Week of: 12/14/97

Q: can jubilees trouble maker be used to defend the battlesite?

A: If played defensively FROM the Battlesite, yes. That is, you can play a Jubilee activator to draw out her troublemaker and stop the teamwork attack against the battlesite. But if Jubilee is on your team, and you have troublemaker in your hand, I would say no - -ince the attack is not being made on a teammate.

Q:  if i play trouble maker offensively (to force my opponent to discard a teamwork) can it be vertigo'd to someone that does not have a teamwork?

A:  Yes. Under the explanation for LN (Vertigo), the Guide explains that an AI can be prevented from landing & effectively blocked by shifting to a Hero that doesn't have any placed cards. The same should be possible of any card that targets a Character or shifting is gonna get messier than it already is. Like this weekend, someone Vertigoed Post's Gather Info to someone that didn't have any Hits on Permanent Record, effectively making it a wasted play. Nasty but oughtta be legal.

Q: can mole man's social outcast be played defensively even if the attack is thrown at him?

A:  I would say that if it was necessary for the defense (i.e., you want to block a level 6 attack with a level 4 power card (using his inherent's +2 bonus when social outcast is in play) then you can play it. But you cannot just play it for the sake of playing it. Similar scenarios - you can't just play Vertigo defensively and then not shift the attack - you can't play Prof. X's Telepathic Coordination defensively unless you need the bonus.

Q:  can vertigo be played defensively even if the defensive player does not shift it from the hero that was attacked?

A: Although there is nothing specifically in the rules regarding this, I would rule that if you play Vertigo defensively, you have to use it during that defense. You don't necessarily have to block the attack, but you do need to shift it. Generally speaking, being on defense is not an opportunity to get off free cards (ala Telepathic Coordination).

Q: can you use beast on your team and dark beast in your site..or beta ray and thor etc......what are all the legalities to that and what cards can be used?

A: Characters which are not clones but can use the same cards: It is legal to have one on your team and one listed on your battlesite. However, if that is the case, you may NOT put Specials under the battlesite for that character. In other words, Beast can be on my team and I can use Onslaught's Citadel (with Dark Beast) as my battlesite - but I cannot then place Beast Specials under the battlesite or Dark Beast Activators in my deck (duh)

Q: can i play social outcast and acrobatics on the same hero....they can still be attacked but..well you know?

A: Right now, I would say that you have created for yourself a very good setup. It does not fall under "cannot be attacked" so the Social Outcast Special is still in play. On the other hand, you've forced your opponent into an extremely limited position. I have started a list of issues that require an "official" ruling once there is an official body once again. This goes on that list - but until then, I recommend playing like the card says.

Q: does social outcast shift an attack or is it an effect that prevents attacking of other characters?

A:  The second one; prevents attacking of other Characters, all opponent's attacks must first target Mole Man. But it can be used defensively the first time to shift an attack to him. In addition, note that the specials guide even specifically states that attacks made on Mole Man under the Social Outcast Special can still be shifted to other characters. That means that those attacks have not yet shifted (since attacks can only be shifted once)

Q: a card that can't be defended by a special...can it be shifted or vertigo'd?

A: Cards that say "Cannot be defended by a special card" can indeed be shifted since that is not the "defense" of the card. Cards that specifically state that they cannot be defended by a special card (like JW Specials) cannot be negated, as listed in the specials guide. The inconsistency with this ruling is that BA cards, which sometimes state things like "Can only be defended by a card with a fighting icon" have been ruled to always be negatable. Inconsistent, yes, but all of this is clearly written in the specials guide.

Q: can psycho-man's "hate" be played defensively?

A: Generally speaking, cards which affect what the opponent's team can and cannot play are offesnive only. "Hate" is no exception and is listed in the specials guide that way.

Q: if lil' rogue is played can you still play negates?

A: I assume that your question is referring to negates from under the battlesite, since lil Rogue does not affect your ability to play negates from your hand. Assuming the above, all lil Rogue does is prevent you from playing cards from under the Battlesite as attacks or as defensive actions. It does not prevent you from playing Specials from the battlesite for cards which are offensive, but do not affect your opponent. For example, you can take a special card as a hit, and then on your next turn, play an activator to retrieve a negate and negate the special card that landed. Of course, then it is your opponent's turn again. However, that does not mean that you can just play any negate you want - you cannot, for example, play a negate from the battlesite defensively (i.e., on your opponent's turn in response to one of his actions) regardless as to whether or not the opponent's action was an attack or merely an offensive action. Hope I didn't lose anyone on this thread. If I did, I'm sure I'll hear about it :)

Q: if you negate an attack at you as it is coming in is it considered defending?

A: Yes and no. In some cases, like with JW cards, the specials guide clearly points out that it is considered defending since "Cannot be defended by a special card" means that it cannot be negated. On the other hand, when a BA card states that it can only be defended by a male hero, it can still be negated by someone like Beast (who, for the comic impaired, is male). Chalk this one up to another one needing an official ruling. For now, live with the inconsistency and play each special as it is listed in the specials guide. If you have specific questions regarding an individual special, let me know.

Q: can hero for hires white tiger attack make you discard two cards if it hits a battlesite...because it says target hero?

A: A Battlesite is not a character - if it lands on a battlesite, there is no discarding effect.

Q: when is social outcast considered un attackable and does it get discarded when it is...when does it get discarded. i need help with this card!!!!

A: Cards like Social Outcast should be discarded under one of two conditions (one is obvious).

1. The character playing the special gets KO'd or
2. The character playing the special is no longer able to be attacked.

Q:  What is the errata on the 10 Ally Cards from DC. Does the word "May" be ignored or followed just for these 10 little cards?

A: I wouldn't call it errata, exactly - more like a poorly chosen word for the card. All Ally cards were ALWAYS considered to say "MUST" instead of "MAY" whenever it may have occurred.

Previously:
>However, you may not keep an avoid in your hand for the reserve
> character - it must either be placed or discarded during the draw phase."

Q:  But I thought that if a card may become usable you don't have to discard it-- for example, you draw an avoid for your reserve. Your opponent plays a special that (legally) attacks the reserve--why shouldn't you be able to use the avoid in your hand?

A: Because you cannot keep cards for the reserve in your hand unless they are directly playable. Specials for the reserve card are either (a) immediately playable - they say "can be played from reserve" on them (b) placed during the placement stage or (c) discarded. Even if your opponent has a special that can attack the reserve placed onto one of his front line characters, you still must treat the special the same way.

Q:  If your opponet KO's all the heros does the battlesite still live or is the game over?

A: If you lose your entire team, the battle is immediately over - regardless as to whether or not the battlesite is still standing. At that point you total Venture up to see if anyone won by venture. If not, then the person with no team loses.

Q: Do Any-Power cards count towards Spectrum? You see, some say "does not count towards Spectrum KO", while others don't. Also, can Any-Power Power cards be used to satisfy an Teamwork card?

A: Unless affected by a Special that does so, no cards with an AnyPower icon count towards spectrum KO. Never. Even if it does not say "Does not count towards spectrum KO" on it - it still doesn't count.

Any Powers can be used to fulfill a teamwork attack, provided that the character playing it has the requierd skill level for it. For example, if a level 5 Any Power card is being played in conjunction with the fighting follow up portion of a teamwork, then the character playing it must have at least a 5 fighting on his power grid.

Q: Can a CD special avoid a non numerical attack ?

A: Typically, yes.

Q: If GA special hit a hero that hero can play activators ?

A: No.

Q: What can i do when my oponent do not shufle their cards ?

A: Call the judge over. Many officials will announce a specific (random) type of shuffling that must be done by all players before each round. By forcing people to shuffle in particular (and different) ways before each battle, you prevent certain "shuffling" cheating techniques. But that's a topic that you don't want to get me started on....

Q:  If my opponent has only one character in play, can I play Telepathic Manipulator (White Queen)and then play Intimidate (Hulk)? If it's possible, who wins the venture for this battle and for the next battle?

A: I can always trust the Alliance members to think of the most bizarre scenarios. I'm open to debate on this, and will repost this question next week if there are some good arguments made the other way.

I would say that if you play Intimidate as described above, when the next round begins, you draw your hand, go through the event stage, the discard phase, the placing stage, and the venturing phase. After that, the battle begins and ends immediately since one of the players has no front line. The venture would be tied and you would move on to the next battle.

What I don't like about this answer is that if someone was playing with Invisible Woman, Longshot, etc. then they would still win the venture, despite the lack of a battle. In my opinion, the rule should be that you cannot get away with this cheesy move, but I don't see how the rules would prevent it just now. Maybe someone else has some ideas (Mike, Gary - I'm waiting....)

Q:  Can a card from a battlesite be played on a reserve character if the special says it may be played while (in this case, War Machine) is in reserve- even though the character is say Supes- I'm betting it can . . .

A: I would say yes - as long as the special states that it can be played from reserve, then the reserve character can use it.

Q:  I have a question for you. I know this is an unlikely thing to do but, say that my opponent is playing with Brood. On my team I have Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Professor X on the front line. I have an avoid for each character placed. In my hand I have 8 cards with an energy icon. My opponent plays Brood's "Discard all cards with an energy icon in hand." Am I allowed to avoid it if I play all my avoids? I don't see why not.

A: Because with the exception of Power Leech, all BY coded Specials target the opponent - not any of the characters. Therefore, they cannot avoid it. There was a special errata made regarding Power Leech, forcing the player to select a target character - but it does not apply to the other cards of this type.

Q:  I understand what you're saying, but I don't see why I can't avoid it. Since my team is the "opponent" if my entire team can avoid the attack, I don't see why it can't be done.

A: Because your team is not the opponent - you are.

Q:  I have a question about the beyonder as an activator, do I need to include a card under my battlesite for him or can I have one more activator then specials?

A: If Beyonder is in your draw pile then the number of activators you will have in total will be one more than the number of specials under the battlesite.

Q:  Can cards like Feline Fury (Only attacks with a Fighting icon may be played against Black Cat for remainder of battle) be used to avoid non-numerical attacks?

A: As long as the icon is not a part of the attack in any way, it sure can

Q:  Does the Heroes Ressurrected Event for Infinity Gauntlet (don't add hits to permanent record) prevent KO's? Does it apply to Battlesite hits?

A: If a character is KO'd they are KO'd - this event does not bring back the dead, despite the title of the event.

As for it applying to a battlesite, given the above (that once they are KO'd they don't come back) it's probably not relevant. According to the basic rulebook, the battlesite does have a permanent record and a hits from current battle - but so what? Any hits that land there do not count towards venture, so they do not need to be spearated...

Q: Can Activators be Web-Headed?

A: Yes - although in tournament play there are only 2 types of games - Locations (but no Any Heroes) and Any Heroes (but no locations). So while it could still happen with cards like Scarlet Spider and Wonder Woman's BQ cards, it couldn't happen with Web Head per se.

Q: Say I have one character left almost KO'd and my opponent is the same. I take advantage of the Infinity Guantlet that I used before to ressurect a hero. Then my first hero gets KO'd. Do I lose automaticly, or do I have a chance to KO my opponent?

A: Well, since the character who you resurrected is still in play, the battle continues. If you KO his character by the end of the battle, then the winner of the game is decided by venture. Remember - Infinity Gauntlet is played after the draw phase to bring a character back from KO during that battle.

Q: Alien Symbiote removes one hit from any hero. Could I remove a hit from my opponent's hero? (Sounds silly, but there are reasons)

A: No.

Q: If I use Avenger's Mansion as a Battlesite, with Android Endurance as my OPD, could I use it on Strong Guy then use his Pile it on to make him invincible?

A: Sure - but there has been a ruling that if a character is completely un-KO'able then if they are both spectrum and cumulatively KO'd then the KO takes affect.

Q: Professor X's Target Character says: "Target Opponent cannot attack for remainder of battle" Since this targets the opponent it should A) not be able to be avoided and/or B) stop the opponent's entire team from attacking, since Scarlet Witch's card "Spell of Distruction" acts that way (not be able to be avoided)

A: The Specials Guide states that the phrasing "Opponent" on these cards is incorrect - all versions of this card mean "target character". Therefore, it can be voided and it affects one character - not the opponent.

Q: The Thing special "Revoltin' Development" and Punisher special "Vendetta" does the +2 count against the characterthat hit you, or the Oppenent tha hit you's team?

A: My first thought was that it also should be considered to read target character. but upon a reading of the specials guide, it seems to indicate that the character is +2 to all actions for the remainder of the battle in which he has taken a hit. This seems to imply that it is indeed "opponent". Interesting...

Q:  You said that Havok gets +1 to attack Captain Mar-vell... In this same vein, If I had Beyonder and Reyes together, could Beyonder use 8 intellect cards to defend?

A: Good question. I would say no. Here's my logic:

Beyonder does not gain the inherent abilites of the characters on the team - which is where Reyes' 8 Intellect for defense comes from. Havok, on the other hand, has a +1 to characters with a level 7 or 8 energy which, when he is attacking Captain Mar-vel is the case. Look at it frmo another point of view - if Jubilee, Reyes, Beyonder and Rhino were on a team together and someone played an artifact so that Rhino's Energy became a 7, Beyonder would not get that 7 - he would remain a 6. So there is precedant for one character on a team having a bonus to their power grid and Beyonder not gaining that bonus. Similar situation could arise with Absorbing Man and Molecular Mimic.

Q:  You stated that the reserve character had to place or discard an avoid 1 attack and the special could not be held in the hand. This happens frequently at the Flight Into Fantasy tournaments. The logic from my opponent is that I might have a card that could attack the reserve therefore any card that can become usable does not have to be discarded. My question is: Why can't the avoid card for the reserve be kept in the hand?

A: Because the rule regarding discarding and placement - that you must place or discard cards for the reserve (unless they are specifically playable from reserve) - overrides the concept of "if it might become playable, then you can keep it." That meta rule is geared more towards dealing with issues like "I draw a teamwork but no power cards - do I have to discard it?" The answer is no since it might become playable if the possibility of drawing cards during the round exists.

An interesting side note. Caveat, as always, this is unofficial, but an interesting way of looking at it. Assuming that I do not have any Specials that allow me to draw cards, if my opponent has only 1 or 2 Mission cards that he can bet (i.e., the other 5 or 6 are already in the loss or win pile) then wouldn't I have to discard that teamwork since there is no possibility for drawing cards this battle? Hmmm.......