A collection of Hantei rulings, edited to put Q&A together.
Quote1) Is he interrupting step 1, similar to the Mantis Tenkinja?
Yes, Hantei’s interrupt triggers step 1, similar to Mantis Tenkinja.
Quote2) Assuming he is interrupting step 1, what happens if an ability is aborted before step 5? Is his action still used for the round? e.g. The person playing the card decides to cancel a sacrifice cost with a Reprieve.
If the ability is aborted during step 4 due to interrupted costs, his interrupt has already been used and cannot be used again.
Quote3) Again assuming he is interrupting step 1:
I have an honoured Fawning Diplomat and you have a dishonoured character and Hantei in play as well as control of the Imperial Favor.
I play Noble Sacrifice, sacrificing the Fawning Diplomat.
Is it correct that he will die during costs (due to the Diplomat leaving play) but his ability will have created a delayed effect that will still choose the target of the Noble Sacrifice?
Your Fawning Diplomat/Noble Sacrifice/Hantei example is correct. Hantei will leave play during step 4 when the Diplomat is sacrificed to Noble Sacrifice, but the interrupt has already initiated and will still allow Hantei’s controller to choose Noble Sacrifice target when Noble Sacrifice resolution reaches step 5.
Quote4) Can I decide not to pay costs after I trigger an ability, even if I'm able to? I think you have to but it's not entirely explicit that I can tell.
You must pay all costs once you’ve begun triggering an ability—you can’t just choose to abort the ability if you want.
Quote5) Does he allow you to choose targets of abilities that are targeting in the effect? e.g. Court Games
Hantei allows you to choose all targets for the ability, including those in the costs and effects. (Yes, you choose targets for Court Games, and if multiple targets are chosen (Banzai!) then you get to choose all of them.)
Quote6) Is it legal to activate him on abilities like Doji Gift Giver's and Doji Shigeru's where the opponent is already choosing?
It is not legal to trigger his interrupt on abilities like Doji Gift Giver or Shigeru, when the opponent already makes all the choices.
Quote7) How does he interact with cards that choose targets multiple times? As an example, you play Banzai! and I trigger Hantei. If you spend 1 honour after the first +2 will I get to choose the second target too? A similar question with something like Hand to Hand that will potentially run many times too.
See #5 for multiple targets.
Quote😎 How does he interact with discarding cards for the bid on Duelist Training? Similarly for Favored Niece and Night Raid type effects.
Hantei does interact with cards that choose in hidden zones (Night Raid, Favored Niece, etc). However, he doesn’t grant you any knowledge of those hidden zones, so you would just choose blindly. The discard would effectively be random.
Quote9) Can he choose the targets in a duel initiated under the new templating?
He can choose targets in a duel.
Quote10) If we both have a Hantei (or Hantei and Yokuni are out), can Hantei number 2 interrupt Hantai number 1?
Hantei cannot counter Hantei. Player A is still triggering the ability, even if Player B is choosing targets. Therefore, Player A cannot trigger their Hantei (because an opponent is not triggering the ability).
Quote11) Does he work with Miya Library?
Hantei could trigger his interrupt when an opponent triggers Miya Library—however, as he does not grant any additional knowledge, you cannot choose an Imperial character and it would force the Miya Library player to simply put the top 4 back in any order, without choosing anything.
Quote12) Does he work with Mirror's Gaze, assuming the copied ability chooses targets?
If Hantei’s opponent controls a Mirror’s Gaze and Hantei-player plays an event, the Mirror’s Gaze player could trigger the attachment. This would see them resolve the ability as if they had played it—however, they are not separately triggering the event’s ability so Hantei’s interrupt could not be used.
Quote13) Will he get to choose any targets of a card that Togashi Mitsu plays or just the card that gets played?
If Togashi Mitsu triggers his ability, Hantei could interrupt Mitsu’s ability (to choose which card gets played) or he could interrupt the event card that gets played (to choose the targets of that event). He does not get to do both.
[Tyler Parrott, Jan 24 2019]
QuoteCan Hantei 38 interrupt Warriors of the Wind because any number of targets might not be 1 or more targets?
Yes, Hantei 38 can interrupt because any number of targets could be 1 or more.
[Tyler Parrott, Apr 10 2019]
Quote
I have a more general question about playing cards/triggering abilities and initiation. At what point do you start triggering an ability or playing a card in the initiation process?
We have a (very old) answer to a question about Hida Kisada:
“Trigger” is synonymous with “initiate” when referring to triggered abilities. Hida Kisada would have the same effect if it said, “…cancel the effects of the first action ability your opponent initiates from a card…” but because Action abilities are triggered abilities, its existing text has more specificity. The process of “initiating” or “triggering” an ability occurs from steps 3-6, at which point it has successfully triggered. In step 7, the effects successfully resolve (assuming no cancels).
This may well be out of date, especially in light of Mantis Tenkinja and Hantei 38, but this puts steps 1 and 2 of initiation before playing/triggering begin. This also seems consistent with the section of Initiating Abilities / Playing Cards that states:
'There are two preliminary confirmations that must be made before the process may begin. These are:
Step 1, Step 2 here'
Mantis Tenkinja interrupts 'When you play an event' and interrupts step 2 of initiation.Hantei 38 interrupts 'When an opponent triggers an ability' and interrupts step 1.
I can see the logic of the Kisada answer - steps 1 and 2 are checking if you can play/trigger, steps 3-8 are playing/triggering. I think this interpretation directly contradicts the rulings on Tenkinja and Hantei though.I can also see the logic of the Hantei 38 ruling that playing/triggering begins in step 1 but this is mostly supported through individual card rulings at the moment.
I'm not sure I understand the logic of Mantis Tenkinja interrupting step 2 with its current text as steps 1 and 2 both seem very similar. The Tenkinja's ability obviously changes how step 2 resolves but does that mean its timing is a special case because of how the effect interacts with step 2?
Essentially, the original statement from Kisada (that “triggering” an ability starts at step 3) is generally correct—steps 1 and 2 are only there as a check to ensure you don’t attempt to take a game action you could not legally take.
However, step 4 (when Tenkinja would normally have an effect) is dependent upon step 2, and step 5 (when Hantei would normally have an effect) is dependent upon step 1. Therefore those abilities need to trigger slightly earlier than they normally would to ensure they function properly.
[Tyler Parrott, Feb 19 2019]
Edited by Goateh