Hi guys!

I've been far from here for a while, but I lurk, sometimes. Anyway, still playin' and doing my best with the organized play in my country...

Anyway, here's the simple point: "DREAMER OF DRAGONS".

Is the "damage" a "cost" or a part of the effect? I know it seems a cost but the way it's written can give some troubles...

Let's say...I use Bright Wizard Apprentice to cancel the trigger (I know it's useless, actually, but it's just an example): do I prevent the unit from taking damage (in this case it's not a cost but part of the effect) or the damage has been applied and I deny the second part (in this case it's a cost)?

Thanks in advance.

DB

I don't see any way to know based on the current rules/rulings. The rules for triggering a card effect are: In order to successfully trigger a card effect, the player must declare that he is activating the card, declare targets, then pay any additional costs denoted on the card. If a player cannot fulfill any requirements to trigger a card effect, he cannot attempt to trigger it.

I can't think of a card that has "additional costs denoted on the card". Taking 1 damage would seem to be an additional cost, but it also could just be part of the effect, since they did use "Then" to ensure you had to take the damage to get the benefit.

Entropy42 said:

Hi, at first.

Lobber Crew is a clear example of an additional cost, but the text is more like "do x to do y". Here we have: "DO X. IF YOU DO IT, do y."

I guess it can be pretty similar, but I'm not so sure.

As for the FAQ, I'd rule it as a "cost", but It's nothing more than a side of the coin.

Nope, its not a cost, but Lobber Crew is, as you said.

From Lukas:

Lobber Crew would be an example of a cost, because it has the word "to" in it. Everything before the "to" is a cost, in this case "Sacrifice this unit..." Note, however, that not all appearances of the word "to" denote a cost. The best way to figure it out is to ask "Am I spending resources or sacrificing/corrupting something?" and that should cover almost all situations.

Dreamer of Dragons does not have an additional cost, but the first sentence is still a requirement that must be resolved before the "Then" ability occurs.

Entropy42 said:

Ok, then...But, in the end: Do I have to take the damage when declaring its activation or not? That's the biggest problem...Because even if it's not a cost, if I still have to pay it to activate it, it's "behaves" like a cost and a cancellation effect wouldn't prevent me to take the damage.

No, you don't have to take the damage when declaring, since its not part of the cost. You take the damage during resolution, and only resolve the 2nd half (after "Then") once the first part resolves. This means any targets of the 2nd half are checked for validity before the 2nd half resolves.

For example, lets says there is a unit:

Entropy's Cannon

Cost: 2

Power: 1

HP: 1

"Action: Pay 4 resources to deal 1 damage to target unit. Then, target unit gets +2 HP until end of turn."

I activate this ability, paying 4 resources and choosing your Skink Skirmishers (Savage 1) unit as the damage target, and my Cannon as the +HP target.

No one responds, so we start to resolve my action.

First, we resolve the 1 damage. As part of resolving that damage, it triggers the Savage 1 ability of the Skinks. That ability initiates (targeting my Entropy's Cannon) and resolves. My Cannon is now destroyed and removed from play. The first half of my action (and everything it triggered) has resolved successfully, and now we can resolve the 2nd half of my ability. Even though my unit has been removed from play, the Action persists since actions are independent of their source once they have been triggered. Unfortunately, the target of the 2nd half of the ability has been removed, so this part of the action fails.

If you replace "Then" with "and" in my fake Action, then the situation plays out differently and my Cannon survives (until the end of the turn when it loses its bonus HP)