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My son and I were having a battle and initiative passed to me in a mutual destruction by the numbers situation.  I played Hypocrite's Proselyte (HP), with the special ability of "Underdeck a Hero."  It was still mutual destruction by the numbers, but when I told my son that I wanted Andrew (the rescuing hero) to be under-decked due to the special ability of HP, he threw Son of God at me that read "Negate and rescue a Lost Soul."  Obviously it negates HP's special ability, and a lost soul is rescued, but does that end the battle (I'm assuming it does, since a lost soul is rescued)?  If it ends the battle, does the battle end in a stalemate with our respective characters withdrawing to our respective territories; do our heroes/evil characters get discarded due to mutual destruction by the numbers; or does something else happen? 

And while talking about dominants...I'm confused about the new rule concerning them.  The current rule book reads (from 4th edition starter decks) "You and/or your opponent can play a dominant(s) at any time during the game EXCEPT WHILE A SPECIAL ABILITY IS BEING COMPLETED OR DURING BATTLE RESOLUTION."  Maybe this exception could have affected the outcome of the above scenario?  Please help me understand what these exceptions mean in-depth. 

Thanks!

The exception makes it so you cannot play a dominant while another ability is still completing. In your example, HP was played. You cannot play any dominants until the HP's ability has fully completed, which means underdecking a hero. This also means you can't play dominants during special initiative as the ability has not yet competed.

Son of God does not negate Hypocrite's Proselyte, it negates the soul that it is rescuing (this is to allow it to rescue certain souls that would otherwise be protected from rescue by their special ability).  In the scenario you stated, Hypocrite's Proselyte's ability would complete before he was able to play Son of God (because Son of God does not interrupt HP), then Son of God would negate and rescue the lost soul that he targeted.  Unless he used another ability to add a hero into battle, or negate HP, the battle would end as a successful block.

Son of God does not need to be played in battle to rescue a soul either, as a side point.  Son of God can rescue a soul whenever it is played and their is a valid lost soul target in the opponent's land of bondage.  You can rescue a soul from battle, and a soul from Son of God in the same turn.

Thank you!

Quote from: Watchman492 on January 20, 2016, 01:59:12 PM

Quote from: kram1138 on January 20, 2016, 09:37:03 AM

The exception makes it so you cannot play a dominant while another ability is still completing. In your example, HP was played. You cannot play any dominants until the HP's ability has fully completed, which means underdecking a hero. This also means you can't play dominants during special initiative as the ability has not yet competed.

Excellent; thank you.  To clarify, you said special initiative, but the card says "special ability."  Special ability and special initiative are not the same, correct?  What do you mean by this exactly?  Also, when the dominant rule says "...or during battle resolution," what does that mean exactly?  Does this mean that when the battle is being resolved at the end (such as figuring out who has the most strength/toughness), or when a special ability effectively ends the battle, that the dominant can't be played at this time?

Special initiative happens when an opponent us removing your last character in battle by a special ability. You then have initiative to play an enhancement that interrupts or negates the ability.

You are 100% right about battle resolution

Ok got it. Thanks. My son had special initiative then because my last enhancement's SA was to underdeck his hero. 

And I just got the answer to my question about battle resolution when I read the updated rules about it just before I read your most recent reply. Thanks for taking the time and helping me out!