Oh, I don't mind about the necromancy. I did get a little confused, seeing a 'new' thread about it by Lupus.
I didn't realise the cards were so big. I just downloaded them and printed them two to a page. (On the other hand the normal sized cards makes the text so small that it's hard for us with no longer perfect eyesight to read. It might be to compensate.

)
I went for the starters I found easiest to proxy. Which turned out to be all but the Cult of Yurei.
Looking at the starters:
The Prefecture of Ryu is probably the easiest to use as a newbie, in a way they are pretty straight forward: basic troopers (ashigaru), a sergeant to order them about, and a mean hard hitting samurai. Add to that they have armour which makes them more resilient than most.
The others are a bit trickier to master and can possibly get thoroughly smashed by the Prefecture. The Cult can be a Prefecture killer, though, if managed properly, as it hits where they are weakest.
So for easier beginner games I'd go for Temple of Ro-Kan vs. Savage Wave. Or either of these against the Cult would probably be fine too.
(This advice is all based on my impression of the starters in the hands of beginners. It's not true if you get other figures, nor in more experienced hands. Some things are just easier to get the hang of.)