OverPower Alliance





The CCG Fan-Attic
The CCG Fan-Attic

Week of: 03/22/98

Q:  When the event that says no placed cards may be played(Like in Secret Wars and Sep. Anixety)does that mean that when you place this battle, you can't use those cards or does it only effect the cards placed previously?
A: The event affects all cards that are placed - including those which are placed after the event is played.
Q:  Can Bane's Vengence of Bane be played defensively like an AM special? I checked the Specials Guide, but it's not listed there.
A: Remember that the Specials Guide that is listed there is notably incomplete in many respects. One should also check the online tournament guide. In there it states that since DD specials must target a character, they can only be played offensively.
Q:  Scarlet Spider-Arachind Gizmos: What can he retrieve? Teammate's specials?
A: According to the "BQ" Special in the specials guide, it can only be used to retrieve cards that he can play himself.
Q:  Why are 8 anypower and 11 anypower the same code? It really messed me up when I was making my Savage Land battlesite.
A: Couldn't tell you for sure, but except for the level # of the attack, they are essentially the same card. I know, there are plenty of cards that are "essentially" the same card that have different codes. I don't try to explain it, I just try to remember to check all the codes and to check the code listing I have of miscodes....
Q: On cards such as the Four Freedoms Plaza, Justice League Of America and Vertigo which have the effect of transfering a hit to another character, does the character have to be a character on your team, or can you transfer to a character the other player controls?
A: Shifted attacks can only be moved on to front line characters of your own team.
Q:  If I play Cloning Process, and then in the next battle when it takes affect I play a Draw 3 Cards Discard Duplicates, do I still have to discard the duplicates?
A: Yes. The text of the special played later (in this case the one stating that you should discard duplicates) takes precedence.
Q: I'd like to know if it's allowed to use 2 Guardian Angels (one from MC, one promo) in a deck? Or, for that matter, any of the Any Hero cards that were reprinted in MC. Also, when an "Any Character/Hero" card says at the bottom "Counts as a duplicate of all Any Hero/Character xx Cards", does that mean (I take for example Fortress Of Solitude and New Universe) that you can only have 1 of them in your deck?
A: One Per Deck means only one. Just because a card was released in a different expansion does not make them different cards. Even if one expansion was DC and the other was Marvel. For example, you are not allowed to have "Web Headed Wizard" in the same deck with "Wizard in Top Hat and Tails". You cannot have "Fortress of Solitude" in the same deck as "New Universe". etcetera.

Therefore, the Guardian Angel from Mission Control may not be played in the same deck as the GA from the original set of promo cards nor may it be played with "The Guardian" from the JLA expansion.

Q: What do you think Malebolgia's Inhererent ability means? Does it mean that he can't use Intellect power cards to attack, and just for defence, or does it mean that he can't use Energy, Fighting or Strength power cards to defend?
A: I will not even speculate as to what it means. I'll begin to think about it only after I see the exact wording on the text of the card. I suggest others do the same :)
Q: What is the official explanation/ruling on "Max Six Decks"? When did it come out? What types of decks did it hope to eliminate/limit?
A: As of the last time there was an official ruling body, Max 6 tournaments were not considered an official tournament type. There was only "Sealed Deck", "Locations-style", and "Any Heroes-style".

It's hard for me to explain exactly why it has kicked off such a fad. I'll barge onto Terry's domain here and recommend people send their opinions of that to the OP:D list. (sorry if this floods ya Terry)

Q: The inherent on the X-mansion location. it says something to the effect "may use strength powercards level 1-4 to combine with any tactic doubleshot" does this mean that I can use strength powercards instead of the normal contribution? or does it mean that I use a doubleshot with normal contribution and then I can add the strength powercard to it?
A: The first thing you said - X-Mansion character may supply a strength card instead of normal contribution. Of course, they can make the normal contribution as well. Also, as the inherent indicates, the character playing the power card must be able to use it (Example - Professor X cannot use a 4 Strength power card to combine with a doubleshot card.).
Q:  Leader is in reserve and i have KC placed on him. I am using anniahlation affair missions and have the corrosponding events in my deck. the event "Special Delivery"(reserve character may play specials this battle) comes into play. so now i use KC. when playing this card does the opponent have to attack me? can I defend?, normally the reserve cannot use powercards to attack or defend. after the battle does the effect of the card last for remainder of game?
A: Well, The Leader is certainly welcome to play the special since the event allows "reserve character to play specials this battle". However, as soon as he plays it, he cannot be attacked (since the reserve character cannot be attacked). Therefore, the Specials would be immediately discarded.

Before I get flak for this - I know there are cards that allow for the reserve character to be attacked, but rulings have, as a general rule, not depended on those cards being in play when making a ruling - for example, with "JB" Specials, if you remove your own last front line character you automatically lose the venture because you yourself have eliminated your front line. Same logic applies.

Q: also I could use the event from fatal attractions "a call to arms"(move the reserve to front line this battle, move back at end of battle) but still I need to know if the effect of the card is valid after the battle ends. must the opponent continue to attack leader until he is ko'd?
A: Now in this scenario, after the leader plays the card it is in effect (since he can be attacked). However, after the battle is over, if he returns to reserve, then the card goes bye-bye. Same logic as above.
Q: My question is based on a rules clarification I read in your last post. Your answer implied that players should be checking their battle site at the beginning of each battle before the discard phase to make sure any Activator Cards they have in their hand are playable. If you no longer have a special card under the battle site for that Activator, then it would be discarded. I can live with that ruling, but I want to make sure I have it correct.
A: The last I heard on the subject, players are responsible for making certain that they have usable cards in their hand. Since it was likely prone to error to rely on people's memories and it seemed silly to punish for such an action, it was deemed okay to look at your battlesite deck during the game. This brings with it a responsibility as well - you must discard unusables and "accidentally" keeping them is cause for a reneg.
Q: In the heat of a Tournament it is easy to forget if you have pulled all of the Special cards for a certain Activator, or even what specials are still there. By the way, what would the ruling be if you played an Activator for say a defensive card like an AG, only to find that the only card you had under the battle site for that activator was an Offensive card like an AA. Would that constitute a Renege, or would you just return the activator to your hand and forget that play had taken place. In the tournaments I have been to recently we have been playing it as a "False Start". The activator goes back to your hand, No Renege, and your opponent now knows you have a non-defensive Activator in your hand. How is it being handled at your tournaments?
A: I would agree that it is not cause for a reneg and would rule as you describe - the activator goes back to your hand, the opponent now has information, and game play continues. I will point out that the opponent does not necessarily know that I have an AA under there - I would not have shown him the unusable card for defense, I simply would have said "Ooops. can't use that..."

This is as good a point as any to just mention a strategy I use to keep my opponents slightly off balance - I check my battlesite deck EVERY battle, regardless as to whether or not I have an activator in my hand. Why? Because I don't want to give away when I do and when I do not have an activator, so I ALWAYS check.

Q: I'd like your opinion on this: I play Social Outcast (from an activator) on one of my guys, and then play Children of the Night (target character may not attack for remainder of battle until Taret or teammate attacks this special..)on one of my opponent's heros. Is he allowed to attack Children of the Night? Or does it have to stay till the end of the battle because "all attacks must be made against...until he is KO'd or cannot be attacked"?
A: My take on Social Outcast and other KC Specials is that it limits where you may target characters. That is to say, IF you target a character, it must be the one with the KC Special in play. To me, that means that Specials that can be attacked may be attacked (such as the Children of the Night in your example) but also the Battlesite can be the target of your attack, even if the KC Special is in play.
Q: What happens if you have the Infinity Gauntlet in play & you resurect a KO'd hero ? Where does he go, reserve or front line ?
A: Front Line
Q: Can a front line hero play an artifact on a reserve hero ?
A: Not unless something else (Inherent Ability, other Specials, Events) specifically allow for it.
Q: Green Goblin's Inherent says "Intellect powercards are +1 to attack". His team's Battlesite is Gamma Base. If Green Goblin activates She Hulk's Brains & Brawn (Acts as a level 5 int powercard; may be used to attack or defend) is it +1 to attack, or not?
A: Special cards that say they act like power cards gain the attributes of both special cards and power cards so if Green Goblin were to play this it would count as +1 to attack. But bear in mind that this card has both sets of attributes -meaning that a negate will block it as would a Master Mold.
Q: If I land a hit on the other guy's Battlesite with Li'l Colossus (Acts as a level 6 Strength attack. If successful opponent -4 to Venture total.) shouldn't he be -4 to Venture, even though I don't get Venture points for the 6 attack?
A: Yes he should. The "-4 to venture" part affects the opponent, not the target (character or battlesite).
Q: The Sabotage event for Annihilation Affair reads "Discard all MultiPower cards." Does this mean discard only the multi-power power cards (1 through 4)? Or does it include any multi-power specials such as Professor X's Mindwipe and Mr. Sinister's Marauder (which only has two powers listed)?
A: The Event is only to discard Multipower cards. That does not mean cards which have more than one icon, but cards which state that they are multipower attacks. This of course means all MultiPower power cards, but does it mean any Specials? No. If you check the Specials carefully, they typically do not say that they are MultiPower cards, but that they are "Energy, Fighting, or Strength attacks" (using original AQ Specials as an example). They are not multipowers. There are 3 Specials out there that do act like MultiPower attacks (Mole Man's Uproot Earth,. Nightcrawler's Disappearing Act and Quicksilver's Fast and Furious) but since they all stipulate that they "act as Multipower attacks" and not that they are "multipower cards" I would not qualify them to be discarded either.
Q: Can Quicksilver's Agile Avenger Defend against a Multi-power card ?
A: Yes
Q: Can you follow an Ally card with an Any Hero or an Activator ?
A: No
Q: One question that did come up though was when I played my "Opponent must discard One card of (character's) choice" my opponent played an Avoid 1 Attack and then quoted the rule book saying that was legal. I thought cards targeting "Opponent" could not be avoided (whit the exception of Power Leech).
A: You are correct. "Opponent" must discard specials cannot be avoided they can only be negated.
Q: Can you place Any Hero/Character Specials or not? If you can, is there a particular reason Savage Land specifically says you can?
A: Typically you cannot place Any Hero/Character cards. The only exceptions to this rule are: (a) an event comes into play that allows it or (b) the special card specifically states that you can.

In either case, once the card is placed only the character to whom it has been placed may play the Any Hero/Character.

Q: I was at a tournament recently and this situation came up. One player wanted to negate a hit from a special card that was already on his permanent record with Bastion. Can you do this? I would say NO because it seems like Bastion would only affect cards being played presently or in effect for the rest of the game/battle. I don't know what the "official" answer would be. Has it been addressed? Thanks, in advance for your help.
A: As long as it is played from your hand, Bastion can be used as if it were any other standard negate (AO) card. If he is placed, then he can be used only to negate an AnyHero/Character card. It does not stipulate that the negated card has to be in play or an attack, therefore I do not see why it couldn't be used to negate a special that is on record.
Q: i was working on a deck and was curious about post's obfuscate...the one that makes him immune to events.....the few questions i had were these.. 1- does it prevent me from having to ko a hero if that event comes up?
A: Post's Obfustcate card prevents you from selecting him as the target of an event - it does not allow you to select him and then say "oh, he is immune from the effect"
Q:  2- i kinda know the answer to this one but just for the record....he is also immune to my own events right?
A: That is correct
Q: Is Future Backlash male or female?
A: Female
Q: I was just wondering what the "new" rulings are on Four Freedoms Plaza. I thought I knew where to find out, but I was wrong. I guess it'd be good to know, seeing as how I'm playing the deck now.
A: It depends on what you mean by "new". In the last few months, there have been no changes to the ruling on FF Plaza - when an attack is shifted it must be defended. Also, there was some clarification about the defensive bonus given - the effect is not cumulative and only in the skills in which the character is below a 4. For example, Mr. Fantastic (2528) would be +1 to defense with an Energy Power card OR with a Strength Power card, but he would have no bonus if he played a Fighting or Intellect Power card.
Q: How do you use Artifacts (Especially Pym Particles)? So far the only Classic cards I have I've bought through the Allaince so I don't know if there is a little card that tells you or something like in Mission Control.
A: There was a sheet that came with each box of Classic Overpower describing how to play them.

Artifact cards are activated (bad word considering locations, but it'll do for now - just know that this has nothing to do with activator cards) by a character who meets the first requirement listed on the card (in the example of Pym Particles, we can say the Hulk since he has a strength skill greater than 6). To play the card, the first character must be accompanied by a character who meets the second skill requirement (in our example, we'll use Professor X since he meets the criteria of having a strength skill of 5 or less). The second character then has the ability listed on the artifact card (in our example, Prof X would have the ability to declare befoer each draw phase how many cards were drawn - 6, 8, or 10). At the point in time that the second character gets the artifact and can use it, the first character no longer has anything to do with it. So if the first character gets KO'd, this does not impact the character who has the artifact (in other words, once activated, there is no longer any need for the first character to be available to participate in the action of the artifact).

Q: I just have a quick question about follow up attacks. If I play "Death from Above"(4 fighting, may make 1 add'l attack), and I follow it up with a character specific attack that has the same text, am I allowed to make another follow up? For instance, Batman plays "Death from Above", Colossus plays his "4 strength, may make 1 add'l attack". Now does Colossus get another attack? Basically I guess my question is, can you make a chain of attacks?
A: In the scenario you describe above, yes Colossus would get to make an additional attack. However, please note that Any Hero/Character specials may not be used AS follow ups. Meaning that you could not do the reverse of the above scenario (i.e., Colossus plays his "4 strength, may make 1 add'l attack" and then he plays Death From Above and the Batman makes an attack - you cannot do this).
Q: Do artifacts over ride the inherent abilities on Homebases? My question being, if you're playing Onslaught's Citadel as a home base and play Pym Particles on Dark Beast, do you still draw 7 cards, or does Pym Particles take priority?
A: My take on Pym Particles and Onslaught Citadel being played together is this - the intent of the inherent ability on OC is to cause the player with it as a home base to draw one less card per battle. So if Pym Particles were in play (and it doesn't matter who played it - you or the opponent) whatever number of cards is declared, you draw one less.