Seasons are a funny thing in L5R-land. Not for us is there nostalgic talk of summer being known by the smell of a fresh mowed lawn or the crack of a wooden bat. No, we have Kotei season, Con season, Winter Court. And, most anticipated of all – preview season.

Behold, the not-exactly-return of Daidoji Merchants:

Holding – Sheltered Port
4G
Port
Bow this card: Produce 2 Gold, plus 1 Gold for each other Holding you control that is a Market or Port.
Blue skies, fair wind, and limitless wealth: the best weather of all.

Unlike Daidoji Merchants, you don’t get that base 3G production. But you do have the potential for massive production later on. But definitely better than the more recent Dockside Market, given that 4G and 3G are mostly the same thing when it comes to Holding Gold Costs.

So, how many Markets and Ports are there in the environment? Marketplace and Kobune Port to start, of course – anything that looks for Markets or Ports is generally a Mantis/Crane card. And multiple Sheltered Ports can, of course, feed on each other. The rest of the list is short, but heavily played – Colonial Harbor and Merchant Atoll as the headliners, plus Seaside Bazaar. The problem with that lineup right now is that, except for the Clan Holdings, it’s all 4G or 6G Holdings. You probably don’t want to be buying Sheltered Port on T2 along with some non-Port/Market. Plus it makes it hard to accumulate enough Ports/Markets to really make Sheltered Port sing. So stay on the lookout for cheaper ones!