Now we turn our eyes away from the noble Clans of the Empire, and to the Spider. The Spider "Clan" is the public face of the Shadowlands. Made up of humans, and those who can pass for humans, the Spider work in the dark corners of the Empire. They bolster their numbers with samurai of low morals, and remove any who come too close to learning their dark secret. However, there is also the other side of the Spider. Many tell tales of this strange group calling themselves the Spider, who rescue villages from bandits, and do a great service for the Empire. Perhaps they should be let in to the Empire...
Needless to say the Spider are pure evil. They are not out to save the Empire, they are out to rule or destroy. The taint of the Shadowlands burns in their blood and they wish nothing more than to invite others to the torture of Jigoku, the realm of evil. Their decks run with the raw power of the Shadowlands, many of their samurai have very high Force to gold ratio, and they often have abilities that hinder their opponents or outright stop their strategies.
Currently two Spider decks appear most often in the field. Both tend to be run out of the Spiders Lair stronghold, whose ability to essentially ignore the loss of provinces allows the Spider to continue unhindered throughout the whole of a game. Spider's Lair players can even choose to simply ignore threats and focus on their own win, a powerful ability.
The first deck is a basic dueling deck. The Spider have many personalities with significantly high Chi. Augmented with some items like the Blade of Hubris or Blade of Guile, and the Spider can often guarantee a win in any duel except possibly against characters of the Crane and Dragon Clans. In the end, the deck wins via military, using the personality kill of the duels to clear the path.
Alternately, several successful Spider decks early this Kotei season have been straight up military decks. The ability to ignore honor losses from actions gives the Spider Clan full use of the tactics that most suit them: Ambush, Dastardly Tactics, Hired Killer and more that noble samurai would never consider using. The Spider also use several out of Clan characters, which also fits with their "subvert the weak-willed" aspect.
Below is the top Spider deck from the Dublin, Ireland Kotei.
Stronghold: The Spider's Lair
Dynasty: 40
Holdings: 17
1x Seat of Power
2x Private Trader
3x Shinomen Marsh
3x Secluded Waystation
2x Family Library
2x Secluded Village
1x Shrine to Fukurokujin
1x Shrine to Bishamon
1x The Khan
1x Daigotsu Kanpeki
Event: 1
Personalities: 22
3x Daigotsu Iemitsu
3x Daigotsu Kaikou
3x Daigotsu Hirata
3x Daigotsu Ryudo
3x Daigotsu Sachio
1x Daigotsu
1x Daigotsu Rekai
1x Yoritomo Hotako exp
1x Muketsu exp
1x Kayomasa
1x Utagawa exp
1x Bayushi Tsimaru exp
1x Hiruma Aki exp
Fate: 40
Item: 1
1x Koutetsu Iyoku
Follower: 6
3x Gunso Shiraki
3x Wandering Budoka
Rings: 2
1x Ring of Air
1x Ring of Water
Actions: 31
3x Hired Killer
2x Desperate Wager
2x Eager to Fight
3x Will
3x Knowledge
3x Insight
2x Unauthorized Duel
3x Dastardly Tactics
3x Justly Earned Victory
2x Dissent
3x Crippling Cut
2x Ordered Retreat
Dastardly Tactics gives enemy armies major problems as the Spider are more often than not at 0 or lower honor, which will reduce their most powerful unit to 0F. Gunso Shiraki then takes out the other units which attempt to make up for the loss of Force with bonuses. All around, there is a lot of punishment for other armies. Where this deck has to fight harder is against honor, which requires early attacks. Desperate Wager can win the game, but it is an incredible risk against decks designed to stall your attack.
There are several new Spider deck archetypes on the horizon as well. Their monks, an evil sect that believes in disharmony of the Elements, have the ability to field a deck that may soon rival that of the Dragon Clan monks. And, for those of you who assume the Spider can always find a use for the samurai they kill... you won't be disappointed in the upcoming expansions...
Tags: Legend Of The Five Rings L5R Spider Clan
Related to:
Legend of the Five Rings
