TL;DR - My proposed definition(s) for block (and all variations):
1. When a player is attacked, they are considered the "blocker".
2. At any point in a battle, if there are no Evil Characters opposing a Hero, and an Evil Character is placed in the Field of Battle to oppose that Hero (whether by Special Ability or the blocker's choice), that is considered a "block" by that Evil Character for the purposes of abilities that trigger when a hero is blocked.
3. An Evil Character is considered to be "blocking" at any point that it is opposing a Hero in battle.
4. A hero is considered to be "blocked" by any Evil Character opposing it in battle.
5. If an Evil Character was used to oppose a Hero at any point in battle, it was "used to block" for the purposes of special abilities that reference Evil Characters used in the battle.
6. A "successful block" occurs when the Hero(es) in battle do not accomplish their goal. This can mean different things for Rescue Attempts and Battle Challenges. If at any point, the battle was a Rescue Attempt, then a successful block occurs anytime no Lost Soul is rescued during Battle Resolution. If the battle began as a Battle Challenge and never became a Rescue Attempt, a successful block can happen in any of the following ways:
a. All attacking Heroes are removed from the Field of Battle before Battle Resolution by a special ability.
b. The battle ends in a stalemate.
c. The battle ends with the blocking Evil Character(s) defeating the Hero(es) by total strength and toughness comparison.
Detailed information and analysis is below. However, I got progressively tired as I went, so someone else going through and correcting me wouldn't be a bad idea.
Alright folks, I mentioned it in
this thread, but I want to try and get this definition hammered out. So, here are the current definitions:
Block
Blocking is the attempt to prevent a rescue. Only Evil Characters may block. Whenever an Evil Character enters the Field of Battle against a Hero (regardless of what point the battle is), that is considered a block.
Successful Block
A successful block occurs when the Hero(es) in battle do not accomplish their goal. This can mean different things for Rescue Attempts and Battle Challenges. If at any point, the battle was a Rescue Attempt, then a successful block occurs anytime no Lost Soul is rescued during Battle Resolution. If the battle began as a Battle Challenge and never became a Rescue Attempt, a successful block can happen in any of the following ways:
• All attacking Heroes are removed from the Field of Battle before Battle Resolution by a special ability.
• The battle ends in a stalemate.
• The battle ends with the blocking Evil Character(s) defeating the Hero(es) by total strength and toughness comparison.
Evil Character
Evil Characters are cards with a dragon in the icon box. Evil Characters block rescue attempts and
battle challenges.
However, we have rulings that are not consistent with this. For example,
The Throne of David specifies an event for 'when your purple king is blocked,' but the consistent ruling has been that only the
first such block (whether in the battle or when one enters with an empty evil side of battle is still under debate) despite the fact that "regardless of what point the battle is" when "an Evil Character enters the Field of Battle against a Hero, that is considered a block."