Courts of the Crane Clan

+1 Province Strength
Academy.

Action: During the conflict phase - reveal the top card of your conflict deck. Until the end of the phase, you may play that card as if it were in your hand.

This day just keeps getting better and better!

Indeed, it's like a birthday before christmas when we get the big crane reveal.

The Phoenix draw a card holding is a bit stronger though imho.

Ability is stronger, but it could have +0 province strength.

I think it's about equal given what we've seen so far from the previews. Phoenix draws a card, but that card can get discarded from ring of earth and spies at court. We've not seen anything that interacts with your opponent's conflict deck yet, so you're revealing a card, possibly causing your opponent to play around it in a suboptimal way, but that card will be a constant threat the remainder of the phase. I'll gladly reveal a noble sacrifice or admit defeat if it means I'm forcing my opponent to over commit to conflicts.

Will be good for honor decks that do not want to rely on using their win condition resource to help them keep a decently sized hand

I have questions.

1. Does the card then get discarded or can you later and draw it and use it?

2. If it is discarded then does it have to still be on the top of your deck to be used? As in...if it's shuffled back in by a later effect can I still use it and then have to look through my deck in order to discard it.

3. If not discarded then can I draw this card use it as if from my hand and then again from my actual hand?

4. Is all this moot because the card doesn't go back to being face down and just hangs out in some sort of Revealed But Not In Play state until you use it?

5. If that's the case then what happens if you don't use it by the end of the phase. Does it go to your discard, the top of your deck, or get shuffled in?

My instinct is that it hangs out face up and gets discarded when used or at end of phase if unused. It can't be drawn from this state or shuffled in because it's no longer in your deck. The problem is I don't see any indication of that being how it should be handled.

I like this holding, and I'm very happy that the Artisan theme is in from the start. It got sidelined far too much in the past. Same goes for the Asahina in general - Crane Shugenja have been at the back of the bus for a long, long time.