Cactus Game Design Message Boards

How to Polycarp
 
As the first card that can instead an interrupt ability, Polycarp might take some getting used to--especially since interrupts are often followed by additional abilities (draw 3, play next, discard, etc).
 
When a player has Polycarp active and the opponent uses any ability that interrupts or negates that player’s NT enhancement, Polycarp will trigger at that moment (before any other abilities will take place). While the general rule is that abilities do not insert themselves into other abilities, instead is an exception in that with certain circumstances, it can insert. We see an example of this in the I am Holy/Chamber of Angels situation--a player discards an angel with I am Holy, but before the benefit of the opponent discarding a card from hand, Chamber inserts and the angel goes to Chamber, which fizzles the discard of an evil card from opponent’s hand.
 
Where this gets tricky is in special initiative (SI) situations. If I have Polycarp active and use a NT battle winner to defeat your last EC (thereby giving you SI) and you play an interrupt/draw 3/play next, as soon as the interrupt occurs I can trigger Polycarp to instead that interrupt (before the draw 3/play next). Keep in mind this would have to happen immediately once the interrupt occurs--I could not decide to instead it after seeing the outcome of the draw 3/play next. Assuming I do instead the interrupt, that would then put the battle back in a SI state where you could interrupt again (similar to the situation where I negated your first negate) because the first interrupt “never happened” (which is how instead works). The draw 3/play next from the first interrupt would be suspended--as outlined in the explanation of SI--pending the outcome of the SI. If you are able to negate my battle winner (thereby keeping your EC in battle) then the first interrupt would resolve (allowing you to draw 3 and play next). If you are not able to negate again, then your EC is defeated and the pending draw 3/play next is not resolved.
 
In non-SI situations where Polycarp is triggered and used, simply treat it as if the interrupt never occurred.
 
It is up to both players to recognize when an ability such as Polycarp is active and triggered. I cannot interrupt/do something else without first giving you the opportunity to trigger Polycarp.

I'm sure more questions will arise, and I know this was not the simplest of explanations, but we believe it is balanced and (more importantly) consistent with established rules of SI and instead. 

So the card suspended stays in play?

But in short, Peter is how to Polycarp lol

Nope...healing Polycarp means he was not discarded therefore the instead does not work.

When a character is healed from being discarded, it is placed in the territory of the player with permanent control,
and the discard is not considered to have completed for the purposes of abilities or conditions that trigger based on a
character or card being discarded.

Quote from: TheHobbit on May 25, 2017, 10:18:10 PM

But in short, Peter is how to Polycarp lol

Nope...healing Polycarp means he was not discarded therefore the instead does not work.

Quote from: REG

When a character is healed from being discarded, it is placed in the territory of the player with permanent control,
and the discard is not considered to have completed for the purposes of abilities or conditions that trigger based on a
character or card being discarded.

You can heal him after battle though right? I remember when Peter came out you could heal across phases.

From the REG for special initiative:
This only occurs once per activation of an opponent's special ability. If a removing ability is
negated (or cannot reactivate after an interrupt effect is played) and the negate (or interrupt
effect that prevented reactivation) is later undone such that the original removing ability
reactivates, this would trigger a separate instance of Special Initiative.

So if you instead the interrupt, that would not count as the once per activation for SI?  if so, could you give an example where this rule would take effect?

Let's say I am attacking with Samuel (who negates play abilities) and you have SI. You play Dream to interrupt and draw 3, but the play ability is prevented so you cannot play anything. At this point you cannot play another interrupt or negate so I would win the battle.

Quote from: TheHobbit on May 26, 2017, 08:58:28 AM

You can heal him after battle though right? I remember when Peter came out you could heal across phases.

Healing from discard can only take place at the moment of discard (after any SI situation has resolved).

Which is a rule change as of REG 4.0.0. As of 2015-2016 season, healing still worked cross-phase. It accomplished this by a search of the discard pile. In the past, healing was a weird, game-pausing ability. To make it consistent, it searched the discard pile, but it was changed to be a single use trigger to fit better thematically as healing. (And to also get out from under being stopped by Signet Ring  )

Ah, ok thanks for clearing that up.

A sound ruling, indeed

Gotcha--it's certainly a bit convoluted but if you break it down, we believe everything is consistent.

"A little complexity is just a lot of simplicity." 

 I am confused on why dream gets suspended after the interrupt is insteaded. What exactly is stopping it from activating? You can only play cards that would interrupt/negate in SI, but dream has already been played so how is dream being suspended by SI?

For reference:
SI
When a player is controlling character(s) in battle and an opponent's activating special
ability, or a game rule that has been triggered by an opponent's activating special ability,
would leave that player with no character in battle when the special ability has completed,
they have Special Initiative.
When this occurs, suspend the card causing the removal, additional abilities waiting to
activate, and any triggers (currently active ongoing abilities remain active). The player with
their character(s) being removed has the opportunity to play an Enhancement that will
interrupt or negate the ability that is causing the removal (or that triggered the corresponding
game rule). The enhancement played must be able to interrupt or negate the removing ability.
If the card with the removing ability was already removed from play due to its ability, it may
still be targeted during Special Initiative by an enhancement that specifically targets its card
type.
This only occurs once per activation of an opponent's special ability. If a removing ability is
negated (or cannot reactivate after an interrupt effect is played) and the negate (or interrupt
effect that prevented reactivation) is later undone such that the original removing ability
reactivates, this would trigger a separate instance of Special Initiative.

Without the interrupt, the D and P are sitting on a character who is currently in the process of being discarded. They are suspended by the rules of SI, not of activation.

Polycarp use confuse ray... It's super effective!

TheHobbit hurt himself in confusion!