Hi All,
We have another Cerebro packed with reader questions for you today. With today’s column, I have at long last officially emptied my inbox, so feel free to start filling it up again by sending your rules questions to vsrules@gmail.com. If you’d like to win three boosters, please include your mailing address and UDE number. Here are this week’s winning questions:
I have some League of Assassins questions that came up during a Hobby League game the other day. If a character is stunned but cannot be KO’d due to Lazarus Pit, does it remain exhausted when all of the other objects ready?
Tom S., BolingbrookIL, USA
That’s correct. A stunned character cannot ready.
When Ra’s al Ghul, Immortal Villain comes into play, my opponent’s locations are turned face down. If my opponent has an exhausted location when Immortal Villain’s triggered effect resolves, will it remain exhausted when it is turned face down?
Tom S., BolingbrookIL, USA
Correct again.
If the answer to the above question is yes, when all the other objects ready, would the face-down location ready, too? Or would it remain exhausted?
Tom S., BolingbrookIL, USA
It would ready with all the other objects. Unlike a stunned character, a face-down resource can ready normally.
Let’s say that Total Anarchy is in play, I control Ubu, Ra's al Ghul's Bodyguard, and my opponent controls a 3-drop that is able to stun him. I’m assuming that Total Anarchy’s power triggers twice—once for each character.
Jake D.
That’s correct. Two triggered effects go on the chain.
My impression is that I could prevent Ubu from getting KO’d if I target him with Lazarus Pit’s second power.
Jake D.
That’s also correct. If you do, the triggered effect that tries to KO Ubu will do nothing on resolution.
I also assume that if my opponent has an effect to recover his 3-drop, it would essentially be irrelevant, because the character would recover but then still get KO’d.
Jake D.
Three out of three! Total Anarchy’s triggered effect will KO a character whether or not it is stunned on resolution.
There are a number of cards in the Green Lantern expansion that say something like, “You may KO a resource you control.” Is it possible to KO the resource that says you may KO a resource? Take Femme Fatality, for example. Can I KO it and still get the +3 attack? Or does it have to be another resource I KO?
Amit S., London, UK
Yes, you may choose any card in your resource row when Femme Fatality’s effect resolves, including Femme Fatality itself if you played it from your resource row.
I have a face-up Empire of Tears and two other face-down resources, one of which is a second Empire of Tears. If I flip the second, will the first go to the KO’d pile immediately due to uniqueness? Or can I KO the first to pay the cost of the second?
Dimitri D.
The latter. You pay the costs of flipping the second Empire of Tears (KO’ing the first) before the uniqueness rule check.
Player A has no cards in his hand before the draw phase. Player B controls Gravesite. If Player A draws a Brotherhood character card via Gravesite’s effect, can he discard it to use Avalon Space Station’s power before discarding to Gravesite?
Mark A., San AntonioTX, USA
Nope. You have to resolve the Gravesite effect completely (drawing and discarding a card) before either player gets priority to play another effect (like Avalon Space Station’s).
My opponent controls LostCity and discards to power up a Brotherhood character. In response, I flip Unmasked. Is my opponent then able to power up his character again in response?
Brad, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
Yes. Let’s say your opponent plays power-up A, then you play Unmasked in response, and then your opponent plays power-up B in response to that. After successive passes, power-up B resolves and is replaced by LostCity, giving the target character +3 ATK/+3 DEF. Then, after successive passes, Unmasked resolves. Then, after successive passes, power-up A resolves, but it does nothing because its modifier is suppressed by the Unmasked modifier. As a result, there is no power-up event for Lost City to replace.
I control Lost City and power up Pyro. In response, my opponent replaces Lost City with Have a Blast! Does Pyro get +3 ATK/+3 DEF because I controlled Lost City when I paid the power-up cost? Or does he get +1 ATK/+1 DEF because Lost City is no longer in play on resolution?
Dan O., San AntonioTX, USA
The latter. The effect that goes on the chain is simply a “power-up effect” and cannot be replaced by Lost City until it resolves. If there’s nothing with which to replace it on resolution, it resolves like a normal power-up.
Like in the last question, your opponent can power up again in response to Have a Blast! In that case, the second power-up resolves and is replaced by Lost City, giving Pyro +3 ATK/+3 DEF. However, when the original power-up resolves, it won’t be replaced because Lost City is no longer in play, so Pyro gets the normal +1ATK/+1 DEF.
If I equip Pyro with Advanced Hardware, how much endurance does my opponent lose when I activate him?
Charles A., DubuqueIA, USA
Just 3. The equipped Pyro will have two payment powers, both of which read, “Activate >>> Target player loses 3 endurance.” You can activate Pyro to pay the cost of either one, but not both.
I control Doomsday, Atomic Skull, four face-up Toy Soldiers, two face-up Death of Supermans, and three other resources. Doomsday attacks Garth ◊ Tempest, and my opponent plays Heroic Sacrifice, stunning Dawn Granger ◊ Dove. In response, I reveal Silver Banshee from hand to use Atomic Skull’s power to stun Garth. What happens next?
Dennis C., Manila, Philippines
After successive passes, Atomic Skull’s effect resolves first, stunning Garth. Then, after further successive passes, Heroic Sacrifice is negated because all of its targets are illegal (since Garth is no longer a defender). Finally, after successive passes on an empty chain, the attack concludes with no defender, so all characters with the attacker characteristic ready (such as Doomsday).
I had a couple of questions arise from a game I played recently. I was playing League of Assassins and my opponent was playing The Brave and the Bold. I flipped Tower of Babel to prevent the use of the Teen Titans Go! that I knew was coming on my opponent’s attack step. He responded by using Garth ◊ Tempest’s power to pull a Fizzle from his KO’d pile. However, he was told that by resolving Garth’s effect, he was passing priority and therefore Tower of Babel would resolve. I wasn’t so sure. Couldn’t he have played Fizzle to negate my effect?
Greg L., CovingtonKY, USA
Yes, he was misinformed. Successive passes resolve only the most recent effect added to the chain, not every effect on the chain. So he can resolve Garth’s effect to retrieve Fizzle, and then rather than passing to allow Tower of Babel to resolve, he can play Fizzle instead.
Alternately, once he had Fizzle in his hand and the Tower of Babel effect had resolved, couldn’t he have played Fizzle at that point to cancel the Tower of Babel effect before his attack step?
Greg L., CovingtonKY, USA
No. Effects only exist on the chain. Once an effect resolves (and creates a modifier), there’s nothing for Fizzle to target.
During a tournament, I had the initiative on turn 6 and played Koriand'r <> Starfire. I was informed that I couldn’t use Starfire’s activated power because my opponent hadn’t completed his build phase, so his characters were neither in the front or support row. Can I get a clarification on this rule?
Alvin
Yes, you’ve been misinformed, as well. Characters have either the front row or support row characteristic at all times (except while being moved), and you may use Koriand’r ◊ Starfire’s activated power immediately after she comes into play (or any other time you have priority).
This happened in a recent game. I controlled Lady Shiva, Sandra Woosan in my front row and a GCPD Officer and Dick Grayson ◊ Nightwing, Defender of Blüdhaven in my support row, all ready. My opponent controlled four characters including Shocker. He attacked and stunned the GCPD Officer, then activated Shocker’s power. When I told him I would choose to exhaust Lady Shiva and the stunned GCPD Officer, leaving Dick Grayson ready, he was not happy and claimed that I couldn’t do that. I was sure I could, as Shocker’s power doesn’t specify that the characters must be non-stunned and/or ready.
Nige A., Scotland
You were correct. I’ve mentioned in an earlier column that you can choose exhausted characters when targeted by Shocker, but it’s equally true that you can choose stunned characters.
Who wins? Onslaught or Silver Surfer? If Silver Surfer steals the initiative by discarding a card, does Onslaught still get to use his power?
Benji K.
Sounds like your question starts with the initiative player controlling Onslaught and his or her opponent controlling Silver Surfer. If Surfer’s controller steals the initiative at the start of the combat phase, then Surfer’s controller gets the first attack step. Onslaught’s power will trigger only if he is face up at the start of his own controller’s attack step (after the attack step of Surfer’s controller has concluded).
If my opponent activates The Source targeting my Midnight Sons, and I respond by activating Lacuna to KO the Midnight Sons and search for a Marvel Team-Up, will that negate the rest of The Source’s effect?
Benji K.
That’s correct. If all of an effect’s targets become illegal, the entire effect is negated.
Same question about Search and Destroy. If my opponent’s character gets stunned or removed from play, does the rest of Search and Destroy’s effect work?
Benji K.
If the target gets removed from play, then no, Search and Destroy is negated because all of its targets are illegal on resolution.
However, if the target is merely stunned before Search and Destroy resolves, the effect is not negated because it doesn’t require a non-stunned target. It will resolve as fully as possible by first trying to stun the target and then raiding your opponent’s hand.
If a character card comes into play from a non-hand zone (KO’d pile, deck, and so forth) while there are resource points available, can its boost cost be paid? This question arose with regard to Mysterio’s boost to bring another Mysterio into play. Can the second Mysterio be boosted if there are resource points available? What about if Sentinel Mark V is brought into play by Underground Sentinel Base?
Richard H.
Boost can only be paid when a character card is recruited. The second Mysterio is not being recruited; it’s simply being put into play by the triggered effect of the first. Similarly, any Sentinel put into play by Underground Sentinel Base is not being recruited.
An example of a pre-Avengers card that could allow boost costs to be paid from a non-hand zone is Witching Hour. After it resolves, you could then recruit, say, Zodiak from your KO’d pile with boost.
Of course, the Avengers expansion, as you’ve probably heard by now, turns this question on its head. Any character card with the reservist keyword can be recruited from your resource row, and its boost cost paid if desired.
And that’s the perfect note on which to finish, since by the time this column goes to print, the entire planet will be in the grip of Avengers Sneak Peek mania! Hope everybody has as much fun as I do and joins me the week after next for a column bursting with Avengers questions. As always, please send your contributions to vsrules@gmail.com.