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Rule · 400.8

Answering a question about a card

A repeatable method. Work the printed lines, not the card's reputation.

This rule is part of the Comprehensive Rules, where every cross-reference resolves in one page.

  1. 400.8-1Split the printed ability into lines. Mark each line as a keyword, a rider, a conditional rider, or a Passive.
  2. 400.8-2Place each line into a lane using 400.7. Note in particular that Maim and Cull always land after the hit, and Crush always lands before it.
  3. 400.8-3For each line in question, resolve its amount using 400.2, then apply any "per" multiplier using 400.3 — sampling the count at the point in the sequence where that line resolves.
  4. 400.8-4Check each condition at that same point using 400.4. A condition that was true at the start of the activation may be false by the time the clause resolves.
  5. 400.8-5Apply the recipient gates in 400.5 and 700.3. A dead, Entrapped, Dormant, or untargetable recipient receives nothing.
  6. 400.8-6Apply the keyword's own rules from chapter 800, and any immunity from 700.4.
  7. 400.8-7Push the result through the damage or recovery pipeline in 500.1 or 500.3, in that order — Armor, Insurance, Shield, Vitality for damage; capacity then Maim for recovery.
  1. 400.8aThe most common wrong answer comes from sampling a count too early. Counts are always read at the point the clause resolves.
  2. 400.8bThe second most common comes from forgetting that a unit killed by this activation is gone before every post-damage clause resolves.
  3. 400.8cThe third comes from assuming a zero count still produces the minimum amount. It does not.
Worked example
  1. Take an ability printed as: "Deal {power} damage / Burn {burn_amount} / Restore {heal_amount} vitality to allies per Burning enemy", where the card marks both riders as post-damage.
  2. Question: if this ability's damage kills its target, and no other enemy is Burning, does it restore any Vitality?
  3. Lane: both riders are post-damage, so both resolve after the hit, in printed order (400.7).
  4. The hit resolves and the target dies.
  5. The Burn rider resolves against a dead target and is refused — a status is never applied to a dead unit (700.3).
  6. The heal rider samples "per Burning enemy" now. The dead target is not a living targetable enemy, so it does not count (400.3).
  7. With no other Burning enemy, the count is 0, so the clause resolves to 0 and is not floored to 1 (400.3).
  8. Answer: no Vitality is restored.
  9. Change one fact and the answer changes: if a second enemy is Burning when the heal resolves, the count is 1 and allies are healed for the resolved amount. If the same card were printed with the heal in the activation lane instead, it would sample the count before the hit, while the target was still alive and not yet Burning from this activation.

See also Burn Maim Cull

In 400 Reading Ability Text