Deck Name: Anything that Moves...
Format: 40/40 Open
Date of Construction: Aug.-Sept. 1998

Stronghold: Shadow Stronghold of the Bayushi

Dynasty (42) 3 Geisha House 3 Jade Works 3 Merchant Caravan 3 Izaku Library 1 Ki-Rin's Shrine 2 Doji Plains 3 Yogo Asami 3 Yogo Shidachi 3 Yogo Oshio 3 Soshi Bantaro 1 Bayushi Goshiu Inheritance Imperial Gift Imperial Ambassadorship Battle at Isawa Palace Doom of the Dark Lord Emporer's Peace Peasant Revolt Monsoon Iris Festival Proposal of Peace Return of Fu Leng As the Shadow Falls The Falling Darkness Bloom of the White Orchid

Fate (44) 1 Ancestral Sword of the Scorpion 3 Secrets on the Wind 3 Force of Will 3 Touch of Death 3 Fist of Osano-Wo 3 Face of Ninube 2 Marries a Barbarian 3 Remorseful Seppuku 3 Shame 3 Kolat Assassin 3 Kolat Master 3 Test of Honor 3 Confusion at Court 3 Breach of Etiquette 3 Refugees 2 Avoid Fate

Strategy:

This deck was constructed for a highly competitive Open-format sword tournament held in my area in September, 1998. It performed extremely well, not losing a single game until the finals, where a pair of impossibly bad draws caused the deck to deny itself the final victory.

The way it works is fairly obvious; control, bow, or kill everything on the board. Establish control and pick off your opponent's provinces at leisure with Shugenja or the Clan Sword. The deck's been fortified substantially against Junzo, the original bane of the Scorpion, such that a Shadowlands Horde needs an -incredible- draw just to defeat this deck. The lack of defensive actions is countered by the sheer volume of the control. Asami makes a good interim hold-off card, until you get the gold and shugenja to make the dishonor and personality kill really flow.

Unlike traditional Scorpion, this deck only contains dishonor as a secondary theme; I knew that I would eventually face Junzo, and a primary dishonor deck is handicapped in such a match. The dishonor is most useful simply for stalling or paralyzing Lion and Unicorn opponents, or preventing a Crane from winning by honor (I once took a Crane from 40 honor to 17 honor in two turns). Just focus on establishing control of the field, and attack once they're subdued and helpless. The deck's name, finally, comes from its habit of destroying everything the opponent puts out..."Anything that Moves...dies."

This page created and maintained by Hida John.
War Fortress graphic by Robert Barr, aka DarkIsawa.

Legalese:
"Legend of the Five Rings", "L5R", all characters featured on this page or its links, the distinctive likenesses thereof, and all related indicia are trademarks of, and Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 by Five Rings Publishing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.