Cactus Game Design Message Boards

If a character in territory is decreased to */0 or less but protected from discard (Pharaoh's Throne Room, High Priest's Palace, Headquarters at Riblah, etc.) what happens when the decreased character enters battle?

Understood, but that wasn't really the question.

Do the SAs activate?  Can someone like Babylonian Soldiers who can increase himself save himself?

There's not a specific set of ECs in mind, more looking at Faith of Noah vs. the protect forts and how to use your own ECs afterwards.

 

Also I believe even if the EC can't increase itself it would still get SI in addition to its ability going off.

Verifying that the character would be discarded, but the discard cannot insert between other abilities.  So the character entering battle, and all abilities that are involved, complete prior to the 'check' for discard by game rule.

You would, by the definition of SI, have SI in that case still:

When a player is controlling character(s) in battle and an opponent's special ability, or a game rule that has been triggered by an opponent's special ability, would leave that player with no character in battle when the special ability has completed, they have Special Initiative.

However as Aggie pointed out, there are different types of decrease.  An instant decrease (such as on Gates of Samaria) completes when the ability resolves; if that was in a prior phase, the ability cannot be interrupted (per game rule).  If it were an ongoing decrease (like Crown of Thorns), however, that is 'active' and did not 'complete' in a prior phase, so if the ability causing discard by decrease is an opponent's card with an ongoing decrease, you would have SI to interrupt or negate it.

An EC dying to Crown of Thorns during battle phase could negate it with SI if that's what you're asking.

It would seem he is being discarded from two different sources, and if the priority change goes through the player whose turn it is would decide which happens first (in which case he would choose Crown then GoS, allowing no SI).