Rules Roundup 2019-07-29
- Questions
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How does Predaking hold five weapons? Does he wad them up into a ball and throw them at his opponents? Besides, those are really big hands -- it's not like he'll be able to squeeze five triggers at once let alone one. How would one wield, like, three axes anyway? Or three Drill Arms? Oh god.One finger per trigger.
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Concerning “start of turn” effects timing around the drawing 1 card from the general card rules: which of the following is true:
You Draw 1 card from general game rules, then activate Start of Turn Effects (like Omnibots’ start of turn effects playing upgrades).
2. You activate Start of Turn Effects, then Draw 1 card from general game rules.
3. Drawing 1 Card from general game rules counts as a Start of Turn Effect, and can be resolved in the order of the player's choosing.1. -
If you have Energy Pack on an 11-star character who is nearly dead, then attach Erratic Energy Grenade, removing Energy Pack, which KO’s your character automatically since their health bonus is no longer there, does Erratic Energy Grenade’s second effect still activate?Yes, Erratic Energy’s Grenade’s second effect would still activate in this scenario. Erratic Energy Grenade replaces Energy Pack without anything happening in between.
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If I use Recover Cassette to put a Mini-Cassette under Major Soundwave, what happens to the Mini-Cassette when Major Soundwave is KO’d?It stays under Major Soundwave.
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Yes. Secret Actions are actions.
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If Optimus Prime - Battlefield Legend plays an orange battle icon card off his flips, and I reveal Infiltrate to scrap it, does the battle icon still count when calculating attack/defense and damage?The orange battle icon card increases OPBL’s attack after it is flipped. Removing the card from the played area after it’s flipped doesn’t change that.
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Can you use Major Shockwave’s bot mode ability to plays cards from the top of your deck if you go first and it’s the first turn?Nope!
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If I use Swap Missions to untap a tapper character and then tap an untapped character, and that same untapped character has a tap ability – does Swap Missions trigger that tapped ability?No, tap abilities (ones with the tap symbol) happen when the player activates them on their turn and don’t happen if the character is tapped in any other way.
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Yes!
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can put Decepticon Cassettes underneath Blaster and vice-versa with Soundwave since they are "Mini-Cassettes". Does this count as starting the game with Decepticon characters or Autobot characters or are they effectively "out of the game"?Yes, any Mini-Cassette can be put under Blaster or Soundwave regardless of faction. Any Mini-Cassettes you start the game with count toward your starting team. For example, if your starting team has Decepticon characters (including Soundwave) and Autobot Mini-Cassettes, any effect that cares about your starting team being all Decepticons, would not work.
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Similarly, if Blaster or Soundwave are KO'd whilst still having Mini-Cassettes beneath them, are the Mini-Cassettes KO'd as well?They remain beneath their deployer wherever it physically goes. For example, if Soundwave was KO’d with Buzzsaw still under him, you would have Soundwave in KO, fully damaged with Buzzsaw underneath him with no damage. You could not I Still Function Buzzsaw, but if you ISF’d Soundwave, Buzzsaw would remain underneath him when Soundwave returned to the battlefield. At the end of the turn, when Soundwave is KO’d again, Buzzsaw would return to KO with him unless you had deployed Buzzsaw during that turn, in which case, Buzzsaw would remain on the battlefield.
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Do character abilities still trigger if the requirements are met through cards played but negated by the opponent or otherwise?
For example, Wave 1 Thundercracker’s bot mode ability --> Player 1 uses Supercharge, but player 2 reveals Infiltrate and negates Supercharge. Does Thundercracker's ability still trigger because an action was played? Meaning he would indeed get +1?The Infiltrate will scrap the action you played and negate its effect, but Thundercracker’s ability still triggers because you played an action.This is also true for other cards that cancel an Action, such as Jam Signals, Overrule, and Speed Trap, and for any other effects (like Thundercracker) related to playing a card. -
Blaster and Soundwave have the ability to add the cassettes from your starting line up under three when the game starts. This is different to Metroplex text because the card under him start under him and aren’t in your lineup. So, if you play either blaster or sound wave with all three cassettes it would make your starting lineup 25 stars. Since both have the text your star cost is then raised by one when does that mean you can only play Blaster/Soundwave with two cassettes? Seeing as 10 + (5+1) + (5+1) would equal 22, there for having the exact number of star cards for each theme deck bringing it to its cap of 25 stars. Would this be correct, or am I reading the card wrong?Each mini-cassette you play with a deployer adds 1 star to your star limit above 25, up to 28. You are allowed to add 1-3 stars depending on how many Mini-Cassettes you play with a deployer.
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When I attack with Cosmos in bot mode and then Anticipation Engine activates and I flip Rapid Conversion and flip him to alt mode. Would his KO effect take place since he’s no longer in bot mode? And I no longer have cards in my deck?If during Cosmos’ attack, Anticipation Engine reveals Rapid Conversion as the last card in your deck, and you play it, you will immediately shuffle your deck, triggering Cosmos’ ability, then flip Cosmos to Alt Mode.
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Energy Pack reads "The upgraded character has +4 health." When I play this on a character does the character get an immediate 4 to its health? Or does it just increase the health total?Gaining +4 health has no effect on the amount of damage counters a character has. For example, if you had a character with 10 health and 3 damage counters, upgrading it with Energy Pack results in it having 14 health and 3 damage counters.
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The cards Dismantling Claw, Reactive Armor and Personal Targeting Drone say "When this upgrade is scrapped from a character...". Do these effects trigger when the character is KO'd and the upgrade goes to the scrap pile? Do these effects trigger when you replace the upgrade and it goes to the scrap pile?Yes and yes.
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No. When in Upgrade mode, Battle Masters do not count as characters, so they would not be counted by Emergency Maintenance on the battlefield or in the KO area.
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Say I have a weapon on a character and Backup Bag as well. For my turn I placed a different or same weapon on the same character. But because I already have a weapon taken up does the original weapon get scrapped or can I keep both weapons and scrap Backup Bag instead?Playing the new weapon causes the old weapon to be scrapped, but it’s the rules of the game that are doing this, not an effect of the new weapon. Backup Bag affects only cards such as Salvage for Parts or Grenade Launcher.
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If I play a card that allows me to play an upgrade, can I play a Superior Plating/Jetpack/Cannon without needing to play Tech Research?No.
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My opponent has attacked me, and I reveal the Secret Action Bolster. I use Bolster to attach a Multi-Mission Gear to a Specialist. I then use the Action granted by Multi-Mission Gear to play All-Out Attack. World implodes, right?Your characters can never attack on your opponent’s turn, even if a card seems to say otherwise. Same rules apply even in the event of a galactic implosion and resulting gravitational chaos.
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When I equip Erratic Energy Grenade, do I subtract one health right away? Is the beginning of my turn after everyone is tapped and I reset all the characters, and then that's when I subtract one health? Or is my turn right after my opponent finishes their attack?Erratic Energy Grenade does 1 damage at the beginning of your turn.
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How do I use a Micromaster’s tap ability? Let's say Raider Detour. I tap Raider Detour, then scrap a card with a blue battle icon, and draw my 2 cards. Does that mean I have used Raider Detour and now I attack with one of my other characters?You can still play an Action or Upgrade if you haven’t and would like to, but then you can move on. Each turn, you can use one tap ability. Raider Detour will not be able to attack because he is tapped. However if he were untapped somehow, he would still be able to attack.
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My friends and I played a game where Metroplex had Six-Gun deployed in alt mode. The defending player had a tapped character with 1 health left and an untapped, undamaged character. Metroplex converted into bot mode and attacked the character, and Six-Gun's ability KO’d the defending character. Does Metroplex still flip battle cards to see if it can use the bot mode ability or does the death of the tapped character mean the attack stops?No, Metroplex does not flip battle cards in this scenario.
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The question I have today is in regard to attacking with Anticipation Engine. I am playing with a combiner team, and I have just converted my last character. I don't have the Enigma in my hand to play it, so I play a different action instead. I attack using a character with Anticipation Engine, and flip the Enigma. Am I able to play it, transform, and continue the attack with the Combiner, or does my attack get cancelled and it becomes my opponent's turn? (This is because the Enigma has the Combiner enter play untapped) Update to the question, as I see it was already answered in a previous Rules Round-up.
Anticipation Engine + Enigma = Transformed and attacking, but untapped
You said the character was untapped, but still attacking. Does this mean that my opponent can only attack with one character if they have multiple available?Yes, your opponent can attack with only one character. -
Ransack - Insecticon Commando's alt mode flip ability says to move 2 damage counters from another character onto him. Does that include enemy characters? Assuming, of course, that I have a good reason to heal my opponent?Yes, you can move damage from an opponent’s character onto Ransack, should you be so bold.
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LV Gamma-Disruptor Launcher states that up to 2 of them can fit in one Weapon Slot. If I were to play a 3rd one, would it replace the 2 already in the Weapon Slot or would it only replace 1 of them?It would only replace one of the previously equipped two.
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In the FAQ it says that Sergeant Cog, as a Weaponizer, interacts with cards in the same manner as a Battle Master. The battle card Quartermaster specifies recalling a KO'd Battle Master in weapon mode. Will this be able to target Heavy Force Defensebreaker Cannon in the KO pile the same way it would target a Battle Master?No, it is a Weaponizer and not a Battle Master.
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Question about green battle icons and how the work. The text on a card with a green icon says "After a battle, you swap a card from your hand with a green icon you flipped" does this mean since Swarm makes you flip the battle cards. Can you grab a green icon you flipped for Swarm after you battle?No, only cards with green battle icons that you flipped during that battle can be retrieved after the battle.
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Blaster vs. Soundwave. Ravage is in the KO area. Step #1, I play brainstorm. Step #2, I play I Still Function, which brings him back with 1 health. Step #3, I play Recover Cassette, which puts him under Soundwave to heal 2 damage. Now for the question: does I Still Function resolve and Ravage goes back into the KO area? Or does Ravage bypass that effect, thus he is not KO’d?Ravage is not KO’d. I Still Function does not find him on the battlefield.
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Can a 13-star character be put in the sideboard for a Metroplex deck and still fight with Metro's friends, swapping Metroplex out?You can have a 13-star character in your sideboard. However, Metroplex’s 3 component bots enter the game only if Metroplex is your starting character. This means you could play the next game with only the 13-star character as your team, but this sounds unwise.
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When I flip Blaster to his Bot Mode and Deploy a Mini-Cassette, am I required to play the top card of my deck? If not, can I look at it first?Yes, you must play the top card of your deck if you are able.
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Does Battering Ram function like Cornered! when attacking, so that your opponent gets the ability of the mode flipped to? For example, General Optimus Prime has Battering Ram and hits my Nemesis, flipping him to alt mode. So now my opponent should assign 2 damage to a character of his choice, correct?Yes. Battering Ram causes your opponent to flip the character, so abilities like Nemesis’ will trigger.
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If I have Autobot Hot Rod with the AirQuake Hammerclaw, Spare Parts, and Bashing Shield equipped (and no other equipment) and my opponent hits me with a Bashing Shield of their own, am I required to scrap the Spare Parts?Yes. Their Bashing Shield would try to scrap your Bashing Shield, and Spare Parts would heroically leap in the way. Using Spare Parts in this scenario is not optional. Thank you, Spare Parts.
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If I play Multi-Mission Gear on Private Camshaft first thing on my first turn, then use that to play Treasure Hunt, would the weapons & armor I draw be valid to put on my Omnibots in that "At the start of your first turn > You may play a..." window?Yes, after you’re done with Private Camshaft’s ability (including the Treasure Hunt it let you play) you would then handle other Omnibot abilities that trigger “at the start of your first turn.”
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Once a Battle Master is in the KO pile does it still count as a character while in it's upgrade mode? Can I bring it back to the field with ISF? Is it forced back into bot mode to take the damage if it can? If not does it automatically equip? if it can equip, is it forced to ko pile at the end of the turn?No, no, not applicable, not applicable, not applicable.
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If I have Captain Starscream in bot mode, and I play Vandalize, and scrapping, say, two upgrades on Enemy 1 and one upgrade on Enemy 2, do I then do two damage to Enemy 1, and one damage to Enemy 2?Correct.
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Are there any requirements to have the Constructicon Tower in play? Is a single Constructicon sufficient?You must have Scrapper on your team to start the game with the Tower in your KO area.
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I'm playing Major Soundwave with Raider Ravage and Raider Laserbeak. It's my turn and all of my characters are untapped and in Bot mode. All of my opponents characters are tapped. I attack, or use the tap ability, of both Ravage and Laserbeak, then attack last with Soundwave, triggering his "When this attacks -- Untap each of your Spy Patrols" ability, which untaps Ravage and Laserbeak. After Soundwave's attack, since they were untapped before my turn ended, can I attack/tap again with Ravage and Laserbeak?You can attack again, but you cannot use tap abilities once you’ve started attacking.
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In sanctioned play, if my main deck team consists of General Optimus (Wave 3), Sentinel Ironhide (Wave 2), and Sentinel Prowl (Wave 2), and I have Sentinel Optimus (Wave 2) in my sideboard, can I exchange Optimuses (Optimi?) between games and still get the remaining Sentinels in my KO Area for an Optimus Maximus plan game 2?Yes.
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If I have Jazz equipped with Point Defense System while defending against an enemy with exactly 2 pierce after combat flips, will this enable Jazz's ability to trigger if I flipped 2 white icons?No. Point Defense System doesn’t cause a character to gain or lose pierce. The attacking character with pierce 2 will have its pierce reduced to 0, but it still has pierce. RIP Jazz.
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So Major Shockwave's ability where he can play Decepticon cards or secret actions on the top of the player's deck as though they were in the player's hand, does this mean at any time since his other ability allows the player to look at the top of their deck at any time? So during attacks or while defending, and during my opponents turn can I play these cards as long as they're on the top of my deck? Or do these actions and upgrades count as the action and upgrade for the turn? And finally, can it only be done once a turn, or any number of times if I have three or so of those cards in a row on top of my deck?Major Shockwave’s ability doesn’t change when you can play any card. If you play an action from the top of your deck this way, that is your one action for that turn. If another effect allows you to play additional actions, you can keep playing them from the top of your deck, if applicable.
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Yes.
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I have run into a situation where my deck had no cards and no discard pile to shuffle in. We ruled it as when I attacked or defended, I had no cards to flip so I added 0 to my attack and defense. We were wondering if this would be a proper ruling. Second, for the card Inverted. It says that for each orange pip you flip becomes a blue pip and vice versa. For cards that rely on you flipping a certain color pip, do the pips flipped count as what they are or the inverted color?When you have no deck left, you just don’t flip any cards. Inverted’s effect applies immediately. For example, if an ability triggers whenever you flip two orange icons, and you flip two blue icons under Inverted (meaning the cards literally have blue icons printed on them), that ability will trigger.
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Character X attacks with Anticipation Engine. They flip Supercharge. Is Bold 3 applied and will they flip 3 extra cards? Bold/Tough are locked in once the first battle flip begins?Anticipation Engine’s ability triggers before you flip battle cards, therefore Supercharge will increase your bold.
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When Bumblebee - Legendary Warrior flips to alt mode to trigger its effect, does he still have to attack a tapped "Brave" character?Bumblebee can now attack any character, tapped or untapped. So if there’s a character with Brave, Bumblebee must attack it. If there are multiple characters with Brave, Bumblebee must attack one of them. Your choice.
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I play Full Loadout on Wave 1 Wheeljack in Alt Mode. I play Multi-Tool, Multi-Mission Gear, and Field Communicator onto him. How are the triggers handled? Do I resolve each Upgrade and Wheeljack trigger mid-Loadout, or do I wait until I play all three upgrades then resolve the six triggers?Full Loadout will put all three upgrades onto Wheeljack. You then handle all of the triggers in an order of your choosing.
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With the Omnibots' "Start of Your First Turn" triggers, do I play the appropriate upgrades before or after I draw my card for the turn?After.
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How does Brainstorm work, exactly? Do I play the two actions from my hand immediately, then resolve them, or do I resolve the first action before playing and resolving the second action? What if a character's trigger happens between actions, such as Wave 1 Thundercracker? Are triggers resolved before or after the action that triggers them?You play one action from your hand, then you play the second, then resolve the triggers caused by those actions.
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I have a team of all Autobots, including Captain Wheeljack in bot mode. I play Brainstorm, and as the first action, play Confidence. Do I play my second action for Brainstorm now, or do I resolve Confidence first and play an action via Confidence? Either way, this will trigger Captain Wheeljack’s "When you play your third action" ability. Do I draw the card for that immediately, or do I wait until all the actions played via Confidence and Brainstorm have resolved?Finish Confidence first (including possibly playing another action), then play your second action for Brainstorm. After that’s done, all abilities that triggered while Brainstorm was resolving happen in an order of your choosing.
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If Blurr attacks and deals damage thus triggering his effect, if the only untapped character(s) left have stealth, will Blurr not untap? Or will it still untap and just not attack again?Blurr will untap and Blurr will attack one of the characters that has stealth.
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