Latest FFG Rulings (post-RRG 1.5)

Head here for the latest rulings from July 2024 (RRG 1.6) onward

On this page you’ll find some of the latest FFG rulings for Marvel Champions post-RRG 1.5. All prior questions and responses can be found on this main page, along with errata.

To create a link to a specific ruling, just use this format and note the number at the start of the question. Note that some numbers may not be accounted for as a result of being pulled for outdated/legacy rulings.

If you have a verifiable answer from FFG for this page, email us at hallofheroescontact(at)gmail.com.

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1.6

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1.0 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4.2 (Undocumented) | 1.5

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Post 1.6 (July 2024) Rulings

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Pre-RRG 1.5 latest rulings

Latest rulings

May, 2023

1- If the kraken minion’s forced response defeats every other character, what happens? 😃 We assume the game ends in a tie but wanted to know for sure

If The Kraken defeats all remaining characters—heroes and villain included—then The Kraken wins!

Or, on a slightly more serious note, the players are considered to have lost the scenario. We agreed that there aren’t any ties in Marvel Champions between the villain and the heroes, so if the heroes don’t win, they have lost.

-Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist – May 18, 2023

2 – With the new deal/take distinction, how would cards like “power stone”, (from the single card encounter set) or the nebula treachery “Ruthless” work? Assuming you’re not planning an errata for these and similar? Because I can always deal 3 damage but the intention of power stone seems to be that the attached character needs to take 3 damage for it to be stolen. This scenario came up when nebula had the power stone and the wide stance attachment and my ATK was 3. And with Ruthless, nebula will always deal damage from her attack but the intention seems to be meant for if the character she attacks, takes damage

We appreciate the question, but we are not planning to errata cards following the “deal/take damage” distinction, unless a character or scenario would not work without an erratum. For both Power Stone (GMW #149) and Ruthless, the effects of those cards can resolve so long as the character “deals damage” to the target, and do not depend on the target “taking” the damage.

-Alex – May 18, 2023

3 – I played the event, return the favor and the treachery I revealed has the surge keyword. Do I need to reveal an additional encounter card before I deal 5 damage? Not sure of the timing here

If you played Return the Favor and revealed a treachery with Surge, then you should resolve the original treachery, deal 5 damage, and then resolve the card drawn with Surge.

-Alex – May 18, 2023

4 – If you reveal shadows of the past while playing the venom hero and you can’t put all 4 copies of his nemesis minion into play like if you had already put one into play earlier from his obligation, does shadows of the past gain Surge? Or do you simply put as many as you can that are currently set aside, even if just 1 copy is left and shadows of the past does not gain surge?

If Venom puts at least 1 of his Enraged Symbiote nemesis minions into play with Shadow of the Past, then Shadow of the Past does not gain surge.

-Alex – May 18, 2023

5 – I had a few questions I wanted to get clarified. 1.If I play Swift Retribution and the boost card from the villains attack is the Goblin Thrall minion in which the boost ability puts it into play, does its guard keyword prevent me from dealing the 4 damage? 2.If I play Swift Retribution and the boost card has a boost ability that stuns me, do I still deal the 4 damage since I’ve already played the (attack) card? 3.When a boost card is flipped with a boost ability that deals damage and I play something like Jump flip with the (defense) label, am I considered to have defended this attack at this point?

Guard prevents you from initiating attacks, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. We rule that, if you already initiated an attack with Swift Retribution and were dealt a Goblin Thrall during the activation, you could still deal the damage from Swift Retribution.
In a similar vein, a Stunned status card prevents you from initiating an attack, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. If you’re already resolving an attack by the time Stunned is placed on you, you can still finish resolving the attack.
No; although you are “the defender”, you aren’t considered to have “defended” until the attack fully resolves.
1. (For instance, you can’t trigger Unflappable · MarvelCDB if you play Jump Flip to interrupt damage from a boost ability. The attack would need to fully resolve before you could trigger Unflappable.)

-Alex – May 18, 2023

6 – A question to make sure I understand the current “take damage/deal damage” distinction: Hydra Bomber says: “When Revealed: Choose to either take 2 damage or place 1 threat on the main scheme.” As I understand past “choose” rulings, a player must choose an option that can most-fully resolve. Am I correct in believing that — if I have a tough status card and reveal Hydra Bomber — I MUST choose the “place 1 threat on the main scheme” option, because I CAN’T “take damage” with a tough status card? (Conversely, if the card said “Choose to either DEAL YOURSELF 2 damage” then I could choose that option with a tough status card, because I =could= DEAL that damage to my identity… with the tough would immediately absorb and get discarded.) Is my understanding correct?

Correct; if you are Tough, you cannot “take damage” as an option on Hydra Bomber, so you must place 1 threat on the main scheme.

-Alex – May 18, 2023

7 – Can I choose to select 0 where it says “up to” when playing the Adam warlock events, Karmic blast or Cosmic Awareness?

No. When playing Karmic Blast or Cosmic Awareness, you must discard at least 1 card from your deck. This is because these events have discarding as part of the cost of their abilities, and the updated rules for costs make clear that “a cost requiring ‘up to’ some number of game elements requires a minimum of one such game element.”

-Alex – May 18, 2023

8 – I’m playing as the Adam Warlock hero and he is Confused. Can I trigger the Overwatch upgrade after playing Cosmic Awareness? 2.I’m playing as the Adam Warlock hero and he is Stunned. Can I play the chase them down event after playing Karmic Blast?

No. Even though Adam Warlock is able to remove 3 threat with Cosmic Awareness while Confused (because doing so is part of the ability’s “cost”), the rules for discarding Confused state that upon removing Confused, “the character is not considered to have thwarted or schemed.” This means that Adam could not trigger Overwatch if he plays Cosmic Awareness while Confused, as he is not considered to have “thwarted.”
No; same line of thinking as above: Adam is not considered to have “attacked” upon playing Karmic Blast and removing Stunned, so he can’t play Chase Them Down as a response.

We the team agreed that these rulings follow both the rules of the ability costs in Adam’s events, and the rules for discarding status cards.

-Alex – May 18, 2023

9 – I have 4 questions regarding the X-Men Instruction basic event card. 1.Can I play X-Men instruction if I don’t have any allies in my discard pile while the x-mansion is in play? 2.Can I play X-Men instruction and choose 0 allies while the x-mansion is in play? 3.Can I play X-Men instruction if I don’t have any allies in my discard pile, while the x-mansion is not in play? 4.Can I play X-Men instruction and choose 0 allies while the x-mansion is not in play?

Yes, you can play X-Men Instruction if X-Mansion is in play, even if there are no X-Men allies in your discard pile, in order to draw a card.
Yes, you can choose 0 X-Men allies, specifically because the choice isn’t part of a cost, and you can still resolve another part of the ability.
No, you must be able to resolve at least one of the sentences on X-Men Instruction in order to play it.
No; same thinking as #3, you can’t play X-Men Instruction and not resolve any of it.

-Alex – May 22, 2023

10 – When an enemy attacks me, can I exhaust an ally to defend and then also play the preemptive strike (defense) event to cancel the boost icons?

Yes. We have added a ruling to the latest Rules Reference update under “Defend, Defense” specifying that Defense-labeled abilities can be played during an attack by a player whose ally is defending that attack, in which case, the player’s identity does not become the defender. (Only one character can be the defender of an attack at a time.)

-Alex – May 25, 2023

11 – If my Alter-Ego, Jennifer Walters, has a confused status card, 1. I can still (thwart) with her superhuman law division support card as normal. 2. After I do (thwart) with superhuman law division, my confused status card on Jennifer Walters remains. Am I correct? Thanks!

With the recent Marvel Champions Rules Reference update, we have issued an erratum to Superhuman Law Division and removed the “thwart” label from it. It’s been a part of our rules for some time that thwarts and other triggered abilities resolved from Support cards are not considered to be performed by the player’s identity, so it didn’t make sense to have the thwart label on Superhuman Law Division.

As a result, Jennifer Walters cannot use Superhuman Law Division to remove Confused. She could, however, use it to remove threat while Confused, since it’s not a thwart.

-Alex – May 25, 2023

12 – I’m curious about basic activations and targets. For example, at the start of the game Peter Porker has full health. Is he allowed to perform a basic recovery as he is full health, but doing so will garner him a toon counter? I’ve read the target section and the debate is that since it is not specifying game elements such as recovery, then the target validity does not apply. I disagree, but clarification would be terrific! Thank you!

We appreciate the question and we understand where there may be conflict and confusion. Our ruling is, an identity cannot initiate a basic recovery if they cannot heal at least 1 damage from themselves with that recovery. This means that Peter Porker cannot perform a basic recovery at full health, even in an attempt to get a toon counter.

-Alex – May 25, 2023

13 – Hi, about SHE-HULK “Superhuman Strength”

Forced Response: After She-Hulk attacks, discard Superhuman Strength → stun the attacked enemy.

ruling 1.5: Cost […] – An ability’s cost cannot be paid if that ability’s effect requires one or more targets and there is not at least one valid target.

If SHE-HULK with “Superhuman Strength” attacks and defeat an enemy the sentence “stun the attacked enemy” seems to have no valid target so, did the “Superhuman Strength” is discarded?

same question if SHE-HULK attacks a already stunned enemy?

To answer your question(s):

No, Superhuman Strength would not be discarded in either instance.

The main reason being, under the updated entry for “Forced” in the rules reference, we have made a ruling stating that if a forced ability requires a valid target but there is no valid target, the ability does not initiate. If an attacked enemy left play before the Forced Response on Superhuman Strength triggered, there is no valid target for the ability, so nothing happens. It’s similar if the enemy is still in play but cannot be stunned (e.g. because it’s already stunned); the Forced Response does not initiate.

-Alex – May 25, 2023

14 – I have a question about Super Human Strength from the She Hulk deck, based on the new targeting rules, I do not believe I need to trigger the forced response if I attack a stunned enemy. Is that the case? If so, if the villain is stunned can I still attack the villain if there is a non stunned enemy on the table? If I must attack a non stunned enemy, does that still apply if my attack kills the non stunned enemy and therefore they are no longer a valid target for Superhuman Strength?

Correct; if She-Hulk cannot stun the enemy she attacks (e.g. the enemy is already stunned), then the Forced Response on Superhuman Strength does not initiate.
Yes; She-Hulk is not required to attack a non-stunned enemy if she has Superhuman Strength in play—she could attack a stunned villain if desired.
If She-Hulk defeats the enemy she attacks, then Superhuman Strength has no valid target for its stun, and its Forced Response does not initiate. She-Hulk would not discard Superhuman Strength.

-Alex – May 30, 2023

June, 2023

15 – Hi guys, looking at 1.5, should the attachment “twisted reality” be an interrupt instead of a response? It triggers “when” instead of “after”. The thought here is the side scheme wouldn’t be attached anymore when the response would trigger. It seems similar to the “followed” upgrade that did get errata making that switch.

Yes, Twisted Reality should be a Forced Interrupt instead of a Forced Response. Thank you for letting us know.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

16 – The Armored Rhino Suit triggers when damage would be dealt to Rhino and results in it not being dealt to him. Based on the new FAQ entry on tough, point 2 says that DEF works because it reduces the amount of damage dealt. Does this mean that Armored Rhino Suit triggers before Tough, and having stopped the damage being dealt, preserves Tough?

Yes; if Rhino has Armored Rhino Suit attached and a Tough status card, he will keep his Tough status card when he’s the target of damage, and the damage dealt will be placed on Armored Rhino Suit. This is because Tough prevents “damage taken,” but the Forced Interrupt on Rhino Suit is triggered from “damage dealt” instead, which occurs before damage is taken.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

17 – Hi, I’m wondering about a subtle timing point. So, I know that there is some point in time where an enemy has taken damage and is not defeated, this is necessary for Biomechanical Upgrades to work (it is an interrupt to a minion’s defeat that heals all damage from it). Does this mean that a response to taking damage also happens before defeat? For a particular example the Sandman minion from Iron Spider’s Sinister Six triggers after he takes any amount of damage. Does he trigger when he takes lethal damage?

No. In order for a Response ability to resolve, the card the ability is on must remain in play once the triggering condition is met. If Sandman (SP//dr #35) takes lethal damage and is defeated, his Forced Response will not resolve.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

18 – Does this work? Player 1 is Playing Rogue. Player 2 is playing Wolverine. Attach the touched upgrade to the basic ally colossus which is controlled by player 2. Play superpower adaptation and add the fastball special team up card to hand Then play fastball special? So basically can rogue play a hero action team up for two characters other then herself as long as those two characters are in play (identity or ally) 2.With sanctum santorum support card, Can I draw 1 card first and then shuffle a spell card into the deck? I was looking at the entries for “and” and “simultaneous resolution” in the current rules reference and believe it’s possible but wanted to make sure. 3.Is the longshot ally from the single card encounter set a basic card? I noticed it doesn’t have the type next to the encounter name at the bottom right. (Relevant for rogues touched upgrade and superpower adaptation) Thanks!

Yes; Rogue can play Fastball Special in the situation described (where Hero Wolverine & basic Colossus are in play).
Yes; because the effects are separated with “and”, it’s fine to resolve them in either order.
Yes; Longshot from MojoMania is considered a Basic card.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

19 – I was reading the new 1.5 rules reference and I understand that an ally or minion with a tough status card would prevent any simultaneously dealt excess damage with overkill from actually being dealt to a hero or villain. I’m wondering if it’s meant to work the same for an attack or effect that just checks for excess damage but without Overkill? For example, Rocket Raccoons hero ability “Murdered you”. Could you deal 5 damage without overkill to a minion with 3 HP that has a tough status card and trigger his ability to draw a card?

Yes; it’s possible to deal excess damage to a character with Tough. Rocket Raccoon can trigger his “Murdered You!” ability when he deals 5 damage to a 3 HP minion with Tough.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

20 – Hi team, Do I have to pay the cost of the ally if I used Med Lab’s ability? As it is worded similarly with the Bifrost, and the Bifrost card has a reminder for player to pay the cost. Thanks!

Yes; using the Alter-Ego Action on Med Lab has you “play” the ally, meaning that you must pay its resource cost. If the ability said to “put the ally into play” or “ignore its resource cost”, then you wouldn’t have to pay.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

21 – I did have one question, since it seems that it may be a fairly significant change that’s slipping under the radar. Under ABILITY, the 1.5 rulebook says, “Only the player who controls a player card with an attachment that uses the word ‘you’ or ‘your’ can trigger abilities or pay costs on that attachment.” The Poison (from Galaxy’s Most Wanted) begins: “Attach to YOUR identity.” [emphasis mine] So the attachment is using the word “your.” Does this new rule under ABILITY indicate that the reminder text for the Hero Action on The Poison is no longer correct, and other players CANNOT pay the cost to trigger it?

Thank you for your question. We have decided that the reminder text “Any player can do this” on attachments should be interpreted as rules text instead. With this, The Poison should function as it always has, even with the rules reference update. Attachments that attach to identities without this text should follow the new rule instead, such as Death Factor and Counterspell.

-Alex – June 8, 2023

22 – I have a question about cable’s bodyslide card and characters with multiple hero forms like Antman, wasp and Angel. If Cable plays bodyslide to change to hero form then each other player has the chance to change to hero form too. Could hero’s with multiple hero forms use this effect to change between their hero forms. For example if Antman is tiny when bodyslide is played could he change to giant form?

Yes; if the Cable player plays Bodyslide to change from Alter-Ego form to Hero form, other players can choose to change to one of their Hero form cards. With Bodyslide, Ant-man can change from Tiny form to Giant form, for example. (Bodyslide can’t cause a player to change their other forms, though, such as a mass form.)

-Alex – June 8, 2023

23 – If I use the “wolverines claws” upgrade to play the “team strike” event, does each instance of damage I divide and deal among the different targets have piercing?

Yes; each instance of damage dealt by Team Strike will also have piercing.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

24 – A weird rules situation came up in gameplay. We have a pre-1.5 answer on it already – but we wonder if it remains true with the new valid target rules and how deal/take has now been officially written.

The scenario is Venom, and we are playing Shadowcat. On the board, we have two allies in play, both at 1 hp.

Venom attacks, we defend in Phased form and thus cannot take damage throughout this defense.

We flip Venom’s boost cards and one of them is Lashing out – this card has the boost effect of making us “take 2 indirect damage”.

Now, as Shadowcat defending in Phased, we cannot take damage. But the rules reference says that, when assigning indirect damage, we should do so without accounting for interactions with other abilities. So by that logic, and the old ruling, we absolutely can. 1) Do the valid target rules come into play at all here? 2) At what stage during the deal/take process does Indirect Damage have to be assigned? 3) What is the resolution of the example given above? Can we assign the damage to Shadowcat and then let it fizzle against her damage immunity (old ruling), or do we have to assign it to our allies and in doing so defeat them?

While in Phased form, Shadowcat “cannot take damage.” This means that the indirect damage from Lashing Out, which must be “taken,” cannot be assigned to her, and must be assigned to her allies if able.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

25 – When a character thwarts a scheme with the new assault keyword, do they use their ATK right from the initiation, meaning the hulk ally could thwart for 3 even though his THW has a dash ?

Yes, the Hulk ally can thwart schemes that have the new Assault keyword.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

26 – I have a question about a few cards relating to lasting effects. -Lead from the front, gives each character “you control” stat boosts. -Avengers Assemble! Gives each avenger character “in play” stat boosts. -Blaze of glory, gives each guardian character stat boosts “this phase”. Do all 3 of these events boost the stats of allies that enter play afterwards?

Yes; after any of those events are played, any allies that enter play that phase that matches the event’s criteria will receive the bonus stats as well.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

27 – Can I use game time to ready another players ally? Can I response with Utopia if another player plays an X-Men ally? Both cards have a cost arrow and I’m confused how this relates to the rule that costs have to be paid by game elements you control

With Game Time, you can’t choose an ally you don’t control when resolving the ability. The “cost” in the ability makes it so you must choose an ally you control.
With Utopia, you can exhaust it even if an X-Men ally enters play under someone else’s control. “After an X-Men ally enters play” is a timing point, not part of the cost you’re paying.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

28 – Was playing in a multiplayer game against Ultron the other night and we had a situation come up that we weren’t 100% certain on how to handle. I drew Rage of Ultron (Core Set #145), whilst in Hero form, so Ultron initiated an attack against me. However, another player blocked with their ally. Now, Rage of Ultron says “When Revealed (Hero): Ultron attacks you. Discard the top card of your deck for each damage dealt by this attack”, and we weren’t sure who should discard from their deck. In the end we decided that I should, rather than the player that blocked, based on the RRG v1.5 FAQ for Ultron II’s Forced Interrupt, that implies that ‘you’ is set when the attack is initiated. Was this correct?

The player that revealed Rage of Ultron is the same player that discards from their deck. So yes, you played the situation correctly.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

29 – You ruled, that I may play “Tackle” on an enemy, that is already stunned, or cannot be stunned, just to deal 3 damage, if I pay with a physical ressource for this event. On the other hand, you ruled, that I may NOT play “Psychic Kicker” on an already ready ally, just to give it a boost to ATK/THW. Could you please clarify, why it is possible in the first case, and not in the second? As far as I know, “that” is no keyword with a special meaning, unlike “then”.

We acknowledge having ruled that way for Tackle in the past, but after discussing it further we don’t think it aligns with how we want “valid target” rules to be understood. Instead, we agree that in order to play Tackle, you must be able to stun the targeted enemy. An enemy that can be stunned is a “valid target” for Tackle. The 3 damage Tackle is able to deal can only be applied to “that enemy”, which can only mean “the enemy you stunned with Tackle”; an enemy that you can’t stun is also an enemy that Tackle can’t deal damage to.

-Alex – June 15, 2023

30 – I have some questions regarding 1.5 and a couple extras 😃

1.Can another player play a (defense) labeled event card or trigger a (defense) labeled ability during an enemy attack in which another player already defended using their heroes basic DEF power?

2.If your identity is at full HP, can you use your REC basic power?

3.With the SETUP abilities for the Heroes, Valkyrie and Rogue. We didn’t see anything about them and as their cards don’t have the permanent keyword, have you guys discussed what to do about these if anything?

4.With Visions Phased Disruption event, if the enemy I confused doesn’t have an attachment with the text hero action or hero response, can I even play it without a valid CHOOSE target?

5.We would love to confirm that Visions starting hand size is 5?

6.With the updated FAQ in 1.5 for widows bite, we don’t understand why if the keyword quickstrike has timing priority and goes First, why it then waits for the response on widows bite instead of fully resolving?

7. With the upcoming White fox basic ally, does she physically have to be the top card of the deck or could she be discarded with something like global logistics in which she started as the second card for example?

8.With the upcoming Angel hero. If you trigger his response in Angel hero form, change form, then play Metamorphosis to change back to Angel form, can you trigger his ability again?

9. Can you play an (attack) ot (thwart) EVENT card while stunned or confused just to clear the status card even if there isn’t a valid target. Like “get over here” while stunned and no minions in play for example.

No. If one player defends an attack, including by using a basic defense, another player cannot then play a Defense event.
No. You must be able to heal at least 1 damage to use a basic recovery.
Valkyrie’s Death-Glow and Rogue’s Touched count toward each hero’s deck size.
Yes, you can play Phase Disruption to confuse the enemy and not discard an attachment.
Correct, Vision’s opening hand size is 5.
Quickstrike is considered resolved when the subsequent attack initiates, not finishes. Quickstrike and Widow’s Bite are both responding to a minion entering play & engaging Black Widow, and Quickstrike is resolving first by having the minion initiate its attack, but Widow’s Bite is then able to resolve before all the steps of the attack are completed. And since the attack was initiated, the minion will still complete its attack even with Widow’s Bite’s stun, unless the 2 damage dealt to it defeats it.
Yes, you can resolve White Fox’s ability if she’s the second card in a deck and discarded via Global Logistics.
No, you cannot resolve Angel’s ability twice in the same round.
Yes, you can pay the cost of an attack event to discard stunned even if there’s not a valid target to attack. Similarly, you can pay the cost of a thwart event to discard confused even if there’s no threat in play. These are both stated in RR 1.5, under “Stunned” and “Confused.”

-Alex – June 15, 2023

31 – Several cards have the text “hero form only” like boundless rage, webbed up, phased and confused and mental paralysis. We wanted to make sure what this is intended to mean?

When an upgrade uses the phrase “hero form only,” that means that the upgrade can only be played while the player’s identity is in hero form.

-Alex – June 21, 2023

32 – What happens if I have the “crime scene investigation” side scheme in play while playing the Magog scenario and the forced interrupt on the melee in the mojo-seum main scheme triggers since threat cannot be removed from other schemes

C.S.I.’s ability states “threat cannot be removed from other schemes.” This “cannot” is absolute, making it so that no threat can be removed from Melee in the Mojo-seum, not even for its Forced Interrupt. So, because its Forced Interrupt cannot resolve, MitM would have to “complete” instead, causing the players to lose the game.

-Alex – June 27, 2023

33 – How does the acceleration icon on archangel interact with the vemon goblin main schemes? The rule book seems to suggest it would only effect the scheme with the goblin counter on it but the skies over new york environment card says that player cards that affect the main scheme can effect any main scheme, which seems to suggest that an acceleration icon on a player card could affect any main scheme.

The scenario rules for Venom Goblin state that when threat would be placed on “the main scheme” by an acceleration icon, it is placed on the scheme with the glider counter. This rule also applies to the acceleration icon found on Archangel. The Skies Over New York environment card serves as reminder text for the scenario, and does not create an exception to the scenario rule for player cards that also have acceleration icons.

-Alex – June 27, 2023

34 – If I use Karma to take control of a minion does the minion count towards my ally limit? It I’m playing mansion attack and I take control of Blob what would happen if I defeat the villain and the next villain revealed is Blob? Would the Blob minion I’m controlling be discarded?

Yes, the Blob minion that Karma takes control of counts toward your ally limit.
If an ability has caused you to take control of the Blob minion and treat him as an ally, the Blob villain could still enter play. In the rules as written, there is nothing forbidding a unique Ally and a unique Villain from having the same title.

-Alex – June 27, 2023

35 – A question I saw on Facebook got me curious about how Steel Fist works under the RRG v1.5 errata and new ‘valid target’ rules. The question was asking about what happens with the second part of Steel Fist’s ability if the target is either stunned or confused, but not both. And I concluded that the player could still discard a Tough to apply the other status to the target. Because “and” allows that. And I assume that is correct. However, that got me thinking – what can I do if the target cannot be stunned or confused (for example if they already have both status effects)? Am I allowed to discard a Tough in that situation (for example to draw a card from Iron Will)? Does it make a difference if the target is Stalwart?

For the first part of your email, yes, you can play Steel Fist and discard a tough card to either stun or confuse the enemy in a situation where you can’t do both.

For the second part, no, you cannot discard a tough status card with Steel Fist if you can’t stun or confuse the enemy, even if you have Iron Will in play.

-Alex – June 27, 2023

36 – Generation Why? says: When Revealed: Discard the top card of each player’s deck for each ally and Persona support in play. White Fox says: Response: After White Fox is discarded from the top of your deck, put her into play under your control. If I have X amount of allies and Persona supports in play and I discard White Fox from Generation Why’s effect, does her presence increase the amount of cards to be discarded or is it fixed at the moment the side scheme is revealed? Or more generally: what’s the rule of a thumb about when values are checked?

The “When Revealed” on Generation Why checks for the amount of ally cards & Persona supports in play at the moment of its initiation. White Fox being discarded & put into play as a result would not change how many cards are discarded from each player’s deck. Generation Why would need to have a lasting effect built-in for White Fox to affect the amount discarded.

-Alex – June 30, 2023

37 – I use Feral to thwart a side Scheme with “Assault”, using ATQ value. Which consequential damage (ATQ or THW) is dealt to the ally? Since is a Thwart (although ATQ value has been used), does the Response trigger?

When an ally makes a basic thwart against a scheme with Assault, they use their ATK stat and take the consequential damage beneath their ATK, but are still considered to have made a thwart. So, Feral will still resolve her Response ability when thwarting a scheme like Keep Them Busy.

-Alex – June 30, 2023

July, 2023

38 – Check my understanding of “move” When playing the venom goblin scenario, after the villian activates, you move the goblin counter to the main scheme with the least threat. Do you move the glider counter even if the one it’s already on has the least threat?

No, but with one exception. In essence, you should move the glider counter in the following two situations: if there is another main scheme in play that has the least threat, or if the main scheme with the glider counter is tied for the least threat with a different main scheme—in that case, you must move the glider counter to the other scheme.

-Alex – July 2, 2023

39 – So we had a situation come up in a game recently and have a question about it. Playing the venom goblin scenario, he activated and his forced response attempted to move the glider counter but the main scheme with the least threat was the one the glider counter was already on. Does the Choose effect of either placing threat or resolving the special of “that” scheme still happen since it didn’t move in the first part of the effect?

You should resolve the ability on Venom Goblin one sentence at a time. Even if the glider counter doesn’t move, because it’s already on the scheme with the least threat, you should still resolve the second sentence of the ability and either place threat or resolve the Special ability.

-Alex – July 2, 2023

40 – So we’re playing the Red skull scenario and the side scheme, “Time portal” from the temporal encounter set is defeated, does it go to the side scheme deck discard pile or is it shuffled into the encounter deck?

You should shuffle Time Portal into the encounter deck instead of placing it in the side scheme discard pile, following its Forced Interrupt ability.

-Alex – July 2, 2023

41 – When I play 0 cost DEFENSE events and choose to overpay it using Defensive Energy, do I get to draw a card off it? If yes, can I also overpay by 2 using 2x Defensive Energy and draw 2 cards? Thanks!

No. To draw a card with Defensive Energy, the resource from DE must help pay for the cost of the Defense event. You cannot draw a card with DE if the event costs 0.

-Alex – July 11, 2023

42 – Greetings. A previous ruling stated that if Defender of the Nine Realms empties the encounter deck and fails to find a minion, you can still use the card to remove Confused from your hero, since “the card ability is considered fulfilled”. However another ruling said that if you fail to find a minion while NOT confused, the rest of the effect fizzles. How come that failing to find a minion fulfills the requirements to remove Confused, but not the requirements to resolve the Effect of the card?

We appreciate your question. We have reviewed both rulings and believe one is more intuitive than the other, and more in line with our intentions for the game. Our current, updated ruling is this:

When a cost in the ability of a player card prompts you to discard from the encounter deck and find a specific type of encounter card, you must find that type of card in order to successfully pay the cost of the card and resolve the effect after the cost arrow. If you can’t fulfill the entire cost upon emptying the encounter deck, the effect “fizzles.”
In other words, in order to pay the cost of Defender of the Nine Realms, you must discard a minion from the encounter deck & engage it before you can remove 3 threat or remove Confused. If you discard the entire encounter deck and fail to engage a minion, you cannot remove 3 threat or discard Confused; you’d instead shuffle the encounter discard into a new encounter deck, add an acceleration token to the main scheme, and be done resolving the event.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

43 – So when you defeat the trap! side of the light at the end side scheme in the Sinister Six scenario, it has you trigger the special on the main scheme, Sinister synchronization, and on expert mode it adds 2 threat to light at the end. It still flips, right? And what happens to that 2 threat afterwards?

Yes. When playing The Sinister Six scenario in expert mode, you will still flip Light at the End (102A) when you remove all threat from it the first time. The 2 threat placed with the “Ambush” special ability on Sinister Synchronization will get placed on the other side of Light at the End (102B).

-Alex – July 13, 2023

44 – The Anna Marie and Brunhilde SETUP abilities still have the community confused on how to resolve them. Does “Set your touched upgrade aside” and “Set death-glow aside, out of play” have the power to look/search/find them anywhere they could possibly be? Like in our hand, deck, discard pile, a facedown Ultron drone, a face up card in the collection, etc? Bonus Questions Does the dash – cost on the touched upgrade mean it can’t be played from your hand? If I pay an event that has both the (attack) and (thwart) label while my identity both stunned and confused, do I remove both status cards?

When setting up Rogue and Valkyrie, you can find Touched and Death-Glow, wherever they are, and then set them aside.
Correct, Touched cannot be played from hand.
Yes; an event that is both an attack and a thwart can discard both a stunned and a confused status card.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

45 – With the leadership upgrade, “Leadership Skill” Can you trigger it off of allies controlled by other players? The triggering condition before the cost arrow is throwing me off. Thanks!

Yes. The text “When an ally makes a basic thwart or basic attack action” refers to a timing point for when you can pay the cost of the card, “removing 1 leadership counter.” You can remove a leadership counter when an ally controlled by another player makes a basic thwart or basic attack.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

46 – I was hoping you would help me understand this situation. I’ve seen two rulings on hallofheroes that seem to conflict with each other. One states if you reveal a treachery like icy grip that stuns you while playing return the favor, that the stun would prevent you from dealing the 5 damage. I’ve also seen a ruling that states when you attack with swift retribution and you get stunned by a boost effect, the stun does not prevent you from dealing the 4 damage and that stun only prevents you from initiating an attack.

Thank you for your question. Our current ruling is this: a stunned status card prevents the initiation of an attack, but does not prevent an attack that was already initiated from completing. If you become stunned during an attack, but have already initiated the attack, you will still deal damage from the attack.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

47 – I have a question about the timing of Retaliate (per rules ref 1.5) and Ultron stages I and II. Ultron I has a response ability to create a drone after he attacks you. Ultron II has an interrupt to create a drone when he attacks you (initiates an attack). If Retaliate defeats Ultron I then would that mean it skips the timing window for a drone? Ultron I is defeated before creating a drone in response and Ultron II already completed the attack.

Yes; if damage from Retaliate defeats Ultron I, advancing him to Ultron II, then no Drone is put into play.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

48 – Looking at the new rule under Ability, in RRG 1.5, and recent rulings, that restrict players from performing actions on attachments attached to another player’s identity, I have a question about the card Restrained (Mad Titan’s Shadow #83), this card doesn’t have you/your but could become attached to an identity. So, if Restrained is attached to player 1’s identity, can player 2 use the action on Restrained to remove it? Does this change if Restrained is attached to an ally? For example, if Restrained is attached to an ally controlled by player 1, can player 2 use the action on Restrained to remove it?

Yes. Because Restrained does not have “you” or “your” listed on it, any player can use the hero action to discard the card from the attached character.

-Alex – July 13, 2023

49 – I was reading the new 1.5 rules reference and had some defense questions for ya! 1. The FAQ entry about the protection event, Mutant Protectors and the (defense) label, says if the ally leaves play before damage is dealt, my hero becomes the defender, meaning I am now defending the attack with a different character. At that point am I able to activate Judoka skill (Interrupt: When you defend against an enemy attack)? 2. Was my hero briefly defending the attack first and I could trigger Judoka skill before that ally becomes the defender? I was looking at the new first sub bullet under bullet 4 under Defense that states, “The player’s identity is considered to be the defender as soon as the defense-labeled ability begins resolving.” 3. If I play Powerful Punch (defense), can I use an ally to defend that same attack? 4. If I play Powerful Punch (defense), can I still play Mutant Protectors?

Yes; you can use Judoka Skill when you become defender of an attack, including when the ally you put into play via Mutant Protectors leaves play before the attack finishes.
No; when you play Mutant Protectors, the ally you put into play becomes the defender of the attack immediately.
No; when you play Powerful Punch, an attack/defense event, your hero becomes the defender of the attack. While your hero is defending an attack, no other character can defend that attack.
Yes, you’re allowed to play both, but note that since your hero is already defending the attack, the ally put into play with Mutant Protectors cannot defend that attack. (The rules of defending are strict on this; once one character defends, only that character can defend the attack unless that character leaves play before the attack finishes.)

-Alex – July 19, 2023

50 – Regarding the following ruling. Guard prevents you from initiating attacks, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. We rule that, if you already initiated an attack with Swift Retribution and were dealt a Goblin Thrall during the activation, you could still deal the damage from Swift Retribution. In a similar vein, a Stunned status card prevents you from initiating an attack, but does not prevent you from dealing damage. If you’re already resolving an attack by the time Stunned is placed on you, you can still finish resolving the attack. This also applies the same with a Thwart and the Patrol keyword/ becoming confused, right?

Yes; if you became Confused after initiating a thwart, you would still remove threat with the thwart. And yes, if a minion with Patrol engaged you after you initiated a thwart, you’d still remove threat with the thwart.

-Alex – July 20, 2023

51 – 1. If I’m stunned and play a double (labeled) card like “Hit and Run”, can I still remove the threat? 2.If I’m confused and play a double (labeled) card like “Hit and Run”, can I still deal the damage? 3.If I’m stunned or confused or both and I play a triple (labeled) card like “Crosscounter” to defend against an attack, Did I still defend after removing one or both of the status cards?

No. When you play an event to remove one or more status cards, all text in the event ability that isn’t a cost is replaced. If you’re Stunned and you play Hit and Run, you only remove Stunned.
No. If you’re Confused and you play Hit and Run, you only remove Confused.
Yes; per the rules of defense events, you can play Crosscounter to remove Stunned and/or Confused, and are still considered to have defended the attack. (Note, you don’t prevent the 3 damage if you remove a status card this way.)

-Alex – July 20, 2023

52 – With the Space Stone environment, If I discard cards from the encounter deck and it empties without discarding a minion, does it remain in play? 2. Step 4 under initiating abilities in the rules reference says the ability initiation is aborted when a cost can’t be paid. So with the defender of the nine realms event, If I discard cards from the encounter deck and it empties without discarding a minion, would it return to my hand because of this?

If you resolve the Special on Space Stone and empty the encounter deck without finding a minion, you’re considered to have fulfilled that part of the effect. So yes, you discard Space Stone if that happens.
No. If you don’t find a minion with Defender of the Nine Realms, you will still discard Defender of the Nine Realms. We will look into rewording Step 4 of Initiating Abilities to be more in line with our intentions for a card like DNR.

-Alex – July 20, 2023

53 – 1.Does “Defeated” and “Leaves play” share the same timing point? Example, if a minion had both the psionic shield and biomechanical upgrades attachments attached to it and was dealt enough damage to defeat it, would one trigger before the other? 2.Would a minion with quickstrike attack you after the psionic shield triggers? 3.If the death glow upgrade is in your discard pile or other any other area during the game,can Brunhilde set it aside with her “not this day” action, even though she can’t detach it?

Yes; Biomechanical Upgrades will trigger before Psionic Shield does, healing the minion and discarding itself. Psionic Shield will stay attached in this case.
No; Psionic Shield does not cause the minion to leave play, so it does not re-engage you. (We understand the wording of the card is misleading, and we apologize for that.)
Yes; Brunnhilde’s Alter-Ego Action can set Death-Glow aside while it’s in her discard pile. Detaching Death-Glow is not a “cost” of the ability, so it’s not required to detach first.

-Alex – July 20, 2023

54 – The cosmic cards, such as “living tribunal” (justice event) when they go into the encounter deck are these type of cards considered as encounter cards? If there not, then what happens when Starlord uses his ability “what can go wrong” or daring escape event when it says to deal yourself a face down encounter card and it happens to be your cosmic card on top? Third question, would one of these cosmic cards be counted as damage towards a “sliding shot” (Starlord identity event)?

For Living Tribunal to function as intended, it must be treated as an encounter card once shuffled into the encounter deck. So yes, if it’s dealt facedown to Star-Lord from the encounter deck, it’s treated as an encounter card for his ability and events like Sliding Shot.

-Alex – July 20, 2023

55 – It seems there is a contradiction between the two assertions: rules 1.5 – Damage […] Tough status cards resolve before interrupts to the dealing of damage, which in turn resolve before interrupts to the taking of damage response #16 (June 8, 2023v) about Rhino and its Armored Rhino Suit, keeping his tough card “because Tough prevents “damage taken,” but the Forced Interrupt on Rhino Suit is triggered from “damage dealt” instead, which occurs before damage is taken” Tough status cards resolve before or after interrupts to the dealing of damage?

We apologize for the confusion caused; it’s come to our attention that the “Damage” section in the Rules Reference is inaccurate, and we will update it as soon as we are able. Our current ruling is this: a Tough status card prevents the taking of damage, but not the dealing of damage. Interrupts that prevent damage dealt resolve before Tough is discarded, so Armored Rhino Suit will soak damage before Rhino loses Tough.

-Alex – July 20, 2023

56 – I’m looking at “Ruling 16” (https://hallofheroeslcg.com/latest-ffg-rulings-post-rrg-1-5/#16) and 1.5’s Damage entry, particularly “Bullet 4”. Bullet 4 says “Tough status cards resolve before interrupts to the dealing of damage, which in turn resolve before interrupts to the taking of damage.” while Ruling 16 says “Yes; if Rhino has Armored Rhino Suit attached and a Tough status card, he will keep his Tough status card when he’s the target of damage, and the damage dealt will be placed on Armored Rhino Suit. This is because Tough prevents “damage taken,” but the Forced Interrupt on Rhino Suit is triggered from “damage dealt” instead, which occurs before damage is taken.” Do Tough status cards resolve before or after interrupts to the dealing of damage?

-Alex – July 20, 2023

57 – We are trying to understand pay,overpay and spend. 1. Q.Can I play a zero-cost card, such as Assess the Situation (Ant-Man #33), and ‘overpay’ for it using, say, Innovation (The Mad Titan’s Shadow #58), in order to benefit from Innovation’s Hero Response? A.Because Innovation specifies “after you spend this card”, not “after you pay for” another card with it, you could “spend” it while playing a 0 cost card. 2. Q.When I play 0 cost DEFENSE events and choose to overpay it using Defensive Energy, do I get to draw a card off it? If yes, can I also overpay by 2 using 2x Defensive Energy and draw 2 cards? Thanks! A.No. To draw a card with Defensive Energy, the resource from DE must help pay for the cost of the Defense event. You cannot draw a card with DE if the event costs 0.

Yes, the two rulings are in conflict. We discussed both and ultimately believe that the ruling on Innovation should also be applied to Defensive Energy.
Our reasoning is this: you are always permitted to generate resources beyond a card’s cost (“overpaying”) and in doing so you are “spending” resources. Innovation and Defensive Energy are being “spent” when you overpay, so you can use them on 0-cost cards.
(Note; although you can overpay for any card, an ability that cares about resources “paid for” something only takes into account resources spent toward the card’s cost, and not resources overpaid.)

-Alex – July 21, 2023

August, 2023

58 – Front line specialist says “Your hero gets 4+ Hp” Does my identity only get those HP is I’m in hero mode? If I flip to alter ego do I lose that HP and minus 4 from my dial? If so do I regain the HP when I flip back to hero?

Yes; the +4 HP from Front Line Specialist only applies to your identity while in hero form. When you gain the upgrade, you’ll add 4 HP to your dial while in hero form, and if you flip to alter-ego after that point, you will subtract the 4 HP you gained until you flip again.

-Alex – August 9, 2023

59 – Does “attach to” on an upgrade supersede the limitation that “Player’s Play Area” makes? In effect meaning that upgrades like Clarity of Purpose could be played on another player’s characters, even if it doesn’t explicitly allow you to play it into another player’s play area. Attaching to a character does not explicitly allow to disregard the play area limitation.

Yes, an upgrade with “attach to” overrides the default rule that you must play cards into your own play area; you may attach the upgrade to any character that matches the specifications following “attach to”. We will consider adding this to the rules reference in the future.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

60 – Hi, I have a question about the upcoming card Taunt (Angel 16), and how it interacts with Mutant Protectors (Mutant Genesis 17). Is it legal to play Mutant Protectors after Taunt, and if so does the ally become the defender of the attack? My assumption is that playing Mutant Protectors is legal, but the ally cannot be declared the defender. However, are they still exhausted? Thanks, Scott Hill (The Card Text)

You can play Taunt and then Mutant Protectors; however, because Taunt explicitly states other characters “cannot” defend against the attack, the ally could not become the defender, and the defender would still be you. And yes, the ally would enter play exhausted.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

61 – I have a question about the upcoming Deadpool pack, or, rather, the ‘Pool aspect that comes with it. The pack reveal article says that the ‘Pool aspect can be used with any hero, including multi-aspect heroes, but how does this interact with Adam Warlock? His deck building rules state that he must use “all 4 aspects”, but does that mean he must use the ‘Pool aspect, or that he is limited to using 4 aspects, one of which could be ‘Pool?

The ‘Pool aspect serves as a fifth aspect option for customizing Adam Warlock’s deck. It can be used in place of any of the other four aspects when deckbuilding. (He will still use 4 aspects total.)
Also note, Adam can use his Battle Mage ability and discard a ‘Pool aspect card; he won’t resolve any of the bullets under Battle Mage, but is still considered to have “resolved” his Battle Mage ability and can trigger other effects this way.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

62 – I have some questions about Next Evolution: The player side scheme techno organic purge says “characters other than Cable cannot remove threat” from it. Can the Cable player use, events and upgrades they control to remove threat from Techno organic purge?

The rules reference entry for you says that events and upgrades are an extension of your identity so are they also an extension of the character ‘cable’. The Vivian ally could blank the text box on techno organic purge to allow any character to remove threat from it. But would that also remove the victory keyword? If so does that mean the scheme would get discarded rather than going into the victory display? The Flight, Super strength and telekinesis modular sets all have a card with “setup. Attach to the villain. Permanent”.

How would these modules interact with the Hood scenario? If one of these modules is set aside and then added to the encounter deck later during the scenario would the permanent card be shuffled into the encounter deck or immediately attached to Hood? Also, how would the infinity gauntlet work with hood since it also has a permanent card and a separate deck.

Yes, Cable can use events and upgrades while in hero form to remove threat from Technovirus Purge.
Yes, Vivian (Ironheart #24) can blank the text on Technovirus Purge. Doing so blanks all text in the side scheme’s text box, including the restriction and the Victory keyword. If the players defeat the scheme while it’s blanked, it will be discarded.
Cards with the Setup keyword should be put into play during Step 11 of Setup. This includes modular sets that have cards with the Setup keyword. When playing The Hood scenario, if you know one of your encounter sets has (or might have) one of these cards, check and separate that card out before shuffling the set into the encounter deck.
- Additionally, if the Infinity Gauntlet set is being used with The Hood, then it should be the very first modular set added to the game. The Infinity Gauntlet should be attached to The Hood immediately, and the Infinity Stone deck should be created immediately, per the rules of the Infinity Gauntlet set in The Mad Titan’s Shadow.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

63 – What happens to environment cards (like “Game of Mojo”) that entered play during Kang’s 1st stage when the 2nd stage takes place and players are in separate zones?

In such a case, the Environment card will stay next to Main Scheme 2B, in that “play area,” but it will not affect any players while it’s there. (Treat its text box as blank for the duration.) Then, once the players advance to Main Scheme 4A, the Environment card will affect all of them again.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

64 – So with dealing and taking damage, does a character TAKE all the damage it’s dealt even when it more than it’s remaining HP? For example The Venom villain is on his first stage, with 5hp remaining. The Tooth and Nail side scheme is out, with 6 Threat on it. A character deals 6 damage to Venom, how much threat comes off of tooth and nail, 5 or 6?

Yes, a character can “take” damage in excess of their remaining HP, as long as that much damage was dealt (and not prevented, and not indirect damage). Say an attack dealt 6 damage to Venom when he has 5 HP left; he has still taken 6 damage, and 6 threat is then removed from Tooth and Nail.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

65 – When you set aside the Death glow or Touched upgrades with the Brunhilde or Anna Marie Setups and they were in your deck, do you have to shuffle afterwards since you didn’t “search” or “find” it? And with the Anna Marie Alter-Ego, does her withdrawn forced response locate touched wherever it might be like your deck or collection, etc? And do you need to shuffle a deck if you set it aside from there using it?

If you had to search a deck to find either upgrade, you must shuffle the deck afterward. If you found the upgrade without searching a deck, you do not need to shuffle.
Yes, Anna Marie’s Forced Response finds Touched wherever it is and sets it aside. And if you had to search a deck to find it, then yes, shuffle that deck afterward.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

66 – About the new “assault” keyword Following allies might have strange interaction when they make a basic thwart on a scheme with the assault keyword:

– Hulk (does his forced response trigger?)

– Havok(does his forced interrupt trigger?)

– Wonder Man (must i discard a card from my hand as additional cost ?)

– Bishop (can he activate his interrupt to boost his ATK value?)

– Daredevil: Matt Murdock (can he activate his response to deal a damage to an enemy?)

When thwarting schemes with the Assault keyword, the character thwarting is considered to have made a thwart, not an attack. In other words, a character follows all the steps for a thwart, but uses the number above their ATK (and any modifiers to ATK) when determining how much threat to remove.
Hulk, Wonder Man, and Bishop do not resolve their abilities when thwarting a scheme with Assault.
Daredevil: Matt Murdock will resolve his ability when thwarting a scheme with Assault, dealing 1 damage to an enemy.

-Alex – August 10, 2023

67 – Can E.V.A. ( 21) ever be in play while Fantomex ( 15) is not?

No, the constant ability on E.V.A. causes it to be discarded immediately if Fantomex is not in play.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

68 – What happens if Technovirus Resurgence ( 31)
causes Technovirus Purge ( 6) to enter play when the
players are at the player side scheme limit?

The first player chooses one player side scheme in play to discard, which could include Technovirus Purge. If Technovirus Purge is discarded, Technovirus Resurgence
cannot attach to it, and so its text deals Cable’s player a facedown encounter card.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

69 – What does it mean to “count each * icon twice” for the ability on Domino’s hero card ( 37A)?

A. When you use an ability that counts resource icons on cards discarded from your deck, each * discarded this way is treated as two * icons. Example: Andrew plays Luck Be a Lady ( 41) and discards Outlaw ( 39) from the top of his deck. Outlaw has one printed * resource, which Domino’s ability says to count twice, so Andrew resolves the effect on Luck Be a Lady for the* icon twice.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

70 – Can the ability on Diamondback ( 38) be used if she has only one hit point remaining?

Yes, Diamondback’s ability finishes resolving even though the damage from it causes her to be defeated.

71 – What happens when Jackpot ( 43) is discarded from the top of Domino’s deck if it was the last card in her deck?

Player decks reset as soon as they are empty, so Domino’s deck is reset with Jackpot shuffled into it.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

72 – What happens if a minion whose title matches the villain’s title is revealed?

When this happens, the minion is discarded, and the player who revealed it must reveal an additional encounter card.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

73 – When playing in expert mode, in what order are the “When Revealed” effects on Sinister Intent ( 139B) and Mister Sinister II ( 137) resolved?

The “When Revealed” effect on Sinister Intent is resolved first. This advances the main scheme to a random stage 2, which has both its A and B sides revealed. The “When Revealed” effect on Mister Sinister II is resolved last.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

74 – What happens if the number of cards in my hand changes while Stryfe ( 163–165) is attacking me?

Stryfe’s attack ability is a constant ability, so it recalculates every time the contents of your hand change, up until the point at which Stryfe deals damage. Example: Stryfe I ( 163) attacks Alex, who is playing Spider-Man ( 1A). Alex has three events in her hand, which is the most common card type in her hand, so Stryfe has 3 ATK (his base ATK of 0 plus 3 ATK for his ability). Alex triggers Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense ability, which allows her to draw a card when the villain attacks her, and she draws another event. Stryfe now has 4 ATK for the attack because Alex has four events in hand. There are no boost icons on Stryfe’s boost card, so he deals four damage to Spider-Man. Alex plays the event Backflip ( 3) to prevent all of that damage. Even though Alex now has only three events in hand, she still takes four damage, which Backflip prevents.

-(Next Evolution Rulebook) – August 18, 2023

75 – The card Inhibitor Collar from Next Evolution attaches to your identity has an ability which says ‘choose to either exhaust a charater ”you” control or take 3 damage…’ and the reminder text ‘any player can do this’. Can any player do this? My understanding is that ‘you’ refers to the player the attachment is attached to but the reminder text seems counter to this. Is it a case that any player can take the damage but only the player with the attachement can an exhast as ally they control since that is the part of the anbility which references you?

Or can any player activate either part of the ability? I’m also confused by the attachment rules in general as they seem to contradict. In the RRG under attachement it says ‘When an ability on an attachment attached to a player card uses the word “you” or “your,” it refers to the attached player card’s controller. If that ability is a triggered ability, only the attached player card’s controller can trigger it.’ This seems to imply that ‘your’ and ‘you’ on an attachment always refers to the same player, so if an attachement attaches to ‘your’ identity only the player who controls that identity can trigger any abilites which instruct ‘you’ to do something. My understanding is that this would mean that only the player who has Inhibitor Collar attached to their identy could trigger the abilty on Inhibitor Collar since the card attaches to ‘your’ identitiy and uses the word ‘you in the ability.

However, any player could trigger the abilities on The Poison or Obedience Potion because although they attach to ‘your identity’ they don’t refer to ‘you’ in the ability. But then under ability section the RRG says: ‘Only the player who controls a player card with an attachment that uses the word “you” or “your” can trigger abilities or pay costs on that attachment.’ This statement seems much broader and seems to say that only the player who has The Poison, Obendience Potion or Inhibitor Collar attached to their identiy can trigger the action on those cards, because they attach to ‘your’ identity and doesn’t seem to care if ‘you’ is referenced in the action or not.

Inhibitor Collar was designed and printed before the Rules Reference v1.5 update, and before we determined this direction that we wanted for attachments. We are going to apply the same ruling to Inhibitor Collar that we did for The Poison and Obedience Potion: “Any player can do this” should be treated as rules text, not reminder text. With this, the cards function exactly as designed and intended, without completely undoing the updated rules in v1.5. You can think of “Any player can do this” as applying The Golden Rule, where the text of the card takes precedence over the written rule. (Also note, we are likely to issue official errata for the three attachments in a future update.)

-Alex – August 24, 2023

76 – What if an ally with the “enraged” upgrade, thwart a side scheme with the assault keyword: I suppose he use its ATK with +2 modifier, but will he take +1 consequential damage after it thwart?

If an ally with Enraged thwarts a scheme with Assault, then yes, the +2 ATK from Enraged would apply to that thwart. However, the +1 consequential damage only applies when the ally attacks, not thwarts. The ally will only take the consequential damage printed beneath its ATK value, plus any modifiers to consequential damage when specifically thwarting (such as Uncanny X-Force’s ability).

-Alex – August 24, 2023

77 – 1. When resolving an effect like Caliban’s, “discard cards from the top of your deck until an … is discarded.” Is the whole discard simultaneous, such that a response to any particular card being discarded would trigger after the whole discard effect, or are the cards discarded sequentially, such that a response to any particular card being discarded would trigger after that card is discarded but before the next card is?

2. If I’m resolving Caliban with no allies left in my deck and discard Jackpot, can I trigger Jackpot’s response, shuffle, continue discarding until I discard Jackpot, trigger its response, shuffle, continue discarding until I discard Jackpot… on and on until Jackpot is the last card in my deck? (at which time the deck will reshuffle with Jackpot in it and Caliban will stop discarding.)

3. I control 2 allies, one of them being Pinpoint. I play Caliban and trigger his response. I discard White Fox. Can her response trigger immediately? This allows me to put her into play, discarding Caliban from play because of the ally limit, trigger (and exhaust) Pinpoint to shuffle Caliban into my deck, then continue discarding until I discard Caliban himself. Or does her response have to wait for Caliban’s whole discard effect to finish, in which case this play is not possible?

The discard from Caliban’s ability is treated as simultaneous; any responses to/on the discarded cards resolve once the discard is finished.
No; Jackpot wouldn’t get shuffled in until Caliban’s discard finishes.
No; White Fox would be put into play once the discard finishes.

-Alex – August 31, 2023

78 – Technovirus Purge reads: Characters other than Cable cannot remove threat from Technovirus purge. Does it mean that threat can be removed by supports of any player? Supports are not characters.

Yes. Supports are not characters, nor are they considered extensions of a player’s identity. Any player’s support card can remove threat from Technovirus Purge.

-Alex – August 31, 2023

79 – How does Deathlok (NeXt Evolution 25) work? Can he grab Sky Cycle? Honorary Avenger if your identity isn’t an Avenger? A Training upgrade when he already had one?

Deathlok’s ability checks if the attachment he finds has any “attach to” requirements that he can meet. If he meets the requirements, he can attach the upgrade.
Deathlok can only attach Sky Cycle if he has the Avenger trait upon entering play. (I don’t think this is currently possible.)
Deathlok can attach Honorary Avenger, since his ability is “putting it into play” instead of “playing” it, so its play restriction doesn’t apply. All that matters is that he is a “friendly character” upon entering play.
Deathlok would need to have the X-Men trait to attach a Training card, and could only do so if he didn’t already have a Training card attached.

-Alex – August 31, 2023

September, 2023

80 – Are the constant abilities on EVA and Hope Summers (ally) in effect while they are in your hand? So if I drew EVA while Fantomx is not in play I would need to discard it and Hope would gain the traits of my identity while she is in my hand? Or do those abilities only come into effect once the cards are played?

No; these cards must be in play for their constant abilities to be in effect. Hope Summers (NeXt Evolution #204) only gains traits while in play, and EVA is only discarded if it is in play while Fantomex is not in play.

-Alex – September 7, 2023

81 – Sabertooth’s Feral Rage Side Scheme has a When defeated ability which causes Sabertooth to attack the player who defeated the side scheme. If Cable has Greymalkin in play and it’s exhausted when can I ready it in response to defeating Feral Rage. Do I need to wait until after Sabertooth’s attack has resolved or can I do it before so it’s available to pay for defence cards? I think I should be able to ready it before resolving the attack for two reasons. One there was a ruling which said assault is considered fully resolved as soon as it tells the villain to attack so it’s put in the discard pile before a boost card is dealt.

Based on this I would assume Feral Rages’ when defeated ability is resolved in full as soon as it tells Sabertooth to attack, meaning I can now trigger any responses to defeating the side scheme before I actually resolve the attack. Secondly this seems to line up with the latest Widows bite ruling which says if a minion with quick strike engages black widow quick strike triggers first but the response on widows bite can trigger before the attack resolves (potential defeating the minion before it can attack) I believe this is because quick strike is considered resolved as soon as it initiates the attack, it doesnt rely on the whole attack resolving.

Feral Rage’s When Defeated ability causes Sabretooth to initiate an attack immediately. Before any steps of the attack resolve, though, the Response on Graymalkin can be resolved, and it can be readied.

-Alex – September 7, 2023

82 – I have a question about what it means exactly to resolve an ability. I am playing the Domino hero and I have her nemesis set attachment, superpower feedback attached to her. Does Domino’s constant ability to count wild resources twice, count as resolving an ability? For example, when playing her event, a good workout, does superpower feedback trigger once or twice?

Constant abilities do not “resolve,” they become active while the card they’re on is in play. In that sense, the constant ability on Domino is not considered to “resolve” and does not trigger the Forced Response on Superpower Feedback.

-Alex – September 7, 2023

83 – If Jackpot is discarded for Domino’s Pistol, is it shuffled back into the deck before Sharpshooter adds another card or after (at the end of the action)?

Yes. The sequence of events is: you pay the cost on Domino’s Pistol by discarding, you discard Jackpot, shuffle Jackpot back in, resolve Sharpshooter’s ability and discard another card, then deal the damage for the attack.

-Alex – September 7, 2023

84 – I have a question about the Head of Steam attachment (NeXt Evolution 123) If Juggernauts attack deals 0 damage, can the Hero Response be triggered and if so can I spend 0 resources to discard it from play?

Yes, you can trigger the Hero Response on Head of Steam even if Juggernaut’s attack deals 0 damage.

-Alex – September 14, 2023

85 – I was reading in the rules reference about player cards not resolving during the setup of the game and was wondering if that’s specifically referring to triggered abilities? Constant abilities for example would seem to make cards like Novas connection to the worldmind resource card count towards your hand size during the draw step and mulligan step.

Though we would be hesitant to say this applies to every case, we agree that in general the rule you’re referencing is intended for triggered abilities and not constant abilities, as constant abilities do not “resolve” like other abilities. So, we agreed that Connection to the Worldmind’s constant ability is active even when drawing opening hands.

-Alex – September 14, 2023

86 – I have some Questions about the new deal/take distinction and → costs. With the Hero Action on the She-Hulk upgrade, focused rage. 1.Can I even take that action if I’m intending to prevent that damage? 2.Can I even take that action while I have a tough status card? I believe both to be no, but I wanted to make sure.

So I can’t even attempt the action in either case, Right?

No. The cost on Focused Rage requires She-Hulk to take 1 damage. If she prevents the damage with Tough, the cost is not paid, and the effect cannot resolve.

Correct.

-Alex – September 14, 2023

87 – Do the new rules on overpaying costs mean that the power of cards don’t generate double resources if they are used to pay for wasp or Antman allies? There power of leadership/aggression say ‘double the number of resources generated when paying for a leadership/aggression card” since I’m overpaying for wasp or Antman not paying will a power of card only generate one resource?

That is correct. The Ant-Man and Wasp allies specify that you are “overpaying” for their cost when you play them, while The Power Of cards state they must be “paying” for a cost in order to generate double resources. The Power Of cards will only generate one resource for these allies.