this is an odd problem. Player A had merlin and Player B tried to use aerora. PLayer A went to merlin the aerora but-now heres the problem- Player A said the person still had to "pay the cost of the card" which in Player A said was discarding a world card. menaing PLayer B had to discard a world before they could play aerora for its effect to even happen and that merlin comes in effect between the "cost" and the effect. i made the ruling that the order Player A suggested was wrong. i said that discarding the world was an effect of the card and that merlin blocks its effects so merlin negates the discarding of the world. Player A was basing their argument off yu-gi-oh rules and how you have to pay costs of cards and then the card could get negated. i felt that becasue it says nowhere in any rulebook ive seen for this game has it ever mentioned anything having a cost. also this isnt yu-gi-oh its KH. i feel very strongly on the order of events and that it would not make sense for Player A's idea to work. i understand that in order to play any of the cards you still must be able to discard the world/what ever else it says to do but i feel merlin stops people from having to play said "costs". this is not in the comprehensive ruling thread or anywhere else so im posting it. if i am wrong on the ruling i made i would like to know why.

thanks

this aint yugioh there is no cost of activation besides having the correct caster in play at the time

While I agree this isn't Yugioh, there are still cards that have a cost to play them aside from their magic values in Kingdom Hearts TCG. Jaffer declared this earlier on after the cards had come out (I know I read it somewhere, so I'll have to look for it if you don't believe me, 'n I would be more than happy to help any confusions). The first part of the card (the cost) has to be pay'd in order for the second part (the effect) to kick in.

Take Aerora for example. It says: 'Discard a card from your hand. [Right off the bat, you have a cost, plain as day] Choose two World Cards with no Dark Cards on them in your opponent's World Card Area and switch their positions. [Looks like an effect to me, 'n a pretty simple one, too] Note: This card can only be used during your Action Phase and only once during that phase.'

Makes sense, right? But what about Aero? Why is it different? Let's see:

Aero states: 'Each player chooses and discards a card from his/her hand.'

Not really a 'cost/effect' card, right? But what if FFG were to have written it to sound like: 'Discard a card from your hand. Your opponent must discard a card from his/her hand.'

Same kind of effect, but different wordin, aye? In the second one, it has a 'cost/effect' scenerio. It's the wordin that makes it different. Aero doesn't have a cost because of how it's originally written, but Aerora does. There are a lot of 'cost/effect' cards in Kingdom Hearts. Heck, Atlantica lvl 3 has a 'cost/effect' even, 'n it's a world card. Cost: Discard two friends. Effect: Play the card. Chip 'n Dale are also a 'cost/effect' card, and it's a friend card. Cost: Discard this card from friend area. Effect: Shuffle discard pile 'n deck together. But you have to look at it from the right angle in order for it to make sense. In your scenerio, I would have to state that the cost would have to be pay'd first before the effect can take place. Merlin merely negates the effect of a card, not the cost. And since you have to pay the cost before you can play the card... well, you do the math.

Tis but my two cents. I hope this helps!

yes but cards like atlantica lvl3 say to activatye or play this card thats an activation effect, it was wordong like aerora that ruined alot of cards and brought on bad changes in yugioh, the card aerora is activated when you play it with the correct caster merlin says negate the card basically it was never played or has no txt at all, if they want to give activation costs they should say it like on atlantica lvl3 thats a real activation cost. now if ffg has said the ruling on aerora is as so( you have an activation cost) then i will go with it but if not all the discard is is a negative effect to balance out the good effect of aerora or else you can knock off worlds with out hurting yourself. and i was talking about magic cards only when i made the fiorst comment, yeah alot of cards have activation cost, cid atlantica chip/dale fairy godmother but in away they are all like merlin discard this card to do something so in a way even merlin is a cost activation card.

I wish to state that I'm not wantin to start an argument or such. Rather, I'd like to figure out how to play the game correctly so we can continue to enjoy it.

If you scroll down to the magic section of the Comprehensive Guide (also in the Rules Discussion section [link: http://new.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=94&efcid=5&efidt=5510 ]), you'll find the followin question:

Q: For Aerora and Aeroga, if you have no cards in your hand after playing this card, do you still get the effect?
A: No. Discarding cards for Aerora or Aeroga is an additional cost.

Unless they mean that the total effect of Aeroga 'n Aerora is what's written in the card base, then I would naturally assume that the cost (as declared an 'additional cost' in the questionaire) would start off to be both havin the right level caster and discardin the cards. I would believe this to be the case, since it's such a powerful effect, 'n would require there to be a downside to it for card playin fairness. But if I'm wrong, then I retract my entire case 'n points.

i understand where you are coming from completly but heres how i view some of the cards mentioned above. i play atlantica lvl 3 the effect of that card coming into play is me discarding 2 friends. now if its effect cant go through then the card cannot be played. chip and dale - i can activate their effect and while activating thier effect i remove it from game. fairy godmother is the same. but now as for the rulings guide you found i knew about that. i feel its different becasue -your going to hate me but- in yu gi the rules clearly define cards that have costs and etc. but in KH thier is nothing really like so i take it at face value and feel that the wording on a card is its effect. ill use aerora-i think thats it if it isnt then i just put in the wrong name. ok i go to use it but i cannot discard a card from my hand so therefore one of the many effects of the card cannot go through so neither can the rest therefore making the card unplayable. i do not view this game as having costs becasue i feel the cards only have effects. basically what you are calling a cost i am calling an effect of the card and therefore merlin negates effects including discarding and etc.

also kind of as a side note i would feel leon couldnt cast gravity but they said he could so hes an exception.

as you said that cards with such powerful effects require a downside and i feel that the cards is the discarding part.

okay i re-read my post and feel it may be confusing but i left it there in case you understood it but heres a pretty simple version.

Q: Can I play Aero if I have no cards in hand?
A: Yes, as you do not have to satisfy all of the cards text to play it.

Q: For Aerora and Aeroga, if you have no cards in your hand after playing this card, do you still get the effect?
A: No. Discarding cards for Aerora or Aeroga is an additional cost.

those are the quptes for those 2 questions. aero says you do not need to satisfy the conditions and aeroga/ra say they must discard becasue its an addtional cost. im going to make an order of events to show how i feel this should play out. 1. i draw Aeroga. 2. i play aeroga 3, i discard the cost. 4. effect goes through. i would say merlin would come in at about 2.5. once the card hits the field he jumps on it like a granade so no damage is done-just to him. now the other view is that it would come into play at 3.5 which means the card has hit the field its cost goes through and then merlin. i feel 3.5 is wrong becasue the effect of the card has already started. i really hope this cleared it up.

idk if this makes sense but i was thinking. okay merlin can stop simba and genie 4 becasue of their comes into play effect. so merlin comes in before any effets on the card come in and after it hits the field. so i think that reinforces the merlin coming in at like 2.5

Whichever the way you would like to play it, go right ahead. I 'n my friends have often play'd our versions of the games where the card texts are kind of like instants in Magic, even though we clearly know that they can't be that way (ie: Tidus bein discarded on your opponent's turn, etc..). However, I would much rather have this brought up to either a moderator (Maester Dawn or Maester Lawlet) or Jaffer himself. This way we can play the card correctly, aye?

By what I'm seein it as, you state that Merlin should be able to negate the entire card text, regardless of discard costs. I state that Merlin's effect goes in after you play both costs at once (ie: in order to play the card, you must have a high enough magic caster 'n discard the card(s) first in order to play it).

I certainly hope we can have this clear'd up soon!

Got room for one more?

Merlin says: "You may discard this card from your Friend Area when your opponent plays a Magic Card. If you do so, that Magic Card is discarded and its effects are nullified."

It has already been ruled that Merlin can stop Magic/Friends with [Come into Play] effects, and discard them. Magic cards have an "implied" [Come into Play] effect, same as Attack Cards. Regardless of whether or not a given card has a "cost," Merlin ends the whole thing, and NULLIFIES it. Either Merlin kills the card, or the "cost" is paid and the rest of the effect continues. That's it, end of story. bye-bye, see you later.

In theory, Merlin could even negate the part on regular Stop that says to "Use this card during the Challenge Phase..." allowing you to play it anytime. But then, it's effects return once it hits the discard pile, so you really can't and this bit of information is totally usless. Hope you enjoyed it!