The official "Why Keeper of Water?" Answer

[Shiba Gunichi]

Cadged off of the Facebook Phoenix group-

The official "Why Keeper of Water?" Response:

**Why a Keeper role and not seeker?**
-Harmonize is flexible defensive trick that allows us to defuse conflicts entirely and then place the ring back for us to use ourselves in addition to not losing the conflict
-Both Guard Duty and Talisman of the Sun are fantastic keeper splash choices and extra influence will make any splash better overall.
-For now, Keeper Initiate gives us extra bodies on board which can help us be more aggressive with province attacks. The Imperial Favor also looks to be increasing in value this cycle so they help immensely with favor control.
- Why not Seeker? We cannot take Seeker of Void again, as much as we would like to, and Seeker of Air was under consideration. It being taken early and the lack of the strong Keeper card options ultimately made seeker a no-go.

**Why Water?**
-I think it's easier to explain why I didn't take the other options over Water specifically first:
- Why not Fire? Simply put, Fire was hotly contested and only winning would have secured it, which sadly did not happen.
- Why not Void? Void is a fantastic pick on the surface but my reasons against it are two fold. First, I expect Kaede to be a major player for us and her ability does not trigger Keeper Initiate with the current rulings. Second, the void province is good but won't replace Shameful Display or Kuroi Mori so the option is moot compared to other element role specific provinces.
- Why not Air? Air as a ring is probably the least picked overall and it does little to control the characters on board, which is what we love to do. Additionally, I have doubt about running the air role province over Manicured Garden. Fate is more important for us than any other, and being Keepers now means we lose the free income from Seeker.
- Why not Earth? Earth is sort of an always decent but usually not the best ring choice generally. The earth role province is cool; but I think Public Forum and the core two are more useful.
-Alright, but why Water then? Unlike the other role provinces, the water can easily replace either of the core two. Being a repeatable action versus one-time is fantastic for more defensive playstyles while leaving the others as viable alternatives for different styles of play. Additionally, Water is one of the best rings with Kaede and Adept of the Waves or when going second after defending to ready a character that you defended with.
-One final point: The element for keeper matters less when considering fate gain for winning on defense as it so rarely triggers. I picked water because it is a potent ring for keeper initiate that also gives the best options for provinces.

**TL;DR**
I did not make this decision lightly or alone. I spent many weeks contemplating the next best role after Seeker of Void and discussed extensively with the other Phoenix Hatamotos Nick Soto and Matthew Beck, who also agreed with Keeper of Water.

Hopefully, this post helps alleviate some concerns for those of you scratching your heads. I read every bit of your feedback and definitely chose what I felt was best for us as a whole.

[Isawa Tasatu]

Thanks.

[Shiba Gunichi]

Figured if we couldn;t find a home for THAT on these forums, then where else?

[Isawa Tasatu]

I do wish the forums would pick up.... I would like people to start posting deck ideas here because it is difficult on discord to follow all the time.

[Zartock89]

Unfortunately it's hard to get people away from modern reddit/chat style sites.