The Clix Gentleman Rules Round Up 003: In Which We Deal with a Phantom Ruling
So, a ruling was made and then deleted. So, I think it's a good time to talk about what that means for us as players/venue judges.
First off, unless the Rules Team explicitly tells us why a ruling is deleted, we don't know why. The only thing we can safely assume is that they don't want us to go by that ruling (for now) because it was deleted. Maybe it will pop back up, maybe it will just be integrated into a future Rules Book/PAC release, or maybe things will change and it just never comes to pass. All of those are viable and until any of them happen, no one can guarantee what is going to happen.
Which is why, best practices is to simply act as though that ruling never happened. Because from the perspective of the WIN/Rules it never did. And I say this, knowing we have lost past rulings because of technology and now there is no way to enforce/”prove” those rulings exist. It's just how life goes.
And that's why it's also helpful to know how to figure out how effects work without asking the WIN. Because the Rules Team are human beings and only have so much time available to them, just like everyone else. If you need every single ruling rubber stamped by them, you're going to have a bad time. So, let's apply that reasoning to the figure in question.
XRF 059b Emperor Gladiator
When Gladiator is dealt damage, would he roll for Impervious first to see if damage would be reduced to 0 before using a Confidence token to take no damage?
First things first. You have to know what the effect actually says.
YOU CAN'T HURT ME BECAUSE I BELIEVE YOU CAN'T HURT ME When Emperor Gladiator hits, give him a Confidence token [MAX:1]. // If Emperor Gladiator has a Confidence token, he can reduce penetrating damage. // When Emperor Gladiator would take damage, he may instead remove a Confidence token to take no damage.
So, what does Impervious say?
Impervious: Reduce Damage taken by 2. // When this character would take damage from an attack, you may roll a d6. [5-6]: Damage taken is reduced to 0.
Impervious and his trait both trigger when Gladiator “would take damage.” So, they are simultaneous effects. Which means, per the Golden Rule of the Active Player, the Active player (usually the player attacking Gladiator) decides which gets resolved first.
I have never liked an opponent choosing the order to resolve effects that reduce or avoid attacks/damage, but that has consistently been the ruling for quite some time. Here's even a Modern WIN ruling with identical wording that reaffirms that.
Opinion: I would be happy to see the Active Player rule changed so that Players choose the resolutions of THEIR simultaneous effects. It would maintain the current integrity of the rule while avoiding situations like this that “feel bad.” /end Opinion
But until that happens, the Active Player gets to choose the order of reducers. And the smart play is to ask the Emperor Gladiator player to resolve his Confidence token effect first. Because if they don't, they're risking taking damage. And if they do, you can follow up with penetrating damage.
I THOUGHT WE COULD ALL THROW A PARTY AT MY NEW PLACE FREE: Choose an adjacent character. Until your next turn, Scarab can use the EFFECT of all equipment equipped to that character.
How does Scarab's copying of EFFECTS interact with equipment that have effects that are tied to the character that is equipped? Such as KO'ing the equipped object, or referencing a chart that is equipped to another character?
Scarab would be able to use as much of the gained EFFECT as possible (typically the use of gained standard powers and some triggered effects). If he would not meet the requirement to use certain aspects of a gained EFFECT (such as needing to be equipped with the specific equipment, requiring tokens that he would have, needing to place a game element on a card, etc.) then those parts of the EFFECT would not be used (For example, he would not be able to choose any powers if using ABPI S010 Infinity Gauntlet since he would have no tokens). Note that he can still use all other parts of the effect (For example, he would still be able to use all parts of the F4FF S007 Radioactive Clay EFFECT, but would not KO the equipment since he does not have it actually equipped).
So, this isn't a great ruling and I imagine it will lead to some arguments when we get back to playing a lot. BUT, with how Scarab's trait is written, this is really the best we could hope for.
TL;DR: Scarab doesn't get the equipment or any tokens or charts associated with it. So he can't use anything based on them. And can't affect them. So, the Alchemical Potion and Fire do nothing for him. He won't attempt to KO the Silver Surfboard if he copies its effect, but he can still use Flight and Hypersonic. It's going to lead to a lot of counter-intuitive interactions, but it will ultimately be simpler than anything short of rewriting Scarab's trait.
And then there's the easy one.
F4 066 Reed Richards, Fixer of Universes
Can Reed Richards, Fixer of Universes use his -1 Title Ability to damage the opposing character if he is adjacent to any character named Molecule Man (such as F4FF 044 Molecule Man), or just his own generated Molecule Man bystander?
The effect only works if Reed Richards, Fixer of Universes is adjacent to the specific Molecule Man bystander that he generated.
That's what the rules say and how it should have always been ruled. But some times those easy rulings need the official rubber stamp to get people to stop asking.
And that's it for this week.
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Until next time, please be courteous, be kind, and read the rules.