How "cannot be saved " interract with duplicate ?

By Coral Beach, in Rules Questions

Question from a newbie. :)

On the Wildfire Plot card :

When Revealed: Each player chooses up to 3 characters he or she controls. Kill each character not chosen (cannot be saved).

And on duplicate card from Reference Guid :

Interrupt : When the overlapping unique card would leave play, discard this duplicate to save that card. (cannot be canceled.)

How the "cannot be saved" effect interract with "cannot be canceled" effect ?

Or more simply, can duplicate save a character from Wildfire plot ?

Edited by Coral Beach

No, and the way to understand this is to look up the exact definition of "Save" in the RRG:

Save

When a card is saved from an effect that attempts to
remove that card from play, the card remains in play as
the effect resolves and is not considered to have been
killed, discarded, or otherwise removed from play by
the effect.

So the Kill effect has to be applied, then the Save basically overrides the result of the kill effect. Some saves can be canceled, like Bodyguard and Risen from the Sea, so let's look at how that would happen. The Kill effect would come in, be it claim, Put to the Sword, what-have-you. Then you would use the Save ability (emphasis mine):

Initiating Abilities

When a player wishes to marshal or play a card, or
initiate a triggered ability , that player first declares
his or her intent (and shows the card to be used, if
necessary). The following steps are then observed,
in order:
1. Check play restrictions: can the card be marshaled
or played, or the ability initiated, at this time?
2. Determine the cost (or costs, if multiple costs
are required) to marshal/play the card or initiate
the ability. If it is established that the cost (taking
modifiers into account) can be paid, proceed with
the remaining steps of this sequence.
3. Apply any modifiers to the cost(s).
4. Pay the cost(s).
5. Choose target(s), if applicable.
6. The card is marshaled/played, or the effects of the
ability attempt to initiate. An interrupt ability that
cancels this initiation may be used at this time.
7. The effects of the ability (if not canceled in
step 6) complete their initiation, and resolve.

So, if a Cancel to a Save is possible, it would Interrupt the sequence at step 6. However, because Wildfire Assault says "Cannot be Saved," it scotches all attempts because it halts any such considerations at step 1, as it's a Play Restriction.

TL;DR: it doesn't help that saves can't be canceled if you can't even try and save the character in the first place.

Edited by Grimwalker

I've wrongly considered the "cannot be saved" like a canceling of the saving ability, not a preventing effect. Thanks a lot. ;)

Edited by Coral Beach

Page 19 of the rules reference states "if an aspect of an ability that removes a card from play is followed by the text 'cannot be saved', players cannot attempt to save that card."