In an effort to most effectively communicate some guidance on card interactions…
Here are a few rulings we’ve made in advance that we wish to share to help players construct their teams and to cut down on potentials delays during the tournament.
If you would like more information on the event itself (start times, prizing, etc.), please visit Earth X Origins Info
If Wizkids rules differently on a particular card/interaction before the tournament begins we will follow their guidance.
Advanced Earth X Origins Rulings –
1. Big E – Powerlifter’s Physique getting Overcrushed
We’ve been given some internal direction here, which we believe is based on the Sept 2014 Dice Masters FAQ from Wizkids which can be found here…
2014 Dice Masters FAQ
It’s the last question before the UXM update that spells out timing, that we think is relevant to the Big E situation. From their answer…after assigning damage, “Damage resolves, damage replacement effects are applied, and any characters with lethal damage are KO’d and moved to the Prep Area at the same time as characters who were unblocked go to the Used Pile. After that, other effects are applied (such as Hulk, Green Goliath’s). Characters go to the Used Pile as soon as they deal damage, before any other effects take place. All other effects then take place.”
Previous rulings on overcrush seem to suggest that it is calculated and applied during the “assign damage/damage resolves” window above. We believe they are thinking that Big E would be a “damage replacement effect” in the above scenario and thus would reduce overcrush damage to 2 before being KO’d and being moved to the Prep Area. So in the case of a level 2 Big E (2A/5D) vs a level 3 Becky Lynch – Straight Fire (8A/8D) who has Overcrush, Becky would apply 3 damage worth of excess overcrushing damage that would be reduced to 2 before Big E would be KO’d.
There have also been a handful of questions about Thanos: Prove Love For Lady Death (9A/9D – with Overcrush and the game text “When Thanos deals Overcrush damage to an opponent, double that damage), and how that might be different in terms of interacting with Big E. We have not been given an official answer on this one yet, but based on the previous Nick Fury – Patch and Wolverine – The Best there Is rulings, we currently believe that Thanos’ ability is like a modification of the Overcrush Keyword itself and would happen and fully resolve in the same window as the Becky example above. (Imagine his ability read something like, Overcursh – When attacking, if this character KOs all of its blockers (or they are removed for other reasons) it deals double the remaining damage to your opponent). So in a scenario where a level 2 Big E (2A/5D) was blocking a level 3 (9A/9D) Thanos, Thanos would have enough to deal 4 remaining to the opponent then, fully resolving his ability that 4 damage is doubled to 8 (all still considered combat damage), before Big E’s abitiy, being a damage replacement effect, would come through the queue and reduce that 8 damage to 2 – before being KO’d. Bottom line Big E would reduce all the incoming damage, post-doubling.
See these rulings for more info…
Overcrush and Captain America, Super Soldier Ruling
Wolverine – The Best There Is Overcrush Ruling
2. Teamwork BAC and multiple affiliations
The Teamwork BAC has long been a source of confusion. In the same September 2014 FAQ cited above they gave us some guidance as to how it should be used. From the FAQ, “If you had an Iron Man, two Thor, and a Hulk in play, each of them would get +2A and +2D. Teamwork identifies that you have 3 different Avengers in play and it doesn’t matter how many copies of those dice are in play. The bonus of Teamwork occurs when played, and doesn’t change if a different number of characters are fielded after it is used.” So first thing to note is that the Teamwork BAC identifies unique characters, not dice as it’s criteria and it’s an applied effect.
As for characters with multiple affiliations, does Teamwork check for them and do they stack? PK and Michaela weighed in on this on Discord in June and I will cite their example and follow their guidance…
From an example where characters had Brotherhood and Villain affiliations. Would they get +2+2?
PK… “If you had a Brotherhood, a Villain, and a B+V… the B+V would get +2 and the others would get +1. The dual affiliation shares a affiliation(s) with 2 characters. The others only share affiliation(s) with one other character (each).
A shares with B, C shares with B, but B shares with both A and C.
But if you had two B+V, each would only get +1 since they only share affiliation(s) with one other character (each).
You count characters not affiliation(s). Ask does this other character share one (or more) affiliation(s)?
More affiliations just gives you more opportunities.”
So, the Teamwork and the Team Up BACs work differently. Team Up counts affiliations. Teamwork counts characters (that share). So if you had 3 Brotherhood-Villain characters in the field and you played Teamwork, each would get +2/+2, not +4/+4.
3. Wild Magic – Can you use it with BACs that have non bursts?
I’m going to follow the precedent of the Morph ruling here (additionally shaded by the weaker option guidance) and say no. Here is a link to the Morph ruling…
WKRF Morph Ruling
See answer to question C.
4. Hope Summers – Copying Rachel Summers
Hope can copy Rachel and per the copying guidelines she replaces the name Rachel with Hope. See the copying guidelines here…
Furthermore, if you had two Rachels in the field (or two Hopes) you could KO a Rachel to trigger the other Rachels’ effect per Jimmy’s answer to Troy’s Facebook post here…
and at the bottom of the show notes for RT 211 https://rollinthunder.xyz/211
Rachel Summers: Prestige reads, “While Rachel Summers is active, if another x-men character is KO’d, KO all other characters (except the Rachel Summers die using this effect).” If a player has 2 Hope Summers: Pluripotent Echopraxia and copies Rachel (or 2 Rachels) and another x-men character (on either side of the board is KO’d – because affiliations are types of dice not subject to the your stuff/my stuff rules), the player who controls the Hope (Rachel) picks one and KOs the rest of their dice, including the other Hope (or Rachel). However, if all of that player’s X-Men (including Hope/Rachel) are KO’d simultaneously then the Rachel effect will not trigger, as she needs to be active to witness the KO for her effect to enter the queue. If both players are running the Hope/Rachel combo, in a type of mirror match, then the board will be wiped because both players Hope/Rachel see the KO and since they are both active both of their effects get to trigger and go into the queue, and after the queue is finished both are gone.
There have been some additional questions as to how Thunderbird – Buffalo Soldier would affect the Hope/Rachel interaction (Thuderbird – Buffalo Soldier reads, “When Thunderbird is KO’d, return any other non-Thunderbird character dice that were KO’d this turn to the field at level 1.”)
Question: if I KO everything with Rachel/Hope, and their Thunderbird resurrects everything, but now Thunderbird is KO’d, can I KO another X-Men character and trigger her again?
For example, if there were two Nihiloor globals, could I KO the board once, and now Thunderbird is KO’d, if I then KO the board a second time, would he no longer resurrect anyone? I.e., he affects all dice that “were” KO’d this turn up until the point at which he is KO’d, but that effect doesn’t last until the end of the turn… correct?
That is correct. Buffalo Soldier is a triggered, non-persistent effect and would not affect a second board wipe in this scenario.
5. Triple H – name a die?
Triple H: The Cerebral Assassin. Card text: “When fielded, name a non-sidekick Superstar die, replacing all previous choices. While Triple H is active, your opponent cannot purchase or field that die.”
2 points –
1) does Triple H have to name a die that is currently on the field?
Background for the question: effects that “target” a die must target a die in the field unless otherwise specified, however, this card says “name”, not “target”, and “name” generally bypasses targeting restrictions on other cards… This leaves me a bit stumped.
2) Does this affect only a specific die, or all copies of a character’s dice?
This, again, has to do with the fact that you must name a die, not a card. However, there are practical limitations to this. What if I name a Mankind on the field, and it ends up in my opponent’s bag where there’s another Mankind die? You can understand how this would lead to bizarre situations…
After a little research, this card’s text was most likely the result of an oversight. Since it includes “purchase” and doesn’t specify “target“, it’s our informed opinion that it should not have said “die” but rather “name a superstar (character) card.” So basically, it was intended to function like a 6 cost version of the Rare Blob (however unlike the Rare Blob which just says “name a card”, Triple H should say “name a Superstard (character) card”, so where Blob can stop the purchasing and fielding of actions as well as characters, Triple H only works on characters and not actions). Because of the potential problems presented in the second part of your question, we’re going to play it as such in this tournament.
6. Can Arnim Zola – Scientist Supreme’s ability stop Overcrush?
Arnim Zola – Scientist Supreme reads “When Arnim Zola would be KO’d, you may pay 1 (generic) to clear all damage from him and return him to the Field Zone at level 1 (this does not trigger any When KO’d effects).”
We’ve been instructed to treat Arnim’s ability much like a version of Regenerate. Based on previous rulings on how Overcrush and Regenerate interact, Arnim’s ability would not prevent Overcrush as he is removed from the field, before any damage is cleared.
See these rulings for more details…
7. Jerry Lawler questions (both the Action Die itself and the global)
Wizkids just ruled on this one here…
WWE Dice Masters Rules Questions
8. Mankind – The Hardcore Legend follow up questions
Mankind – The Hardcore Legend reads, “While Mankind is active, whenever your opponent Preps one or more dice outside their Clear and Draw Step, you may Prep a die from your bag.”
The above ruling from question 7 discusses Mankind. The important part of the ruling for the purposes of this event is found at the end of the last question, “If both players have a Mankind in the field and somebody preps does it create a loop? Or is it implicit that it’s “not including dice prepped from Mankind’s ability”?” Their answer that his “ability is not intended to create a loop when facing a copy of itself nor a character that copies Mankind’s ability,” indicates that it is implicit that his ability was intended to read, “…not including dice prepped from Mankind’s abiltiy.” Bottom line, for this tournament, a die prepped by Mankind’s ability (or a copy of his ability) will not trigger an opponent’s Mankind.
We’ve also had questions about how many dice Mankind will prep if an opponent preps a group of dice with one effect, in other words is it prep 1 die for each die drawn, or prep 1 for each group of dice drawn? (e.g. the Walk With Elias global, which reads Global: Pay mask. Once per turn, on your turn, add 2 Sidekick dice from your Used Pile to your Prep Area.) Would Mankind prep 1 or two dice in this case? Because Mankind reads, “While Mankind is active, whenever your opponent Preps one or more dice outside their Clear and Draw Step, you may Prep a die from your bag,” you would only prep 1 die for each use of Walk With Elias because of the “one or more” and the singular “Prep a die” parts of his text. Bottom line, 1 die Prepped per group of dice Prepped.
9. Walk With Elias unique wording.
The Walk With Elias global reads, “Global: Pay mask. Once per turn, on your turn, add 2 Sidekick dice from your Used Pile to your Prep Area,” which is slightly different from similar globals such as Professor X – To Me, My X-Men, which reads, “Global: Pay mask. Once during your turn, you may Prep up to 2 Sidekick dice from your Used Pile.” Is the Walk With Elias Global still a “do as much as you can” ability? Meaning that if you only had 1 sidekick in your Used Pile, you could still Prep it? What if you had two or more sidekicks there? Could you chose to prep less than 2, say to avoid bag burn?
The Walk With Elias Global is still a “do as much as you can” ability, meaning you could prep a single sidekick if that’s all you had in your Used Pile, however, unlike the Professor X global which says “you may Prep up to 2 Sidekick dice”, Walk With Elias states “add 2 sidekick dice from your Used Pile to your Prep Area,” which means that if you had more than 1 sidekick in your Used Pile and you wanted to use this global you would have to prep 2 sidekicks because it doesn’t have that “up to 2” language.
10. Mastermind – Probationary Member vs. Range/Phantom Stranger.
Mastermind: Probationary Member – Mastermind takes no damage during combat.
Is this another way of saying “while engaged”? Would he take damage from Range or Phantom Stranger’s ability?
We feel Mastermind is a “when engaged” type ability, so yes he would take damage from Range and Phantom Stranger’s ability as those abilities happen before the characters are technically “engaged”.
11. Money in the Bank…
Please don’ t play this card…
But just for the sake of having some consistency in this event, let’s pretend the card text says…
“Play only during the Attack Step. Choose target attacking character die. If that attacker damages the opponent this turn, draw and roll 3 dice (keep any energy results, and place the rest into your Used Pile). If the attacker is unblocked and would go to the Used Pile, Prep it instead.”
12. Mimic – FBS vs a God Catcher token.
I have a rules question for the EXO event concerning Mimic: FBS.
“When Mimic is fielded, choose target opposing character die. Roll Mimic and the chosen die. If either rolls an energy face, KO both character dice. If both roll character faces, KO the opposing die, and all your active Mimic character dice become copies of the chosen die until you no longer have an active Mimic character die or until a new Mimic die is fielded (and a different character die is copied). Your Mimic dice also retain the abilities written on this card.”
Could this be used on a token, specifically a God Catcher. My thoughts are yes, but…
Mimic could target the God Catcher, and only Mimic would reroll since you can’t reroll a token. From there if Mimic rolls energy if corresponds to “if either roll energy, KO both”. If Mimic rolls Character, then the rest fizzles since the token didn’t roll (thus didn’t roll character). In essence it becomes a when fielded 50-50 chance of KOing a God Catcher (or other token).
Your thoughts? I’m going off the mentality of “Do as much as you can” and maybe too liberally.
Answer – because the God Catcher is a token it implicitly has the text, “this character cannot be rerolled” and thus, as a token, it wouldn’t be a valid target for Mimic’s ability. If that seems a stretch, Mimic’s ability would fizzle/abort even if he was able to target a token when it hits the second sentence of his text “Roll Mimic and the chosen die” as that is an impossibility… and his ability as written can’t proceed without checking for the reroll result on both dice. In our eyes, it’s not a “do as much as you can” ability. Nice try though!
13. How to handle spending energy on the double energy faces of Crossover character dice…
Most Crossover characters have a die that has two of its energy types on its double energy sides and a face with a single (1) generic energy. For example, Kevin Nash from the WWE set has (bolt/fist) on his double energy faces and (1) generic on his single energy face. Other examples include Scott Hall and the Green Arrow Flash Crossover characters.
However, some Crossover characters have a Wild (?) face on their single energy side. Two of those characters are in the WWE set – Big E (mask/shield) and Kofi Kingston (fist/mask). Previous examples of dice like this include White Lanterns, Phoenix Storm, etc.
So the question arose that if you roll a crossover character to a double energy side, how can you spend that energy, what does it count as, and when do you have to roll it down to its single energy side (either (1) generic or Wild (?) depending upon the particular crossover die)?
If you are the active player…
At the point you first choose to spend one of the energy, you must make a decision – at that point. You can spin the die down, or keep the second named energy as virtual energy (until you pass priority). In the case of a die with a Wild (?) single energy face, spinning the die down is almost always going to be advantageous, (For Big E, the active player would almost always choose to spin down because that gets them the wild (?) energy) but for a die with a (1) generic single energy face spinning down would likely be disadvantageous.
In an example with Kevin Nash (bolt/fist), say the active player had this Kevin Nash die on its double energy bolt/fist face in their reserve pool and 3 other sidekicks on their shield faces. Say that player wanted to purchase a four cost bolt character, they could chose to use the bolt on the Kevin Nash die and must either chose to spin that crossover die down to its (1) generic side (which would survive past passing priority), or they could use the bolt to help buy the 4 cost bolt character (using the 3 shield energy sidekicks to complete the cost) and they could chose to have a virtual fist energy, which could be used before passing priority (perhaps to pay for the Atlas global?) but if that player passes priority before using this virtual energy – it disappears. (see rulebook quote below)
The active player can decide if they would rather have both named energy or the ability to save one energy past priority. But they choose when they spend the first one. Remember virtual energy is lost when you pass priority. It adds a wrinkle into the strategy of how and when to use these dice as they have strengths and weaknesses.
If you are the inactive player…
The inactive player can only do one global ability at a time before passing back to the active player. In the case where they had saved a Basic Action Die on a (2) generic energy face, if the inactive player uses (1) of those generic energy to pay for a (1) cost generic global ability the other virtual energy would be lost when they passed priority because those Basic Action Dice don’t have a single energy side and thus create virtual energy when partially spent and virtual energy, unlike energy on a die face is lost when you pass priority.
However, Crossover characters have single energy sides so vanishing virtual energy isn’t an issue for them as the inactive player.
Here are two examples –
Example one – the inactive player has a Kofi die on a double energy face in the reserve pool (mask/fist). During the global window of the attack step the active player attacks with two dice. The inactive player chooses not to block. Static field is on the table. The active player pumps his attacking character dice with the invulnerability global and then passes priority. The inactive player uses the mask on the Kofi die for static field and then spins the die down to the ? side and passes back. The active player pumps again, then passes back, at which point the inactive uses the single energy wild (?) to static field back the other die.
Example two… this time the inactive player has a Kevin Nash die (bolt/fist) in his reserve pool. The Wallop BAC is on the table. The active player attacks with two dice, one of them with Overcrush. The inactive player blocks them both. The active player passes priority. The inactive player pays the fist from the Kevin Nash die to pay for the Wallop and spins it down to its (1) generic energy face before passing priority back. The active player then pumps their die that was not blocked by the die that was given Wallop, and passes back. As there is no generic energy global on the table the inactive player is left with this “unusable” energy.
