Q: I have active Mad Mike Magpie [Flit 13, Terrah deck] ("Your cards with icons are ignored, except Flit character cards and PROTECTED cards."), and you have active character card Crysalus Frendus [Pillar 14] ("The effect of one of my Caterpillar booster cards doubles."), booster card Caterpillar Fireeater [Pillar 16] (FREE icon, "By the end of your Booster/Support phase, you must discard cards with a total printed value of at least 3 Fire from your hand, or retreat.") and booster card Caterpillar Eartheroder [Pillar 17, Terrah deck] (FREE icon, "By the end of your Booster/Support phase, you must discard cards with a total printed value of at least 3 Earth from your hand, or retreat."). I play a character card covering Mad Mike Magpie, so that your Caterpillar booster cards are no longer ignored; when is it decided which of them is doubled? What happens if I can manage to make a discard if Caterpillar Fireeater is doubled, but not if Caterpillar Eartheroder is doubled?
A: The effect of Crysalus Frendus is decided when you cover Mad Mike Magpie. Rulebook page 17, under Special Rule 2: 'If you apply the instruction on one of your cards to an active card and this active card is influenced or discarded by your opponent, then you may apply the instruction to a different active card.'. Your Caterpillar booster cards becoming no longer ignored is an instance of such influence, and hence I may decide at this point to which Caterpillar booster card Crysalus Frendus's effect is applied. If you are unable to make the necessary discard (or choose not to) then you are required to retreat, however strictly you are not allowed to backtrack on hearing my choice of which card to double the effects of (see question "The only way I can avoid having to retreat ... ?" in section 'Card Play: Backtracking' for the consequences of this). Thus if you cannot handle both choices I might make, you should retreat. |