Stannis Baratheon has a handy ability: "While Stannis Baratheon is attacking and the defending player controls no Lord characters, that player cannot declare defenders"

When using Stannis in a military challenge against an opponent who has Warlock's Servitors (or any character that's "immune to character abilities") and nothing else out, would Warlock's Servitors be able to defend since it's immune to character abilities, even though the player controls no Lord characters? Does Stannis' character text count as a "character ability"?

Thanks!

Stannis' ability is a character ability, but immunity to character abilities doesn't actually do anything against him.

Immunity only protects against effects that resolve on or otherwise directly affect the immune card. Stannis doesn't do that. Stannis says that the player cannot declare defenders. So his character ability is telling you what the player can and cannot do - and thus directly affecting the player. That means for immunity to help, the player would have to be immune.

Stannis would need to say something like "characters controlled by that player cannot be declared as defenders" in order for the ability to be directly affecting the character - thus allowing a character's immunity to block it.

Thanks, that's what I thought! That means I won that game against the fiancee last night. Boom.