The latest
base set for the
Legend of the Five Rings CCG, and the last set officiated by
Wizards of the Coast. Gold Edition was intended to be a cleanup set much in the manner of
Jade Edition- with the advent of the
Gold Bug in
Spirit Wars and the removal of the
grandfather clause for the Gold playset, the set consists completely of reprints of cards from previous editions, and is thematically set as the beginning of
the Four Winds story arc.
The guiding philosophy behind Gold Edition was a general slowing down of the game's pace. In the previous year's
Open format tournaments, games were often decided by the fourth turn (if not earlier), and the individual cards that powered these decks were hard to find, much less obtain- especially if you hadn't been involved in the CCG for more than a year or two. Some of the strongest cards were changed via the
most recent printing rule in Gold Edition, and the general gold-efficiency ratio of the Gold personality set was decreased.
Perhaps one of the most noticable differences between Gold Edition games and earlier games is the break-up of the
Imperial Favor. Previously, the Imperial Favor could be used for any one of four standard actions; now, however, a player selects a
Wind card much as they would have a
Sensei card printed before now, and can only use the Imperial Favor action that is printed on the Wind. Story-wise, the use of that Wind in a deck indicates the deck's support for that Wind on their quest for the Steel Throne.
Eight of the previous thirteen
Clans are represented in starter decks for Gold Edition: the seven Great Clans (
Crane,
Crab,
Dragon,
Lion,
Phoenix,
Scorpion, and
Unicorn) and the
Shadowlands Horde. Each
starter deck comes packed with sixty cards, the two newest strongholds printed for each Clan over previous editions (with the exception of the Shadowlands, who recieve their original stronghold and the
Spawning Grounds stronghold), and one copy of each of the
Four Winds.
Booster Packs consist of fifteen cards.