Having crossed the desert wastes, an assassin from a land of ivory has made his way to Rokugan. And he won't be leaving anytime soon ....

Feydn Rafiq is a crossover personality from the L5R trading card game's sister game, the Legend of the Burning Sands trading card game. The Awakening set introduced the Ivory Kingdoms, which have a loose mix of Asian and African influences. Most Ivory Kingdoms heroes are cultists worshipping a demanding god, KaliMa. (Kali-Ma, incidentally, resembles a certain Holding- destroying Oni in the L5R game.)

Regardless of his LBS affiliation, Feydn Rafiq is Unaligned in Rokugan, so he starts with a strike against him. The inability to gain Honor when hiring Unaligned Personalities forces ronin out of a lot of decks. At least he can come out cheap with The Wave Men; in fact, the Event was made for Personalities exactly like Feydn Rafiq. Paying 4 Gold for a 3F/2C Personality is a good deal. Admittedly, Feydn Rafiq has some annoying limitations that require planning to compensate for them; nevertheless, the effort is worth it considering his traits.

Cards can't send him home from a battle.

Immunity to "Go home!" cards is a fantastic trait. From the Imperial Edition set on, sending units home has consistently been the most popular defensive tactic, but this Assassin is immune to almost all of them. He bypasses Blocked Supply Lines. He has no fear of Shosuro Nishiko's ability. He slides through a Forest of Thorns. He can't be hit by Stand or Run or Show Me Your Stance (IH #9), and even A Test of Courage can't stop those.

Admittedly, Feydn Rafiq is sometimes too determined for his own good. You can't use your own cards if they might make him go home. He can't Retreat or Move to the Bushes, for instance.

He can be removed using the Imperial Favor (it's not a card), and that can be handy for pulling him out of the trenches. Typically, though, your opponents will be the ones using the Imperial Favor on Feydn Rafiq, but Confusion at Court closes that small loophole. Besides, if you have multiple copies of Feydn Rafiq, the Imperial Favor can only get rid of one. Feydn Rafiq can also be challenged using the Daidoji Crane Stronghold (again, not a card, Pearl Edition typos notwithstanding).

Although being challenged by an Iron Crane is a worry early in the game, it will be less of a problem after you give Feydn Rafiq a pair of Weapons. His "builtin Daisho Technique" will probably be an under-used trait since few decks are Weapon-heavy. Dragon and Mantis decks might find it useful if they're packing swords for Mirumoto Taki and Yoritomo, respectively. Similarly, Crab players might use Feydn Rafiq in an effort to get maximum mileage from their Blacksmiths, cheap Die Tsuchis, and Kaiu Forges. Sadly, with 2 Chi, this Assassin is no iaijutsu master. Weapons that boost Force, like the No-Dachi or Kaimetsu-Uo's Ono, might be better choices. They take better advantage of Feydn Rafiq's tenacity in battle.

Force-boosting Weapons also help cover Feydn Rafiqs biggest limitation: no Followers. There are consequences for standing alone, and one is getting riddled with arrows. Ironically, in LBS, Ivory Kingdoms Heroes specialise in Archery (sort of the LBS equivalent of ranged attacks); you'd think Feydn Rafiq would've learned from his kin! Countermeasures to ranged attacks are definitely advised when using Feydn Rafiq. Turtle's Shell comes to mind, and Yari of Air is a good choice as one of Feydn Rafiq's Weapons.

The other common phrase said to lone Personalities is, "You're bowed." Stand against the Waves, Fist of the Earth, and the Yogo Scorpion Stronghold all bring lone Personalities to their knees, to name just a few things that wallop those flying solo. Twisting Ravine can pre- vent Feydn Rafiq from bowing (and provides a safety zone against ranged attacks). Inner Fire and Energy Terrain are among the other tools to straighten Feydn Rafiq in battle.

Because Feydn Rafiq is an Assassin, you might think of smacking him down using cards that stop Assassins, like Investigation or Mamoru. Sadly, because these cards only stop targeted actions, they don't affect Feydn Rafiqwho has no abilities-in the slightest.

But did you think you'd get rid of him that easy?

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