Isawa Ochiai
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Diamond legal cards: nonXP Features in: Fires of the Hidden City, part 1. |
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The Master of Fire, Isawa Ochiai inherits a position that has something of a bad reputation. In recent times, the honour of the position has been somewhat tainted by the deeds of Isawa Tsuke and his son, Isawa Hochiu. Tsuke fell to the Taint, while Hochiu made decisions that led to the deaths of many Phoenix - though he achieved his objectives of forging heroes for the Clan. Still, history does not look kindly on those who make deals with Dark Oracles.
Ochiai was selected for the position because she doesn't seem to share the same character traits as those who have gone before. FThe sister of the Master of Air (Isawa Nakamuro), she nonetheless shows great aptitude for her Element. On the Council, she holds considerable power despite her relative inexperience, often casting the deciding vote in matters where the rest of the Council are split. And since Nakamuro and Taeruko never agree on anything, that's not very rare... Isawa Ochiai3F, 2C5HR, 10GC, 2PH Phoenix Clan Master of Fire*Shugenja*Unique Limited: Bow Ochiai and focus a card from your hand to challenge a Personality controlled by another player to a duel. The target may bow to refuse. Ochiai may not focus. Ladies and Gentlemen, Touch of Death has returned! Or maybe not. Ochiai's ability is potentially very strong: with a high enough focus value, she can kill anyone with less Chi than her. Of course, the problem lies in the fact that she only has 2 Chi to start with. For a 10GC personality, that's really not very impressive. I want to like Ochiai, I really do. But for a 3 or 4-holding Personality, you only get 2 honour - and an ability that while strong, really needs support from other cards to be useful. Prayers and Blessings spring to mind as an option, while something like the Blade of Truths would provide a more specialised support card. But by that point you're paying 14-16G and then discarding a card every turn to kill a bowed guy. As the environment shifts to favour mid-game military, Ochiai should become more useful. But as things stand, Phoenix need more duel support before it's worth backing cards to support a single expensive, Unique, non-Experienced personality. |
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