I was playing with this guy for a while, and he seems like he should be good...  Starts out subpar for costs, but gets bonuses from contested rings, not just claimed.  With my primarily-Water deck, he's a good target for Asako Tsuki when you claim Water, so it's really only Void that gives him nothing.

With all that seemed to be going for him, he never really did much and I got rid of him.  Too often was just a 2/2.  Anyone else have much luck with him?

You will want to play this with Secluded Shrine. Even so, he isn't particularly better than the other 3 drops. I think he has a spot for a deck that can make use of both his traits. A dragon splash for hurricane punch while you have Asako Tsuki and Bustling academy in your deck so you use both the monk and scholar part. For other builds, the other 3 drops will just be a better fit. Radiant Orator is better with the old stronghold, especially if you want to play for shame!. So is Haughty magistrate. The new stronghold will want Shiba Yojimbo to protect the glut of shugenja if you need a 3 at all. Then there is masahiro, who is underrated since he's a nice defender on Phoenix's weakest ring. Masahiro also has the issue that the competition is fierce.

All things considered, this makes henshin disciple rather niche. It doesn't help that the pride on fire is frequently a bad thing to have, a ring that phoenix already loses games to.

I personally enjoy how dishonour makes him a 3-cost 0-0.

By enjoy, I mean as the Scorpion opponent, of course.