Enlightenment III - Fire
Dark Path of the Shadow Strategy Article - iguesi@aol.com

With our mastery of Chi, some of our Ninja have become quite adept in the art of dueling. Mamoru, the Mystic, Matsu Hiroru and the Inexperienced Shapeshifter have innate dueling abilities that cannot be overlooked. Combined with a Spy, we can assure ourselves of a victory in most any duel. However, is this enough for winning the Ring of Fire?

The Dueler's Ring

Getting the Ring of Fire into to the game, can be quite a tricky task. "To put into play, defeat in a duel an opponent who started the duel with a higher Chi." Generally, you don't begin a duel, unless you have higher Chi to start the duel, however, there are many combos that will overcome this challenge.

Matsu Hiroru

In some ways, the Assassin, Matsu Hiroru, was built for gaining the Ring of Fire. With only 1 chi, most anyone he challenges will have higher chi. Furthermore, his innate ability allows him to focus once, before the duel begins. However, this focus must be at least 6 to insure Hiroru wins the duel. To reach 6 focus, the kiho, Double Chi or a reaction card, such as Bend Like a Reed are needed to secure victory. Lest I forget, his innate ability is limited to challenging only bowed personalities.

Doji Reju

Doji Reju, Iaijistu Art, and Kharmic Strike combine to form one of easiest Ring of Fires in the game. And if you can find a way to fit this into your Ninja Deck, it has great potential. Also, a few Kharmic Strikes in your fate deck, have a wonderful way of surprising those duelers wielding an ancestral sword. The downside of this combo... Reju has 3 chi sometimes making it difficult to find a dueling opponent needed, for playing the Ring of Fire.

The Naga Squire?

Move over Reju. There's a 4 gold Naga, just waiting to take your place. Oseuth, the Naga Squire, has 1 force and 2 chi plus a very beneficial trait, Double Chi. (He loses it after he uses it, but we only need it once.) Therefore, Iaijistu Art and any other Fate Card with a Focus of 3 or more can usually win the Ring of Fire. That allows us to remove the Kharmic Strikes required to pull off the Reju combo.

Our Beloved Mystic

The Ninja Mystic with five 5 chi, is a solid innate dueler. Most decks (but obviously not all) have at least a few shugenja just waiting to die. Using her innate ability, combined the Mantle of Fire, and you have yet another Ring of Fire combo. However, because the Mystic is unique and because we cannot always be certain that our opponent will have shugenja, I consider this the weakest of our combos.

Returning to the darkness of the shadows...