Warriors of the Wind

By christian#3276

- Updated 28 June, 2020

Like their founder Shinjo, the Unicorn Clan use speed and swiftness to overwhelm their opponents. By far the least competitive clan at launch, the Unicorn have steadily improved over the years, to a point where they now a competitive mid-tier clan.

The Unicorn are a clan that poses questions for an opponent rather than impose answers. They have no in-clan cancel, limited attachment control, and no targeted character removal. They do, however, have multiple ways to switch conflicts to military, allowing them to use their cheap military pumps to overwhelm defenders. They are also masters of movement, with many ways to move characters in and out of conflicts, and several ways to ready characters when needed.

Unicorn players like to pressure opponents to make increasingly uncomfortable decisions about where to commit resources in the face of repeated attacks. There is a danger, however, that if an opponent can weather these early attacks, stabilise, and then counter attack, they can wear down an exhausted Unicorn player.

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

Faction Strengths and Weakness

Strengths

• Military

• Aggression

Weaknesses

• Interruption

Strongholds

Of the three Unicorn strongholds, only Hisu Mori Toride has proven consistently competitive. Much simpler to activate than it's Lion counterpart, it allows a Unicorn player to declare an extra military conflict each round. This can lead to a cascade effect that overwhelms defenders, possibly leading to multiple province breaks per round.

The key to playing Hisu Mori Toride is to make sure you can trigger its action each turn if possible. If you cannot win a military conflict with more characters than you opponent, you are left with only a weak political attack. To ensure you can tigger your stronghold, make use of cards which flip conflicts to military, catching your opponent off guard as much as possible while doing so.

Shiro Shinjo, for the most part, remains a stronghold of potential. Since the initial hype following its announcement, it has struggled to find a consistent archetype to compete at tournaments (the Scouted Terrain deck is a notable exception). That said, it does have its fans, and many have found ways to play through a difficult turn one and two to make use of the economic dividends that follow.

The problem with Shiro Shinjo is that it needs to quickly reveal an opponent's provinces, whilst also protecting itself from the opponent's advances. If two provinces are revealed in round 1 then 8 fate is generated in round 2. This is merely breaking even, however, and the stronghold has not provided any additional benefit. By round 3 it should be generating profit, but by this time an opponent has had two full rounds to make use of their own stronghold to gain a strong board and hand. Once its economic engine is running it can become dominant, but it remains vulnerable in its infancy.

Considered a laughing stock for the first two years of the game, this stronghold has made something of a comeback recently.

There is no getting around the fact that Golden Plains Outpost has very weak stats: it provides no bonus to province strength and has only 10 starting honour. In addition, it's ability can only be used in a military conflict, and it only moves a Cavalry unit to a conflict, rather than to or from. This can be used to get around covert (although only in a military conflict), and to reinforce defences if needed. Other than that, it cannot be used to withdraw from a losing situation, leaving this core stronghold ability in all respects a much weaker version of Favorable Ground, which is available to all decks as a 3x.

Golden Plains Outpost was relegated to the binder as soon as Hisu Mori Toride arrived. That said, it can be used to enable a Unicorn tower deck which makes use of multiple move in and ready effects to overwhelm opponents.

Provinces

While Unicorn do have some political clout in the form of Speak to the Heart and Iuchi Shahai, most competitive decks try to capitalise on military muscle. Khan's Ordu allows Unicorn to do this in spades for one turn, but timing is important. Ideally for the Unicorn player it will trigger early in a turn (possibly aided by Talisman of the Sun or Border Fortress) to maximise subsequent military attacks. If triggered later in a turn, however, with no ready characters available to make use of it, Khan's Ordu becomes a dead province that is easily farmed (safe province to attack to gain value through ring effects, unopposed honor loss etc.) for the remainder of the game.

Endless Plains is an interesting one. Sixty per cent of the time it works every time, leading to a cheeky smile and a painful groan when revealed at the right/wrong moment. Every seasoned player has attacked into it with a lone tower at least once, an experience that leaves an indelible mark. Despite it's awesome potential, however, it doesn't always see play due to its inconsistency, and the fact that most players have learned to play around it. That said, the mere threat of Endless Plains is enough to ensure that many players will never attack into an unrevealed Unicorn province without a second cheap character or a Finger of Jade. This alone means that the Unicorn row is posing a question that an opponent must answer, and this gives the province value, whether present in a deck or not.

Border Fortress is a Unicorn province that focuses on exploration and scouting. It provides the Unicorn player with the option to reveal a province when it is attacked. One immediate use it to reveal one of the opponent's facedown provinces, either to prepare for a future attack or sometimes also to force difficult choices for opponents playing powerful reveal effects such as Phoenix's Retire to the Brotherhood. Another option is to reveal one of your own provinces to leverage its reveal effect at an opportune time, such as Khan's Ordu.

Dynasty Cards

Characters

At 2 fate for 1/1 Shinjo Gunso is very under-statted (lower military and political skill than others with the same cost), however, her powerful ability makes her a common pick in Unicorn decks. Unicorn have a number of powerful 1 or 2 cost characters such as Shinjo Yasamura and Border Rider which can enter play for free with Shinjo Gunso. Note that if this character and another unique character are both in the row, it pays to play Shinjo Gunso first as this may put the unique character into into play, who can then be duped from the row.

Importantly, any cards not put into play with Gunso are discarded, not shuffled back into the dynasty deck. This means Shinjo Gunso can quickly fuel Cavalry Reserves, possibly for a turn one burst.

Shinjo Yasamura is the Unicorn variant of the Crane's Tengu Sensei. At 2 fate (potentially free with Shinjo Gunso) he is a cheap buy for a very powerful effect, and with the first player token his reaction can be used before an opponent has the chance to assassinate him. Counters to Yasamura include Cloud the Mind, Finger of Jade, Tattooed Wanderer, Favorable Ground, and any other card that allows a character to be moved to a conflict.

Utaku Tetsuko's passive ability means that, while attacking, an opponent must pay one extra fate for each card played from hand. This quickly adds up, to the point where an opponent cannot play any cards at all once their last fate has been spent. If a defender hopes to protect a key province (or Stronghold) from Utaku Tetusko they best be able to blank her text box, send her home, discard her, or be prepared to spend big to stop the assault. Note that Unicorn have plenty of ways to ready characters or move them to conflicts, meaning she may be able to participate in multiple attacks per turn.

Shinjo Shono represents a lot of potential military skill, but only if things go his way. He synergises well with the Unicorn archetype of outnumbering and overwhelming opponents, and can be used to swing key conflicts or enable stronghold breaks. He works well with Cavalry Reserves (both when put into play through its ability, or when already in play before the event), and his Pride keyword means he can effectively follow up a successful attack if readied with Shiotome Encampment. However, if things do not go his way, Shono is an expensive buy that ends up costing his owner 1 honour when leaving play dishonoured.

Iuchi Shahai is a powerful character who does not quite synergise with competitive Unicorn archetypes due to her lack of the Cavalry trait (although this can be amended with cards such as Seal of the Unicorn or Favored Mount). She is a rare politically-focused Unicorn character, and Covert is always a useful keyword.

Where things get interesting is her passive ability. Unicorn now have quite a number of Meishodo cards, the most commonly-played of which include Invocation of Ash, Force of the River, and Ring of Binding. These can be efficiently stacked on Shahai to create a powerful tower character who, with a large amount of fate, can be repeatedly straightened through e.g. I am Ready or Steed of the Steppes. If encountered, it pays to blank Shahai (if able), or remove her Ring of Binding as this can allow her to stay in play long past her use-by date, especially with the rarely-played Way of the Unicorn.

Moto Chagatai is the quintessential 'win more' card. He offers nothing to help his owner win a conflict (outside his 6 military), but if he breaks a province he is then free to break another two more if HMT triggers. Most seasoned players have had this done to them at least once, but there a number of effective counters to Chagatai's march. If the Water Ring is unclaimed (and he has no fate after being brought into play with Cavalry Reserves) he can easily be bowed by a political counterattack. His high glory also makes him vulnerable to the Fire Ring. In addition, Chagatai only works if he breaks provinces. As a defender, it can pay to throw excessive resources into defence, such that even if the Unicorn player still wins the conflict, the attacked province is unbroken, leaving Chagatai bowed and ineffective (unless readied through other means). If the Unicorn player throws everything into their first attack with Chagatai, it can also pay to make the second attack the focus for defending; while the first province is sacrificed, at least a potential two more are saved.

Holdings

Unicorn love to see Shiotome Encampment flop, especially if they have the first player token. This powerful holding allows a key Cavalry character to be readied if its owner has claimed a military ring. In practice, this forces a defender to make difficult decisions about what to commit to a defence, as even a drawn conflict will allow the Unicorn player to attack again with a key character, possibly in another military attack through a Hisu Mori Toride or Captive Audience.

The province in which Encampment is in is a popular target to attack if the opponent has the first player token, and it is also vulnerable to cards such as Display of Power or Kakita Toshimoko which deny the necessary military ring.

Shinjo Kami was known for her compassion, and several Unicorn cards embody this trait by offering benefits not only to themselves, but also their opponents. Windswept Yurt is one such card which allows a Unicorn player to buffer against the inevitable honour loss from repeated Banzai! and Captive Audience (and possibly Unleash the Djinn), plus the continual drain from dishonour decks.

Note that Windswept Yurt refills its province faceup, meaning another card can be played in the dynasty phase, albeit with the probable loss of passing fate. Also note that every now and then a player will attempt the 'Turbo Yurt' deck which runs Windswept Yurt, Rebuild, Way of the Chrysanthemum, and Contingency Plan to very quickly push to 25 honour.

Events

Ride at Dawn is cool. While many Dynasty events have proven contentious (*cough* Lost Papers), Ride at Dawn at least gives the opponent some opportunity for counter play. It has the excellent Rally keyword, and for 0 fate it will force an opponent to randomly discard a card from their hand. This randomisation is important as it can, like the Earth ring, catch haymaker cards before they can be played. While this can never be guaranteed, it is always good to hold card advantage over an opponent. It can be especially good turn 1 when the opponent has only 4 cards in hand that are likely to be more important for the current matchup because of initial mulligan.

The art is also so cool that it was chosen for the 2019 World Champion playmat, won by Shogun Jose Luis Saenz.

Conflict Cards

Characters

A 1-fate conflict character, Shinjo Ambusher allows a Unicorn player to turn off the possibility of triggering an ability on the attached province. This can be used to prevent on-break effects such as Upholding Authority or Restoration of Balance from triggering, or to deny action abilities such as those on Shameful Display or Manicured Garden unless the opponent uses these first. Look for a cheeky Child of the Plains reaction that allows a Unicorn player to do this in the first action in the conflict as well.

Attachments

As a 0-fate weapon that gives +3 military on attack, Curved Blade fits perfectly with the Unicorn aggressive play style. It can be used as a once off almost-Banzai!, or it can add value over multiple conflicts or turns when attached to a tower character. Curved Blade can also be used as attachment removal bait. At +3 military it is difficult for an opponent to ignore, but by discarding it they may be enabling subsequent, more-impactful attachments, to stay in play.

Talisman of the Sun works well with both aggressive or defensive play styles. For aggressive decks that have little intention of defending, it can steer opposing attackers into dangerous on-break provinces such as Upholding Authority, Appealing to the Fortunes, or Feast or Famine. It also allows a conflict at the stronghold to be moved to the fourth, unbroken province on the row. For more defensive decks, it can be used to steer attackers into more easily defended provinces such as Pilgrimage or Shameful Display, or provinces that offer repeated value such as Border Fortress or Manicured Garden. Note that Talisman is unique so only one copy can be played by each character. Also note that if it is stolen by an opponent, it is still 'owned' (oddly enough) by whoever originally played it so they cannot play another.

Steed of the Steppes requires you to explore your opponent's provinces before enabling the main use of the card. While it's early-game +1 military is expensive, but occasionally useful, it is the late-game ready that is the real star. While this is not repeatable, and is vulnerable to attachment control, it can be used to ready Utaku Tetsuko or Shinjo Yasumura for a follow up attack if Shiotome Encampment is unavailable. Since it also gives the Cavalry trait it can allow for any character lacking this trait to take advantage of e.g. Shiotome Encampment.

If an Adorned Barcha enters play one player is going to be miserable. If it is immediately removed, the Unicorn player has lost two fate, and cannot play another copy of this Limited attachment until next turn. If it cannot be removed, or a key character protected with some form of anti-bow protection, an opponent is going to have a Unicorn character with +3 military enter a conflict, while one of their own characters is bowed.

Barcha is the perfect embodiment of a swing attachment. It is expensive, but has a significant impact on key conflicts when its action resolves. It is best played when it has been confirmed that the opponent has no available attachment removal. If this cannot be confirmed, hopefully Curved Blades or other attachments have been tempting enough bait.

Events

The defining Unicorn card, Cavalry Reserves has been a staple in competitive decks since core. This haymaker event allows a Unicorn player to recur cavalry characters for effectively half price, although they will (without intervention) leave play at the end of the turn.

On the positive side, Cavalry Reserves can find the right characters for the job, whether this be Tetsuko against a low-fate opponent, Shono if there are a large number of friendly characters in the conflict, or multiple Border Riders who can return for later conflicts. On the negative side, it is expensive and vulnerable to being interrupted (experienced opponents will always keep cancels in hand in anticipation of Cavalry Reserves). In addition, it requires a healthy discard pile to maximise it's value (Shinjo Gunso helps considerably with this).

Ideally, Cavalry Reserves will recur exactly 6-fate worth of characters into the conflict, so it pays to consider the different possible permutations of this when deck building.

Another staple in competitive decks since core is the now banned Charge!. A key card that enabled Unicorn to apply early pressure for a low investment. Join the Fray, while not nearly as good as Charge!, fulfills a similar role. The most value is obtained by putting into play 5 cost characters such as Moto Chagatai or Minami Kaze Regulars, but occasionally it can also be useful with some of the Unicorn player's cheaper characters.

The Support keyword and the option to make the character you choose contribute the skill to an opponent's side are rarely useful outside of multiplayer variants.

Captive Audience is another core staple card in military-focused Unicorn decks. A card that would probably not be printed today, Captive Audience can, for the loss of 1 honour, switch the current conflict from political to military.

This has many useful applications.

If a Unicorn players fails to win their first military conflict while outnumbering their opponent (thus failing to trigger Hisu Mori Toride), Captive Audience allows the follow up political conflict to still potentially trigger a third military conflict. Alternatively, the Unicorn player can launch a tentative political poke for their first conflict, only to switch this to military, potentially leading to an early stronghold proc.

Captive Audience also works equally well on defence to switch a determined political attack in the Unicorn's favour, or to send home a (—) military character on a political poke.

Finally, it can be a useful tool to flip conflicts back to military if Rally to the Cause or Kuroi Mori are revealed on an attack.

With its 1-fate cost and place on the banned list, Spyglass has been replaced by Spoils of War as the primary enabler of Unicorn card draw. While it initially reads as giving 3 free cards, in practice it only yields one more card after it resolves as the event itself, and one other card, are discarded. That said, it does allow a hand to be tutored by removing unneeded cards for the current match up. It also allows the Unicorn player to over commit in their attack, having some reassurance that spent cards will be replenished to retain card parity. Of course, this assumes that victory is achieved. Only playable during a military conflict as the attacker does limit its use outside of military-focused decks.

Way of the Open Hand is a strong card in aggressive Unicorn decks. With surprisingly few restrictions (except for non-stronghold province), it allows the Unicorn player to send home any one of the opponent's participating characters and put a fate on it. In aggressive decks this extra fate, which in theory lets the character stay in play for an extra turn, might not matter if the chosen character already has fate on it. Most often used to send home a defending character that is preventing the win or break, however it may also be used while your opponent is attacking to save one of your own provinces.

Never Yield provides cheap protection against the many bow or move home effects that are frequently used to defend against a Unicorn attack. Importantly, the ability only affects your characters in play at the time the card is played: any characters that subsequently enter play remain vulnerable as usual. Another important thing to remember is that unless you are attacking the stronghold the opponent can just save their bow abilities for the next conflict.

An Earth-locked card, Unfulfilled Duty allows characters with no fate that have a printed total cost of 6 or lower with no fate to be readied. The number 6 is suspiciously convenient here as it allows Unfulfilled Duty to combo with Cavalry Reserves for an impressive one-two punch. That said, this costs a hefty 5 fate, and requires the stars to align to ensure that, a) both cards are in hand, b) there are the right cards in the discard pile, and c) neither event is cancelled.

This can happen, but in practice Unfulfilled Duty sees more play in swarm decks that use Those Who Serve to throw a large number of cheap bodies at an opponent.

Unleash the Djinn impacts the game in a unique way. It is one of the few cards to 'set' characters' skills to a certain amount. Once set, these cannot be modified, whether by adding (Banzai!), multiplying (Way of the Lion), or switching (Along the River of Gold). Unless another card sets their skill to a different amount, characters participating in a conflict that are affected by Way of the Djinn will stay at 3/3 until the end of the conflict. It is worth noting, however, that the honour bid during duels will add to this amount, as this occurs after other calculations. Lastly, any characters that are played or moved into the conflict after Djinn has been played can still be modified as usual.

3 honour is a high price to pay, but the results of a well-timed Djinn can be spectacular. A character whose military skill has been doubled three times by Way of the Lion will still be reduced to 3 if it successfully resolves, and it allows swarm decks to effectively bring towers down to their level. As with Assassination, it still leaves a 3-honour bill if cancelled, so it pays to hold it as a last resort for key conflicts.

Conclusion

Always restless, Unicorn players like to keep their opponents unsettled and unnerved. They are capable of impressive burst damage, but are also vulnerable to opponents who can weather these repeated attacks, and counterattack against their fragile provinces and strongholds.

When playing Unicorn, it pays to know when to stand and fight, and when to stand aside. Remember that you can afford to lose 3 province rows in a single turn, as long as the last one isn't your stronghold.

Meta Guides (to be moved)

Midrange

While the replacement of Charge! with the more expensive Join the Fray, Midrange decks have taken something of a hit recently. That is not to say that the days of 3 broken provinces in round 1 are over, but for most part Unicorn players have had to adopt a more tactical approach to overwhelming their opponents.

The trick to aggressive HMT play is to keep an opponent guessing as to which conflict will be 'the one' that triggers the stronghold. Often this will be the first attack by the Unicorn player, in which Tetsuko, Shono, or Moto Nergui, press the attack, supported by Moto Youth or other 1 or 2 drops that can be sacrificed to trigger HMT. An opponent faces the choice of resisting this attack (often at great cost given the efficiency of Unicorn military pumps), or allowing the attack to succeed, thus saving forces to defend future attacks (or launch attacks against the Unicorn row). This will depend on the board state (in particular, whether or not Shiotome Encampment is in play), and the win condition of the Unicorn opponent. Either way, tempo is key. The Unicorn player is trying to build momentum, while their opponent is trying to stall it.

Aggressive HMT decks are on something of a limited time frame. Because of the constant honour drain from Banzai!, Captive Audience, the focus on Earth, Water, and Void Rings, and not defending, Unicorn honour can quickly drop below 5, necessitating a switch to low bids. In addition, while Ring of Binding can be an efficient way to keep characters in play, it is rarely used (in comparison to Reprieve, Togashi Kazue, Stand Your Ground and other save effects). Thus, Unicorn characters usually leave play quite quickly, taking their attachments with them. In addition, Unicorn players rarely discard their opponents characters (Assassination is risky given its honour cost), but are vulnerable to discard effects themselves (Finger of Jade aside). Finally, Unicorn are very vulnerable to cancels. They rarely hold the Imperial Favor, and rarely have more honoured characters than their opponent. Defend Your Honor is the only saving grace for many Unicorn players, whilst others simply play with the understanding that many of their key events will be cancelled, but they must press on regardless.

Swarm

By Huntsekker#6367

The swarm deck archetype has become more viable than ever with the release of the Dominion cycle. With the addition of the Rally keyword, and the province City of the Rich Frog, your dynasty swarms the battlefield like never before. The goal of the deck is to fill the board with 1 and 2 drops, and use them in multiple conflicts. With Those Who Serve, you can easily see 8-10 bodies hit the board with fate to spare. The deck has multiple options to ready your troops in Unfulfilled Duty, Take Up Command, and Elegant Tessen. If that wasn’t enough, your board state can stick around with a timely For Greater Glory. You can easily overwhelm your opponent’s board state and have 25-30 military skill relatively quickly.

Character-wise, your MVPs are Utaku Tetsuko (of course), Utaku Infantry, and Young Warrior. The latter two characters can show up again and again in multiple conflicts every round.

That being said, the deck still has a few weaknesses. Having a lot of bodies on the board also means you have a lot of dishonor targets, so keep an eye on your honor total. A timely cancel from your opponent can also wreck your board state, so try to leave enough fate to pivot between saving your board or readying it if one or the other gets canceled.

Scouted Terrain

Fresh from pioneering the Unicorn tower deck which made effective use of Fan of Command and Favoured Mount (and was then rudely co-opted by the Lion), christian#3276 has now created the competive Scouted Terrain deck. A unique combo deck which makes use of Scouted Terrain to directly attack an opponent's stronghold once all four province rows have been revealed, this deck took Akuma#0370 of Spain to the finals of the Discord World Cup with a 5-0 record.

Difficult to counter, the deck protects itself from dangerous events and attachments with Forged Edict and Calling in Favors, and then overwhelms an opponent's stronghold with Utaku Tetsuko and an army of non-unique Cavalry boosted by Ujik Tactics.

It must sacrifice valuable tempo to ensure all of its combo pieces are in place, however, and is vulnerable to hand manipulation, and plain bad luck. Nevertheless, it did help this noob get within stone's throw of breaking our Shogun's stronghold in the quarterfinals of the World Cup, until Isawa Tadaka set things right again.