For Challenge # 032 L5R flavour text.

I've been wanting an excuse to use 'gain an advantage, and later I fight you' for a while.

"Activate this ability only before combat"?

Plausibly; though I don't see a massive problem with just using this as a fighter, from the flavour I gave it. Balancewise; no idea. Used that way it's a green assassin, but hey, it's beating up small creatures :)

Well, it's just that nobody would ever bother activating it when the islandwalk could be relevant. In fact, it's more likely to be activated on the controller's own turn...

Well, the islandwalk will almost never be used on your opponent's creatures anyway, since it'll only matter if you try to kill one of their creatures and fail, I think the intent is that you can use it to give your own 1/3s islandwalk. I'm not sure what combinations would fit the flavour best, though :)

The flavour was that you give your own critters islandwalk; as per the legends the selkie offers to swim your creatures across; and halfway along attacks and tries to drown them.

Of course, the flavour text is from a rehash of the "Scorpion and the frog" legend, so I can understand not spotting my mashup :)

So yeah - your critter gets island walk; with a drawback later (which may or may not matter) or your opponents creatures just get attacked.