Playing the Khazad-Dum and got dealt this as a shadow card. "Shadow: If the defending character is an ally, discard it from play."
Since it makes you discard the ally who is defending, is this now undefended?
Shadow: If the defending character is an ally, discard it from play.
Yes it is undefended. This shadow card is a real hero killer.
Brutal.
Brutal.
Especially when many of those goblins undefended attacks gain 2 attack, which brings them up to 4 or 5 damage. It adds alot of suspense when defending with an ally, i try to avoid it at all costs.
How do you know this tracker? the rules state
2. Declare defender. A character must exhaust to
be declared as a defender. Only one character can
be declared as a defender against each attacking
enemy. A player also has the option to let an attack go
undefended, and declare no defenders for that attack.
Unless a card effect specifies otherwise, players can
only declare defenders against enemies with whom
they are engaged.
Which would mean that once an ally is declared as a blocker, the creature no longer has the status of being undefended.
It's pretty common knowledge that when a character leaves play during an attack, they no longer "exist" for the calculations in the remainders of the steps for defense resolution. There's no defense value, no HP value, etc. The attack simply becomes undefended.
I looked around and couldn't find an official ruling about characters leaving play, but here is one about characters becoming "unconscious" (something that happens only in the Flies and Spiders quest-- thanks to alogos for putting this in his FAQ):
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/1025953/character-turn-into-unconscious-during-enemy-attac
"Q: This question pertains to the "Flies and Spiders" scenario of 'On the Doorstep'. During the combat phase, I declare a character with 1 hit point (printed cost on card) as a defender against an enemy with the Venom trait. A shadow card is dealt to the attacking enemy that has the shadow effect that deals 1 poison to the defending character, which makes the character unconscious. Is the attack now undefended because unconscious characters can not defend, or is the attack still considered defended because the defender has already been declared (step 2 of 'Resolving Enemy Attack' on p. 18 of the rules)?
A: I'm afraid that if your defender becomes unconscious before the attack resolves, then the attack is considered undefended."
Page 18 of the Core Rule Book:
"If a defending character leaves
play or is removed from combat before damage is
assigned, the attack is considered undefended"
Sometimes the answer is closer than you think 
Edited by Nerdmeister
I don't like the idea that even though you declare a defender it would become undefended - especially if that means attack bonuses. Just doesn't really make sense to me that you could defend against an attack, but then when a shadow card removed that defender, it goes back again and gives the original attack a bonus (in the case of some goblins). But I guess it does add another element of surprise and challenge to the game.
Yeah this is super brutal when this happens but is how the game should be played out if you follow all the rules. This is why having extra readying abilities is so crucial.
Yeah this is super brutal when this happens but is how the game should be played out if you follow all the rules. This is why having extra readying abilities is so crucial.
Curious, how would readying abilities help with this? You don't get a change to declare another defender after the shadow card, as each character defends against a single attack and your ally just defended. Unless you mean just limiting defense to only your heroes.
Yeah this is super brutal when this happens but is how the game should be played out if you follow all the rules. This is why having extra readying abilities is so crucial.
Curious, how would readying abilities help with this? You don't get a change to declare another defender after the shadow card, as each character defends against a single attack and your ally just defended. Unless you mean just limiting defense to only your heroes.
Oh yeah nevermind, I was thinking for some reason another character could then defend but they definitely cannot for this shadow effect. It's been a long time since I played those Khazad-Dum scenarios and I probably played out this shadow effect wrong letting another person step in to defend (which is obviously not allowed).. this shadow effect is terrible!!
It is not terrible, if you defend with an hero it is very good shadow.
I currently use a Leadership/Lore dwarf deck when I am in Moria. There are many shadow canceling cards in those spheres I have at my disposal. Such as (my favorite one) A Burning Brand, Dawn Take You All, and Dunedain Watcher. For myself, I found these cards essentially necessary to complete The Seventh Level, due to the shadow effects of the enemy cards which allow most of them to be added to the staging area.