Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game explained

Italic Title:yes
Legend of the Five Rings
Subtitle:The Card Game
Designer:Brad Andres, Erik Dahlman, and Nate French
Publisher:Fantasy Flight Games
Date:2017
Players:2
Setup Time:< 5 minutes
Playing Time:45-90 minutes
Random Chance:Some
Skills:Card playing, Logic, Bluffing, Strategy

Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game[1] is a Living Card Game (LCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). It is a two-player game set in the world of Rokugan. During the game, players take on the leadership of one of the Great Clans which define Rokugani society, and they are cast into conflict against another clan. The conflicts will decide the future of Rokugan.[2] The game is an iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings collectible card game, produced by Alderac Entertainment Group in 1995. On 17 February 2021, FFG announced the completion of the game, Under Fu Leng’s Shadow being the last pack, released in June 2021.

Released Card Sets

Core Set

The Core set was shown to the public during Gen Con Indy in August 2017, and was released October 5, 2017. In order to obtain a full playset for deck building, three copies of the Core Set must be purchased.

Box Contents

Premium Expansions

The first two Premium Expansions contain 234 new cards each, covering every clan and dedicated theme. The third and last one contains 271 new cards, almost half of them being dedicated to the Shadowlands faction.

Children of the Empire Premium Expansion offered plenty of support for dueling.

Clan War Premium Expansion introduced an Enlightenment format to the game, where three or more players race to claim all five elemental rings on their provinces.

Under Fu Leng's Shadow Premium Expansion introduces two new game variants: cooperative and challenge. On cooperative variant, a player can either play solo or team up with friends to take on a mighty Shadowlands warlord. On challenge variant, one of the players will lead the forces of the Shadowlands into battle against two to four other players.

Expansion NameRelease Date
Children of the Empire14 February 2019
Clan War7 February 2020
Under Fu Leng's Shadow18 June 2021

Clan Packs

Each Clan Pack contains 78 cards (3 copies each of 25 new cards and 1 copy each of 3 additional new cards) designed to augment deck building options for one specific clan.

Expansion Name Clan Release Date
Disciples of the VoidPhoenix 5 April 2018
Underhand of the EmperorScorpion 11 October 2018
Warriors of the WindUnicorn11 April 2019
Masters of the CourtCrane25 April 2019
The Emperor's LegionLion1 November 2019
Defenders of RokuganCrab8 November 2019
Seekers of WisdomDragon6 December 2019

Dynasty Packs

Each Dynasty Pack typically contains 60 cards and has a complete playset of new cards (i.e. 3 copies each of 20 new cards). Dynasty packs are generally part of a six-pack "cycle" that follows a particular storyline and theme. A new pack is usually released monthly during the cycle. There was an exception with the initial Imperial cycle, where they released a new pack weekly in order to quickly increase the card pool and improve deck building variety.

Imperial Cycle

Expansion Name Release Date
Tears of Amaterasu9 November 2017
For Honor and Glory16 November 2017
Into the Forbidden City23 November 2017
The Chrysanthemum Throne30 November 2017
Fate Has No Secrets7 December 2017
Meditations on the Ephemeral14 December 2017

Elemental Cycle

Expansion Name Release Date
Breath of the Kami28 June 2018
Tainted Lands5 July 2018
The Fires Within12 July 2018
The Ebb and Flow19 July 2018
All and Nothing26 July 2018
Elements Unbound2 August 2018

Inheritance Cycle

This cycle introduced the Disguised keyword.

Expansion NameRelease Date
For the Empire20 June 2019
Bonds of Blood19 July 2019
Justice for Satsume23 August 2019[3] https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/8/23/available-now-august-23/
The Children of Heaven20 September 2019
A Champion's Foresight25 October 2019
Shoju's Duty29 November 2019

Dominion Cycle

This cycle introduced the Eminent and Rally keywords.

Expansion NameRelease Date
Rokugan at War6 March 2020
Spreading Shadows5 June 2020
In Pursuit of Truth3 July 2020
Campaigns of Conquest7 August 2020
As Honor Demands4 September 2020
Atonement2 October 2020

Temptations Cycle

This cycle introduced the Dire keyword.

Expansion NameRelease Date
Twisted Loyalties6 November 2020
Honor in Flames4 December 2020
A Crimson Offering22 January 2021
The Temptation of the Scorpion19 February 2021
Coils of Power4 June 2021
Peace at Any Cost21 May 2021

Expansion Sets Ordered Chronologically

Expansion Name SetNumber of CardsMSRP PriceRelease Date
Core Set Core239 (223 unique)$39.955 October 2017
Tears of Amaterasu Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.959 November 2017
For Honor and Glory Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.9516 November 2017
Into the Forbidden City Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.9523 November 2017
The Chrysanthemum Throne Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.9530 November 2017
Fate Has No Secrets Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.957 December 2017
Meditations on the Ephemeral Imperial60 (20 unique)$14.9514 December 2017
Disciples of the Void Clan78 (28 unique)$19.955 April 2018
Breath of the Kami Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.9528 June 2018
Tainted Lands Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.955 July 2018
The Fires Within Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.9512 July 2018
The Ebb and Flow Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.9519 July 2018
All and Nothing Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.9526 July 2018
Elements Unbound Elemental60 (20 unique)$14.952 August 2018
Underhand of the Emperor Clan78 (28 unique)$19.9511 October 2018
Children of the Empire Premium234 (82 unique)$39.9514 February 2019
Warriors of the Wind Clan78 (28 unique)$19.9511 April 2019
Masters of the Court Clan78 (28 unique)$19.9525 April 2019
For the EmpireInheritance60 (22 unique)$14.9520 June 2019
Bonds of BloodInheritance60 (22 unique)$14.9519 July 2019
Justice for SatsumeInheritance60 (22 unique)$14.9523 August 2019
The Children of HeavenInheritance60 (22 unique)$14.9520 September 2019
A Champion's ForesightInheritance60 (22 unique)$14.9525 October 2019
The Emperor's LegionClan78 (28 unique)$19.951 November 2019
Defenders of RokuganClan78 (32 unique)$19.958 November 2019
Shoju's DutyInheritance60 (20 unique)$14.9529 November 2019
Seeker of WisdomClan78 (28 unique)$19.956 December 2019
Clan WarPremium231 (94 unique)$39.957 February 2020
Rokugan at WarDominion60 (24 unique)$14.956 March 2020
Spreading ShadowsDominion60 (24 unique)$14.955 June 2020
In Pursuit of TruthDominion60 (22 unique)$14.953 July 2020
Campaigns of ConquestDominion60 (22 unique)$14.957 August 2020
As Honor DemandsDominion60 (22 unique)$14.954 September 2020
AtonementDominion60 (22 unique)$14.952 October 2020
Twisted LoyaltiesTemptations60 (22 unique)$14.956 November 2020
Honor in FlamesTemptations60 (22 unique)$14.954 December 2020
A Crimson OfferingTemptations60 (22 unique)$14.9522 January 2021
The Temptation of the ScorpionTemptations60 (20 unique)$14.9519 February 2021
Peace at Any CostTemptations60 (22 unique)$14.9521 May 2021
Coils of PowerTemptations60 (22 unique)$14.954 June 2021
Under Fu Leng's ShadowPremium271 (? unique)$39.9518 June 2021

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Legend of the Five Rings LCG. www.fantasyflightgames.com. 2020-01-15.
  2. Web site: Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game. FantasyFlightGames.com. 2018-01-12.
  3. Available Now – 23 August