Nuno L., from Portugal, wins the boosters this fortnight almost by default because so few of the questions sent into vsrules@gmail.com had accompanying mailing addresses. Just a reminder that you’ve got to be in it to win it!

I’ve got three questions about target eligibility. They are kind of sorted by increased difficulty. In Q1, I have Star of the Show face down in my resource row and one stunned X-Statix character in play (no other characters are on my side). My opponent plays Finishing Move, and I play Star of the Show in response. Is Finishing Move’s effect negated because Star of the Show prevents my character from being targeted?

Yes. Target legality is checked both when an effect is announced and again when it resolves. If all targets are illegal on resolution (as in this case), the effect is negated.

In Q2, I have Cobra and a Sniper equipped with Armed Escort in play. My opponent attacks Cobra and plays Nasty Surprise (preparing for the Overload combo). In response, I activate Sniper to play Armed Escort’s effect. What happens to Nasty Surprise now that Cobra is no longer the defender?

Since Nasty Surprise’s effect targets a defender, it will be negated because Cobra is an illegal target upon resolution.

Q3 has the same scenario as Q2, but this time I let Nasty Surprise resolve without responding. Then my opponent plays Overload, and I activate Sniper to use Armed Escort’s effect. Would Cobra be stunned by the Overload?

Yes. Once Nasty Surprise resolves, its modifier continues to pump Cobra this attack whether or not he’s defending. As a result, he’s a legal target for Overload and will be stunned when it resolves.

Lev K., from Brooklyn, NY, USA returns with a question that caused quite a bit of debate on rules forums when it first surfaced. It could potentially be important at Pro Circuit: Amsterdam, as well, which should be underway by the time you read this.

Just the other day, I was playing an Underworld mirror match, and on turn 5, we both had Mephisto, Soulstealer in play. I started by revealing a character card from my hand and targeting a character card in my KO’d pile. My opponent then responded by targeting the same card with his Mephisto. Then, I responded by targeting the same card again with my Mephisto. Can we just keep on targeting the same card over and over forever? Who wins?

The short answer is that whoever goes first “loses.” So in your scenario, your opponent’s Mephisto will get +1 ATK this turn. The longer answer goes something like this:

Player A plays Mephisto’s effect and passes. If player B then plays Mephisto’s effect with the same target(s), and player A responds with the same effect again, player A starts a loop—ABABAB . . .

To break a loop, the rules ask the creator of the loop (player A) how many times he  or she wants to repeat the loop. Then the rules ask player B whether he or she wants to stop the loop before that number of repetitions. If player B answers no (which he or she should in this instance), the chosen number of repetitions are added to the chain, and player A gets priority but is not allowed to continue the loop with his or her next action. As a result, player B’s effect is the last added, and consequently, is the first to resolve after successive passes.

“But,” I hear you ask, “What happens if player A responds by choosing different target(s) for the effect at some point?” If that happens, player B should always respond by choosing the same target(s) in order to remain the “winner.”

Donnie W. asks another Hall of Fame rules question about characters without flight or range.

How does Aerial Supremacy work when my Rogue, Powerhouse is defending against a team attack from Superman, Red and Rose ◊ Thorn? Do I get any DEF bonus in this situation?

Aerial Supremacy gives a DEF bonus to characters you control with flight while they are defending against a character with neither flight nor range. When I’ve explained this ruling to tournament players, I’ve found it useful shorthand to refer to a character with neither flight nor range as a “blank character” because the part of the card where the flight and range icons are printed is blank.

In your scenario, Rogue is a character you control with flight, and more importantly, Rose is a “blank character.” As long as Rogue is defending against Rose (even if Rose is team attacking with characters with flight and/or range), Rogue will get a DEF bonus from Aerial Supremacy. In fact, she will get both DEF bonuses, for a total of +2, because she’s an X-Men character.

For no extra cost, I’m going to take this opportunity to throw in another “blank character” card that also caused some rules forum confusion in the not too distant past. The card was none other than Shang Chi, who works similarly to Aerial Supremacy even though his wording is slightly different (at least until the next OCR update).

In a nutshell, Shang Chi gets his bonus while attacking a blank character or defending against a blank character, even if the blank character is team attacking with characters with flight and/or range.

Colby D., from NYC, keeps the Big Questions coming with these enquiries about simultaneous triggered effects.

What happens when simultaneous “whenever” triggers conflict with each other? Let’s say I have Total Anarchy in play when my Donna Troy ◊ Wonder Girl becomes stunned. The two effects trigger simultaneously, so which goes on the chain first? Which resolves first? Does she end up in my hand or my KO’d pile?

If multiple triggered effects are waiting to go on the chain, the primary player chooses the order in which his or her triggered effects are added to the chain. Then, in a two player game, the other player chooses the order in which his or her triggered effects are added to the chain.

So, it all depends on who controls Donna, who controls Total Anarchy, and if they have different controllers, who is the primary player. In your example, you control both Donna and Total Anarchy, so you put both triggered effects on the chain in the order of your choosing.

If you put Donna’s effect on first, she’ll end up in your KO’d pile because Total Anarchy will resolve first. If you put Total Anarchy’s effect on first, Donna will end up in your hand.

I have a related question about the triggered powers of Parasite and Dracula, Lord of the Damned. Some locals think that when either of these characters becomes stunned as they stun another character, their effect does not trigger because the card is face down. My take is similar to your answer about Hobgoblin, using rule 502.3. Even though the character becomes stunned, its triggered effect still goes on the chain, and when it resolves, the character still receives the cosmic counter (Parasite) or the two +1/+1 counters (Drac).

Your take is absolutely correct with regard to 502.3 and Dracula, but Parasite’s a little different because stunned characters can’t have cosmic counters. So, Parasite’s power does indeed trigger, even if he becomes stunned as he stuns another character, but the triggered effect does nothing if Parasite is stunned on resolution.

Tim B. asks two questions in preparation for $10K Chicago.

My opponent controls Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius with another non-stunned Doom character in play. My opponent recruits Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius. Do I have an opportunity to respond by playing plot twists from my hand?

Assuming I’ve read the question correctly (your opponent is recruiting a Doom even though he or she already has one in play), then the answer is no.

While the incoming Doom is on the chain, the existing Doom’s modifier prevents you from playing plot twists from hand.

After successive passes, the existing Doom is put into a KO’d pile as part of the resolution of the incoming Doom. Your opponent is the primary player and gets priority after the recruit effect resolves. The new Doom starts generating its modifier before your opponent gets priority.

I have a face-up Xavier’s Dream with two counters on it in my resource row. I recruit Dr. Doom, Diabolic Genius and turn Xavier’s Dream face down. Does the face-down Xavier’s Dream retain the counters?

Yep, a counter remains on an object until the object leaves play or a modifier removes the counter. Stunning or turning an object face down doesn’t remove any counters on that object. As in Colby’s question above, cosmic counters are an exception.

Ronald R., from Manila, Philippines, asks a quasi-architectural question about the ramifications of building the Tower of Babel in Metropolis.

I flip Metropolis during my attack step and my opponent plays Tower of Babel in response. Will Tower of Babel negate the Metropolis effect?

First of all, to answer this question, I’ll assume that you have no other team-ups in play and no other modifiers that affect the affiliations of your characters.

With that assumption, Tower of Babel won’t actually negate the Metropolis’s triggered effect, but the result will be that Metropolis does nothing.

Here’s how it works. After successive passes, the Tower resolves first, making all of your non-League characters unaffiliated. Then, after successive passes, Metropolis’s triggered effect resolves, asking you to “choose two team affiliations among characters you control.”

If you control one or more League characters, you can still choose that single affiliation, but otherwise you can’t choose any affiliations at all. Either way, the modifier generated by Metropolis’s ongoing text won’t actually do anything because you were unable to choose two affiliations when the triggered effect resolved.

Amit S., from London, UK, has a question about one of the more notorious residents of Metropolis.

What’s the interaction between Gravesite and Lex Luthor, President Luthor? If I ignore the draw from Gravesite because of Lex, do I ignore the discard, as well?

Unfortunately not! If you control Lex and there’s a Gravesite in play, you must attempt to resolve as much of the Gravesite effect as possible, which means discarding a card even though you cannot draw one.

Don L. takes us to the end credits with a small question about the small Scarlet Witch.

I’m wondering . . . with Scarlet Witch, Eldritch Enchantress, if I choose to burn my opponent, can I exhaust her to something (like Clocktower if teamed up) during the brief moment she’s in play before she returns to my hand?

Sure. When she comes into play, her triggered effect goes on the chain, and then you get priority. You may exhaust her to play Clocktower’s effect at this point.

After successive passes, the Clocktower effect resolves. Then, after successive passes, her triggered effect resolves, at which time you choose whether or not to burn your opponent.

And so ends another Cerebro. By the time you read this, I’ll be at Amsterdam, feverishly writing down all the questions being asked by the pros so I can share them with you upon my return. Until then, please keep those questions coming to vsrules@gmail.com.