Author Topic: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification? (Read 1055 times)

The Schaefer · « **on:** August 30, 2016, 10:03:55 PM »

The phrase "may not be blocked by" equates to ignore under current rulings however since ignore does let a character block from hand and be ignored in battle the equivalency seems to be questionable to me now. "May not be blocked by" seems more like a restrict honestly. I guess really what I'm getting at is the phrase "may not be blocked by" doesn't do what it says under current rules and although not a big deal to those that know the rulings I guess I feel that this may need to be revisited. It just seems wrong that the ability can't function the way the card reads and the way that it used to work. Should this phase be revisited? I think there is some merit. Anyone else?

Josh · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2016, 08:04:19 AM »

Not only that, but I see no reason why Ignore needs to stop you from blocking by ignored characters.

Quote from: The REG

How to Play
An ignore ability has four parts:
1. The ignoring card cannot be targeted by an ability that is on a card it is ignoring, or on a card
played on that card, and when comparing the strength of the ignored character to the toughness of
the ignoring character, the strength of the ignored character is treated as zero.
2. The ignored card cannot be targeted by an ability that is on a card that is ignoring it, or on a card
played on that card, and when comparing the strength of the ignoring character to the toughness of
the ignored character, the strength of the ignoring character is treated as zero.
3. Characters not in battle and targeted as ignored cannot enter battle.
4. Characters already in battle and ignored are treated as though they were not in battle for purposes of
determining battle outcome, regardless of whether all opposing characters are ignoring the
characters.

I see no reason why item 3 above needs to be part of Ignore, other than "That's how it's always been done". It's not very intuitive, in my opinion. And it's still leading to NPEs, even now that we can block from hand (or when a handful of protect cards are in play).

If "Cannot be blocked by" is treated separately from Ignore, perhaps Item 3 could be looked at to see if it merits removal?

Minister Polarius · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2016, 07:52:01 AM »

We wanted to balance Ignore, not gut it entirely.

The Guardian · « **Reply #3 on:** September 01, 2016, 04:01:39 PM »

Quote from: Minister Polarius on September 01, 2016, 07:52:01 AM

We wanted to balance Ignore, not gut it entirely.

Agreed--ignore already has a lot going against it (the ignored characters survive the battle, the ignored character gets unlimited initiative) so I don't think it needs to be weakened further.

The Schaefer · « **Reply #4 on:** September 01, 2016, 09:34:41 PM »

Quote from: The Guardian on September 01, 2016, 04:01:39 PM

Quote from: Minister Polarius on September 01, 2016, 07:52:01 AM
We wanted to balance Ignore, not gut it entirely.

Agreed-- ignore already has a lot going against it (the ignored characters survive the battle, the ignored character gets unlimited initiative) so I don't think it needs to be weakened further.

I agree that ignore doesn't need to be weakened. My concern is that the phrasing "may not be blocked by" doesn't actually do what it says anymore. I really don't see why this ability is an ignore ability when it seems more like it's original wording would translate better to something like "restrict players from blocking this character with" or a "restrict "×" from entering battle". For a long time these cards were played as worded and I think there is no problem with them being played as worded other than that a ruling says otherwise. I guess there aren't many restrict abilities overall and there isn't anything that directly stops restrict abilities but I wouldn't say that is a huge black mark against them. Just an open area for newer cards to potentially expand upon. It's not like playing these cards as worded is game breaking. I guess I view this as a ruling that isn't really neccessary here since it seems to just confused the game more than clarify where as formerly it was clarification. That's just my opinion though. And it's not a huge concern of mine overall. Thanks to all who care to listen.

Josh · « **Reply #5 on:** September 02, 2016, 12:15:04 PM »

Quote from: The Guardian on September 01, 2016, 04:01:39 PM

Quote from: Minister Polarius on September 01, 2016, 07:52:01 AM
We wanted to balance Ignore, not gut it entirely.

Agreed--ignore already has a lot going against it (the ignored characters survive the battle, the ignored character gets unlimited initiative) so I don't think it needs to be weakened further.

Ignore abilities are already being created so that they can't be used preblock anymore - see Word of Christ and Faith of Moses' Parents. This is an implicit admission that preblock ignore isn't good for the game.

Gabe · « **Reply #6 on:** September 02, 2016, 12:57:54 PM »

Too much pre-block ignore isn't good for the game. We prefer most ignore abilities to work in battle. But that's not to say that we will never print another card that can ignore pre-block.

FBTN faced a similar problem years ago. There was a long drought where new "negate all" characters weren't printed.

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Author Topic: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification? (Read 1055 times)

The Schaefer

May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

Josh

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

Minister Polarius

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

The Guardian

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

The Schaefer

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

Josh

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?

Gabe

Re: May not be blocked be blocked by Clarification?