254 replies to this topic

[dbmeboy]

Q:

What is the significance of the "eligible" in Luke's X-34 Landspeeder's text?  Does it function any differently than the spoiled Endor Han or Secret Objective which do not use that text?

 

A:

It prevents you from engaging objectives you are not allowed to engage at all. (I believe it was dropped from Han and Secret Objective because it was deemed superfluous.)

 

The restriction on engagements has to do with “declaring” engagements. FAQ (2.8) “During his conflict phase, a player is permitted to declare one engagement against each of his opponent’s objectives each turn.” (emphasis mine)

 

Since Luke’s X-34 Landspeeder doesn’t ever use the phrase “declare,” you may use it to resolve an engagements against an objective you have already engaged previously this turn.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[Einherjar]

Q:

 

If I have Sate Pestage (163-2, card no. 803) in play and then play Aggression (66-6, card no. 311) and sacrifice Sate, may I then trigger Sate's interrupt to return the Aggression to my hand? The question is one of whether the sacrificing of units to this Event is a "cost" (thus resolving in Step #3 of Event Resolution in the FAQ) or it is a part of the Effect's resolution (thus taking place after the Event card is played in Step #6). Thanks!

 

A:

 

Sacrificing units for the card Aggression is all part of the resolution of the event’s effects (Step 6). However, Aggression is not placed in your discard pile until all of its effects are finished resolving. As such, the copy of Aggression that you just played would not be in your discard pile for Sate Pestage to return to your hand. The sequence of events would look like this:

 

1. Play Aggression

2. Aggression’s effects start to resolve (Step 6 of effect resolution)

3. As you played Aggression, you must choose a unit to sacrifice first. You choose Sate Pestage.

    3.1 You Interrupt Sate Pestage’s leaving play to return a non-enhancement card from your discard pile to your hand.

    3.2 Sate Pestage leaves play and goes to your discard pile

4. Your opponent chooses a unit to sacrifice and does so.

5. Now that all of the effects of Aggression have finished resolving, the copy of Aggression you played enters your discard pile.

 

Hope that helps.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[CataractCowboy]

Q: Does Guarding the wing stack? Eg: If i have 2 guarding th wing out, does each black squadron card have 2 resources?

 

A: Yes. Each copy of Guarding the Wing gives a resource value to each Black Squadron card. As resource value is a numeric value that can be sensibly be added together, the values stack. (In the same way that “edge (X)” stacks, because it’s a numeric value, whereas something like "targeted strike" does not.)

 

Q:  Regarding piloting limit:  Rules states, "If two or more Pilot enhancements are attached to a single unit, that units controller must immediately discard Pilot enhancements from that unit until only one remains. If a DS player has a vehicle unit in play enhanced by pilot vader, can he choose to enhance that unit with DS-61-3 (Action: During an engagement, pay this card’s pilot cost to put it into play from your hand as an enhancement on a participating friendly Fighter unit. Reaction: After this card enters play during an engagement, deal 2 damage to a target participating unit.) The DS player will choose to discard DS-61-3 since there are now 2 pilot enhancements....does the 2 damage to a target participating unit go off before it is discarded? What would be the case if it was an interrupt?

 

A: The Pilot Limit rule acts as a constant passive ability that continually checks to see if there is more than 1 Pilot enhancement attached to a Vehicle unit. Passive effects always resolve before triggered effects, so the Pilot Limit will force you to discard 1 of your attached Pilot enhancements first. If you discard DS-61-3, then he is no longer in play for you to trigger is Reaction. The sequence would look like this:

 

1. Pay DS-61-3’s pilot cost to play him from your hand, attaching him to the same Vehicle unit as another Pilot enhancement.

2. The Pilot Limit forces you to discard down to 1 attached Pilot enhancement on that Vehicle unit.

3. If DS-61-3 is still in play, you may now trigger his Reaction as you have met all of its triggering conditions.

 

DS-61-3’s ability would not work properly as an Interrupt, as it would have to trigger before it finished resolving, when it was still in your hand.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

When putting a pilot card into play with Stay On Target, can you instead choose to put them into play as a unit? 

 

A:

Stay on Target (0702/0712) reads: “You may put a Pilot card into play from your hand or discard pile as an enhancement on a target friendly Vehicle unit.” And the pilot (X) keyword rules state: “When a card with the pilot (X) keyword is put into play by a card effect, the player resolving the effect chooses whether it enters play as a unit or as a Pilot enhancement."

 

While the pilot rules do generally permit a player to make a choice as to how a pilot card enters play, effects like Stay on Target dictate how that choice must be made. This is a situation in which the Golden Rule (card text takes priority over rulebook/rules sheet text, rulebook page 11) trumps the rules text in the pilot (X) keyword and forces one particular choice to be made when the Pilot card enters play. The important point is that such an effect uses a construction starting with “as” (“as a participating unit,” “as an enhancement,” etc) following the “put into play” text. Currently, there are only 3 of these types of effects (Infiltration, Stay on Target, and DS-61-3).

 

This ruling is a reversal of the previous Stay on Target ruling, and also reverses the ruling on Infiltration (0575) as that card uses a similar wording to Stay on Target. (Infiltration reads: “...…put a Character unit into play from your hand as a participating unit on your side. …”) This means that if you play Infiltration and choose a Character unit with the pilot (X) keyword, the unit you choose must end up in play “as a participating unit on your side.” Furthermore, if you use Stay on Target, the chosen Pilot card must end up in play “as an enhancement on a target friendly Vehicle unit.” These two effects, and any similar effects that uses an “as a {SOMETHING}” phrase, dictate a manner in which the card must enter play, which—because of the golden rule that gives priority to card text—the pilot (X) rules will not override.

 

Other effects that put units into play that do not have such “as an…” phrasing that dictates the manner in which the card enters play, however, can still interact with the pilot (X) rules. For example, the Millennium Falcon(0332) says “…put a Character or Droid unit into play from your hand.” In this case, if you put a Character unit with the pilot (X) keyword into play using the Millennium Falcon’s text, you would have the choice of whether that unit enters play as a unit or as a Pilot enhancement. This is because the Falcon does not dictate the manner in which the card must enter play, only the conditions it must meet in order to be chosen to put into play.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[KvotheBCN]

Q: 

 

1. What happen with the Yodas and the Vader's pilot ability, if inside the engagement the Core Yoda loses a enhancement or increases the dial with MTFBWY Yoda, or BTS Yoda loses a Jedi objective?

 

A:

 

You would recalculate Yoda’s icons based on the new game state. All three current Yoda cards have a constant passive ability. This ability does not “initiate” as it is constantly active. As such, if the game state changes, you will need to recalculate how many icons Yoda has. Pilot Darth Vader (0784) does not prevent constant passive abilities, only abilities that have an initiation point.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

Can resources granted by the constant effect of Guarding the Wing be used to pay for the Action ability on DS-61-3?

 

A:

Yes. You are paying for an ability on a Black Squadron card, so you can use resources gained from the Guarding the Wing’s text.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

If I use Unfinished Business to put Luke Skywalker (Hoth) into play as an enhancement, then the vehicle he's on is destroyed and I use his ability to put him into play as a unit, will he be discarded at the end of the phase?

 

A:

 

If Luke Skywalker (Hoth) is in play as a unit in the same phase he was put into play with Unfinished Business, without having left play in the meantime, he will be discarded by the text from Unfinished Business. The fact that he had a short duration as an enhancement does not change that he is “that unit” that was put into play from your discard pile by the effect of Unfinished Business.

 

If he is still an enhancement at the end of the phase, he is not discarded, because Unfinished Business looks for a “unit” to discard, but there is none, there is an enhancement. However, if he goes back to being a unit, he now meets the requirements to be discarded at the end of the phase.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

If I use Force Invisibility on a unit with Protect to make it unable to be affected by combat icons, can it use protect during that strike?

 

A:

No.

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Response trimmed because it specifically referenced parts of my original question that are extraneous.  Precedent for ruling is that protected damage is still considered being from the original source (Core Boba Fett can capture the protecting unit) and units that cannot be damaged cannot use protect (eg Guardian of the Peace with Prep for Battle).  So with Force Invisibility, the damage still is considered being affected by the combat icons so you can't use Protect (that would require that you be affected by the icons, which you cannot).

[dbmeboy]

1. How does Last Defense of Hoth interact with Supporting Fire?


When you resolve the effect on Supporting Fire, you place a card from hand into your edge stack. Last Defense of Hoth lets you interrupt that placement, and replaces “place 1 non-fate card from his hand” with “look at and place the top card of his deck.” Once you have triggered Last Defense of Hoth’s Interrupt, you must finish resolving it by placing the looked at card in your edge stack. As LDoH does not offer you a choice of card, you must place the card looked at into the edge stack, regardless of the restriction on Supporting Fire.


2. How does Imperial Bureaucracy interact with House Edge?


Placing a card into an edge stack has the following steps:


1. Choose to place a card in edge stack or pass

2. Choose a card to place in edge stack from appropriate location (usually hand)

3. Place the card in the edge stack.


The lasting effect from Imperial Bureaucracy would take place at the step 1 of the above sequence, when you choose whether or not to place a card in your edge stack at all. Once you get to step 2, you then choose a card from an appropriate location (IB or hand, depending). At this point is when House Edge would trigger if the opponent is choosing a card from hand to force them to choose at random. Finally, the chosen card is placed into the edge stack. At this point, it is too late to go back and use Imperial Bureaucracy if you don’t like the random “choice” from House Edge.


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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[CataractCowboy]

Question

Customs blockade

Forced Interrupt: When the first enemy event card is played this turn, focus this enhancement with 2 focus tokens to cancel its effects. If 2 of these are in play with no focus tokens on either, do both focus when the first LS event card is played or only 1?

 

Answer

If both Customs Blockades are on the table (and ready), they both would try to trigger at the same time; therefore the active player decides which one triggers first. This Customs Blockade triggers, focuses with 2 focus tokens, and cancels the effects of the event card that was played. At this time, you would return to any other conflicting triggers, in this case, the other Customs Blockade.

 

The effect of Customs Blockade is to “cancel the effects of an event card.” When you go to trigger the second Customs Blockade, there are no effects of an event to cancel any longer (the first Customs Blockade already canceled the effects). Therefore, FAQ 3.6 prevents the second Customs Blockade from initiating, as resolving its Forced Interrupt would not be able to “do” anything (there is nothing left to cancel, and you cannot initiate an ability solely to pay costs).

 

Therefore, the result is that only a single Customs Blockade would end up focused. However, the second Customs Blockade could not cancel the effects of an event played later in that same round, because Customs Blockade only cancels the effects of the *first* event played each round. It would be available in a following round, however.

 

Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[Toots]

I asked Erik:

 

If my opponent plays an event, I follow the effect resolution:

Effect Resolution
When a player wishes to play a card, take an action,
initiate an interrupt or reaction effect, or resolve a fate
card or a passive effect, he first declares his intent. The
following steps are then observed, in order:
1) Check play restrictions: can the card be played, or
the effect initiated, at this time?
2) Determine the cost (or costs, if multiple costs are
required) to play the card or initiate the effect.
3) Apply any modifiers to the cost.
4) Pay the cost(s).
5) Choose target(s), if applicable.
6) The card is played, or the effect resolves.
If any of the above steps would make the triggering
condition of an Interrupt effect true, that effect may be
initiated when that triggering condition becomes true.
If any of the above steps would make the triggering
condition of a Reaction effect true, that effect may be
initiated just after the triggering condition becomes
true.

So how does Narrow Escape work with this, my opponent doesn't reveal the card til after the trigger at which point Narrow escape won't know if its a non-capturing card. 

The text on Narrow Escape is Interrupt: When your opponent chooses a single target for a non-capturing card effect, choose a new target for that effect. The new target is chosen as if you executed the effect.

 

And his response was:

 

There is a sentence in the intro paragraph for Effect Resolution that I will be codifying as a “Step 0” in the sequence which is: “Declare intent.” It is necessary for your opponent to declare *what* they are playing, prior to starting the effect resolution sequence. Thus, you know if it’s a non-capturing card effect or not. Thus, Narrow Escape will interrupt the selection of targets in Step 5, provided you meet all other requirements for playing Narrow Escape.

[doctormungmung]

Q:

 

For Cloud City Technician from the Fortune and Fate Objective Set in Imperial Entanglements: Card text: Reaction: After this unit enters your discard pile, draw 1 card. If the CCT is placed in an edge stack, does it draw a card when the cards in the edge stack are discarded? Or is it not a unit coming from the edge stack, and thus doesn't get to trigger it's text? Thanks.

 

A:

 

Reactions trigger after their triggering condition is fully resolved. It does not matter how the Cloud City Technician gets to the discard pile; once he is there, you can trigger his Reaction. The CCT’s Reaction specifically calls out being allowed to use this ability from discard pile. Cards in discard piles retain all their information, so the CCT is a unit card while in your discard pile, and thus nothing prevents him from triggering his Reaction.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

IE Lando: Action: If you and your opponent each have 1 or more cards in hand, each chooses 1 card from hand. Reveal those cards simultaneously. The player that revealed more printed Force icons may remove a focus token from a card he controls. Discard both revealed cards. (Limit once per turn.)

 

Shifty Lookout: While this unit is ready, each opponent is considered to have 1 additional card in his hand.

 

 

Scenario: the DS player has zero cards in hand, but the LS has one or more cards in hand and a ready Shifty Lookout in play. Could Lando initiate his action and if so what would happen? Or does his action not work because you can't resolute the entire effect? 

 

A:

 

In the scenario you describe (DS player with no actual cards in hand, but LS player has a Shifty Lookout on the table), Lando can trigger his action.

Each player goes to choose a card from his hand. The LS player is able to (and must) choose a card. The DS player is unable to choose an actual card, so he does not. The LS player reveals his card and, as long as the card he reveals has 1 or more printed Force icons, he would remove a focus token from a unit he controls, as per Lando’s action.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[mischraum]

Another clarification concerning Pilot Vader:

Question:
Has subzero defenses a constant ability that is not affected by Vader or would the light side player have to initiate it and therefore the first Dark Side unit to attack an Hoth objective is safe as long as Vader is piloting an attacking vehicle?

Answer:
Some constant abilities do have a point at which they initiate, and others do not.

Constant effects of the sort shown on the different Yoda cards (gain icons based on a certain condition) never initiate. They might need to be recalculated if their condition changes, but they never “initiate;” they are always on.

On the other hand, constant effects like Subzero Defenses, while always “on,” identify a game moment that they are waiting for, and at that time, their effects “initiate.” In the case of Subzero Defenses, it identifies the game moment after “the first enemy unit {strikes} against a friendly Hoth objective each turn” (grammatical adaptation mine). These game moments can usually be identified by the inclusion of the words “at,” “after,” or “when” within their text. These are not the only identifying terms, but they are the most common. On more recent cards, we have been better about making sure that these types of constant effects are worded as Forced Reactions or Forced Interrupts, but some may still exist as constant passive abilities for some reason or another.

The important difference between the two type is whether the constant appears to be “waiting” for a particular game moment before it does something or if it is just checking some condition to give a bonus. The former are constants that initiate, while the latter are not.

Question:
in short: Vader stops Subzero Defenses from initiating or better the LS player would be forced to initiate the effect under normal conditions but cannot do so because of Vader's text. Just a little nitpicking because otherwise my opponent would tell me "oh it's not me it is the card that initiates the effect.

Answer:
Subzero Defenses tells you when you need to initiate its effect, but the player controlling the card initiates all his own card effects. “The game” does not initiate card effects, players do.

[dbmeboy]

Q:

What happens to the affiliation cards placed under the Death Star 2 (challenge deck) when the Death Star 2 leaves play (eg via False Report or Prep for Evac)?

 

A:

Storing the affiliation cards on the Death Star 2 from the challenge deck is just a convenient way to show how many affiliation cards the Dark Side player has acquired thus far. If the Death Star 2 leaves play for some reason other than its destruction, those affiliation cards are still acquired by the DS player. If the Death Star 2 is redeployed, you can place those affiliation cards back underneath it.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

Is there a timing difference between after a turn begins and after the balance phase begins?

 

A:

Because the framework event labeled “Balance Phase begins” is also the first framework event of a turn, it also formalizes the beginning of the turn. Therefore, the beginning of the Balance phase and the beginning of a turn are the same time point. When the Balance phase begins so does the turn, and vice versa.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[CataractCowboy]

Question: 
sleuth scout: While this unit is attacking alone, enemy units with printed cost 3 or higher cannot be declared as defenders 
Imperial Raider Reaction: after you lose an edge battle as the defender, declare this unit as a participating unit on your side
May the DS player use the raiders reaction while sleuth scout is attacking alone after edge battle is lost? Key wording for us today was declare as defender vs declare as participating unit.

 

Response: The Imperial Raider declares as a defender. The Sleuth Scout stops units of a particular cost range (which the Imperial Raider falls into) from declaring as defenders. Thus, the Raider cannot use its Reaction to declare as a defender against the Sleuth Scout. If you are the defending player, any participating unit you control is a “defender.”
Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

When exactly do Reactions to "after [phase] ends" take place?

 

A:

All Reactions occur immediately after their triggering condition has fully resolved but before any other framework event or player action has an opportunity to be taken. In the case of reacting to the end of a phase (or round), this happens immediately after the “X phase ends” framework event. (see the timing structure flowchart on pages 30-31 of the rulebook). I will use the end of the conflict phase as an example.

 

At the end of the conflict phase is the “Conflict phase ends” framework event. Any Reactions with trigger conditions like: “Reaction: After the conflict phase ends….” would take place after that framework event has fully resolved (i.e. it is no longer the conflict phase, that has ended). These Reactions would also occur *before* the “Force Phase begins” framework event. You *MUST* resolve all Reactions to a given trigger condition *BEFORE* you move on to the next framework event or player action. (NOTE: Reactions and Interrupts can still be taken to new trigger conditions generated by the first Reaction, see “Nested Effect Sequences” on page 8 of the FAQ.)

 

Essentially, these Reactions (and any applicable Interrupts) take place in the “space” between the phases. Reactions andInterrupts tell you when you can resolve them. Actions must wait for an appropriate player actions step to be taken. As there are no player action steps between the conclusion of one phase and the beginning of the next, Actions cannot be taken at this time. However, Reactions and Interrupts whose trigger conditions have been met may be triggered.

 

All of the above reasoning also works for anything that triggers “after a [player’s] turn ends.” Such Reactions would occur after the “Force phase ends” framework event fully resolves, and before the “Balance phase begins” framework event of the next player’s turn begins.

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

If a card creates a lasting bonus (eg Precision Fire), does it apply only to game elements that were in play that the time the effect resolved or will it apply to applicable cards that enter play during the duration of the lasting effect?

 

A:

Each Trooper unit you control (when you resolve the effects of the event) gains the listed text for the specified duration. The effects of the event persist for the specified duration (that’s what makes this a lasting effect), but you cannot resolve the effects again if new units that match the event’s criteria (Trooper units you control, in this case) become available after you have fully resolved the event.

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games

[dbmeboy]

Q:

Does Xizor's Reaction happen before Called to Arm's Reaction?

 

A:

Resolving icons is part of resolving a strike.

 

A strike is not resolved until all icons have been resolved and all Reactions to said icons being resolved have concluded.

 

This means that the resolution of blast damage icons happens slightly before the overall end of the strike (even if they are chosen last). You have to give the option of reactions to the resolution of the blast icons prior to being able to conclude that the strike is concluded. If enough blast damage is placed to destroy an objective, that objective is removed immediately, which would happen before the resolution of the full strike.

 

Thus, in the case you describe: Xizor would be able to trigger his Reaction before the LS player could trigger Called to Arms. This would be obvious if blast icons were resolved first (and there are other combat icons to resolve). You would resolve the blast icons, the objective is destroyed, Xizor’s Reactions triggers, then you proceed to resolve the rest of the striking unit’s combat icons. After all that is done, the strike has fully resolved and the LS player can trigger Called to Arms. Just because you resolve combat icons in a different order, there is no reason this same structure doesn’t hold. (i.e. Resolve all non-blast icons, then resolve blast icons, objective destroyed, Xizor’s Reaction triggers, then strike is fully resolved, Called to Arms triggers).

 

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Erik Dahlman
LCG Developer
Fantasy Flight Games