Noticias

The original core set for L5R was released in October 1995. It featured 6 playable factions (Crab, Crane, Dragon, Lion, Phoenix and Unicorn), plus two to be developed later on (Scorpion and Naga). Included 303 unique cards, plus 12 variants.

This set was sold in displays of 6 starter decks (one for each playable faction), or 36 booster packs of 15 cards. The Stronghold that represented each faction did not actually exist as a card, but rather was printed on the back of decks, which most players kept and used as it was, while others simply cut it out for more convenience.

The quality of the cards left something to be desired, and as such it is very difficult to find versions in mint condition. The black border, especially the corners, were flawed even fresh out of the packs, and much of the run (perhaps all) is off-center, most likely because the cutting die wasn’t properly sized.

As for the variants, everything seems to indicate that in the more than six months between the appearance of Imperial and the first expansion there was at least one additional printing of Imperial Edition, and that it was used to make several fixes, both in content and in layout.

How to identify an Imperial Edition card?

Just like pre-Imperial, Imperial has a framing line that runs all the way through the solid black border of the card. These two editions are to only ones to feature this unique detail that easily stands out at first glance. However, how to tell the difference between both of them? While PI’s line is predominantly red, IE ‘s line has shifts into yellow/gold in places. One way to tell for sure is to look at the top right corner. If that corner is red, you have a pre-Imperial card; conversely, if the corner is yellow, the card is Imperial Edition.

Other than that, Imperial cards have no set identificator, no collectors’ number and no rarity indicator.