"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
- Sir Isaac Newton's Third Law of Physics

(By the way, the reason I'm writing Dave's column this time is because he's much too busy balancing Anvil of Despair, Battle at Beiden Pass and getting ready for Gen-Con's big bad "The Sword of Hantei" tournament. But he gave me the deck and showed me how to use it, so let's give it a shot, shall we?)

From the moment that you arrive to the moment that you leave the offices of AEG, the phone is ringing. It never stops. On the other end of the line are folks with questions about the legitimacy of card combos, folks with questions about story elements or folks who just want to chat. The most popular thing that folks like to chat with us about starts off with: I love LSR, but (insert your favorite Clan here) is broken. It's just too powerful."

We hear a lot of that. I've personally heard it said about every Clan at least twice (some more than others), and in a way, its comforting to know that people are finding the strengths of certain decks and exploiting those strengths to their best potential. That's the way Sun Tsu would have wanted it: Know your enemy and yourself and defeat will never knock on your door.

Recently, however, we've been hearing that a lot about one particular style of deck: the Fast Deck. It seems some folks are become experts at the "quick win." You know, bring out an Oni or cheap samurai first turn and start whacking Provinces second turn with lots of Charges, Frenzys, and Contentious Terrain.

Well, if you know Dave Williams (L5Rs Lead Designer and Number Cruncher), then you also know that when Dave hears that something can't be beat, he sets his mind to crush it until it's flatter than a Dennis pancake. So, he took one look at the Fast Deck and came up with a deck to shut it down. Here's what Dave came up with.

It's called Newton's Third Law and it's based on the whole idea of equal and opposite reaction. It's a Dragon deck that's designed to spank a Fast Attack deck and put it to bed early without its supper. The key is in its defensive strength. It involves a lot of Terrains, but more importantly, it also involves a lot of duels. Now, this isn't your standard laijutsu Duel/Entrapping Terrain combo. Oh no. Dave's much more insidious than that.

The big strength of the deck relies on getting someone to attack you. Here's how it works. Shadowlands Oni comes over to stomp on your Province. You have Togashu Mitsu out there to block with a Tetsubo in his fist. The first thing you do is Outflank him, then you play the Test of Might. If Mitsu's fired up, he's at an 11 Force before focusing. Even Crab Clan Onis have to take a second look before jumping into that duet

Also, be on the lookout for those Suspended Terrains. The best use for those is getting your opponent in them and then using Superior Tactics to move right back out. Then, you can go in with Daini and Mitsu for two free turns of attacks while his guys are losing Suspended Terrain tokens. Sure, you may lose a Province, but the other guy will be slowed down and that's the tactic we have to use here. And, of course, never underestimate the power of a well-timed Counterattack. If you play it right (with a Suspended Terrain), you could be looking at three full Attack phases without a single shred of resistance.

A couple of last thoughts. The honor producing Holdings are in there (along with the Personalities with high Personal Honor) to force your opponent to attack you. Unfortunately, this deck may have some trouble with a defensive "fast Honor" deck. And lastly, Dave's got Toku because you can never have enough of the Tokunator.

Ponder this wisdom and return here when you are ready for more. See you next time!

The Ninja Shapeshifter's Rubber Soul

Or is that Achilles Heel? I can never remember.

Anyway, we get a lot of calls about the Ninja Shapeshifter. Same folks think he's too powerful, some folks think he's unstoppable, others really like Ron Spencer's art. But with the release of Shadowlands, our little black clad friend may be finding himself in a whole new kettle of stew.

The two cards that really cook his goose are Arrows from the Wbods and Wounded in Battle. Think about it for a moment. One kills a Personality through his Force, the other attacks him through his Chi. The Shapeshifter can only shift one or the other. Which one is it going to be this turn? If you have both of those in your hand, you can axe him right quick and right easy with just one card. And don't forget Test of Honor, just 6 Gold and that Ninja is saying "Goodnight" to Gracie.

Cards

Actions

(1) Ambush
(2) Block Supply Lines
(2) Counter Attack
(3) Dispersive Terrain
(3) Entrapping Terrain
(3) Frenzy
(3) Iaijutsu Duel
(3) Outflank
(2) Superior Tactics
(2) Suspended Terrain
(3) Test of Might

Items

(1) Ancestral Sword of Dragon Clan
(2) Tetsubo

Spells

(2) Earthquake
(2) The Fire From Within
(1) The Fist of Osano-Wo
(1) Touch of Death
(1) Walking the Way

Rings

(1) Ring of Air
(1) Ring of Earth
(1) Ring of Void

Holdings

(3) Gold Mine
(3) Sanctified Temple
(3) Jade Works
(3) Small Farm
(3) Gambling House
(2) Temple of the Ancestors
(1)Master Smith

Events

(1) Crysanthemum Festival
(1) Imperial Gift
(1) Iris Festival
(1) Plague

Personalities

(2) Agasha Tamori
(1) Earth Dragon
(3) Mirumoto Daini
(3) Mirimoto Hitomi
(1) Momaru
(3) Togashi Mitsu
(2) Togashi Yoshi
(1) Togashi Gaijutsu
(1) Togashi Yokune
(1) Togashi Hoshi
(2) Toku

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