FAQ 5.2 and Cat o' the Canals clarification

By jericbryanlim, in 2. AGoT Rules Discussion

Cat o' the Canals

Ally.
No attachments except a single Weapon.
Immune to opponent's card effects.
If you control Arya Stark, discard Cat o' the Canals from play.

FAQ 5.2 about CotC

Is Cat o' the Canals (AToR F84) immune to stealth?

Stealth resolves as a card effect that targets a character on the defending side. As she is immune to opponent's card effects, Cat o' the Canals cannot be chosen as a target of stealth.

FAQ 5.2 about Deadly as a Framework action

1. Determine winner of challenge

2. Challenge result is implemented

3. Reward for unopposed challenge is awarded

4. Renown is awarded

5. Resolve Deadly

When do you resolve deadly?

Deadly is resolved during step 5 of the challenge resolution framework action window, after renown is claimed. Note that the deadly keyword enables a character to contribute to the deadly count, and it is the framework step itself that enacts a deadly kill based on the result of that count.

So basically the question here is: Is CotC now affected by the deadly keyword and can be killed by it when it participates as a defender in a challenge where the attacker has the deadly keyword?

It is very clear with what the FAQ states with stealth but with deadly...

Edited by jericbryanlim

Yes. Deadly becoming a game effect means Cat O' the Canals can be killed by it. Previously it was interpreted as a card effect, but this is no longer the case, thus her immunity no longer applies.

You aren't the first player to be confused by this based on the new FAQ entry on her and Stealth.

It makes sense though. Deadly is just a keyword that rolls up to a total count on each side and then affects the player. It's not a character-on-character interaction.

Yea. I just find it funny that with all the rules lawyers out there, this should have come up sooner.

It did come up sooner. Pre-LCG even, when Deadly and Immunity first appeared in the game at the same time. FFG side-stepped the issue altogether by excluding keywords from the definition of "card abilities" for the first time. (People take that for granted now, but it wasn't always true.)

Further, the fact that FFG defined Deadly as a passive ability for years before FAQ 5.2 came out means that even though it had come up, there was a different answer in the rules. That entry effectively said the lack of "character-to-character interaction" didn't stop Deadly's kill from being a "card effect."

So this "Cat is immune to Deadly but not Stealth" interpretation of the new FAQ entries (which is a correct interpretation, btw) is not a clarification of how people should have been playing it all along. It is a new, conscious decision by FFG on how Deadly should be handled going forward.

Ah, thank you for the clarifications ktom.

So this "Cat is immune to Deadly but not Stealth" interpretation of the new FAQ entries (which is a correct interpretation, btw) is not a clarification of how people should have been playing it all along. It is a new, conscious decision by FFG on how Deadly should be handled going forward.

Is that immune to Stealth but not deadly? ;)

Yeah, probably.

wow, yeah, too much head spinning before coffee.

That's funny because when I read it, I'd read it "correctly".