Can Viya immediately put into play Ent Draught if I do not control at least 1 Ent character? Ent Draught says I need an Ent to play the card, not to put it into play .

What about Well Equipped?

Is the Dwarf character an eligible target for Ent Draught if I do not control an Ent? Well-Equipped says nothing about playing the discarded card.

Thoughts?

I think both of those work. I've actually come the Well-Equipped instance myself and I reasoned as you did that since it puts the attchment into play rather than actually playing it it bypasses the restriction.

Hmm, that's a good question. My gut reaction is to say it's legal for the reasons you cite.

At first I thought this meant you could use Vilya to cheat with mono-sphere events ("Play only if each hero you control has a printed __ resource icon"), but I think using Vilya on events would still count as playing them.

The follow up question is, "What crazy jank is Seastan planning with this combination?"

The follow up question is, "What crazy jank is Seastan planning with this combination?"

The follow up question is, "What crazy jank is Seastan planning with this combination?"

Elrond + Vilya + Hero Beorn? More HP is more better.

Beorn cannot have attachments and is immune to player card effects. Vilya can't change that.

The follow up question is, "What crazy jank is Seastan planning with this combination?"

Elrond + Vilya + Hero Beorn? More HP is more better.

Beorn cannot have attachments and is immune to player card effects. Vilya can't change that.

The follow up question is, "What crazy jank is Seastan planning with this combination?"

Haha, nothing much. Was just thinking about some sort of Gimli/Gloin deck with Stargazer and Well-Equipped but I doubt it will work.

The Vilya + Ent Draught should work just fine as I see it.

The Vilya + Well Equipped and then Ent Draught would not work however since the Ent Draught discarded by Well Equipped is not in itself governed by the effect of Vilya but by the event; the only reason you are discarding further is because of the event instructing you to and Vilya does not bestow any further abilities on Well Equipped.

Hmm, that's a good question. My gut reaction is to say it's legal for the reasons you cite.

At first I thought this meant you could use Vilya to cheat with mono-sphere events ("Play only if each hero you control has a printed __ resource icon"), but I think using Vilya on events would still count as playing them.

Has this actually been discussed or had a ruling in the past?

Would be interested to know if Elrond with Vilya can play Shadows Give Way.

Seems to me like you could because you have to use resources from three different heroes pools to PAY for this card and Vilya allows you to play a card at no cost rather than reducing the cost to 0. You simply play the card and ignore its "cost" when using Elrond so I feel that the stipulation of 3 heroes is ignored considering the cost is being played for free rather than at a reduced cost.

Another interesting interaction would be Elrond and Vilya playing Skyward Volley... would you need to pay the additional cost?

Vilya does say at no cost and doesn't specify resources so do you think that perhaps it removes the additional cost as well as the resource cost of the card? In this case I would assume you still need to exhaust a character with ranged but think the wording on the cards technically should remove that additional cost if you use Vilya to play it.

The Vilya + Ent Draught should work just fine as I see it.

The Vilya + Well Equipped and then Ent Draught would not work however since the Ent Draught discarded by Well Equipped is not in itself governed by the effect of Vilya but by the event; the only reason you are discarding further is because of the event instructing you to and Vilya does not bestow any further abilities on Well Equipped.

Sorry for the confusion. The Well-Equipped question does not involve Vilya. Just simply playing Well-Equipped and discarding an Ent Draught.

Hmm, that's a good question. My gut reaction is to say it's legal for the reasons you cite.

At first I thought this meant you could use Vilya to cheat with mono-sphere events ("Play only if each hero you control has a printed __ resource icon"), but I think using Vilya on events would still count as playing them.

Has this actually been discussed or had a ruling in the past?

Would be interested to know if Elrond with Vilya can play Shadows Give Way.

Seems to me like you could because you have to use resources from three different heroes pools to PAY for this card and Vilya allows you to play a card at no cost rather than reducing the cost to 0. You simply play the card and ignore its "cost" when using Elrond so I feel that the stipulation of 3 heroes is ignored considering the cost is being played for free rather than at a reduced cost.

Another interesting interaction would be Elrond and Vilya playing Skyward Volley... would you need to pay the additional cost?

Vilya does say at no cost and doesn't specify resources so do you think that perhaps it removes the additional cost as well as the resource cost of the card? In this case I would assume you still need to exhaust a character with ranged but think the wording on the cards technically should remove that additional cost if you use Vilya to play it.

Good question! I would think you could ignore the "additional cost" because Vilya says to play it for no cost. But what if Skyward Volley had said "deal damage equal to the exhausted character's attack"?

I could see an interpretation of Shadows Give Way where you could never play it unless you actually pay for it. It says "You must use resources from 3 different heroes' pools to pay for this card.". With Vilya you are not paying for the card, but the card specifically instructs that you must pay for it. If it was worded "You must use resources from 3 different heroes' pools when/if you pay for this card." I think using Vilya would be fine, but to me it is unclear what the usage of the word "to" is.

I think Well-equipped should work fine with Ent Draught. You discard and then you "may attach" that card to an "eligible" dwarf. The card doesn't even specify "play" or "put into play." I presume you're putting it into play. And any dwarf is eligible for Ent Draught unless he already has an Ent Draught attached.

After reading the FAQ entry about 'put into play' (1.16, relevant bit quoted below), I'm going to say yes - both Vilya and Well-equipped would work for Ent Draught.

Also, ally Galadriel? It says 'put into play' on her.

Relevant FAQ (emphasis mine):

If a card effect uses the phrase “put into play,” it means that the card enters play through a card effect instead of through the normal process of paying resources and playing the card from hand. “Put into play” effects are not considered to be playing the card, and will not trigger any effects that refer to a card being played. “Put into play” will, however, trigger any effects that occur when a card “enters play”.

I suppose there are two different brands of mono-sphere events. I think you could use Vilya for Thicket of Spears and Shadows give way, because those refer to the cost to play the card (and Vilya plays it at no cost). The other brand of events say essentially "play only if you are monosphere" and would not be valid with Vilya (unless you were also mono-lore).

Skyward Volley is an interesting interaction that I think would work with Vilya. What about other events like Rain of Arrows and Word of Command that say "Exhaust [something] to..." Do you think that counts as part of the cost? I've been playing a lot of Game of Thrones lately, and anything before the word "to" is explicitly defined as part of the cost.

What about Quick Strike and Hands Upon the Bow? Quick Strike says "Action: Exhaust a character you control to immediately declare it as an attacker (and resolve its attack) against any eligible enemy target."

From the FAQ:

Q: Can characters with the ranged keyword participate
in an attack declared through the card Quick Strike
(CORE 35)?
A: No. There is no opportunity for other characters to
join a Quick Strike attack. One character is exhausted
to pay for the cost of Quick Strike , and the effect is that
the exhausted character is immediately declared as an
attacker against the target enemy. The card’s resolution
does not allow for a standard declaration step in which
other characters can declare.

So I would think that you wouldn't exhaust the character. But then at the same time, you haven't chosen a character to make the attack, so would it just fizzle?

Volley is questionable since it's cost is 2 and Vilya can play it for zero ("at no cost"). However, the event itself adds "as an additional cost..." so since it is termed as a additional "cost" I feel Vilya would still be able to play it for free. Like jimby mentions though, other cards that include "exhaust x to do y" - the x is clearly part of the cost. It's likely that a ruling will say Vilya only disregards the "resource cost" of a card and any additional costs must still be payed.

Concerning the events that say to use x heroes resources, it's questionable. You are playing it for no cost so you could pay zero from each hero. However, if they need to have specific spheres, then it doesn't work.

Do you still need to have resource matching with Vilya when you play events for free? I assume so but want to confirm.

Do you still need to have resource matching with Vilya when you play events for free? I assume so but want to confirm.

I think it would follow the same rules as A Good Harvest.

EDIT: That's an interesting point though about paying 0 resources from each hero's pool. How would something like Grima work - has there been a ruling on that?

What about Quick Strike and Hands Upon the Bow? Quick Strike says "Action: Exhaust a character you control to immediately declare it as an attacker (and resolve its attack) against any eligible enemy target."

It's possible that the text on Vilya is only referring to the value in the upper-left-hand corner of a card and not "do X to Y" costs, but obviously it isn't clear. I can see it going both ways.

There is enough uncertainty in this thread that I think it's worth asking Caleb. I'll let you all know when I hear something.

There is enough uncertainty in this thread that I think it's worth asking Caleb. I'll let you all know when I hear something.

I just sent an email myself, I hope he doesn't mind.

My prediction is that you still have to exhaust a ranged character. My win percentage is not so hot, but I feel good about this one. Fingers crossed.

Agreed. I feel it will just be the resource cost and not any additional "costs" associated with playing the card. Also, the thing about requiring multiple heroes - The more I thikn about it, it is likely to still require you to have resource matching on each hero, even though the cost is zero. So I don't think it gets around that.

I could see it going either way. I suspect the intent of the card was just the resource requirement, but I think a strict interpretation of the rules would include other costs like exhaustion. The rulebook has two references to costs:

Pg 8 says "Cost: The number of resources a player must spend from the appropriate resource pool(s) to play this card from his hand."

But on the other hand on pg 25 under Paying Costs, it says "Many cards are written in a 'pay or exhaust X to do Y' manner. When confronted with such a construct, everything before the word "to" is considered the cost ..."