These are presented in chronological order, as older factions have, by virtue of their age, more cards printed for them than newer ones.
Quick Concept: The legendary Arabian Assassins Guild.
Storyline: The offspring of the Old Man of the Mountain, who exact his revenge for his curse of eternal life (given to him by the Ra'shari Grey Woman). The Old Man's origin is tied into the origin of the khadi. Neutral towards most factions.
Strengths: The Assassins are the duelling faction. Strangely, they don't have notably better duellists than other factions; instead, they have the cards to make their duels more cost-effective. As such, the Assassins can more easily pursue a control-style victory of duelling than other factions who lack their duel-support cards. They also have decent Influence and Raid defense. Like all strong duel-based factions, they excel at Story victories (this is because a very simple card set up will let you earn four of five needed Story points with one duel).
Weaknesses: Slow development and a generally poor military. Very poor at magic, although their one sahir is very good if very expensive.
Quick Concept: The Mongolian Horde, complete with Genghis Khan.
Storyline: The remnants of Legend of the Five Rings' Unicorn Clan who got left behind in the Burning Sands. The Moto are raiders and desert nomads, but they also consider themselves the self-appointed protectors of Medinat al-Salaam against all external foes. Loathe the Senpet.
Strengths: No faction so completely dominates their one special area of competency in the game as the Moto. They are the Raid masters, and no one even comes close. They also have a very good military presence, greatly bolstered by perhaps the singlemost frightening Hero in the game, their Champion Gaheris, and their Sword of the Ki-Rin. Because they are so dominating as Raiders, they can frequently suffer what would be crippling military losses to other factions by feeding off their opponents' water, allowing them time to build up their war machine.
Weaknesses: Generally slow development, although this doesn't hurt them as much as other factions thanks to their Raiding strength. Magic-poor. Perhaps the lowest Influence in the game.
Quick Concept: Dynastic Egypt. Slaves, mummies, and powerful magic.
Storyline: The Senpet are the dominant political power in the Burning Sands. They have come to Medinat al-Salaam to add it to their Empire, but their Pharaoh is willing to do so slowly and with political means rather than simple conquest. As such, the Senpet army has been offered to the Sultan as a police force, while the Senpet merchants slowly buy up the town. They consider the Moto their main opponents towards their goals.
Strengths: Basically everything. The Senpet can do nearly anything, and do it well. They have huge Influence, great magic, and a strong military, and lots of copper to back it up. Due to the cheap effectiveness of their sahir, they are perhaps the best faction to include Jinn as part of a mixed-force air and ground campaign for complete domination of the battlefield - and this is usually the typical Senpet strategy.
Weaknesses: The Senpet have only one weakness, and that is a marked ability to die horribly in duels. There is also the public shame and harrasment suffered by playing what is considered a faction far too "easy" to win with. Also, nearly every other faction knows what it's like to be on the wrong side of a Senpet Crush deck, and thus the most common defenses found played in the game are against this faction. Overall, it's not nearly as dominant as it used to be, but don't be fooled. The Senpet are still a very powerful faction to play.
Quick Concept: No real-world analogue - a mysterious, immortal elder race. (John Wick said they were his versions of elves. -ZF)
Storyline: The Ashalan live by an underground lake far beneath the City of Stories. They are a prehuman race of immortal magicians, and they have an interest in fulfilling a prophecy that involves four goddesses and Lord Moon.
Strengths: The Ashalan are the jack-of-all-trades faction. They can do anything reasonably well, but not as well as the best factions for any one style. As such, they're a very popular faction, because the second-best at a certain deck style is often good enough to beat another deck trying to do something out of character (like Assassin military). They have strong magic, a great military (including the most reviled second turn Hero in the game, Eyla), and some very interesting abilities to preserve and/or create water. They are also strong against Jinn.
Weaknesses: Because the Ashalan Heroes are useful in a broad number of applications, they are frequently not as directly useful for a specific task as other factions. Much like their advantages, though, the main feature of the Ashalan is that they have no major weaknesses to exploit either.
Quick Concept: Conspiratory sorcerors. Magic, magic, magic. And Jinn.
Storyline: The Qabal were founded by a renegade Senpet sahir, Hekau, to oppose the cruel practices of the khadi who rule Medinat al-Salaam. However, there might be a deeper, darker reason to the Qabal's creation... one known only to the Celestial Alliance.
Strengths: Magic! Nobody has as many sahir who can do as much stuff as the Qabal. They also get the best discounts on what are probably the best military units in the game, Jinn. This means nearly any of their Heroes can potentially cast game-altering spells (meaning any of them could be threats), all backed with a flying horde of power. Once a Qabal deck gets its feet on the ground, they're very tough to take out, and quite a formidable force to face.
Weaknesses: The trouble is getting a Qabal deck to that point. With a slow copper scheme they're not much worse off in general than other 3c factions... until you remember that over 90% of their Heroes are sahir, and sahir cost more than other Heroes because they all can cast spells. Which means a Qabal deck is paying more for people with the same stats as other, non-sahir-based decks. The Qabal can indeed make a good deck, but you cannot neglect your defensive cards when playing them. Once you finally do get a decent sampling of sahir out, your ability to play powerful spells and summon big Jinn at a great discount will quickly earn you parity in the game. Here's hoping you didn't lose too much before getting to that point.
Quick Concept: The Crusaders during their stay in Arabia. Righteous thugs.
Storyline: The Ebonites are worshippers of the Black Stone, which they claim perhaps is the place where the Prophet Mekhem left the world. They engage in public-spirited policing of Medinat al-Salaam's populace, although it appears their zeal in fighting crime is not particularly appreciated by the common man. They are the counterparts to the Jackals, and regularly crusade against the undead infesting the sewers of the city.
Strengths: The Ebonites are another well-balanced faction. They tend to be big, beefy battle-hardened Heroes who are also good at duels, although their sahir are a bit expensive. They have numerous ways to boost their Strength and Ka through temporary or permanent means. The Ebonites have the best ability to ignore damage on their city sections, which means they can spend less energy defending their cities and more on pounding the enemy into pulp. They also have good Raid defense, and an assortment of anti-Undead abilities.
Weaknesses: Too Much Beef. The Ebonites are not a faction of weenies. They're all muscular, sleek power machines... and you're paying for that. The Ebonites have a pathetic assortment of early game personalities, meaning they either buy Unaligned or await for their considerable-sized cavalry to arrive. Compared to the endless hordes of the Senpet or the sneaky guerilla tactics of the Ashalan, the Ebonites tend to send in one large thug and trust to him to carry the fight. While the Ebonites do have the best ability to shrug off military damage (as opposed to the Moto ability to ignore early damage by feeding off their opponents), they often need that ability just to survive until they can bring out their bruisers.
Quick Concept: Evil cultists with dark magic and undead. Beware!
Storyline: The Jackals are actually made up of those who failed the Ebonite's Test of the Stone. They are the rivals of the Ebonites, and engage in numerous questionable activities throughout the City of Stories, including murder, slander, theft, and soul-sucking.
Strengths: The Jackals are good at maneuvering and dirty tricks. From stealing your stuff to draining your water from a distance, the Jackals have ways of destroying you from a distance. They also make surprisingly decent duellists, mainly due to their weird ways of screwing with their opponent's capabilities. Monkey Man, the original Jackal Hero, is one of the most popular characters in the game (more so for his fictional activities than virtue as a card). The Jackals, with their evil Kalesha Sesh, are also the originators of the Drought style of deck, which destroys everyone's water without resorting to battles or raids. They also have numerous abilities to utilize the various Undead cards in the game.
Weaknesses: The Jackals have a weird money scheme, and outside of their few designated thugs aren't much of a military threat. They are also the most magic-poor faction in the game, although their unique and odd abilities on each Hero often overcomes that.
Quick Concept: The Jinn finally get their own stronghold.
Storyline: The Celestial Alliance are actually tied in behind-the- scenes with numerous other factions, including the Qabal, Ashalan, Ebonites, and Jackals. Whence this City of Jinn, and what do they mean towards the humans of the City of Stories?
Strengths: Well, for one, you don't die when you lose all your water. How's that for starters? This makes the Alliance the heirs presumptive to the old classic Jackal Drought decktype. With the most in-faction Jinn in the game (like, the only faction with them), as well as good magic and a decent military, the Alliance appears to be the new home of Jinn military (both in-faction and summoned). The Qabal may get Jinn cheaper, but the Alliance doesn't hurt as badly as their water goes away.
Weaknesses: Cockiness. Just because you don't die when you have no water doesn't mean you should rush to that point. A lot of cards require water to play, and Alliance cities die just as easily as anyone else's with no water on them. Also, a lot of their capabilities are either tied up in Unaligned Heroes (which they get a discount in) or Jinn (who have a host of anti-Jinn cards to face). This means that the Alliance might have to fight to get their Jinn through, or to play a popular Unaligned Hero (like the Eye of Night).
Quick Concept: The merchants who pull the strings behind the scenes.
Storyline: The Houses of Dahab are the most powerful merchants' guild in the City of Stories. They are also the sinister Kolat from Legend of the Five Rings, who have been happily manipulating things from behind the scenes in Medinat al-Salaam just as their busybody counterparts in Rokugan have. The Qolat decry the influence of Celestial powers in human destiny (such as is represented by the Ebonites, Jackals, and Celestial Alliance), and seek to remove all gods from the world so that man can find their own destiny. Honest. That's what the Qolat really want. Given their egotistical goals and weird philosophy, the Qolat have found their agenda best pursued by forming a conspiracy to control the world's commerce. Honest. As you can tell, these people don't think small. Or even rationally. What a bunch of knuckleheads.
Strengths: Money, Influence, Money, water, Influence, Money, and more Money. The Qolat have more water, more City Sections, and more Influence than any other faction. This allows them to effectively buy their way to any victory condition they so choose to pursue, with a very good chance of it happening. Their ability to play with anybody's specialized City Sections is just icing on their very rich cake (Dahab decks with multiple Moto Secret Wells are already making their mark). Huge hand sizes, more water and money than you know what to do with - go crazy! The Qolat have!
Weaknesses: Because they are so filthy rich, Dahab Heroes are enormously cost ineffective, and rather uninspiring when they do show up (aside from their Influence, which is quite solid). They have some good bruisers, but they either have a punishing price (their Battle Gorilla!) or have weird side-effects (their Deformed Enforcer). This means that Dahab decks, far more than other factions, become much weaker in the end game. While some factions are actually stronger the less water there is in the game (Moto, Jackals, Ashalan, etc.), the Dahab have to count on their huge superiority in water and resources to crush their opponents before their opponent's superior Heroes show up to kick their Qolaty skulls in.
Quick Concept: Thuggee assassin archers and blood-soaked Hindu monsters.
Storyline: The Ivory Kingdoms arrive late in the storyline and apparantly are seeking to destroy Medinat al-Salaam on general purposes (it's in their way). Whether they have a more subtle purpose is up for the Heroes of the city to discover...
Strengths: The Ivory Kingdoms are the Archery faction. They have a good military, decent support money, and lots of weird ways to utilize archery attacks and abilities. This makes them play somewhat like the Ashalan, but without the water-conserving abilities of that faction. They also have potentially the most dangerous Champion in the game, the terrifying Kali-Ma.
Weaknesses: The Ivory Kingdoms are not easily moved out of a generic military mode. They appear capable of handling themselves on the battlefield, but a strength in Archery attacks means they will suffer when facing a Follower-based deck (such as most Senpet).
Quick Concept: Gypsy storytellers and mystics.
Storyline: The Ra'Shari claim to be gods, and while this may be yet another one of their stories, they do appear to have an unusual influence on the Fate of all other factions in the story. What goals are these mysterious wanderers working towards?
Strengths: The Ra'Shari are, frankly, weird. But weird in a good sense. They excell at deck manipulation, card drawing, and Fate mucking. They are also have a decent amount of magic support, and are acceptable if not notable in combat. With their ability to change the Fate values of cards all over the game, they make excellent duelists, and while all factions that are good duelists are good for Story victories, the Ra'Shari abilities to further manipulate their own deck make them perhaps the strongest faction for the Story victory.
Weaknesses: Unique and puzzling abilities alone do not win you the game. While the Ra'Shari are not as generally weak in battle as the Jackals (who are their closest cousins in the game), they lack the Jackal ability to scoot around to useful battles, and so they end up generally equal with the Jackals on the battlefield (which doesn't count for much). This, coupled with their shaky economic base, means a Ra'Shari deck better be able to set up camp and start manipulating card draws quickly, before other more straightforward factions crush them.
Quick Concept: The Roman Legions combined with Alexander the Great. Ouch!
Storyline: The Yodatai are a roaming band of imperialist conquerors. They apparantly have conquered much of the continent, and are only now finally arriving in the eastern portion of it (where the Burning Sands and Rokugan lie). They have a slight technological edge over other cultures given their history of conquest and assimilation, but lack much of the magical strength of settled countries.
Strengths: The Yodatai are the ultimate faction of brute strength. They are filled to the brim with Berserk Heroes of huge Strength whose existance is to smash things quickly. They have the strongest Champion in the game with Aurelian, and the unique ability to effectively take over their opponent's City Sections.
Weaknesses: Balanced with this huge military might is easily the most crippling economic setup in the game. The Yodatai start with almost no water, which means, more than anyone else, that they have to hit the ground running and hard. They also suck for magic and, thanks to their reduced hand size due to their poor economy, dueling. This means the Yodatai are perhaps the most limited faction in the game, even in their strengths. Senpet can easily switch to Influence or Jinns to help them out, and other military factions can duel or Raid or do other things to give them an edge, but the Yodatai basically do one thing - attack with a large Berserk Hero. Again. And again. And again.