Does it cancel the monster's combat damage for only one failed combat check or for all combat checks? I would think the latter, as something as powerful that can cancel an AO's attack at least cancel a monster's combat damage for more than one check... does it?

It doesn't cancel the damage from the AO's attack--it just stops the AO from attacking. In other words, you don't have to make the Sneak checks against Shub-Niggurath, Glaaki won't raise the terror level by one, etc.

But do note that the AO's defense modifier will continue to drop by 1 even if the attack was canceled (Shub, Yog, Yig, Ithaqua, Hastur, Nyar). And Cthulhu will still heal I believe.

Can I get some verification on this from somebody?

Tibs said:

What? have you even read my question?

kroen said:

Don't get pissed off just because your question hasn't been answered yet.

I'd always assumed that the statue only prevents the combat damage for one round, because otherwise it would create either an automatic victory (you can keep rolling until you succeed) or an endless loop (if you don't have enough dice to kill the monster). Neither of those outcomes actually breaks the game (there have been rulings in the latter case I think) but both outcomes are a bit...stupid. I don't know how else to put it. Although something being a bit daft doesn't actually mean it isn't an AH rule...

LOL I guess not, sorry!

OK now that I have coffee in me, I understand the question:

Just one failed combat check. It's a one-time use, meant to protect you from failure once. In other words, it reduces the combat damage to 0 for "a combat check." It's not meant to imply that the monster's combat damage is 0 for the rest of the battle; most monsters you could then beat instantly with no ill effect.

First of all, I didn't get pissed. Second, it has nothing to do with my question unanswered. Tib, with all the respect, didn't seem to even read my question properly. I'm not pissed on anyone. No offence Tibs. Third, one might think that a card that able to cancell an AO's entire attack could do more than prevent 2-3 stamina damage. I'm still not sure either way.

thecorinthian said:

No it's all right. I rolled out of bed, stumbled around for a short bit, then checked the forums. Clearly my eyes went cross and I thought the question was "does this cancel an AO's attack against everyone or just one investigator?"

Then, as I said above: coffee!

kroen said:

Just one combat check. The next one you fail you take damage on.

To reiterate, just one check. That's why it says "A combat check". Theme gets wacky all the time in this game, so arguing what you think makes sense based on theme alone isn't very convincing. Do we even know what the statue does? Maybe the ward is a forcefield of sorts that lasts just long enough to withhold one attack from anything, not because a single cultists attack is as strong as Shub-Niggurath's but because it only lasts for a few seconds.