If I play Against the Waves, choosing a character with Softskin attached, would the player controlling the Shugenja be forced to ready the character (and thus milling 3 cards), since the game state must be changed by the effects of Against the Waves.?
[Ruling] Softskin
Just now, Bayushi Shunsuke said:If I play Against the Waves, choosing a character with Softskin attached, would the player controlling the Shugenja be forced to ready the character (and thus milling 3 cards), since the game state must be changed by the effects of Against the Waves.?
The “mill 3 cards” is a cost. The controller may choose whether or not to pay that cost when the character would be readied. To that end, my opponent could target my Softskin’ed Shugenja with Against the Waves, and then I would choose whether to discard 3 cards or not ready the character.
[Tyler Parrott, Mar 13 2019]
QuoteYou've ruled previously that if an Opponent's Character has Softskin attached and I use a ready effect Tessen or Against the Wave as an example on them, they can decline to pay the cost of Softskin and not ready the character. Why can a player choose to not pay the cost that Softskin adds to stop the ready? Nothing under Cost or Initiating an Ability gives a player the option to decline paying the cost of a card. Would this also apply if I use the Water Ring to ready their character, can they choose to not pay the cost and not ready off a Ring effect?
The way additional costs work within the rules has become more clarified since I made that ruling, and that ruling is no longer consistent with how additional costs work. If a character with Softskin is readied by a card or ring effect, its controller must discard the top 3 cards of their conflict deck (or, if they have 2 or fewer conflict cards in their deck, the character will fail to ready). This is a reversal of the previous ruling.
[Tyler Parrott, Oct 9 2020]