Design Diaries: Yu and You

We haven't been shy about introducing new game mechanics across either the Onyx Edition or Shattered Empire arcs, such as Renew or Duty. But we also haven't been afraid to try and revisit and update old mechanics when we thought they could still bring interesting gameplay effects to the game environment. This is what we did with Raids. The concept of 'small skirmishes' as opposed to large scale battles in which armies clashed and provinces fell was a solid one, and had arguably existed since the game's inception, with old reliable Ambush. But having it locked to one Clan we felt was always a shortcoming of Raids, and expanding it out to other clans aside from Mantis allows more design space for the future. Some of this you'll see in the upcoming previews week for Gates of Tengoku.

However, we're not here to talk about Raiding. We're here to talk about another older mechanic we felt never realized its true potential the first time around. Yu.

For those who don't remember, Yu was a keyword that existed from the Gold to Lotus Edition arcs, and was followed by a numerical value. The original Effect of Yu was meant to give the game an attrition-type effect by allowing a Personality to destroy a target Follower or Personality without Followers with Force less than the Yu value, when the Yu Personality was destroyed in battle resolution.

Classic Yu had its fair share of issues. For one, it only triggered off battle resolution, meaning it didn't actually affect the board state during battles when it would matter. This often led, in practice, to feeling like the trait actually didn't impact games in a tangible way. Secondly, aside from a couple of Followers and one Unaligned and one Lion, it was a keyword inexplicably locked to a single Clan, the Crab, much as Raiding had been for the Mantis. Overall, while there were some cards that took advantage of the numerical value of the Yu keyword, the keyword was rather limited in both its potential and its actual explored design space.

But, the concept of "effect happens when card is destroyed" is a universal one in card gaming, and one with tons of possibilities. When we were looking for a catch-all term for "This happens when someone else kills your guy", it only seemed natural to revamp Yu, a similar existing concept, than to create an entirely new term.

"Before a card with the Yu trait is destroyed by another player’s action during battle, or during resolution, resolve the Yu effect."

Any Yu effects which are targeted must target a card at the same battlefield as the Yu card which is being destroyed, unless the effect specifies otherwise. Negation/substitution triggers have precedence, that is to say, you cannot resolve the Yu effect of a card, then negate its destruction or substitute that destruction effect with a different effect. The negation/substitution will always occur first, thus preventing the triggering of that card’s Yu effect. 

Instead of a keyword, it is now a trait, similar to Courtesy or Compassion, and no longer only generates a single pseudo-Ranged Attack. Instead, Yu effects can run the gamut of things, from retributive destruction similar to Classic Yu like Chizuki and Yamadera (though no longer limited only to resolution), or literally any other effect. We feel brings Yu more towards its original, unrealized potential. In fact, being that Yu is mandatory, you may see effects in the future in which you can give your opponent's cards Yu effects that are detrimental to them, or beneficial to you -- the design space is limitless. No longer limiting it to just battle resolution can allow for a variety of interesting effects that can give your opponents pause before they destroy them.

We hope you're looking forward to the return of Yu to the battlefield for the first time in a long time. Gates of Tengoku previews continue next week, and we're excited for the opportunity to show off this set that has been so long in the making to all of you. Thanks again for your support.