Let’s get straight into it this week! I figure that everybody knows where to send his or her emails by now . . .

Lev K., from Brooklyn, NY, USA, wins three Marvel Knights boosters for an excellent question on the subject of modality. If you’re wondering, “What’s modality?” then this is the question for you!

I’m playing against League of Assassins with my Marvel Knights deck. I attack with Daredevil, Matt Murdock, and then play Crime and Punishment. My opponent responds with Tower of Babel. Can I choose Crime’s second effect (target attacker) when it resolves, or do I have to choose the effect when I play the card?

Crime and Punishment generates what’s called a modal effect. You can recognize modal effects because they have the text “Choose one (or more): . . . ” or “An opponent chooses one (or more): . . . ”

If any of an effect’s modes have one or more targets, then you choose the mode before you choose the target(s). A relatively high profile example is A Child Named Valeria. The second mode targets but the first doesn’t. If you choose only the first mode, you may play the effect without a target. If you choose the second mode (or both), you may play the effect only if there’s a “target exhausted character with a cost of 2 or less” on announcement.

In the case of Crime and Punishment, you first need to choose the mode to determine whether the target requires the Marvel Knights affiliation on announcement. If you choose the first (Marvel Knights) mode before you target Daredevil, the effect will recheck the legality of the “target Marvel Knights attacker you control” upon resolution. If your opponent has played Tower of Babel in response, the Crime effect will be negated because the target no longer has the Marvel Knights affiliation.

Daniel, from Carmel, Indiana, USA, wants to know how to unlink a sizeable chain.

It’s turn 6 and I’m playing against a Doom control deck with my standalone X-Statix deck. I have Orphan, Guy Smith in play and Star of the Show face up in my resource row. My opponent has Dr. Doom, Victor von Doom and a Robot Destroyer in play. I play a boosted Plazm to stun his Robot Destroyer. Before the triggered effect resolves, he plays Mystical Paralysis targeting Orphan (since I no longer have one character in play, Star of the Show no longer protects him). In response, I play Mind over Matter to return Plazm to my hand. How would this unfold?

So, Plazm’s triggered effect is on the chain targeting Robot Destroyer. In response, Mystical Paralysis is targeting Orphan, which was legal on announcement since you had more than one character in play. In response to that, you’ve played Mind over Matter, presumably targeting Orphan.

Here’s how it unfolds. After successive passes, Mind over Matter resolves, bouncing Plazm and buffing Orphan this turn. Then, after successive passes, Mystical Paralysis is negated because Orphan is no longer a legal target thanks to Star of the Show. Then, after successive passes, Plazm’s triggered effect resolves as fully as possible, stunning Robot Destroyer, but failing to bounce Plazm because he is no longer in play.

Although I’m not renowned for my Mad Play Skillz™, it seems like a good play for your opponent to activate Robot Destroyer to stun Orphan in response to the Mind over Matter. Orphan will be a legal target on both announcement and resolution, unless you have even more tricks up your sleeve.

Chung Wei, from Singapore, has another question about the mother of all plot twists.

My opponent attacks with Doop, Ultimate Weapon into my reinforced Bullseye, Master of Murder, stunning both characters. Can my opponent chain Mind Over Matter to Bullseye’s KO effect in order to pump another X-Statix character he controls?

That looks fine.

Assuming that the attack concludes while you control another Crime Lords character, Bullseye’s triggered effect is put on the chain, and then your opponent gets priority. Your opponent may now play MoM targeting another X-Statix character he controls, returning the stunned Doop to his hand.

After successive passes, Mind over Matter resolves. Then, after successive passes, Bullseye’s triggered effect resolves as fully as possible, but it fails to KO Doop because Doop is no longer in play.

José L., from Guayaquil, Ecuador, kicks off a series of questions about the attack step.

Let’s say I have Spider-Man, The Spectacular Spider-Man in play, and my opponent has Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man. On my initiative, I propose an attack with my Spider-Man. In response, he uses his Spider-Man to target mine. Can I activate my Spider-Man in response?

First of all, since it’s been more than two months, it might be worth reminding everyone that the first Cerebro column contains a summary of some of the most frequently asked Vs. rules questions. Check out section two for a quick refresher course on attack timing.

Back to your question, in which you propose an attack with Spectacular, and your opponent responds by targeting Spectacular with Amazing before you exhaust.

You may indeed activate Spectacular in response. After successive passes, the Spectacular effect will resolve first, exhausting all characters target opponent controls. Then, after successive passes, the Amazing effect will resolve, exhausting Spectacular.

Finally, after successive passes, the attack substep begins, but the proposed attack will fail the legality check because the exhausted Spectacular is no longer a legal proposed attacker.

Rex M. asks a quick question about team attacking.

If I team attack my opponent directly, will he lose any endurance?

Yes, he’ll lose endurance equal to the combined ATK of the team attackers. It’s only team attacks attacking a character that can’t cause breakthrough endurance loss.

Calvin L., from Metro Manila, Philippines, does some advance recon on Advance Recon.

Can I ask my opponent if he wishes to reinforce the character I’m attacking before playing Advance Recon? Or does asking him that question mean I’ve already passed priority, and if he doesn’t do anything, it’s too late for me to play Advance Recon?

Your last sentence is exactly right. If you’re attacking, then you’re the player that gets priority after your attacker exhausts. Your opponent doesn’t get the option to reinforce until you pass. If you pass on an empty chain, and then your opponent chooses not to reinforce (or take any other action), the attack will conclude with no further opportunity for you to play Advance Recon.

In the words of a wise acquaintance of mine, you can’t “do nothing unless an opponent wants to do something, in which case you want to do something first.” If you have priority, you may perform an action or pass.

T.C., from Fresno, CA, USA, continues the equipment theme.

It’s the beginning of turn 5 and I have a board full of Spider-Friends. I recruit Mr. Fantastic, Stretch, and then flip Marvel Team-Up naming Spider-Friends and Fantastic Four. Can I then recruit an Armored Spider Suit for free? In other words, since Stretch wasn’t a Spider-Friend during his recruitment, does he count as a recruited Spider-Friend?

No, Stretch doesn’t count as a Spider-Friends character you recruited this turn because, as you say, he didn’t have the Spider-Friends affiliation during his recruitment. Specifically, he didn’t have the Spider-Friends affiliation as he left the zone from which he was recruited (your hand). So the Armored Spider Suit will still cost you 1 to recruit.

Note that if you’d been able to play Marvel Team-Up first and then recruit Stretch, the Armored Spider Suit would have been free to recruit (since Stretch would have gained the Spider-Friends affiliation in your hand).

Paul H., from Barbados, delivers the climactic third episode in our equipment trilogy.

I have exactly four resources in play, and Mysterio and Goblin Glider in hand. Can I play a boosted Mysterio, search out a second Mysterio, and then play the Glider for free? In other words, is the second Mysterio “recruited” when he is put into play?

No. “Recruit” means something very specific—to pay the recruit cost of a character or equipment during your recruit step (including alternate recruit costs like those of Aunt May or Witching Hour).

If a character comes into play any other way (like the second Mysterio), then it hasn’t been recruited. So, to answer your question, the Glider will still cost 1.

Also, just to be sure, if I had Hired Goons in my resource row and flipped it, both copies of Mysterio would get +2 ATK?

That’s correct. The second Mysterio did come into play this turn, even if it wasn’t recruited.

Zac O., from Wellington, New Zealand, is back with some deeper insight into his master plan.

If I have Hobgoblin in my resource row, and then replace him with the use of Clocktower, does his triggered power allow me to have both players to KO a resource?

When a character card is face down in a resource row, it has no powers. As a result, Hobgoblin’s power won’t trigger if he is put into a KO’d pile from a resource row, because he has no power to trigger.

Hobgoblin’s power triggers only as he is put into a KO’d pile from a front or support row.

For completeness, note that Hobgoblin’s power will trigger if he has the stunned characteristic just before leaving play. Even though his text is inactive, the rules specifically allow such triggers to fire when a stunned character leaves play. (This is rule 502.3 in the Comprehensive Rules document at www.ude.com/rules.)

Alex C., from Townsville, QLD, Australia, is another Cerebro regular with a new question.

I was taught that you couldn’t play ongoing plot twists from your hand. However, in the basic rulebook, it states that a player can play an ongoing plot twist from hand, but it will go to the KO’d pile. So, does the ongoing plot twist still have an effect from within the KO’d pile? Or does the effect only last for the turn? How does playing ongoing plot twists from your hand work?

You may indeed play an ongoing plot twist from your hand.

If the plot twist’s text has an effect before the word “Ongoing,” like, say, Common Enemy, then that effect goes on the chain and resolves normally. In other words, if you play Common Enemy from hand, you draw a card on resolution.

If the plot twist has no text before the word “Ongoing,” then a “blank” effect goes on the chain, but it creates no modifier on resolution. For all intents and purposes, Nothing Happens when you play such an ongoing plot twist from hand, except that the plot twist gets put into your KO’d pile.

Either way, if you play an ongoing plot twist from hand, the text after the word “Ongoing” does not create a modifier at all. So, again using Common Enemy as the example, there will be no change to the affiliations of any of your character cards if you play it from hand.

Thanks, as always, for your questions. My email address is vsrules@gmail.com.