This may be obvious to some, but I’m trying to parse words correctly before I get face rolled in a tournament this weekend.

1) Snitch reads: “Once per run, you may expose an unrezzed piece of ice when you approach it. You may then jack out.”

2) Blackguard reads: “Whenever you expose a card, the Corp must rez it by paying its rez cost, if able”.

I have discerned from a thread over on reddit that “rez cost” does NOT include “additional cost” - ergo Blackguard cannot be used to force the corp to rez Archer.

BUT.

Where I am still confused:

Timing Structure of a Run, as per v1.3 of the FAQ, states that the runner’s window to decide to jack out or not is BEFORE ice is rezzed (step 2.2, ICE is rezzed on 2.3). However, Blackguard makes ice rezzed (I guess, since “when” is a vague word sometimes) on step 2.2 - ahead of usual, and coincident with the usual step when the runner can decide to continue or not.

So the question: do subroutines on the force rezzed piece of ice fire BEFORE the runner can jack out via Snitch? Snitch by itself just exposes, but Blackguard now makes that ice "turned on" so are we now actually in the middle of encountering?

The specific setup which led me to this question was Snitching/Blackguarding Whirlpool as the outermost piece of ice, who’s “cannot” would trump Snitch’s “may”. But if that subroutine doesn’t fire due to the forced rez on Step 2.2 when Blackguard fires, then it doesn’t matter.

The ice is still rezzed during the "Approach" window, and Snitch provides the means to jack out before proceeding to "encounter" said ice.

More detail in a moment.

Short answer is subroutines don't resolve unless you encounter the ICE and fail to break them. Snitch allows you to jack out before you've encountered it.

I'd say more but I just realised Grimwalker is adding info, so I'll leave it to him

Important Side Note: Can we confirm or deny that Blackguard doesn't make you forfeit the Agenda to Rez Archer, and therefore you don't spend the 4 Credits either?

That is correct, several people on BGG, including myself, submitted the question to Lukas and that was the response.

Snitch and Blackguard don't alter the timing structure of a run, the runner will always jack out on step 2.2 (approach, but Snitch provides the ability for the runner to jack out even if this is the first piece of ICE).

In the case with Snitch and Blackguard, if the runner uses Snitch on approaching ICE X, the Corp must then rez ICE X if able (additional costs not withstanding). The Runner can then choose to jack out, otherwise the run proceeds to step 3 (encounter) upon which the usual interaction between icebreakers, ICE and the Runner will take place.

i.e. with Whirlpool the Corp would be forced to rez it and the runner could then just jack out prior to its trap routine from executing.

Thanks for clarification!

Important Side Note: Can we confirm or deny that Blackguard doesn't make you forfeit the Agenda to Rez Archer, and therefore you don't spend the 4 Credits either?

That is correct, several people on BGG, including myself, submitted the question to Lukas and that was the response.

Can this be restated without so many negatives, please?

Blackguard cannot force Rez an Archer.

Blackguard forces you to pay the Rez cost, so if there are additional costs, the "if able" kicks in because paying just the Rez cost won't rez the ice. If you're not able, then you're exempt from the "must" clause.

As always, it's important to note that some cards either modify the Rez cost (rook, Xanadu) while others impose separate Additional Costs. (Cortez Chip, Archer). Rez Cost is the number of credits printed in the corner in the jaggy purple thing. Don't know if it was mentioned up the thread, I'm just at the point where I bang the drum in pretty much every post where this comes up.

It's also worth mentioning that the Corp MAY choose to pay the additional cost and allow Blackguard to trigger. The choice is the Corp's.

Thanks for the clarification

Actually I disagree. I think if the corp is in a position where Blackguard does not apply, then you are simply left with the default timing chart that says you can only rez ice when the runner encounters it.

Blackguard says you must rez it by paying the Rez cost, if able. It doesn't say you //may// pay additional costs.

The response I got from Lukas when I asked the question was that the Corp MAY decline to pay the additional cost. By extentsion that means they may choose otherwise.

Rules-wise, I would interpret as follows:

The runner snitches an Archer with Blackguard installs. Blacguard is triggered, so the Corp must rez by paying rez cost, if able.

Option 1) The Corp chooses to forfeit a Hostile Takeover, meaning now they MUST rez by paying the rez cost, as they are now able to do so.

Option 2) The Corp chooses not to forfeit an Agenda, meaning they are unable to rez by paying the rez cost, and so do nothing.

Wow. That really reduces the effectiveness of Blackguard. I had a friend run it against my Weyland deck, and it wasn't a problem because I gained so much money. The only issue was Archer. Now I don't even care about that!