayushi Aramoro can be an effective character, but he has not quite lived up to the hype surrounding his announcement. A Shinobi with decent stats, his action can remove low-military skill characters or towers whose skill have been reduced through cards such as Sinister Soshi, Discourage Pursuit, and Fiery Madness. This requires significant set up, however, and leaves Aramoro himself as a 3/0 character until he is re-honoured, or his dishonour token is redirected or removed.

Bayushi Kachiko is a powerful conflict character who can dominate political conflicts. The "Then, you may bow it" line of her text is a nice flavourful touch, although her inability to directly reduce an opponent's honour means she no longer sees frequent play in dishonour decks. That said, if an opponent does pass early and bank fate in the Dynasty phase there is a chance that Kachiko may be waiting in the wings.

The original Bayushi Shoju still sees occasional play in 'kill' decks. His ability functions similarly to his brother's, although it removes only 1 skill from an opposing character, but can be used twice. The arrival of Compelling Testimony and Castigate have seen a revival of interest in this version of Shoju, although not enough to see him played regularly in competitive decks.

By contrast, the Inheritance Cycle Bayushi Shoju was, until recently, terrorising the current meta. Each line of his text is significant: opponent's can no longer control the Imperial Favour (and thus loses access to Censure at a stroke), each player must lose 1 honour after the conflict phase begins (bringing opponents ever closer to defeat through Backhanded Compliment), and he offers free card draw (although his opponent also benefits from this).

He is also a fearsome 7 political skill (11 if honoured), and all-but-guarantees the Imperial Favour if it he ready at the end of the Conflict Phase. His (—) military skill means he cannot be military dueled, although he will be sent home if the conflict type is switched.

Playing against this version of Bayushi Shoju is difficult. He speeds up the Scorpion dishonour clock and increases the ability of Scorpion to cancel events via Censure. That said, while one must inevitably switch to a low bid by the time he enters the game, he can at least offer 2 cards with which to interact with the game, and he is vulnerable to military attacks.

Attachments

Tainted Koku and Fiery Madness can be used to bring characters towards zero military or political skill. From here they can be discarded by Bayushi Aramoro or Bayushi Shoju (core set), or Castigated during a political conflict if the Scorpion player controls and Imperial character.

Decks build around such a 'kill' theme are possible (often with Crane splash for Noble Sacrifice), but they require significant investment in fate, and the honouring and dishonouring of characters. They also telegraph their intentions clearly to an experienced favour and thus do not see frequent competitive play.

Mark of Shame is a powerful attachment that acts more like an event that cannot be interrupted. It costs a hefty two fate, but will guarantee that the attached character becomes dishonoured, and thus vulnerable to I Can Swim or Noble Sacrifice.

There is no real counter to Mark of Shame (outside of edge cases such as Doji Kuzunobu). While attachment control cards can be used to discard the attachment, the damage has already been done and only the -1 political debuff is alleviated.

Mark of Shame is now restricted, but occasionally sees play in kill decks.

Softskin occasionally sees play in Scorpion mill decks that seek to drain their opponent's conflict deck. It is particularly effective against tower decks which aim to constantly ready a key character. It is expensive, however, and vulnerable to attachment control cards.

Stolen Breathe occasionally sees play in 'lockdown' decks that aim to prevent key characters from participating in conflicts. This is most effective when couple with the Phoenix attachments Pacifism and Peacemaker's Blade.

Events

When categorising these cards by cost and then alphabetically the first Scorpion event card to be discussed is Backhanded Compliment. There is a certain irony here as in most Scorpion victories this is the last card their opponent will see.

Backhanded Compliment is the ultimate 'closer' for Scorpion. Once an opponent drops to 3 honour they are at risk of being dishonoured out via sassy remarks made by Scorpion courtiers. In effect, one's starting honour can almost be thought of as 3 less than its printed value, provided Scorpion can draw all three Backhanded Compliment. Even if they do not draw all 3, bringing an opponent to 2 or 1 honour is often enough to close the deal.

The card is Keeper locked, which is cold comfort as this allows Keeper Initiate to contest the Imperial Favour, whilst also acting as an effective Disguised target for Shosuro Miyako.

There is no counter to Backhanded Compliment other than cancel effects, and it effectively ensures that an opponent's bid must be dropped from Round 2 onward. If dropped too far, however, I Can Swim can be used to discard key characters.

Finally, Scorpion players can sting themselves by using Backhanded Compliment to draw their own card. This is best done only as a last resort, and is usually a source of great relief to their opponent.

From a thematic and aesthetic standpoint Duty is a magnificent card. The Ukiyo-e art (present on all Philosophy cards) by B D Judkins is striking, and the idea of the Scorpion clan being willing to perform an act of great dishonour to fulfil Bayushi's vow is wonderfully on point.

Unfortunately, even as a Limit 1 per deck card Duty proved too powerful and has now been restricted.

Criticism of the card focuses on its interaction with the honour bid in the Draw phase. When an opponent's honour begins to approach 0 they are forced to bid 1. Keen to keep their opponent's honour low the Scorpion player will also bid 1, and then rely on their myriad of other draw mechanics to maintain card advantage. However, a 5 bid by the Scorpion player, which would drop them below 0, can be interrupted by Duty to cancel this honour loss, gain 1 honour, and then draw the 5 cards.

This 4-card swing was ultimately judged too powerful, resulting in the card's restriction. It occasionally sees play (most often in Kyuden Bayushi decks), but the restricted list is becoming awfully crowded with Scorpion cards, meaning other other more consistent cards usually prove more tempting.

Forgery is widely assumed to the be card intended to replace Forged Edict when the Legend of Five Rings card pool rotates. Originally, this was set to occur with the arrival of the fifth Dynasty Pack cycle. However, since this has been pushed back to cycle seven, we are left with two thematically and mechanically similar Scorpion cancel events.

Forged Edict is a restricted card which requires a Courtier to be dishonoured to cancel an opponent's event. It costs zero fate, and is a likely pick for a Scorpion player who is not running City of the Open Hand as their restricted card.

If your deck is capable of doing so, it can be worth dishonouring or discarding the Scorpion player's Courtier characters to switch off their Forged Edict, but this can be challenging given the high number of Courtier characters that Scorpion players like to run, and because it can distract away from honouring your own characters.

Forgery, significantly, costs one fate, and also requires that the Scorpion player have less honour than their opponent. The latter of these requirements plays into the strategy of a standard Scorpion dishonour deck, which wants lower honour than an opponent to enable City of the Open Hand, and to switch on Alibi Artist.

While the meta is still adjusting to the arrival of Forgery, expect it to be a common pick for all Scorpion players regardless of their stronghold.

The sister card of Way of the Crane, Way of the Scorpion is the primary tool used by Scorpion players to dishonour opposing characters.

Unlike Court Games it can be played in a military conflict, and the Scorpion player can choose the target character. Once dishonoured, the target character's skills are reduced, they will cause a 1-honour loss when they leave play, and they become vulnerable to cards such as For Shame!, Cunning Magistrate, I Can Swim, and Noble Sacrifice.

Whenever possible, try to re-honour the target character, particularly if fate and attachments have been invested in them. A Finger of Jade can also be attached to prevent the character being bowed or discarded in the next action.

Calling in Favors is the primary tool for Scorpion attachment control. It is fairly costed at 1 fate, and features the common Scorpion requirement that a character be dishonoured.

Where it differs from other attachment control methods is that it steals, rather than discards, the target attachment (like the now-banned Karada District). If the attachment has unique targeting requirements (for example, Curved Blade) which prevents it from attaching to the friendly character, it is instead discarded.

Expect to see 3x Calling in Favours in all Scorpion decks. While the number of attachments being played in the meta is in constant flux, simply being able to remove a pesky Finger of Jade can be reason enough for a Scorpion player to run Calling in Favors.

Bayushi Collector is another Scorpion attachment removal card, however his his cost and tricky set up requirements mean he rarely sees play.

It turns out a Dispatch to Nowhere is better than an actual Dispatch, meaning the Scorpion iteration of message delivery sees far more play than its Unicorn counterpart.

A recent addition to the Scorpion character discard toolkit, Dispatch to Nowhere ensures Scorpion players have a random chance to discard an opposing character during the Dynasty phase. In the best case scenario Dispatch to Nowhere is revealed when an opposing tower character had their last fate removed in the previous fate phase and the Scorpion player has the First Player token (the icing on the cake is when another copy of the target character has just been revealed in the row but there is no opportunity to perform a duplication). In the worst case scenario, it is revealed when there are no valid targets, taking up a valuable dynasty row slot.

Kireko-ko is another tool in the Scorpion bow arsenal. It is fairly costed at 1 fate, and should gave any opponent pause when considering triggering a character's action ability. As it does not target it cannot be cancelled by Finger of Jade.

A wonderfully flavorful card, I Can Swim is the primary Scorpion in-clan kill effect. The costs and set up requires are fair: the Scorpion player must pay 2 fate and have a higher bid on their honour dial, and the target must be a dishonoured character participating in the current conflict.

Playing against I Can Swim becomes more difficult the longer a game lasts. As honour is inevitably drained away it becomes necessary for an opponent to lower their you bid, which leaves key characters vulnerable to being discarded. Keeping characters honoured (or at least neutral) is a fair defense, although Scorpion will generally have more ways to dishonour an opponent's characters than they have to honour them.

Because I Can Swim is a targeted ability Finger of Jade can be used to cancel the effect.

One of the ultimate swing cards, A Fate Worse Than Death is restricted because of the awesome amount of pain it inflicts upon a single character. While the character is not discarded (hence the name), they are effectively neutered for the current conflict, and likely the remainder of the current phase.

Note that the effects of the card occur simultaneously and that protection against one will not cancel the others. If played against a Borderlands Defender then she will not be bowed or sent home, but the blanking of her text means a subsequent A Fate Worse Than Death will have the full impact upon her.

4 fate is a lot to pay for a single event. That said, the ability to bow, send home, dishonour, remove a fate from, and bow a character, is significant. It is vulnerable to being cancelled, but then Scorpion generally have ways to cancel their opponent's cancels in return.

Despite its power most Scorpion players tend to opt for City of the Open Hand or Forged Edict as their restricted pick of choice in the current meta, but don't be surprised if you find yourself locked in a cell surrounded by bugs from time to time.

Archetypes

By lordshoju#0867

Conquest

A brainchild of Shosuro Kiseki and other enterprising Scorpion players, this deck redefined Scorpion play in the first few months of Legend of the Five Rings the LCG. Before the Dropbear, the usual flow of play was: buy characters during Dynasty Phase, have one or two fate left over, and pass. The Dropbear would simply pass without buying anything, ending the Dynasty Phase with eight fate. The opponent is faced with a Scorpion with no defenders or potential attackers.

The Dropbear would then play conflict characters like Unassuming Yojimbo, Adept of Shadows, or Bayushi Kachiko, dropping them into play before declaring an attack or directly into defense. The sudden drop would take an opponent by surprise, leaving them off balance for the remainder of the match.

How to play a Dropbear deck? Follow the deck design to the letter. Don’t buy any characters from your provinces at all. Don’t even discard them at the end of turn. Let your opponent smash your provinces; you’ll be fine, you’ll catch up once your hand is filled with big conflict characters. See how much fate you can build up by passing and not buying anything. 30 fate already? Great job. See if you can hit 50. Keep it up! Go Dropbear!

One has to sight a Dropbear to know if it’s a Dropbear. If the Scorpion acts like he has no Dynasty Phase, yep it’s a Dropbear. Send your smallest characters to attack his provinces. See if you can manage a sighting of the mythical Dropbears that appear out of nowhere during a conflict. And be very very quiet.

Dishonour

The most notable Scorpion deck archetype. This deck has one main objective: drag the opponent down to zero honor, winning the game for the Scorpion. Key to this deck is City of the Open Hand, as having lower honor means taking an honor away from an opponent.

So with this in mind, bid high. Bid five every turn. Look at all the cards in your hand! Your opponent is in for it now. Eventually your opponent will catch on, and will start to bid one. You will lose four honor every turn. Great! The trap has been sprung.

Use every card that will lower your own honor so you can use your Stronghold. Use Assassination every turn. Bring Ignoble Enforcers into play by losing three honor. Now watch an opponent weep as you take yet another honor from them. No Scorpion ever lost by hitting zero honor. Just keep using your Stronghold. Don’t even bother defending! Keep it up and savor the look of unease on your opponent’s face as he stands with 30 military skill and 24 political skill. You can win even if your Stronghold province is the only one left. Trust in the power of dishonor!

When facing a dishonour deck, call up the biggest, burliest Bushi and courtliest Courtier to attack as early and as often as possible. And stick to military conflicts, as a Scorpion can throw more shame in court for the underpants you wear. Honor helps too. Claim that Fire ring, and keep it away from those dastardly Scorpion.

Switch

When a player’s deck runs out and a card must be drawn, that player reshuffles the discard pile into the appropriate deck, loses five honor, and draws the required number of cards. This Scorpion deck aims to exhaust an opponent’s conflict deck, using the five-point honor loss to win the game for the Scorpion.

Heartless Intimidator is your best friend, as he discards one card from your opponent’s conflict deck every time your opponent loses one honor. Watch your opponent squirm as you discard all of their good cards. Put every fate that you can on him when he appears; four fate should be a good start. Don’t bother buying any another character as Heartless Intimidator will win the game for you single-handedly.

Another great card is Master Whisperer, which forces a player to discard three cards from hand and draw three cards. This means that one Master Whisperer can discard an opponent’s entire conflict deck in only 12 turns! Three Master Whisperers would only need four turns to do so. Imagine winning without having to participate in a single conflict. The possibility is mind-boggling.

And ignore that Slovenly Scavenger when it comes into play. What could a single Goblin do, anyway?

How to play against Discard? Ignore the Scorpion. Really. Discard is slow, so focus on constant attacking. Having only five cards left in your conflict deck doesn’t matter if you’re attacking the Scorpion’s Stronghold Province with a huge army.

Conclusion

By lordshoju#0867

Scorpion thrive in the shadows, their tools deception, deceit, and treachery. Scorpion use misdirection and trickery to appear weak, concealing their true intent behind a venomous grin. This philosophy is reflected in the cards of the Scorpion, and guides how competent Scorpion play the game.

The Scorpion are the villains of the Empire, and they thrive in the infamy.

It would be wise to remember the parting words of every Scorpion sensei:

Everyone lies. Even me.