Hello everyone,

I just bought some SC3 cards (Soul Arena) and have been playing this great game but I've got some questions, despite this being one of the more straight forward CCGs I have played. I have read some parts of the AGR but I'm still confused:

1) Irkalla

R Discard 1 card: After a control check is made, that check gets -1.

Stupid question perhaps, but does making the check -1 make it harder or easier to play the card? I think it makes it harder but I'm not 100% sure if I'm adding or subtracting from the difficulty.

2) Eternity of Lifetimes

R Commit: After your opponent pays momentum to increase the damage of an attack, their next control check this turn gets -1.

What is meant by "pay" here? If my opponent plays Multiple, can I use this card? What about Powerful?

3) When discarding momentum, does it matter where it comes from? the top of the momentum pile, or can the player choose? random? Some cards like Immortality use the stats on the discarded card so I was wondering if you could remember where the cards that you put into momentum were exactly...

4) Dread Slash

E: Take 1 card from your discard pile and add it to your momentum. Replace this attack's Powerful ability with "Multiple: 1". Only playable if you have not played this card's Powerful ability this turn.

Similarly, with a card like this, can you search your discard pile? The card you put into your momentum might matter if you combo with Immortality...

5) Jolly Roger Hoist

E Discard all your momentum: During the End Phase, each player adds every card in their card pool to their momentum

Can you use this if you have no Momentum cards?

6) Surprise Wave

After you successfully block an attack with this card, discard 1 momentum to make a control check. If the control check is equal to or greater than this attack's difficulty, take 1 card from your momentum and add it to your card pool face down as a copy of this attack. Play this copy as a Reversal as normal

Can I increase the check mentioned in the text by using Foundations? The text is so detailed that I wonder if perhaps it doesn't allow that. I don't know why it doesn't just say "make a control check". The length of the text makes me suspicious.

7) Turnus Nether Blast

E Discard 1 momentum: Your opponent discards 1 card after any multiple copy of this card deals damage

The card discard occurs for each copy that hits, or once only if any one of them hits?

8) Raise the Shield

E Commit: Your opponent's attack gets -2 damage (to a minimum of 1) and is unblockable.

Lizardman R: After you take damage from an unblockable attack, play any attack from your hand as a reversal.

I think I understand this but this card cannot use both effects at once, right? I cannot commit this to make an attack unblockable and then also use the Response? It's just strange that the response cannot be used when it fits the E ability perferctly... so I guess I need 2 copies in play?

9) **Lizardman**

E Commit, discard 1 card: Any attack gets -3 damage. If this ability reduces that attack's damage to 0 or less, your opponent may take 1 card from their hand and add it to their momentum

Does the opponent put a card from his hand into momentum right away? Then he could raise the damage back above zero with one of his own E abilities? This came up with Jolly Roger Hoist... if he uses the enhancement on that attack after I use Lizardman's E, does he lose the the momentum he just placed from his hand?

Thanks in advance for any help I get!

Answers "bulleted".

1) Irkalla

R Discard 1 card: After a control check is made, that check gets -1.

Stupid question perhaps, but does making the check -1 make it harder or easier to play the card? I think it makes it harder but I'm not 100% sure if I'm adding or subtracting from the difficulty.

• It makes it harder. Say you flip a 5 (and needed a 5), if the CC gets -1, it's now a 4 and you're one short of the 5 difficulty needed.

2) Eternity of Lifetimes

R Commit: After your opponent pays momentum to increase the damage of an attack, their next control check this turn gets -1.

What is meant by "pay" here? If my opponent plays Multiple, can I use this card? What about Powerful?

• Not after multiple. You could use it after Powerful. Or if they used the E on Mark of the Beast.

3) When discarding momentum, does it matter where it comes from? the top of the momentum pile, or can the player choose? random? Some cards like Immortality use the stats on the discarded card so I was wondering if you could remember where the cards that you put into momentum were exactly...

• You can choose where in your momentum to discard them from. You are allowed to stack your momentum as you play it, but you can't look before you discard, so if it matters, be careful that you don't forget.

4) Dread Slash

E: Take 1 card from your discard pile and add it to your momentum. Replace this attack's Powerful ability with "Multiple: 1". Only playable if you have not played this card's Powerful ability this turn.

Similarly, with a card like this, can you search your discard pile? The card you put into your momentum might matter if you combo with Immortality...

• Yes, if it was otherwise it would say "take the top card from your discard" or something similar.

5) Jolly Roger Hoist

E Discard all your momentum: During the End Phase, each player adds every card in their card pool to their momentum

Can you use this if you have no Momentum cards?

• Yes. Note that multiples still wouldn't go to momentum.

6) Surprise Wave

After you successfully block an attack with this card, discard 1 momentum to make a control check. If the control check is equal to or greater than this attack's difficulty, take 1 card from your momentum and add it to your card pool face down as a copy of this attack. Play this copy as a Reversal as normal

Can I increase the check mentioned in the text by using Foundations? The text is so detailed that I wonder if perhaps it doesn't allow that. I don't know why it doesn't just say "make a control check". The length of the text makes me suspicious.

• No, you can only commit foundations when you are checking against a difficulty.

7) Turnus Nether Blast

E Discard 1 momentum: Your opponent discards 1 card after any multiple copy of this card deals damage

The card discard occurs for each copy that hits, or once only if any one of them hits?

• I'm not sure what the current ruling is on this one.

8) Raise the Shield

E Commit: Your opponent's attack gets -2 damage (to a minimum of 1) and is unblockable.

Lizardman R: After you take damage from an unblockable attack, play any attack from your hand as a reversal.

I think I understand this but this card cannot use both effects at once, right? I cannot commit this to make an attack unblockable and then also use the Response? It's just strange that the response cannot be used when it fits the E ability perferctly... so I guess I need 2 copies in play?

• Yes, you need two copies in play, or a way to ready the card.

9) **Lizardman**

E Commit, discard 1 card: Any attack gets -3 damage. If this ability reduces that attack's damage to 0 or less, your opponent may take 1 card from their hand and add it to their momentum

Does the opponent put a card from his hand into momentum right away? Then he could raise the damage back above zero with one of his own E abilities? This came up with Jolly Roger Hoist... if he uses the enhancement on that attack after I use Lizardman's E, does he lose the the momentum he just placed from his hand?

• As soon as the ability goes into effect.
• He sure could.
• Yes.

aslum said:

Thank you for the prompt reply! With regards to the question and answer above though... aren't you checking against the difficulty of the attack ("If the control check is equal to or greater than this attack's difficulty...")? So I could use foundations?

I know it sounds like it is, but it's not.

If the language was "Make a control check against the difficulty of X, where X is the difficulty of the attack" or something like that then yes.

Think of it this way, you're not making a control check to reach a specific number. You're making a control check, and then you are comparing it to another number. You can use CCHax to modify it, but committing foundations doesn't actually change the value of the control check, just changes a failure to a success. However in this case there's no failure or success...

Does that make sense?

Actually, yes, it does. Thanks!

Hurdoc said:

It's after each, because it isn't a standard conditional "If this then that" and it says "after ANY multiple copy..."

Tagrineth said:

If it said "...after each multiple..." I would definitely agree with you. However I seem to remember a similar ruling (possibly on this same card) that the ANY meant it could only happen once, and once it had resovled, it wouldn't resolve again.

I could see arguments for both cases, so hopefully we'll get a ruling from Antigoth soon.

aslum said:

Eh... For the moment I'm siding with Tag actually.

What you may be thinking of is the old ruling for Blade Nail which is worded slightly differently.

I'm going to run it by James for clarification, but unless I post otherwise, if there's 4 multiple copies of this card, and all of them deal damage, and TNB's enhance was played, the opponent would be discarding 4 cards total.

aslum said:

If I use this ability on a 1 damage attack of my opponents (he can then add a card to his momenturm from hand), and then he uses a +2 damage Enhancement... is the attack doing 0 or 2 damage? Also, he doesnt have to return that momentum card to his hand, does he?