Courts of the Crane Clan

1 Fate
0 [Military]
0 [Political]
2 Glory
Shugenja. Air.

Action: During a conflict, bow this character. Choose another [Crane] character - give them +3 [Political] until the end of the conflict.

Nanae is back!

She's pretty freaking awesome at Political conflicts - get that Force pump from home!

Post CotE it still feels like she doesn't have a place in our decks, she is a perfectly OK 1 fate cost character, the real problem is we don't have any other great shugenja outside of Asahina Takako to pair with her to be able to run Cloud the Mind, and she is just getting bowed if you ever put her on the board in the heavy Phoenix meta. Post clan pack she deserves a revisit as she may make her way back into our decks.

One of the few card where I disagree with you. I personally love to have someone for 1 fate who sits at home and reacts if I need more blue force, or just stays there to participate in another conflict or grabs favor with 2 glory. And if some Phx is using AtW on her, I usually thank them

Alright, over the next week or so i am going to be writing up my take on each card the Crane Clan has to offer.
I will try and cover all the cards alphabetically in Core before going on to the next cycle.
Alright, here begins "The Crane Clan - According to Kakita Takashi"

Asahina Artisan
1 Cost 0/0/2 Action: Bow to give +3 Blue
2.5/5

Over all this character isn't bad but is just a bit lacking in the light of other cards. With that in mind, What does she have to offer? Well, starting out Asahina Artisan is a 1 cost character that gives a little flexibility in 2 area's Conflicts/Imperial Favor. Both useful areas to impact but how big of an impact does this 1 drop make? Considering this character can only affect Conflicts or Imperial Favor - (Except by helping win conflicts can she support in both Conflicts and Favor but all characters do that in some way so I wont take that into account) - and not both I will split up the break down as such.

Conflicts:
Action: Bow to give +3 Blue
So, Starting out, she only impacts 50% of Conflicts by applying a +3 political buff.
In my mind she is basically a 1 cost fan that gives +3 for 1 round.
So, not bad, many times i have won/broken a province off playing a fan so she is still useful just not the greatest value. (In Conflicts)
On average not super impactful as just playing a fan that lasts the life of the character would be better and it's free.

Imperial Favor:
Stay standing for the round to give +2 in the Imperial Favor count.
This is worth, just look at Ancient Master(AM), the only difference is Dynasty Deck to Conflict deck.
Mind you AM is just better coming from the Conflict Deck for the surprise factor but all in all they work the same.
This helps out a long way, Taking Imperial Favor from you opponent each round is big. Even if by meta you don't need Imperial Favor your opponent always wants it. Taking that value away from them every turn is crippling and can help you win in the long run.

Rating:
Overall I will give Asahina Artisan a (2.5/5), for under preforming in conflicts but not quite making up for it by helping with Imperial Favor. In general Asahina Artisan isn't a quote on quote "bad" card. I think possibly just overshadowed by better options that do the same thing with grater value.

Thanks for Reading,

Kakita Takashi