A Guide to Tattoos - by Kevin "Hitomi Karasusan" Tumy
	What Tattoos to use and how to use them... In the recent Dark Journey Home expansion of the Hidden Emperor story arc, we came across cards never seen before: Tattoos.  Naturally, these new Tattoos were geared towards the Ise Zumi of our clan, the Dragon. These Tattoos gave powerful and intriguing powers and abilities to our already formidable Tattooed men. However, these Tattoos also brought with them drawbacks. Some people were afraid to use certain Tattoos, seeing them useless. However, don't judge a  Tattoo by its text. Once you actually play with them and use, you realize that each Tattoo has good potential, if used correctly. But the question lingers, How and when should I use a certain Tattoo? Never fear, Brothers! The Tattoo Master is here. Below, I've listed each Tattoo along with its text. I have reviewed each one and assessed its strengths and weaknesses, along with which personalities to play them on and how to implement them. I've also included the Deck types that work best with the Tattoo. Hope you find my advice useful!
	Arrowroot Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without an Arrowroot Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has an Arrowroot Tattoo and gains the following ability: Reaction: Bow and destroy this Personality when one of your other Personalities is about to be destroyed. The other Personality is not destroyed. Strengths: This Tattoo can sacrifice a weaker personality to save a stronger one. Weakness: This Tattoo destroys the personality using it. Strategy: This Tattoo is potentially one of the most useful, when used correctly. The Arrowroot Tattoos main strength is that it can provide a safety net for powerful personalities like Hitomi, in case you lose a battle or duel. The Arrowrooted personality acts like a human shield and takes the hit so that your better personality can survive. Unfortunately, once used, the Arrowrooted personality heads for the discard pile. However, if you place an Arrowroot Tattoo and a Crane Tattoo on a personality, the become a recurring human shield! Instead of dying, the Arrowrooted Craned personality simple returns to the fief bowed, and saves your personality. Anyone can use this combo, with cheap personalities like Kazaq and Nasuko being preferred by many players. Everyone should have at least 2 Arrowroot Tattoos, along with Crane Tattoos, in their deck. Personalities: Any will suffice, although easily replaceable ones like Nasuko, Akuai and Kazaq are good choices. Deck Type: Military, Dueling
	Centipede Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Centipede Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Centipede Tattoo and gains the following  ability: Battle: Move this Personality into the current battle. No other Personalities can move into this battle. After the battle resolves, this personality bows and cannot straighten after your next Straighten phase.  Strengths: Prevents others from entering the battle, provides a bluff, and gives you handy reinforcements. Weakness: Personality cannot straighten during your next turn, leaving you without their help. Strategy: This Tattoo, at first, appears to have no real disadvantage. However, it's disadvantage is very real. The main use of the Centipede Tattoo is not for its designed purpose, but to act as a bluff. Your opponent, before he attacks, must take in consideration the Centipeded personality. If he doesn't, he runs the risk of not committing enough units to adequately provide enough force to win. In this fashion, your opponent will either not attack if he doesn't have enough force, or will have to commit even more units to attack you, thus giving you a chance to cripple him by destroying more of his personalities. However, once this personality is used, he is out of action during your opponents next turn, providing him with a risk-free attack. If he doesn't have to contend with your surprise advantage, he will most certainly take advantage of that fact and attack away. If you have Entrapping Terrain, Block Supply Lines, Refugees, and similar actions in your hand you can hold off his attack, and perhaps deal even more blows to him by killing off some more of his personalities via duels and such. But if you don't, you may end up losing a province or two if you don't have an adequate defense. If you do use Centipede Tattoos, don't rely on them. A solid defense is better than a fickle one. Personalities: Any will do, preferably a powerful one like Juppun or Dajan. Deck Type: Military
	Crane Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Crane Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Crane Tattoo, cannot be targeted with any of your actions, and gains the following ability: Reaction: Immediately after this Personality is destroyed in a duel or battle, he or she is returned to your fief, bowed after going to the discard pile.  Strengths: Your personality becomes virtually unkillable. Weakness: You can no longer play actions on them, including duels and more Tattoos. Strategy: Like the Centipede Tattoo, this Tattoo seems to only a minor disadvantage. However, be very careful about who you play this Tattoo on. Because you can no longer target your personality, you can no longer play Iaijitsu duels or more Tattoos on them. For instance, Reju would seem like a natural for the Crane Tattoo. However, he cannot initiate duels by himself, and thus he would become practically worthless. Nasuko on the other hand, simply begs for a Crane Tattoo. You don't need to play actions on him, and his literally explosive ability, which would kill him, is now a recurring weapon that can destroy many opposing personalities without consequence. Mentioned before, the Crane Tattoo in combination with the Arrowroot Tattoo, as long as you play the Arrowroot first, can create a recurring human shield for vital personalities like Hitomi. Kazaq, Iyojin, and other defensive personalities are also good candidates for Crane Tattoos. The only thing to watch out for are Assassination actions like Kolat Assassin. Because the personality dies in the action phase, the Crane Tattoo's ability does not trigger, and thus you lose him/her. Still, the Crane Tattoo is definitely one of the best Tattoos around. Personalities: Nasuko, Kazaq, Iyojin, Hitomi Deck Type: Military, Honor-Runner
	Dragon Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Dragon Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Dragon Tattoo and gains the following ability: Open: Gain up to three 1F/1C Fire tokens. this Personality cannot have more than three Fire tokens and cannot straighten if he or she has any Fire tokens. Remove one token instead of straightening him or her during the Straighten Phase. Strengths: Makes any personality powerful and dangerous. Weakness: Personality cannot straighten for a few turns. Strategy: The Dragon Tattoo is possibly the best Tattoo around. Many old-time players will remember the personality Togashi Mitsu, who had a built in Dragon Tattoo ability. Now, cheap, first turn personalities like Akuai and Dajan can destroy a 2nd turn province. The main advantage of the Dragon Tattoo is speed. Get a nice 3/3 or 2/3 personality on the first turn, and drop a Dragon Tattoo on him/her to make her dangerous. Personalities like Akuai become very dangerous against 5 Province Strength clans like Phoenix and Unicorn. The Dragon Tattoo is the staple of any Dragon Speed Deck, definitely worth 3 slots in your fate deck. The only drawback is that the personality is put out of commission for a few turns while you remove the tokens from him. You can speed up the process by using token-destroying cards like The Path to Inner Peace. However, when used for defense, the personality does not bow, and thus can attack the next turn without having to power up. The Dragon Tattoo is as effective on defense as it is on offense. Some personalities also benefit from the Dragon Tattoo in other ways. Nasuko, whose ability to destroy an opposing samurai with an equal or lesser chi, can become far more dangerous once you pump his chi up to 6 using the Tattoo. Instead of taking out his henchmen, Nasuko can go straight for the Champion himself. Personalities like Kamoko, Yoritomo, Tsanuri, and Toturi himself are all vulnerable to a powered up Nasuko. Kazaq also benefits from the Tattoo. His ability to destroy enemy followers becomes greatly enhanced with a Dragon Tattoo. Very few followers have a force of greater than 5, which means that Kazaq can destroy just about any followers your opponent is using. The Dragon Tattoo is yet another example the power and versatility of the new Tattoos. Personalities: Kazaq, Nasuko, Dajan, Akuai, Iyojin Deck Type: Military
	Dragonfly Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Dragonfly Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Dragonfly Tattoo and cannot be targeted with ranged attacks or effects that move him or her from battle to your fief. Strengths: Makes personalities invulnerable to ranged attacks and removal actions like Block Supply Lines. Weakness: None really. Only weakness is that you can't remove the personality by playing Retreat or your own Block Supply Lines if you're losing a battle. Strategy: The Dragonfly Tattoo is the most useful and versatile Tattoo available to use right now. Although some would argue that the Dragon is better, I think this Tattoo is just as good, if not better. It makes your personality invulnerable to ranged attacks, Block Supply Lines, Refugees, and similar actions. A Dragonfly  Tattooed personality is a serious threat to the Naga or any deck that is heavy with ranged attacks. Also, many defensive decks that rely on Block Supply Lines and whatnot are endangered by a Dragonfly personality. Just watch out for the new Ninja Stronghold ability. Since it's ability does not target, the Dragonfly Tattoo can  not prevent your personality from being sent home. This Tattoo has virtually no weakness whatsoever; even the weakness I mentioned before is a rare occurrence. This Tattoo's benefits, coupled with no drawbacks, makes it one of the best Tattoos around. No deck is complete unless you have 3 of these Tattoos in it. Personalities: Any, preferably vital personalities like Hitomi and Dajan Deck Type: All
	Full Moon Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Full Moon Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Full Moon Tattoo and gains the following ability: Reaction: When this personality is in a battle and an action card is played, bow the Personality and discard a card from your hand with the same Focus value as the Action card to cancel and negate the action's effects.  Strengths: Can negate any action played by an opponent. Weakness: You must have the personality in the battle, you have to have a matching focus value, and you have to bow the personality. Strategy: The Full Moon Tattoo is one of the Tattoos frequently scoffed at by many players. It's ability is useful, but it is too narrow to be consistently effective. I think that when used correctly, a Full Moon Tattoo can be trouble for your opponent. This is one of those Tattoos you must actually play with before you realize it's value and worth. Against combo-heavy decks like Unicorn and Phoenix, the Full  Moon Tattoo can negate key actions and prevent your opponent from playing that game winning duel or Block Supply Lines. The disadvantage of having to have the right focus value isn't too bad, because a standard Dragon deck has a nice variety of focus values, especially when dealing with Kiho-heavy or dueling decks. However, the personality has to participate in the battle, and every time he/she enters combat, the risks of being killed in a duel or by losing the battle increases. This isn't a problem if the Full Moon Tattooed personality is a major one. However, you have to bow the personality to use the Tattoo, thus bowing a major character like Hitomi or Reju is unfavorable. Basically, this Tattoo is useful for defense, but it's inconsistency and drawbacks make it's use more risky and limited. The Full Moon Tattoo can come in handy, but it's not worth 3 slots in your Fate deck. Personalities: Any personality, preferably a minor one like Iyojin or Akuai Deck Type: Military, Honor-Runner
	Lion Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without an Lion Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Lion Tattoo, and Force and chi bonuses this Personality receives from Weapons are doubled. Until the end of the game, any opposing Personality can, once per turn, challenge this Personality to a duel as a Battle action that this personality can only refuse by bowing.  Strengths: Gets more out of your weapons. Weakness: Personality can be dueled freely. Strategy: The Lion Tattoo is an interesting one. In a standard dueling deck, the drawback is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. It basically pumps up your weapons and allows you to get more bang for your buck. Oddly enough, however, the Lion Tattoo works best with the non-tattooed personalities, namely the Mirumoto's Taki and Yukihira. Both of these personalities would benefit greatly from the Lion Tattoo, except that they aren't tattooed. Luckily, Darj Journey Home included along with the new Tattoos a card called Tattooed that allows you to tattoo any personality. However, this combo can be difficult to pull off. Nevertheless, it is powerful. Any personality can benefit from this Tattoo. This Tattoo is a must for any weapon heavy deck. Personalities: Taki and Yukihira (if you get them Tattooed), Juppun, Reju Deck Type: Military
	Mountain Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Mountain Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Mountain Tattoo and gains the following ability: Battle: Once per turn, this Personality gains 2F until the end of the turn. All ranged attacks targeting this Personality have their strengths doubled.  Strengths: Increases personality's force. Weakness: More vulnerable to ranged attacks. Strategy: At first glance, this Tattoo appears to be a poor man's, or in our case Ise Zumi's, Dragon Tattoo. However, like with most Tattoos, you have to actually play with the card to assess it properly. This card has an obvious disadvantage with the doubling of ranged attacks. Against a Naga or any heavy-ranged attack deck using  this Tattoo would be equal to committing seppukku! However, when combined with the Dragonfly Tattoo, if becomes a risk free 2F bonus! It has an advantage over the Dragon Tattoo in that it doesn't deal with tokens and bowing. Thus, you could either have a 3F bonus, then wait a few turns to get it again, or have a 2F bonus each turn. Unfortunately, most clans have access to a valuable ranged attack personality, so be wise in using the Mountain Tattoo. If you use it, try and use it with a personality that already has a Dragonfly Tattoo or use one in the same turn. In fact, one of the best combinations of Tattoos is Dragon, Mountain, and Dragonfly. You can easily turn a first turn 3/3 into a monstrous 8/6 that is immune to ranged attacks and cannot be removed from battle (Ninja Stronghold aside). This can very devastating for your opponent, and can give you an early lead or victory.  Definitely worth 3 spaces in your Fate Deck. Personalities: All but Juppun, who can't benefit from it (he is really a 3/3 with a permanent Mountain Tattoo anyway). Deck Type: Military
	Phoenix Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without a Phoenix Tattoo. Until the end of the game, this Personality has a Phoenix Tattoo, has the Tactician trait, and cannot assign to or move into an attacking army. Strengths: Gives a free Tactician. Weakness: Can't attack or move into an attacking army. Strategy: This is one of the most misunderstood Tattoos. When you first see it, it looks awesome. It can make anyone a tactician! However, once you start reading it more carefully, you see that the personality can no longer attack or participate in any offensive action. What good is that you ask? A minute later it is beneath your Coke can. Stop! Once again, refer to my cardinal rule of Tattoos: play with them before you judge them. Sure, in an offensive speed deck, this Tattoo is practically worthless. However, in a defensive deck, this Tattoo is great. If you aim to win by  honor, this Tattoo gives you a free tactician. Since you won't be attacking often, it's drawback doesn't hurt you much. Getting a free tactician can be a real boost! In offensive decks, this Tattoo is useful when placed on defensive personalities, like Kazaq and Iyojin. This Tattoo has some promise, and when used with the right deck type can win games for you. Other defensive cards like Kaze-do, Block Supply Lines, and Song of Blood all have high focus values. The card Focus has a value of 5, which is normally used for duels. But when used by a tactician, it can provide you with an overwhelming force. Try it, you may just like the Phoenix Tattoo! Personalities: Kazaq, Iyojin Deck Type: Honor-Runner
	Tiger Tattoo Limited: Target one of your Personalities with the Tattooed trait but without an Tiger Tattoo. Destroy any weapons attached to this personality. Until the end of the game, this Personality cannot attach weapons, and gains the following ability: Reaction: When you declare a strike in a duel, gain 2F/2C until the end of the duel. Strengths: Bonus in duels. Weakness: Cannot use weapons. Strategy: This Tattoo is another one that is often ignored. This Tattoo is obviously meant for dueling, but since the standard Dragon Dueling deck relies on Tetsubos, and this Tattoo prevents the personality from attaching weapons, this Tattoo is usually not used. However, the Tiger Tattoo does have advantages. Tetsubos, Swords, and any weapon or item you use can be stolen via Ninja Thief or destroyed in some fashion. The Tiger Tattoo cannot be stolen or removed, which makes it slightly better than a normal weapon. However, the bonus it gives you is only if you strike, and only until the end of the duel. A weapon's bonus is constant. I like the Tiger Tattoo because it goes nicely with cards like Strike with No Thought. Also, Togashi's Daisho is not a weapon, so it can attach to personalities with  Tiger Tattoos. I frequently give Tiger Tattoos to Hitomi because she can use the Daisho as her weapon. Kobai also works well with it, because his duels are non-fatal and you have nothing to lose. Plus, using a Tetsubo on him drops his chi  to a dangerous 1, forcing you to have Yoshis available to pump him up. The Tiger Tattoo is a good counterpart to the Tetsubo, although it doesn't replace it as the heart of the Dragon Dueler. Personalities: Hitomi, Kobai, Reju Deck Type: Dueling
	Well, that's all for now. Bottom line, none of the Tattoos are worthless. All of them have strengths and weaknesses, and it is up to you as the player to decide which ones to use. Regardless, these Tattoos are a tremendous boost to our clan, and I fully expect more to come in the future. And when they do, I'll be here to examine them for you. Until next time, Happy Tattooing, and don't forget to use sterile needles.