Quick Questions: Tales of Aria Rules Reprise Part III

Legend Story Studios’ Rules and Policy Manager, Joshua Scott is back at it again to break down some of the most talked about rules interactions Tales of Aria has brought us and more!

Skirmish season 3 runs from November 13 through to December 5, so what better time than now to address a few frequently discussed rules interactions from Tales of Aria (and beyond)! Oldhim is the talk of the town this week, as well as "pitch sequencing", "Spellbound Creepers timings" "equipment and how it interacts with the Combat Chain" and Light it Up! Get schooled up for Skirmish, The Calling, National Championships and beyond with these commonly discussed rules queries and confusions.

Please note that some questions in this Rules Reprise article might be outdated.
Always check the Comprehensive Rules, and Tournament Rules and Policy, for the most up-to-date rulings.

If I have resources from a pitched Ice card left over, does it count for Oldhim’s ability, or Winter’s Wail?

No. The effects of Oldhim’s defense reaction activated ability, and Winter’s Wail’s attack ability, are strictly conditional on the supertypes of the cards that you actively pitch to pay; which is indicated by the phrase “[...] pitched this way [...]”. In addition, leftover resources from previously pitched cards do not retain any properties such as supertypes.

In short, if you do not pitch an Ice (or Earth) card DURING the activation of Oldhim’s or Winter’s Wail’s ability, it does not satisfy the condition of the respective effect.

Perry is playing as Oldhim and controls Rampart of the Ram’s Head. Tyler attacks Perry, and Perry defends with Rampart of the Ram’s Head, pitching Winter’s Grasp (blue) to pay the triggered ability cost. Perry has 2 resources left over. During the reaction step, Perry activates Oldhim’s ability, pitching Autumn’s Touch (yellow). When the activated ability resolves, the effect will prevent the next 2 damage dealt to Perry this turn; but Tyler does not have to put a card from their hand to the top of their deck because Perry did not pitch an Ice card during the activation of Oldhim.

Can I activate Oldhim’s ability when I’m attacked with Command and Conquer?

Yes. Command and Conquer prevents you from playing defense reaction cards, but it does not prevent you from activating defense reaction abilities, therefore you can still activate Oldhim’s defense reaction ability. To reflect this and make it more intuitive for future printings, Command and Conquer has received a non-functional card text update that currently states the following:

Defense reaction cards can’t be played to Command and Conquer’s chain link.

If Command and Conquer hits a hero, destroy all cards in their arsenal.

If I attack with Ball Lightning, then Light it Up (fused) and it hits, how much damage do I deal?

Assuming the opponent controls 4 equipment, then you would deal 5 damage from the triggered ability of Light It Up. The key here is that the damage dealt by triggered ability is a single event of 4 damage, as opposed to four events of 1 damage, i.e. the damage is dealt as a single package. This means that the event is only modified once by the effect of Ball Lightning (or similar replacement effects) which would bring it up to 5. Similarly worded interactions include Blessing of Deliverance vs Reaping Blade, and Sutcliffe's Research Notes vs Mordred Tide. In short, the phrase “[effect] for each [condition]” refers to a single event occurring.

Perry controls four equipment cards. Tyler attacks Perry with Ball Lightning. The chain link resolves and Tyler then attacks Perry with Light it Up, fusing a Lightning card. Perry does not defend or prevent any damage. Light it Up hits, and triggers, creating a triggered ability layer on the chain. When this layer resolves, it would deal 4 damage (because Perry controls four equipment cards), which is then modified by Ball Lightning’s replacement effect to deal 5 damage instead.

If I attack a card with Spectra (with an attack action card), can I use Spellbound Creepers?

No, assuming you haven’t attacked with an attack action card earlier that turn. There’s a distinction to be made between an attack (noun) which refers to an object (attack action card or attack ability), and attack / attacking (verb) which refers to when that attack resolves as layer 1 and officially becomes attacking. When you play an attack action card (targeting a card with Spectra), the Spectra ability will trigger, resolve, and close the chain before your attack resolves and becomes attacking. Therefore, the condition on the ability of Spellbound Creepers is not met and you can not activate it.

Tyler controls Spellbound Creepers and Perry controls Arc Light Sentinel. Tyler plays Singeing Steelblade, targeting Arc Light Sentinel. The Spectra ability of Arc Light Sentinel, triggers and resolves, closing the combat chain. Because Singeing Steelblade never resolved and became attacking, it does not trigger and deal 1 arcane damage, nor can Tyler activate Spellbound Creepers.

Can I respond to Chains of Eminence being played before a card is named?

Yes. It’s important to note that Chains of Eminence has an effect that asks the controlling player to name a card upon resolution, NOT when the Chains of Eminence is played. This means that if your opponent plays Chains of Eminence (and it becomes a layer on the chain), you can respond with instant-speed cards before Chains of Eminence resolves and a card is named, preventing it from being played/pitched/used to defend.

Tyler plays Chains of Eminence (becomes layer 1), with the intention of naming Arc Light Sentinel when it resolves to ensure that they can attack Perry unimpeded. Before Chains of Eminence resolves, Perry plays and resolves Arc Light Sentinel, because there is currently no effect that prevents Perry from doing so. Finally, when Chains of Eminence resolves Tyler can either continue with their original plan to name Arc Light Sentinel, or they can name another card instead.

As a side note, writing down the named card for Chains of Eminence (when it resolves) is a legal exception to the note taking rule for Flesh and Blood. In fact, it is encouraged to record the named card in high level games to ensure that there is no miscommunication about what card is named.

Can I attack with the Dawnblade more than once per combat chain to prevent the opponent defending with the same equipment?

Yes. Attacking with a weapon means activating the attack ability on that weapon to produce an attack, which becomes layer 1 of the chain link. The weapon itself is not “locked-in” to a particular chain link and its ability can be used again (if legal to do so) to produce another attack on a different chain link of the same combat chain. Meanwhile, when an equipment is a defending card, it can not be used to defend on a different chain link (of the same combat chain) until it is otherwise no longer a defending card (such as when the combat chain closes).

To attack multiple times with the same weapon per combat chain, you must have a weapon without a once per turn limit (or you must overcome the once per turn limit with cards like Twinning Blade, or effects like that on Dorinthea), and you must have additional action points to activate the attack ability again (such as Timesnap Potion, or by giving your previous weapon attack "go again" with effects like Driving Blade).

Tyler plays and resolves Driving Blade, and attacks Perry with Dawnblade (chain link 1). Perry defends with Rampart of the Ram’s Head, paying the resource cost to increase its defence to 1. The Dawnblade attack hits and Dorinthea’s ability triggers and resolves allowing Tyler to attack once more with Dawnblade. Tyler attacks Perry with Dawnblade again (chain link 2), and this time Perry can not defend with Rampart of the Ram’s Head, because it is still a defending card on chain link 1.

Tyler controls one (1) Induction Chamber with 1 steam counter on it. Tyler attacks Perry with Teklo Plasma Pistol (chain link 1) and Perry defends with Rampart of the Ram’s Head, paying the resource cost to increase its defence to 1. During the reaction step, Tyler activates and resolves their Induction Chamber's ability to give the Teklo Plasma Pistol attack “go again”. The chain link resolves and Tyler activates Teklo Plasma Pistol to put a steam counter on it. In doing so, the combat chain closes and Rampart of the Ram’s Head returns to Perry’s weapon zone. Tyler attacks Perry with Teklo Plasma Pistol again (chain link 1) and Perry may defend with Rampart of the Ram’s Head because it is not currently a defending card.