Ratatoskr said:

(that were killed or discarded that phase)

Saturnine said:

Of course.

Saturnine said:

(that were killed or discarded that phase)

1. Can I put into play, via Ambush from the Plains, a Shadow character?

2. If a mature version of a Dragon is already in play and I have its corresponding new Hatchling version in hand, may I attach the latter to the former as a duplicate, following the usual procedure, or do I have to put the Hatchling in the Shadows first?

Serazu said:

Serazu said:

So, no. You cannot use a Hatchling to dupe a dragon from your hand. The Hatchling's text is a character ability that does not specifically work when the character is not in play. As such, it is not active in your hand and thus cannot serve as an exception to the duplicate rules. You have to actually put the Hatchling into Shadows and bring it out of Shadows and into play. Once in play, it's ability kicks in.

ktom said:

2 printed cost for the Hatchling, right?

Another question, concerning timing:

Suppose that an opponent attacks with a character, to whom I 've already attached "Dragon Bite" (which, by the way, with its zero cost and the introduction of "Ambush from the Plains" and the new ambush Dragons, instantly became one of the coolest attachments in the current environment). I have the new Black Hatchling in my hand and Drogon already in play, but knelt, so unable to be declared as a defender. If I play "Ambush from the Plains" with the intention of putting the Black Hatchling into play as a defender, which of the two will come first:

1. The Black Hatchling instantly becomes Drogon's duplicate, thus it doesn't participate in the challenge and the attacker is not killed by "Dragon Bite"

or

2. The Hatchling momentarily participates in the challenge, enough for triggering the killing blow of the "Dragon Bite" and then it attaches to Drogon as a duplicate.

I suppose the former is more likely to happen. As long as Drogon is in play, the Hatchling instantly attaches to him as a duplicate.

Serazu said:

So if you use Ambush from the Plains on a Hatchling with the adult dragon in play, it's "attach as a dupe" effect is going to kick in during the same action window in which you play the event - as soon as it comes into play. That is looong before you ever have a chance to declare it as a defender. So this particular "Hatchling Combo" doesn't do anything with Dragon Bite.

Yeah, I know that Ambush does not instantly put attackers or defenders in play. What I had in mind was I-will-put-it-into-play-and-then-I-am-going-to-declare-it-as-a-defender. Poor wording on my behalf.

PS - The Ambush from the Plains Hatchling combines extremely well with Dragon Bite, as long as its adult version is not in play.

Serazu said:

Unless I read incorrectly (which is entirely possible) you can also abuse the following in a Targ Maester deck:

Advisor to the Crown (which At the Gates will fetch for you)

Copper Link (tucked into the Maester agenda)

Any 2-cost or less ambush character.

Kneel the Advisor for 2 Influence to put the ambush character into play. Then use the Response on the Copper Link to give that character the "Dragon" trait until the end of the phase. My rules question here is if you resolve the Influence + Ambush before using the Copper Link. If so, then this combos with:

Dragon Attack, Dragon Bite, and Dragon Fear. Also The Dragon Strikes, if you have another Influence kicking around.

Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion. As long as your ambushing character gets 'Dragon', then their dragon-only bonuses should work.

Daenerys QoD. Ambushing dragons do not kneel to attack.

Horn of Dragons. It's a Greyjoy item, but may be worth paying 4 gold if you're turning the OTHER player's characters into dragons.

Astapor, Meereen, Qarth, and Yunkai. All the Targ dragon-buffing locations basically.

Serazu said:

Pokmagok said:

Initiate of the Citadel is another sexy Maester in the new Targ mega-expansion. With such terrific 0 cost attachments as Dragon Fear and Dragon Bite, this man leaves plenty of opportunity to control the board without hampering your gold production. Quite valuable in a Dragon deck I 'd wager.

Question:

When cards such as Flaming-Pitch Tower state as a prerequisite, winning "a challenge by 4 or more total STR" does it mean:

1. My total STR has to be at least 4 more than my opponent's, i.e. 5 for me and 1 for him,

or

2. My STR has to be at least 4 and (of course) greater than my opponent's even by an increment of 1, i.e. 5 for me and 4 for him?

Thank you.

Serazu said:

The answer is #1.

If #2 were true, the wording on those types of responses would be "a challenge WITH 4 or more total STR".

See the event "Make an Example":

Response: After you win a challenge and count 8 or more total STR, claim 3 power for your House. (Limit 1 per phase.)

This speaks of nothing more than using 8 or more total strength to win a challenge. This is when #2 applies.

And actually, Make An Example doesn't really reference the source of this STR so I could be wrong on how the event is used.

Bomb said:

Sure it does. It says "After you win a challenge and count 8 or more total STR...." So the "source" of the STR is whatever your total challenge STR count was. That, in turn, comes from your participating characters (and any general bonuses like the +3 STR Multiplayer Titles).

You are correct about the difference between "win by 4 STR" and "count a total of 4 STR." The first looks at the difference between the two sides of the challenge, the second just looks at your side.

As always, thank you for your fast replies. Two more questions if you please.

1. Suppose I have a Copper Link attached on an Advisor to the Crown, a card which has a "justification" for kneeling built in. May I kneel him for no other reason other than activating the Chain's response? Typically, I have knelt him for Influence, in reality though I intend not to spend that Influence at all - it was just an "excuse" for activating the Attachment. Is it elligible or do I have to actually spend the Influence somewhere to justify the kneeling?

2. The text on Copper Link baffles me. What does "Limit once per phase" mean? The Response per se in not a Limited one. Does it mean that that particular Copper Link may be used once per phase, but, if I have another one in play (in the same character or not), then the other Link may activate its ability normally? This is the meaning of it I guess.

Serazu said:

You cannot kneel influence if nothing let's you do so. In AGoT, there is no "mana pool". Influence is only knelt when a card cost/effect tells you to, you cannot actually spend influence (think of it as a reactive "effect" to card text rather than a stored resource to be spent).

Serazu said:

Exactly.

Pokmagok said:

Or you could just have characters that kneel for fun wear the Apprentice Collar and the Copper Link and kill off the character with Dragon Bite by giving the Dragon Bitten character the dragon trait. (even better with Pale Steel Link for a surprise kill and Bronze Link for recycling fun). Marya Seaworth is a good candidate here since she can stand herself to do more tricks.

Thanks.

Another question: I have an Advisor with 2 Copper Links attached and another non-Dragon on the board. I intend to turn the Advisor and the other character into Dragons and attack.

1. The rules state "Then declare attackers by kneeling..." etc. At the "Responses" section it states that "Responses resolve before the next action may be taken". The moment the Advisor kneels, the Links' abilities kick in, but when exactly do the Advisor and the other character turn into Dragons? Does kneeling the Advisor for attacking constitute an action, so is this the point when both turn into Dragons?

Serazu said:

Declaring attackers is a framework action. After that action window is started and the characters are knelt, there is the opportunity for passive abilities to initiate and then for responses to be triggered. So yes, the characters could be turned into Dragons shortly after being knelt to attack, but you must choose to trigger the responses (they are optional) and you must do so within the normal framework action timing (i.e. they could not be turned into Dragons before passive abilities are resolved normally, and your opponents would get some opportunities for responses (depending a bit on who is First Player)).

Is there a particular interaction you were hoping would work? By the time the characters become dragons, it is too late to trigger any "whenever a Dragon character attacks" passives, but I am not aware of any card with an effect like that in the LCG. They are still attacking dragons for triggering things like The Dragon's Fire ("Challenges: Choose 1 Dragon character. Until the end of the phase, that character gains: "While this character is attacking, defending characters get -1 STR and are killed if their STR is 0."").

No, there was no particular reason for asking, just familiarizing myself with timing. Thanks.

Can I give, for obvious reasons, the "Raven" trait to a location via cards, such as "Copper Link"? The text on the latter mentions "card", but I 've yet to see a location with the "Raven" trait on it. I guess I can. In other words, which card types are eligible to trait manipulation by "Copper Link"? Characters, locations and attachments? Are these the three types?

Copper Link specifically says "choose a card in play." So your question about "what card types are eligible" is misplaced. Card type doesn't enter into consideration - only whether the card is "in play" or not. Who controls it, what House it is, what traits it has, nothing else matters other than it being "in play."

There is also nothing in the rules limiting any particular trait to any particular type of card. Just because there are no locations with the printed "Raven" trait does not limit you to matching traits to card types where they appear "naturally." Make a character a Warship. Make an attachment an "Mercenary." Make a location a "Skill." Make the House card a "Crown." None of it matters because the only limitation put on Copper Link by itself or the rules is "choose a card in play" (and that the trait given be a known trait that appears in the game - more by tradition than anything else; no making Jon Snow a "Jedi").

Fair enough.

1. Concerning the Queen's Knight and the "After a non- Knight character comes into play, return Queen's Knight to its owner's hand.", do I take the text literally, i.e. does it include characters played by me or my opponents' or only characters that specifically come into play, such as with Ambush, Shadow characters and so on?

2. If I take the literal meaning under consideration and the second interpretation is the correct, what happens in the case where a unique non-Knight Shadow character is already in play and I reveal the same character out of the Shadows? The revealed Shadow character immediately attaches as a duplicate, so it isn't considered a "character" and thus the Knight's ability is not triggered, correct?

A card "comes into play" both when it is "played" from your hand or "put into play" from any out-of-play area.