For the Race for the Throne, I decided to reward those that succeeded in the Knowledge Sphere, with Articles, Researches, specifically for their clan. As the Spider won the fifth leg, this article is for you. I also decided, once I actually got started, to focus on the set Imperial Gift. I usually focus on common or uncommon cards, and can you get less common than free cards? So, here are a couple of the cards that I thought of Scorpion when I saw.
First, of course, is your personality. Shosuro Miyoto is a 4F, 3C, 7 gold personality. He has no personal honour, but also no honour requirement. He is a Ninja, and Scorpion clan, with no other traits. His ability is very specific - as a battle action, bow a personality with one or more poison tokens.
Seems fairly basic, right? And fairly weak. How many ways are there to hand out poison tokens, anyway? Well, by my count, there is one personality [and not even a Scorpion], 1 item, and 3 actions. There is also another action and another personality that trigger off poison tokens. However, it seems a very ninja like thing, poison. So, this personality is either going to be really weak in Celestial, or give you an example of what you can expect for your ninja type decks, eh?
You can bow a personality with a poison token. Most such tokens are -1/-1 tokens. So, you are taking out an already weak personality, anyway - what is the point? Well, you don't have to give the poison token to the weaker personality. Most of the actions that give them are battle actions. This means it is a two step. First, give the personality a poison token. Then, bow them, an action later. Sorry, that makes Miyoto one of the mid-level personalities from the Imperial Gift. Too comborific.
Well, what else did you get that looks useful? Game of Sincerity looks interesting. It is a Political Battle action, with no gold cost, and 2 focus value. This is average gold cost, and slightly low focus. The ability is to dishonour your target unbowed personality. Dishonour a target personality. The controller of that target loses 2 honour. Neither personality contributes force at the battle's resolution.
So, you dishonour your guy. Their's get's dishonoured. Then, an uncontrollable, but small honour loss. Then, neither contributes force. Obviously, you want this to work in your favour as much as possible. So, you target your low, low force peep. Maybe one that has even had their force to 0. Then, you target their highest force peep. Voila! No more high force. Mind you, that is only at resolution. It still has the force during the battle, so keep that in mind. It can also be used during an Ambush where the opponent straightened out their bowed unit. Suddenly, your little guy, instead of facing a bowed unit, easy killin's, is facing a huge threat. If you have a follower, and your opponent doesn't, this can put the battle back on your ground again. Just a thought.
It is a Political action, which means that it reacts with, from, and causes other cards to react to it. This can work for or against you - but it is somethign to keep in mind. It also only affects the personality in a unit. Any followers will still contribute at battle's end. Spells can still be used, and abilities can still be used. The only things it does is prevent Force from counting; dishonour the peep; and cause a small onour loss.
The last card to consider is Scholarly Attendant. This 1F follower costs 2 gold, with a 3 focus. It does require one personal honour on the personality, so Miyoto can't use it without gaining a personal honour, but many Scorpion's can. It is pretty small and useless, except for the ability. Limited: Transfer your target attachment to your target personality. Just attached the game winning item, then your opponent bowed the peep? Attendant! Already used your Sharing action for the turn, but need to move something else? Attendant!
This may seem fairly minor, and it is, but it can also be useful. It is not game breaking, or often even game swinging, but it is a nice little touch. SA is also a follower with 1F, with all that means - Ranged attack protection, a touch of force in battle [I recently won a game because of a 2F follower].It isn't much, but you aren't paying much either. Just something to consider.
Next time you are making a deck, take these free cards into consideration. Yes, sometimes they just don't fit, but sometimes, sometimes they may be just what you are looking for.