16 replies to this topic

[PBrennan]

A common question is how do some of the tricky Tau attachment effects interact. These include:

 

Commander Shadowsun: "After this warlord commits to a planet, put a {T} attachment with printed cost 2 or lower or "Shadowsun's Stealth Cadre" from your hand or discard pile into play ..."

 

Shadowsun's Stealth Cadre: This card may enter play as an attachment with the text, "..."

 

Gun Drones: You may deploy this card as a Drone attachment, with the text "..."

 

Ambush Platform:

Action: Exhaust this support to deploy an attachment from your hand.

Interrupt: When you deploy an attachment, reduce its cost by 1.

 

Firstly, Deploy (where you must pay) and Put Into Play (where you don't pay) are both subsets of "Enter Play". If an ability checks whether something has "entered play", it doesn't matter if it's been deployed or put into play, both satisfy the "entered play" criteria.

 

Shadowsun allows you to "put into play" an attachment or Cadre (for free). This includes all physical attachments obviously, but also any units that have an effect that allows them to be "put into play" or "enter play" as an attachment. This includes Cadre - which is named in the effect purely to make it obvious that this is legal, but it needn't have been because its effect allows it to enter play as an attachment (ie allowing it to be either "deployed" or "put into play" as an attachment).

 

Shadowsun cannot however put Gun Drones into play. Gun Drones can only enter play as an attachment by being "deployed"  (ie being paid for). Because "deploy" and "put into play" are mutually exclusive, its effect does not allow it to be put into play as an attachment, which is what Shadowsun is trying to do. Cadre on the other hand specifies it can "enter play" as an attachment, which means it can enter play by either method.

 

Ambush Platform allows you to "deploy" an attachment. Both Gun Drones and Cadre satisfy that criteria (ie both are allowed to be "deployed" as an attachment), so both may enter play via Ambush Platform's effect. When you deploy either, Ambush Platform's interrupt (the cost reduction) will work on both - an attachment being deployed has been initiated, therefore the cards are now attachments, and it's legal to interrupt it and reduce its cost.

 

A technical aside:

If Shadowsun or Ambush Platform's ability had said "target", then it would only work on cards that were physical attachments - because when their ability is initiated, it would check that a valid target exists (ie there was a physical attachment in the hand), and that target would need to be chosen in step 5, before the effect resolved. But it doesn't say target, so no such check needs to be made.

 

Instead, when their ability is being initiated, it checks that it can (in AP's case) deploy an attachment. Because Cadre/Gun Drones each have a "permission" which allows them to be deployed as attachments, then it's legal for AP's ability to initiate because it's clear that after AP's effect is resolved (in step 6 of the Initiate Ability process), the game state will have changed by an attachment being deployed. So, when you get to step 6, you may choose Cadre/Gun Drones to deploy, because their "permissions" allow it.

*

Lastly, remember that Cadre and Gun Drone are not attachments when they're in your hand or discard pile. They're still units. They only become attachments at the point the process initiates for them to enter play as such. Therefore for:

 

Earth Caste Technician: "After this unit enters play, search the top 6 cards of your deck for an attachment or Drone card. ..."

 

ECT does not find Cadre. It does find Gun Drones however - not because it's an attachment, but because it has the Drone trait.

[iceman22]

On this topic, could you play "even the odds" and move a Stealth Cadre or Gun Drone from one unit to another? Part of me says yes because they are in play as attachments, and part of me says no because they are "army" units.

[CommissarFeesh]

Once it's in play as an attachment, treat it as an attachment for all purposes. If it leaves play, it'll go back to being an army unit.

[xraysteve]

Follow up question regarding the "Action" of Ambush Platform and Cadre.  (Sorta)

 

If Cadre and Gun drones are considered Army units when they are in your hand, how can Ambush Platform's Combat Action include them since the card specifically references 'attachments in your hand'?

 

(I am not questioning the Interrupt of Ambush platform, the timing for that part seems pretty clear to me.)

[PBrennan]

If AP's ability had said "target", then it would only work on cards that were physical attachments - because when AP's ability is initiated, it would check that a valid target exists (ie there was a physical attachment in the hand). But it doesn't say target, so no such check needs to be made.

 

Instead, when their ability is being initiated, it checks that it can (in AP's case) deploy an attachment. Because Cadre/Gun Drones each have a "permission" which allows them to be deployed as attachments, then it's legal for AP's ability to initiate because it's clear that after AP's effect is resolved (in step 6 of the Initiate Ability process), the game state will have changed by an attachment being deployed. So, when you get to step 6, you may choose Cadre/Gun Drones to deploy, because their "permissions" allow it.

 

Hopefully that's clearer. I've updated the OP to match.

[Elmios]

Can I put into play a "Promotion" with Shadowsun capacity if i already played a "Recon Drone" this turn.

 

Both cards are limited. But RRG says :

 

No more than 1 card with the Limited keyword can be deployed/played by each player each round.
- Limited cards that are “put into play” via card effects (see page 12) bypass and are ignored by this restriction.

 

Seems that yes but prefere confirmation cause sometimes i can do mistakes as english is not my native language.

[PBrennan]

Shadowsun can only put Tau attachments into play, not neutral attachments, so that would be no to this specific question. But if you had another means of getting Promotion "put into play", then yes you could, because stuff that's "put into play" doesn't count against the Limited restriction, per the RRG section you've quoted.

[Elmios]

Oups just forgot this point about shadowsun. Thanks for answer.

[Atrus]

Hello. When a Gun Drone is deployed as an Attachment, once in play it is considered like an Attachment only, or it is still an army unit?

 

Example: If my opponent plays Power from Pain, may I sacrifice the Attached Gun Drone, or it is not considered like an army unit because it entered play as an attachment?

 

Thank you!

[ktom]

RRG, p.4-5:

"If an ability causes a cardtype to change (such as a unit card that may be played as an attachment), it loses all other cardtypes it might possess and functions as would any card of the new type."

 

So when Gun Drones is an attachment, it cannot be affected by things that go after army units. However, it is vulnerable to things that affect attachments (which it would not be as a unit).

[Atrus]

Thanks

[gnollu]

Maybe stupid question but one question.

Can I play attachment from discard pile different than Cadre using Shadowsun's ability?

E.g. Can I attach Ion Rifle from discard pile to the army unit?

[Khudzlin]

Yes, the card you put into play can

1) be either a Tau attachment (like Ion Rifle) or Shadowsun's Stealth Cadre

2) come either from your hand or discard pile

[Pingii]

Maybe stupid question but one question.
Can I play attachment from discard pile different than Cadre using Shadowsun's ability?
E.g. Can I attach Ion Rifle from discard pile to the army unit?

Yes. As long as the attachment is a Tau attachment with printed cost 2 or lower or “Shadowsun’s Stealth Cadre”.

[Kaloo]

Bare in mind, however, that if Shadowsun's ability didn't explicitly state "or Shadowsun's Stealth Cadre" it wouldn't be able to fish it out since it's not an attachment. Similarly, she can't fish out a discarded gun drones

[PBrennan]

This isn't true, per the "technical aside" explanation in the original post.

[Kaloo]

Whoops, my mistake. I really should read things more carefully