rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Ananasi Vampirephile and Pack Alpha

7 messages from 4 participants · 17 April 2006 – 01 May 2006
original thread on Google Groups

Jozxyqk

Can Ananasi Vampirephile play Pack Alpha to get a Raven Spy? Relevant text: "Once each turn, she may play a card that requires basic Animalism [ani] +as a vampire." So, if the Ananasi plays Pack Alpha, does that "use up" my animalism for the turn, therefore no longer meeting the requirements for Raven Spy?

LSJ

[ quoted text not captured ] It does use up the ability to play Animalism cards as a vampire, but since the resolution of Pack Alpha sees the Ananasi Vampirephile as a vampire with ani and recruits the retainer as part of that resolution, the ani can still be used to meet the requirements (and the AV's life can still be used to pay blood costs). Like using Charming Lobby to call a referendum (the latter requiring a vampire).

Fabio 'Sooner' Macedo

[ quoted text not captured ] Doesn't Pack Alpha at inferior also relates somewhat to Concealed Weapon in this case? I mean, the Raven Spy is not being "played in the normal fashion", so it doesn't count for Ananasi's limit of one animalism card per turn. Then the whole "as a vampire" thing kicks in. Fabio "Sooner" Macedo

LSJ

[ quoted text not captured ] That's another way of saying that Pack Alpha's effect is what "plays" the retainer, yes.

Mathias

Growing from this thread I've got some further questions, situations, regarding the 'play card as' ruling. So since Ananasi Vampirephile can put Animalism requiring retainer into play with Pack Alpha, then I'm assuming Ian Forestal could as well correct? Just want to make sure because he doesn't actually have Animalism, he just 'plays' cards as if he did. It just seems a bit confusing since this seems counter to previous ruling that abilities allowing minion to 'play' cards only counted when cards are played regularly from hand. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/browse_frm/thread/34a5a1067a7bb8fe/2d75fdf32142908b?lnk=st&q=summoning+tatiana&rnum=1#2d75fdf32142908b This second ruling applies to clan requirements rather than disciplines, but since the rule on requirements (sect, clan, discipline, etc.) lists them all together in same section of rule book, I figured the ruling seems to be applicable. So I'm wondering about the Summoning at superior, with bringing allies into play. Ruling on Tatiana Stepanova from the link above is that she could not use Summoning to put Brujah or Gangrel Allies into play. Assuming this extends to Mata Hari, and Kementiri [Merged] as well, yes? So is it correct that Ian Forestal with superior presence could not put a Re-animated Corpse or similar discipline-requiring ally into play either? Similarly, Ian could not use Vast Wealth to equip with a Baleful Doll or Canopic Jar, correct? Can anyone else think of similar circumstances where a minion might be putting a card into play, without actually playing it from hand, and where they might otherwise not meet the requirements for that card? Did that sentence even make sense? So I guess the only reason Vampirephile (and probably Ian) could put an Animalism retainer into play using Pack Alpha is because both the card (Pack Alpha) and the card it puts into play (Ani Retainer) have the same requirement? So theoretically if there were ever a Necromancy card similar to the Summoning or Pack Alpha, then Ian, Akhenaton, and any other Nec-playing minion who did not actually have Nec would still be able to play both the card and any Necromancy Ally or Retainer that card would then bring into play, correct? Because they are only considered to fulfill the necessary requirement for the resolution of the card which was played normally from hand, then they are only recognized as meeting the requirements for the second card being put into play by the first card IF the requirement is the same for both cards. I know this may just seem obvious to some, but I'm just trying to make sure I understand the ruling and its applications, as well as the rationale behind it, correctly. Also want to make it clear that I'm not trying to be argumentative, so I hope it doesn't come across that way. Just seeking understanding to make sure I avoid future mistakes in both deck-building and game play. Thanks.

LSJ

Mathias wrote: > Growing from this thread I've got some further questions, situations, > regarding the 'play card as' ruling. > > So since Ananasi Vampirephile can put Animalism requiring retainer into > play with Pack Alpha, then I'm assuming Ian Forestal could as well > correct? Just want to make sure because he doesn't actually have > Animalism, he just 'plays' cards as if he did. Correct. Just as allies play cards "as if" they had certain Disciplines. For the play of such cards, the minion is considered to have the Discipline in question (but only for the play of the card). > It just seems a bit confusing since this seems counter to previous > ruling that abilities allowing minion to 'play' cards only counted when > cards are played regularly from hand. Counter in what way? The rest of your post does an adequate job of explaining the logic (and the lack of "counters", so I'm not sure what counter you're seeing here. > http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/browse_frm/thread/34a5a1067a7bb8fe/2d75fdf32142908b?lnk=st&q=summoning+tatiana&rnum=1#2d75fdf32142908b That's a thread, not a post, so hard to figure out which post you're refering to. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/msg/9feb95542e7afeeb refers to which cards are cancelable "as played" -- cards put into play by another card (like The Summoning or Pack Alpha) are not "played" in the normal sense -- they aren't cancelable by Direct Intervention (although the first card -- Summoning or Pack Alpha -- can be canceled as normal, since they're played as normal). http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/msg/782f7be69bb661a5 refers to playing the first card (in this case, the Summoning) "as a Ravnos", since Tatiana is a Ravnos. Summoning doesn't require Gangrel, so Tatiana cannot play it as if she were a Gangrel. Since she's playing it as a Ravnos, the ally she recruits cannot be one that requires a Gangrel. > This second ruling applies to clan requirements rather than > disciplines, but since the rule on requirements (sect, clan, > discipline, etc.) lists them all together in same section of rule book, > I figured the ruling seems to be applicable. In as far as the first card is played, yes. For Pack Alpha, a minion "faking" Animalism in order to play Pack Alpha will play it "as if" he has Animalism. So he can use that Animalism to meet the requirements of retainer. Note that if Tatiana plays Pack Alpha, she cannot employ a Dog Pack with it, since she didn't play Pack Alpha "as a Gangrel". > So I'm wondering about the Summoning at superior, with bringing allies > into play. Ruling on Tatiana Stepanova from the link above is that she > could not use Summoning to put Brujah or Gangrel Allies into play. ... since she didn't play Summoning as a Brujah or Gangrel. > Assuming this extends to Mata Hari, and Kementiri [Merged] as well, > yes? It applies to all minions, yes. > So is it correct that Ian Forestal with superior presence could > not put a Re-animated Corpse or similar discipline-requiring ally into > play either? Right. He could employ the Reanimated Corpse directly. But since he doesn't play Summoning "as if" he has Thanatosis, he cannot use the Summoning to employ the Corpse. > Similarly, Ian could not use Vast Wealth to equip with a > Baleful Doll or Canopic Jar, correct? Correct. > Can anyone else think of similar circumstances where a minion might be > putting a card into play, without actually playing it from hand, and > where they might otherwise not meet the requirements for that card? > Did that sentence even make sense? > > So I guess the only reason Vampirephile (and probably Ian) could put an > Animalism retainer into play using Pack Alpha is because both the card > (Pack Alpha) and the card it puts into play (Ani Retainer) have the > same requirement? Yes. > So theoretically if there were ever a Necromancy > card similar to the Summoning or Pack Alpha, then Ian, Akhenaton, and > any other Nec-playing minion who did not actually have Nec would still > be able to play both the card and any Necromancy Ally or Retainer that > card would then bring into play, correct? The card the minion plays "as if" he or she has some trait is played as if he has that trait. If the play of the card put some other card in play and looks at the playing minion to verify requirements, then it sees the minion for what he played tha card as, just like all other effects of the play of the card see the minion for what he played the card as. > Because they are only > considered to fulfill the necessary requirement for the resolution of > the card which was played normally from hand, then they are only > recognized as meeting the requirements for the second card being put > into play by the first card IF the requirement is the same for both > cards. Right. [ quoted text not captured ]

Mathias

Thanks LSJ! And sorry about my confusion with the thread/post. As you seem to have guessed, I was in fact attempting to refer to the post regarding Tatiana playing cards "as if". As for what seems counter or contradictory, I guess I just agree with one of the other posters in that thread who referred to the ruling as feeling counter-intuitive. That minions playing "as if" only do so when when they 'play' directly from hand and not through other means just feels wrong. I understand that it's not (wrong that is), and your post seems to confirm why it's not, it just seems like it would be easier and more natural to rule it the other way. Besides, it's so relatively obscure, it's not like it's really disruptive either way, right. Of course it does prevent the Mata Hari Summoning up Rock Cats, Heralds and War Ghouls deck I was imagining from actually working. But that's probably not a bad thing really.