Rules Reprise #18: Heavy Hitters

Before you throw yourself into the Deathmatch Arena, it's a good idea to learn the rules. After all, you don't want to be caught off guard! Rules and Policy manager Joshua Scott is back to teach us about the more complex interactions in the newest set, Heavy Hitters! Equip yourself with this knowledge and prepare for battle!

Who wins a clash?

The hero that reveals the card with greatest power wins.

In short, you can only win a clash if you reveal a card with power and no other hero reveals a card with equal or greater power than you. It’s important to note that nobody “loses” a clash, you just “fail to win” the clash even in the event of a draw.

• If you win a clash, the opponent is considered to have failed to win the clash.
• If nobody wins a clash, you’re both considered to have failed to win the clash.

If both players reveal cards with the same power, or both don’t reveal a card with power, both players fail to win.

• If both you and the opponent reveal a card with the same power, nobody wins the clash.
• If both you and the opponent reveal a card without power and/or don’t reveal any card, nobody wins the clash.

Tyler is playing as Victor Goldmane. Tyler clashes with Nic and they both reveal a card with the same power. Because neither of them win the clash, they’re both considered to have failed to win the clash, and therefore Tyler may apply Victor’s effect to destroy a Gold, put a revealed card on the bottom of its owner's deck, and clash again.

Cards with power values ALWAYS beat cards without power values or no cards. This means Rouse the Ancients with 0 power will beat any card without a power value.

• If you reveal a card with power and the opponent reveals a card without power, you win the clash.
• If you reveal a card with power and the opponent doesn’t reveal any card, you win the clash.

Tyler clashes with Nic. Tyler reveals Rouse the Ancients and Nic doesn’t reveal a card because they don’t have any cards in deck. Because Tyler revealed a card with power and Nic didn’t reveal a card with power, Tyler’s revealed card is the card with the greatest power and therefore Tyler wins the clash.

What is a wager?

A wager is a bet that an attack will hit a hero, with the prize of the wager going to the winner of the bet.

Each wager has a specified prize. If a wager specifies two or more tokens as the prize it's still considered a single wager. For example, if you wager a Gold, Might, and Vigor token, it’s considered a single wager with the prize being a Gold, Might, and Vigor token. You can wager multiple times on the same attack with separate effects. Each wager is considered separately for effects like Betsy and Olympia.

Tyler is playing as Betsy. Tyler plays Money Where Ya Mouth Is, then attacks Nic with Bet Big. Two attack triggers occur, one from Money Where Ya Mouth Is and one from Bet Big. Tyler resolves the first attack trigger and chooses to wager a Gold token - this triggers Betsy’s effect and Tyler chooses not to pay. Tyler resolves the second attack trigger and chooses to wager a Gold, Might, and Vigor token - again this trigger’s Betsy’s effect and Tyler chooses not to pay. There are now two separate wagers happening on Bet Big. One wager has the prize of a Gold, and the other wager has the prize of a Gold, Might, and Vigor token.

The wager itself triggers after damage is dealt. Specifically, whether you win a wager is determined when the chain link resolves (after the damage step of combat, at the beginning of the resolution step of combat). Because this trigger timing is different to on-hit or on-damage triggers, it’s not prevented from happening by effects like that of Tarpit Trap or Stamp Authority.

Can I activate my Windup card on the combat chain?

No.

While the activated ability is an instant, the cost of activating a Windup card is discarding the Windup card itself. This can only be done when it is in your hand as “discard” specifically means putting the card from your hand into your graveyard.

Tyler attacks Nic with Mighty Windup. While Mighty Windup is on the combat chain, Tyler can not activate its ability to create a Might token because the Mighty Windup is not in their hand, and therefore they cannot pay the cost of discarding it.

Does Down But Not Out have two or three conditions?

Three conditions.

Down But Not Out triggers when you attack a hero. The trigger has three conditions upon resolution:

• You have less life than that hero
• You control fewer equipment than that hero
• You control fewer tokens than that hero

If each of the three conditions is met, then Down But Not Out will gain the +3 power, overpower, and the on-hit trigger. If any of these conditions are not met when the trigger resolves, Down But Not Out will not gain any of these effects, even if the conditions are met later on.

Tyler has 10 life and Nic has 15 life. Tyler controls three equipment, and Nic controls four equipment. Both Nic and Tyler control no tokens. Tyler attacks Nic with Down But Not Out, but because Tyler does not have fewer tokens than Nic, Down But Not Out does not gain any of the bonus effects from its trigger.

If I create a token as part of preventing damage, does it affect my equipment defense for that attack?

No.

There are three instant cards in Heavy Hitters that generate a token upon preventing damage: Battered Not Broken, Take it on the Chin, and Slap-Happy. While controlling these tokens might affect the defense value of defending cards, it’s important to understand it will not affect the damage being dealt by the current attack.

Here is how to navigate the damage step with these effects:

• First, damage is calculated by comparing the power of the attack on the chain link, and the total defense of the defending cards on the chain link.
• Second, if the power is greater than the total defense, the damage that will be dealt is equal to the difference. At this point after damage is calculated, but before it is dealt, the power of the attack and the defense of the defending cards now becomes irrelevant.
• Third, replacement effects (such as prevention effects) modify the damage event. If any of the instant cards mentioned prevent damage this way, they create their token now. While the creation of a token here might increase the defense of a defending card, its too late as the damage for the attack has already been calculated and is currently being modified by replacement effects.
• Fourth and finally, if there is still damage to be dealt by the event being modified, the event occurs, and the hero takes damage equal to the remaining amount.

In short, you need to control the token BEFORE damage is calculated if you want to increase the defense of your equipment.

Tyler attacks Nic with a 3-power attack. Nic defends with Stand Ground (currently 0 defense), then plays and resolves Slap-Happy. Damage is calculated to be 3, then Slap-Happy’s effect prevents 2 damage and creates a Vigor token. Stand Ground goes from 0 defense to 1 defense, but at this point it’s too late to recalculate the damage being dealt. Nic is dealt 1 damage, and when the combat chain closes, Stand Ground is destroyed by temper.

Tyler attacks Nic with a 3-power attack with go again. Nic does not defend and plays and resolves Slap-Happy. Damage is calculated to be 3, then Slap-Happy’s effect prevents 2 damage and creates a Vigor token. Nic is dealt 1 damage. Tyler attacks Nic again with a 3-power attack. Nic defends with Stand Ground which now has 1 defense because Nic controls a Vigor token. Damage is calculated to be 2, and there are no more prevention effects so Nic takes 2 damage.