In FAQ 3.0 We have this new entry: "(4.19) Printed Any reference made to "printed" be it cost, STR, icons, etc. only refers to the referenced item physically printed on the card itself. A card like Summer Reserves (Scattered Armies F119) does not have a printed cost or STR for instance. Any card effect that looked for the printed cost of a card without a printed cost would fail to find any cost and would return a null value, no item that could be referenced."

Could someone give us a clear explanation? Is "null" equivalent to (printed)zero? For example, could VB kill a reinforcement character?

Kordovan said:

Exactly the opposite. VB wouldn't be able to find a printed strength on an event-turned-character, so it cannot interact with that card. Null value basically means whatever you're searching for is "not there."

Some people don't agree on french forum but that's fine. Thank you for reply

Kordovan said:

"Any card effect that looked for the printed cost of a card without a printed cost would fail to find any cost and would return a null value, no item that could be referenced."

Then remind them of what they already know about neutral cards and effects that compare House affiliations. Since neutral cards do not have a House affiliation, there can be no comparison between the House affiliation of a neutral card and some other card. So the inability to reference a House affiliation means that a "does not match" effect cannot touch a neutral card.

The "cannot reference" part of the new FAQ entry is essentially extending that logic to other situations where a characteristic (like printed STR) does not exist, meaning that things that reference printed STR cannot touch the Reinforcements. (It also means that Kraznys mo Nakloz cannot touch events-turned-attachments for 0 gold anymore.) We used to follow the "if X isn't defined, it is 0" logic for printed STR or cost that didn't exist. The new entry effectively says "X=0" only counts if there is an actual X on the card.

So, can venomous blade can kill a character with a printed STR of X, like Pirates of Orkmont, regardless of the constant effect that defines the X, or does the effect define the X for such effects?

It has been ruled both ways by FFG at different times and at different events. Most people take X to be 0 when referring to "printed" whatever based on the entry in the FAQ defining how to define X for costs.

Just to make sure I'm understanding these three FAQ interactions correctly...

(3.11) When an effect checks a variable but there is no number present or has no quality capable of being checked (STR, power, cost, etc.) the variable is counted as 0.

(4.19) Printed
Any reference made to "printed" be it cost, STR, icons, etc. only refers to the referenced item physically printed on the card itself. A card like Summer Reserves (Scattered Armies F119) does not have a printed cost or STR for instance. Any card effect that looked for the printed cost of a card without a printed cost would fail to find any cost and would return a null value, no item that could be referenced.

So... if a card checks for a variable (Ser Ilyn Payne checking Str), it would refer to 3.11 to interact with, say, reinforcements.
And if a card checks for a constant (Venomous Blade, checking printed str), it would refer to 4.19 to interact with reinforcements (and can't).

So if venomous blades is looking for a printed str, and finds X, we know that's not a direct reference to 4.19 because it has a value physically printed on the card. That value is X, and *isn't* a null value. To find out what X is, we go to

(3.1) The Letter X
Unless specified by a preceding card, card effect, or granted player choice, the letter "X" is always equal to 0. Further, any card without a cost of the specified type is assumed to have a cost of 0 for purposes of determining how that card interacts with triggered effects that need to count its cost.

So I think the "letter X" is (since it isn't specified otherwise), equal to 0, and so is the "Printed letter X" - therefore venomous blade can kill the Pirates.

That is how most people go through it, yes.

Be aware, though, that there are others who argue "there can be no modification of 'printed'' STR, so the X is just X, which cannot be compared to a number, thus VB could not hit a Reinforcement." I agree that such logic either ignores the "Letter X" FAQ entry, or takes the singularly odd position that the letter X will behave differently in printed STR than it will in printed cost.

Hey ktom, did you talk to Nate about this?

eloooooooi said:

This is not a contradiction to the "Letter X" entry on costs (which does apply to STR and any other X variable) because that entry discusses "cost," not "printed cost." The separation of "A" and "printed A" makes a difference there, too, thanks to the new entry that specifically addresses "printed" characteristics from here on out.

Crystal clear now. Thank you.

Thank Nate. Up until the new FAQ, that "Letter X" entry was all there was, and it controlled for both "A" and "printed A" characteristics. How deep the new entry cut was not something I appreciated.

So X values and properties generated by effects (like a Reinforcements card's strength) are clear to me, both in terms of printed value and current value. What about the current value of a property that is neither printed on a card nor defined by an effect? That will give a null value if checked for the printed value of the property, but what about the current value? Is null still converted to 0 in this case or left as null? For example, can The Prince's Loyalist (Response: kneel 1 influence to cancel a triggered character ability with influence cost X or lower. X is the number of doomed cards in your dead pile) still cancel abilities without influence costs?

Under the new system, Prince's Loyalist would not be able to cancel a character ability without an influence cost. There could be no comparison, no matter how the X on the Loyalist itself was defined.