AotP Question Dump

[Marro_Warlord]

It depends on how they define "Damage". If "Damage" is not limited by the toughness/life then the life gained has no ceiling. (This is how it's done in Magic.) If "Damage" is the amount of wounds placed on the card, there would be a finite amount of life that could be gained back from lifelink. I would assume it follows the card game, but I could be wrong.

[gamjuven]

Ok, I got an official answer:

I had a question about this card and sent it to Hasbro:

The White sorcery Swift Justice, from the base set, that gives a creature life link, it says: "while attacking with this figure, for each damage it deals to the defending figure, remove a damage marker from this figure".

Is damage dealt to a figure just the amount of life it has left, or is the damage a no-ceiling type of thing? I would assume the former but I wanted to check. Some of the confusion comes from the card game, which would actually rule the latter as being correct.

And for an example: If the Eldrazi Ruiner (who has 6 wounds on it) rolls 6 hits against a 1-life opposing creature, and that creature rolls no shields, does the Eldrazi Ruiner get to remove 1 or 6 wounds from its card?

Here is the official answer:

"Thank you for contacting Hasbro regarding your game-play question. I'm pleased to reply.

You are correct. The "damage" would mean the amount of damage that you do to an opponent and let you know how much life they have left.

If you use a card with 6 wounds on it then you would remove 6 wounds.

Again, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to reach out to us.

I hope you have a fun day!"

[gamjuven]

Sorry for the double post, but I got a response. I am now even more confused:
"Thank you for your email.

The damage is done on just the amount of life it has left. Eldrazi Ruiner (who has 6 wounds on it), would have to remove one wound from its card, not six."

[quozl]

Is it the same responder?

[gamjuven]

Originally Posted by quozl

Is it the same responder?

Different responder, to which I asked a follow up question asking which one was correct. I got this response:

"Hi Brad!

I verified the answer I gave with our games team and I can assure you the information I've provided is correct. "

[Kajoq]

I get the impression nobody in development actually knows and they're making a lot of these FAQ answers up on the fly without confirming. A lot of the FAQ answers seem like they didn't even quite understand the question fully.

The unclear/inconsistent rules could really end up holding this game back

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by Kajoq

I get the impression nobody in development actually knows and they're making a lot of these FAQ answers up on the fly without confirming. A lot of the FAQ answers seem like they didn't even quite understand the question fully.

The unclear/inconsistent rules could really end up holding this game back

We had the same problem with Scape back in the day. The Hasbro drones answering front line questions often had never seen the game and didn't understand that there was actually a community tryong to come to a consensus on proper play and rule interpretation.

We eventually got the "Official" answers team, who happened to be community members who were involved early on and had become play testers and eventually designers. We don't currently have that luxury with AotP... and Craig doesn't see the questions that we submit to Hasbro Customer Support.

[vegietarian18]

Does Nissa Revane count as an elf to trigger Elvish Blade Finesse? Her card does not say elf on it, but a wiki search told me she actually is an elf. By Heroscape standards, I'd say the answer is no, but this isn't Heroscape so I'd figure I'd ask.

[Marro_Warlord]

Originally Posted by vegietarian18

Does Nissa Revane count as an elf to trigger Elvish Blade Finesse? Her card does not say elf on it, but a wiki search told me she actually is an elf. By Heroscape standards, I'd say the answer is no, but this isn't Heroscape so I'd figure I'd ask.

I'd say no. Thematically yes, but in the game, no. Instead of having an Elf subtype, she has the subtype "Nissa", which means she's not an elf.

Secondly, If your opponent reveals a hidden enchant that increases power or toughness, like Battlewise Valor, AFTER you resolve Twisted Image, what takes precedence? Would the spell alter the new power and toughness of the squad, or would it be added to the original power and toughness and then reversed. According to the official Magic, it would change the original, and then switch.

What I'm asking is: Do pump spells casted after Twisted Image resolves "Twisted" as well, or do they provide the intended bonus?

[Confred]

Originally Posted by Marro_Warlord

What I'm asking is: Do pump spells casted after Twisted Image resolves "Twisted" as well, or do they provide the intended bonus?

If the pump spell, +0/+1, is applied before, it does effect, 0/1, on the image and the image twists, 1/0
If the pump spell is applied after, the image is already twisted and the spell does its effect, 0/1.

~"Switch target figure's power and toughness until end of turn. Until end of turn, if a spell or ability would increase or decrease power, it affects toughness instead. Until end of turn, if a spell or ability would increase or decrease toughness, it affects power instead."~

[vegietarian18]

We've been playing a lot so I have a lot of questions. Most of them involve sequencing, so here is the rulebook's list of how turns go.

Action 1: Draw a card.
Action 2: Choose an army card.
before Action 3: Summon if Planeswalker
before Action 3: you may cast spells
Action 3: Move one or more figures on your army card.
Action 4: Attack with one or more figures on your army card.
after action 4: you may cast spells
Action 5: Move turn marker

So:

1. Can you take a turn with a figure destroyed by Dark Harvest if it is immediately resurrected by Rise of the Dark Realms? Both cards would be played during the spell casting phase between actions 2 and 3. Thus, we have selected the card we are going with, but we have not yet moved any figures on it. The ruling on the field was no, since the newly resurrected figure would come to life with "summoning sickness", but I am questioning that more now.

2. When is the "start of your turn of a Planeswalker?" I'm referring specifically to the power Illusionary Deception on the Illusionary Projections, which reads, "At the start of the turn of a blue Planeswalker you control". We ask specifically because of the scenario in which Jace wants to summon a squad in the middle of the fight, and then retreat with Illusionary Deception. The ruling on the field was that "the start of the turn" occurred immediately after Action 2, and since summoning occurs before Action 3, Jace had to retreat before summoning. This ruling I am more confident in but I figured I would post it in case others had thoughts.

3. When can you use activated abilities (ie Liliana's Snuff Out, Jace's Focused Thoughts, Chandra's Super Heated)? The scenario that I ask for is one where there is a figure Liliana wants to Snuff Out nine spaces away from her. Can she move forward three spaces, Snuff Out, then move back three spaces? That feels like cheating, but I don't see why she couldn't. The only restriction on the power is that you can only use it once per turn. A logical conclusion would be that activated abilities can only be used a time when a spell could be cast, but again that is not written anywhere.

(The "clarification" the rulebook has on abilities is that they "keep the game exciting, challenging, and unpredictable", which I guess is true if you have to make up rules as you play.)

Not a sequencing questions, but rules question nonetheless:

4. If I have purple creatures in my army that are not yet summoned/dead, can I use Honor of the Pure for the White Creatures in my army? Dead I would definitely say yes, but not yet summoned felt like a gray area. The card reads "as long as you control only white creatures", and cards that are not yet summoned feel like they are still in your control.

(This is written differently than the 4th Mass/Sacred Band power (as long as vs. if), so I'm not sure if we can use that precedent. It's also a different game's precedent.)

5. Can I play cards like Healing Salve/Skyreaping without meeting their condition just to draw a card? I'm referring specifically to a scenario in which I do not have any creatures on the board. Can I play the card just for the last sentence of it, or I do I have to be able to use the first? The ruling on the field was that you had to have a creature to be able to cast the card, but it didn't have to be wounded/adjacent to a flying figure.

[KingZombie]

This has probably been answered already so I apologize, but each creature in a squad has the life points listed, correct. So if it's 3, all 3 have 3 life points each? Or does each one only have 1 life point each?

I ask because how do you keep track of each individual? Or is it like magic where what doesn't kill the monster goes away at the end of the turn?


***Disclaimer: I just got the game the other day and haven't read the rules thoroughly and really need to.