| Sequence | Edition Name | Description of card border |
| 1 | Pre-Imperial | Black marble with thin dark red and yellow line. Line has more red than Imperial |
| 2 | Imperial Edition | Black marble with thin bright yellow and red line. Line has more yellow than Pre-Imperial |
| 3 | Shadowlands | Green and purple mould (or rust) |
| 4 | Emerald | Black marble |
| 5 | Forbidden Knowledge | Rusty red and yellow splotches |
| 6 | The Battle of Beiden Pass | Old card faces with totally black border |
| 7 | Anvil of Despair | Blue/black "diesel on water" border |
| 8 | Crimson and Jade | Deep jade textured border |
| 9 | Obsidian | Thin brown fractal cracks. Similar Time of the Void but without marbled appearance |
| 10 | Time of the Void | Brown and black marble. More colouration in the background than Obsidian |
| 11 | Scorpion Clan Coup | Red fractal zig-zags |
| 12 | Scorpion Clan Coup (Scroll 1) | Red fractal zig-zags |
| 13 | Scorpion Clan Coup (Scroll 2) | Red fractal zig-zags |
| 14 | Scorpion Clan Coup (Scroll 3) | Red fractal zig-zags |
| 15 | Jade Edition | Jade swirls |
| 16 | Hidden Emperor | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 17 | Hidden Emperor 1 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 18 | Hidden Emperor 2 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 19 | Hidden Emperor 3 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 20 | Hidden Emperor 4 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 21 | Hidden Emperor 5 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 22 | Hidden Emperor 6 | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 23 | Dark Journey Home | Wood-grain "veneer" |
| 24 | Pearl | Tiny dark-purple concentric ripples. First set with the new card faces |
| 25 | Seige Of Sleeping Mountain | Almost black border. Has lettering at the bottom: B, D, N or T |
| 26 | Honor Bound | Dark red colored blotches on black |
| 27 | Ambition's Debt | New card faces with dark-dark-dark blue (almost black) splotches on the border. |
| 28 | Fire and Shadow | Olive colored blotches on black. Darker green than Soul of the Empire |
| 29 | Storms over Matsu Palace | Dark purple and indigo mist. Has lettering at the bottom: L or U |
| 30 | Soul of the Empire | Green colored blotches on black. Lighter colour than Fire and Shadow |
| 31 | Heroes of Rokugan | Neon yellow globules |
| 32 | Spirit Wars | Neon red daubs. First set with the new card backs |
| 33 | Gold | GE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 34 | A Perfect Cut | APC indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 35 | An Oni's Fury | AOF indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 36 | Dark Allies | DA indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 37 | L5R Experience | L5R Exp indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border. |
| 38 | Broken Blades | BB at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 39 | 1000 Years of Darkness | KYD indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 40 | Fall of Otosan Uchi | FOU indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 41 | Heaven and Earth | H&E indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 42 | Winds of Change | WOC indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 43 | Clan Rivals | CR indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 44 | Diamond | DE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 45 | Reign of Blood | RoB indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 46 | Training Grounds | TG indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 47 | Hidden City | HC indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 48 | Wrath of the Emperor | WoE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 49 | Dawn of the Empire | DOTE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black Border |
| 50 | Web of Lies | WoL indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 51 | Enemy of My Enemy | EoME indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 52 | Code of Bushido | CoB indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 53 | Lotus | LE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 54 | Path of Hope | PoH indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 55 | Drums of War | DoW indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 56 | Test of Enlightenment | ToE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 57 | Training Grounds 2 | TG2 indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 58 | Rise of the Shogun | RoTS indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 59 | Khan's Defiance | KD indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 60 | Tomorrow | Tomorrow indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 61 | The Truest Test | TTT indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 62 | Samurai | SE indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 63 | Stronger Than Steel | STS indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 64 | Emerald And Jade Championship | E&JC indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 65 | Honors Veil | HV indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 66 | Clan of the Month | CotM indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 67 | Words and Deeds | WoD indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 68 | The Heaven's Will | THW indicated at the bottom of the card. Black border |
| 69 | The Imperial Gift 1 | Imperial Gift I indicated at the bottom of the card. |
| 70 | Glory of the Empire | GoTE indicated at the bottom of the card. |
| 71 | Death at Koten | DaK indicated at the bottom of the card. |
| 72 | Celestial Edition | CE indicated at the bottom of the card. |
| 73 | The Imperial Gift 2 | Imperial Gift II indicated at the bottom of the card. |
| 127 | Promotionals | Promos from early sets have neon yellow or green ripples. Promos from Gold have a metallic gold border. More recent sets show promo cards with an inverted triangle at the bottom of the card. |