A General Discussion on Playing the Lion Clan

This is an article for any and all of you out there who are considering to play Lion. Having read this article, it is hoped that you will have a decent starting base to build and play Lion decks; since I will discuss the two Lion strongholds and some of the various Lion Personalities and support cards that you should know about.

I am a non-corrupt player, and as such I do not consider the Kitsu Tombs to be a Lion stronghold, as far as I am concerned the Corrupt Lion are a separate faction, and I do not care if people consider me too hardline. Leave the Shadowlands to the Crab and Junzo.

Strongholds

As it currently stands the Lion have two Strongholds, The Ancestral Home of the Lion (commonly referred to as the 'Matsu' SH), and the Ancient Halls of the Akodo/Lion (the 'Akodo' SH). Both are quite good and I will discuss each in turn, though I personally consider the Akodo SH to be the superior of the two.

The Ancestral Home of the Lion
6 PS
3 G
6 FH
Open: Bow to give a Lion Personality +2F when attacking

The Ancient Halls of the Akodo
6 PS
3 G
7 FH
Battle: Bow to destroy a terrain in play at this battle Reaction: Bow when a terrain is played to negate all effects of the terrain, the terrain is still in play but has no other effect on the battle.

The Matsu SH was the first Lion SH and it still is excellent. The SH of choice for many LSDs even today, it has solid stats and its ability means the Lion can always rely on having at least one Force Boost every battle. The reason for the LSD being one of the most hated deck archetypes was because the Lion could do the following with frightening regularity.

Turn 1: Gohei, Merchant Caravan, Event kills a Province
Turn 2: Attach 2F Follower to Gohei with MC, attack

The opponent is down two Provinces after taking one turn.

The 6FH also meant that the Lion went first against virtually all opponents, with the exception of the Phoenix, which they tied with. All this and they generated quite a bit of honor from their Personalities too.

The LSD was an excellent deck, but it did have its weaknesses, and despite the opinions of many to the contrary, it does require some skill to play since it could not use battle enders since it needed those battle actions to generate force, which meant the opponent was getting a chance to put a stop to the destruction.

The LSD reigned supreme, and then with Jade it was completely hamstrung. Gohei, Yojo and Chokoku were gone, and much of the rest of the deck had gone too.

In the Scorpion Clan Coup, the Lion got a new stronghold, the Ancient Halls of the Akodo. The Family Honor was now 7, and the ability was excellent. This was the stronghold which was reprinted in Jade, and so became the default SH for many Lion players. Terrains very rarely bother me anymore, since the SH can just cancel it, and an increase in starting honor cannot be a bad thing.

Of the two, I prefer the terrain negation of the Akodo SH, although I would seriously consider the Matsu SH for an LSD deck, despite the fact that an LSD can be weak against terrains.

Personalities

The Lion have some extremely solid Personalities, and quite a few of them are extremely cool as well... The Lion do not have a very large selection of good Personalities (as can be seen from the extensive use of Matsu Yojo in Lion decks for a long time, despite the fact that by the standards of other Clans, he is appalling). However, we do have a few truly excellent Lion Personalities, such as Matsu Gohei, Matsu Gohei, Ikoma Gunjin and Ikoma Ken'o.

Matsu Gohei
The Lion Clan Butcher, an absolute powerhouse. Play with him for as long as you can, since he is even useful in Honor Runners

Matsu Agetoki
Possibly the most undercosted Personality in the game.

Kitsu Motso
The original cheap Tactician, he comes with 3PH, and an often overlooked ability. Pretty cool in the storyline as well. Such a shame he is Unique...his experienced versions are pretty good as well.

Ikoma Gunjin
Another cheap Tactician. He comes with 0F but has 4C and 3PH. His relatively low HR is another bonus. His experienced version has the ability to truly terrify your opponents (Gunjin XP Burns His Essence to Tactician for 8F).

Ikoma Ken'o
The one Personality that will win you games if your opponent does not really know the potential of a Lion Tactician Deck. Put the Sword on him and you win games.

Kitsu Sanako
Despite many opinions to the contrary, quite a useful Shugenja, especially with the printing of many Ancestor related cards. Should Lion get another good Ancestor or two, Sanako is going to see more and more use.

Matsu Turi
The first Lion to get a useful Experienced version, both versions have their uses, and Turi XP has to be one of the coolest Personalities in the game. If you ever meet David R Henry, ask him the story about the Lion and the foolish Unicorn at Morikage...

Akodo Toturi
As Clan Champions go, second only to Shinjo Yokatsu XP in terms of undercostedness (assuming that is a word). 5F 5C 4PH Tactician Double Chi, with an ability for 12G anyone?

Sensei Cards

Sensei cards are still a relatively new concept to L5R, having only being introduced in the Honor Bound set in the Summer of 1999. Most decks use a Sensei if for no other reason than to trim down the deck by one card, but often Sensei's can be quite useful, greatly enhancing the power of the deck:

Kaede Sensei
Possibly one of the most controversial Sensei's due to her undoubted power, Kaede allows you to retrieve a Ring, at the cost of losing the right to achieving an Honor victory. She works extremely well in LSDs as you can burn your Fate Hand for Force boosts early on, fetch the Ring of the Void, and replenish your hand.

Yoritomo Sensei
An absolute godsend for the Lion at the time, Yoritomo Sensei finally allowed the Lion to use Sanctified Temples and Hiruma Dojo with a degree of reliability, it also gave the added benefit of speeding up the gold scheme by allowing most holdings to pay for each other. The negative of the reduced production for Personalities is irrelevant when using the Akodo stronghold since it is rarely bowed for gold after the first few turns.

Hantei Sensei
A Sensei which is the ultimate metagame card, as a Limited action you can prevent your opponent from using any copies of a single card. The downside is that your opponent gets to do the same to you in response. Nevertheless, most of Lion decks require the use of a single card for their decks to work, and so you can hamper your opponent much more than he affects you.

O-Ushi Sensei
Another Sensei for consideration in LSDs, O-Ushi Sensei gives the Lion protection from duels, Tests of Honor, Hitomi Nakuso, and a few other nasty cards. This switch is optional, and so can be invaluable if you find yourself facing a lot of duels and other nastiness.

Uji Sensei
An often overlooked card, Uji Sensei gives a re-usable weakened Superior Tactics. The loss of 1PS hurts, but this is a Sensei which fits of the theme of Lion armys switching their attacks and deceiving their opponents through superior tactical ability and misdirection.

Yokuni Sensei
Another excellent Sensei which I have often used to good effect, this Sensei will severely slow decks which use a lot of Events, and providing you keep your own Events to a minimum, for little cost. An excellent Sensei which I always consider for use.

Support Cards

The Lion come with quite a few cards which work well in most Lion decks, and although many can be used by most Clans, it is not hard to tell that many were designed with the Lion in mind:

Charge!
The original Lion fate card, I have sometimes won games because your opponents will forget it gives your guys 3F and not 2F.

Strength of Purity
Gives a Personality over 2PH a +3F/+3C bonus in battle.

Tactical Maneuvers
Rearrange all your Tacticians. Laugh as your opponent cries. Repeat until all of his Provinces are no more.

White Shore Plain
One of those cards that went into the "Wont dare to believe until it is in my hand", this 3 Focus terrain can give even a modest army a huge boost. Many people forget that it works very well with Strength of Purity and Destiny Has No Secrets.

The Sun Returns
A new card printed in Soul of the Empire, this card is Military countercard for Tactician decks, cancelling any action taken in a battle, such as Kachiko's cancelling ability, Storms of War, Stand Against the Waves, Iaijutsu Duel, etc.

Shiryo no Gohei
Another new card, this ancestor gives +1C and +2F when attacking, this card (plus some others) gives the LSD a big boost from Soul of the Empire.

Gohei's Daisho
We may not use it as well as the Mantis or the Unicorn, but that is irrelevant, Fate Cards are always a good thing, and that single draw can often be crucial. It also gives +2F/+1C as an added bonus.

Deck Types

The vast majority of Lion decks are military decks for two reasons. The first reason is simple, the Lion are very good at offensive Military, and it is a role they can fulfil very well. Lion can trade Provinces with the best decks, and have an ability to recover from the loss of an early Province which is better than most of the other Clans, due to their Personality selection. The second reason is one of psychology: from my experience most Lion players are military players, and do not like to sit back and react. For this reason, many Lion players build military decks, despite the fact that the Lion can run for an Honor victory as effective as any other Clan.

Lion decks generally require some skill to play effectively, and although most decks can be simple to play, they often require some experience to be effective. I know for a fact that my Tactician deck requires some skill to be played, because it always takes me a while to get back up to speed if I have not played it for a while.

There are two predominant Lion Military deck archetypes: Lion Tactician and Lion Speed. Both are quite effective and have many common elements, but are different enough to merit separate mentions. The Lion Honor-runner is less popular but still quite effective.

I will give three decklists for three different Lion decks, a Lion Honor-runner, a Lion Tactician deck, and a version of the Lion Speed Deck. I also hope to give a brief discussion of each deck.

The Lion Speed Deck

Stronghold:
The Ancestral Home of the Lion

Commentary:
This deck is quite fast, since 15 Personalities can be played with either the Stronghold or one Holding. Get out guys, attach Followers if possible, attack and kill Provinces quickly. Events should take care of at least one more. This decks needs to be very aggressive to win so attack as quickly as feasible. Deciding whether to go for a guy or gold can be a tough call, and is often draw-dependant, but if you think an early Province-kill is possible, go for the throat.

There are quite a few modifications possible for this deck, and obvious one being changing the Stronghold. I have dropped the Daisho since it is a tad too expensive for a deck based around speed, but you may wish to play with it. Fans of Command are always an option, as is playing with Ashigaru and playing with Large Farms. Play with what you are happy with but remember that the essence of the deck is to attack early and often. Sacrificing speed for something which is versatile may hamper the deck worse than it would appear to on paper.

Lion Tactician Deck:

Stronghold:
The Ancient Halls of the Akodo

Commentary:
While this card may appear to be superficially similar to the LSD, in practice it plays quite differently. I will be the first to admit that it is often the case that the deck thinks it is an LSD and will act and behave accordingly, but it is generally a safer bet to go for early gold, and start to bring out the big boys with impunity.
This deck can often recover spectacularily well from early losses, and an opponent who does not know quite what the deck is capable of is almost certain to make a critical mistake. The movement cards can give a big psychological advantage, and an early Forced March is downright unfair with Tacticians since they keep their bonuses until the end of turn, and so you can generate truly huge Lions should they have the Tactician trait.

Again, this deck type has quite a lot of scope for modification, including the use of Doji Plains to give an early boost to the gold production, use of Fan of Command to spread around the Tactician trait. Burning Your Essence is always nice in a Tactician deck, as is Iaijutsu Duel to get rid of pesky defensive Personalities. Some decks use Sanctified Temple to help out in Honor, and quite a few Tactician decks play with more Followers.

The Sword should gravitate towards Ken'o, and this plus a Sneak and Tactical Maneuvers means any defensive army beware...

The biggest plus to this deck is that it is an effective deck which is quite interactive and fun to play both with and against, and requires some skill to play effectively. The other advantage is that every so often you come across a player who has no idea what the capabilities of the Lion are, and do fun things like block your seemingly pathetic army of Ken'o with the Sword and Motso with their entire army (which is huge but consists of units with force less than Ken'o).

Lion Honor-Runner

Stronghold:
The Ancient Halls of the Akodo

Commentary:
This deck will quite often take people by surprise, since they will not be expecting an Honor runner and may batten down the hatches expecting an onslaught. This deck can generate huge amounts of Honor from various sources, such as Personalities, the Temples, the Shrine, and Kitsu Toju, who has the ability to gain Honor equal to the Focus of a discarded Fate card.

Against Military, this deck can sometimes effectively defend and then Counterattack, and cards like Dispersive Terrain and Tacticians mean that you can Counterattack quite effectively, generating quite a large amount of Force. Turi XP is a very good defensive Personality, and with Shiryo no Tsuko attached he can become a game winner if you opponent is not careful.

Again, this deck can be modified to taste, such as using 3 Shrines, adding more Shugenja and using good anti-Enlightenment/Mo5 cards like the Great Silence and Ryoshun's Last Words. More shugenja also means effective use of The Wind's Truth.

So there you have it. GenCon 2000 looms and the Lion have most certainly been thrown a bone or two. For anybody very interested in playing Lion, there are a number of strategy articles on the Jade Lion website:

http://www.mindspring.com/~andrewdupy/lion.html

There are a number of different articles on the site discussing all things Lion, including a number of articles on Lion Deck-construction, and a Lion Card of the Week, discussing various cards which may be of interest to Lion players.