The Rules Team is being played from the banished zone, with some recurring questionsand interactions to keep in mind as you traverse the latest set!
Basic Rarity
Usurp the Shadow Throne limited features three primary heroes: Levia, Malice, and Viserai, Between Worlds. These heroes each have access to their own basic rarity weapons AND basic rarity arm equipment. This means you don’t have to draft or pull them from your packs to get access to them for your limited games.
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Blood Debt
Blood Debt is a returning mechanic that puts all of our Shadow heroes on the clock. At the beginning of your end phase, each face-up card with blood debt in your banished zone will put a trigger on the stack – when that trigger resolves, you will lose 1 life.
The card with blood debt must be face-up AND in your banished zone at the start of your end phase to trigger blood debt. If a card with blood debt is face-down, or if it is only banished during your end phase, its blood debt will not trigger that turn.
Tyler ends their action phase and begins their end phase with3 face-up cards with blood debt and 1 face-down card with blood debt in their banished zone. Only 3 triggers will be put on the stack and Tyler loses 3life (1 + 1 + 1 = 3) total.
Tyler is playing as Malice and they control a Restless Magister with two -1
Oldhim Tiozão do Churrasco · Sep 21 · 7 min read0 likes00 comments0
counters. At the beginning of their end phase, the Restless Magister’s decay effect triggers, puts another -1
counter on itself, and it dies. Malice’s effect triggers, banishing the dead zombie face-down and creating a Corrupted Corpse in their banished zone, but its blood debt effect does not trigger, because it wasn’t face-up in the banished zone at the time the end phase began.
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Usurp
Usurp is a new ability keyword for Shadow Runeblade cards. As an additional cost to play a card with usurp, you MUST destroy a Runechant if able. This can be a Runechant token, or card that counts as a Runechant, that any player controls – meaning you can also usurp an opponent’s Runechant. If you pay this cost, the card gets +2. If there are no Runechants available, you can still play a card with Usurp, but you don’t get the additional +2.
Usurping a named Runechant can trigger additional effects. Some of these Runechants will further modify the attack with usurp (e.g. Runechant of Pride). Others will give a benefit to the controller of the Runechant – not necessarily the same as the player who controls the attack (e.g. Runechant of Greed).
Tyler controls a Runechant of Greed and a Runechant of Pride. Tyler plays Demonbound Gloomblade, and must choose a Runechant to usurp. They choose Runechant of Greed, which gives Demonbound Gloomblade +2 from usurp. Runechant of Greed has two effects that trigger: Tyler draws a card (from being usurped), and creates a Runechant token (from being destroyed). Runechant of Pride has an effect that triggers, and is destroyed (from playing an attack action card) which triggers another effect and Tyler creates a Runechant token (from being destroyed).
Nic controls a Runechant of Greed. Tyler plays Demonbound Gloomblade, and must choose a Runechant to usurp, and chooses Nic’s Runechant of Greed. Runechant of Greed has two effects that trigger: Nic draws a card (from being usurped), and Nic creates a Runechant token (from being destroyed) – this is because Nic (not Tyler) is the player who controls the Runechant of Greed, regardless of who usurped it.
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Decay + Incarnate
Decay and Incarnate are new ability keywords for Shadow Necromancer cards. Zombie allies with decay have a trigger at the beginning of your end phase. When it resolves, you will place a -1 counter on that permanent. This can cause allies to die.
An ally permanent dies when it leaves the arena for any reason, whether their life reaches 0, they are destroyed, or they are otherwise removed.
After triggers at the beginning of the end phase have been resolved, the life totals of allies are reset (-1 counters are not removed). If an ally’s decay trigger resolves, putting its life total at 0, that ally will die before its life total is reset.
Shadow Necromancer cards can also create Corrupted Corpses which have incarnate. Incarnate has two effects – you cannot start the game with it in your deck, and when it would die, instead it’s removed from the game. This second effect replaces the die-event, meaning that effects that would otherwise trigger from its death don’t trigger.
Tyler is playing as Malice and controls a Restless Quartermaster that has taken 2 damage this turn. At the beginning of Tyler’s end phase, the Restless Quartermaster’s decay effect triggers and resolves, putting a -1 counter on it. Because ally life totals have not reset yet, Tyler’s Restless Quartermaster dies, as it has a total of 0 life (3 – 2 – 1 = 0). Malice’s effect triggers and resolves, creating a Corrupted Corpse in Tyler’s banished zone.
Nic is playing as Malice and controls a Corrupted Corpse with a Mark of Ushering bound to it. Tyler deals 3 damage to the Corrupted Corpse, reducing its life total to 0. Instead of dying, the Corrupted Corpse is removed from the game and the Mark of Ushering goes to the graveyard. Neither Malice nor Mark of Ushering trigger from Corrupted Corpse being removed from the game, as it did not die.
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Blasmophet + Unique
Shadow Brutes are able to create Blasmophet, the Insatiable Hunger tokens in Usurp the Shadow Throne, which feature the new keyword: Unique. Blasmophet is your hungry pal that wants a little treat EVERY turn of the game, not just your own. At the beginning of the end phase of EACH player’s turn, you may choose to banish a card from your hand or not. Then, if you have not banished a card with blood debt during the current turn, Blasmophet will be destroyed.
It is important to note that Levia has an erratum to their textbox. It now reads:
“If a card with 6 or more has been put into your banished zone this turn, you don’t lose from blood debt during the end phase.”
This change means that if you haven’t banished a card with 6 or more during your action phase, you can still avoid the life loss from blood debt by banishing a card with Blasmophet’s effect.
The unique keyword on Blasmophet means you can only control 1 Blasmophet at a time. If you control more than 1 Blasmophet, the Insatiable Hunger, you must remove them until only 1 remains. There are no requirements on which Blasmophet you must clear, only that you only control 1 card with the Blasmophet moniker while you control a Blasmophet with the unique keyword in the arena.
A moniker is derived from a card’s personal name – in the case of Blasmophet, the Insatiable Hunger, its moniker is just Blasmophet. Only permanents can have personal names, so you will never accidentally clear away your ally just because you played Shadow of Blasmophet!
Tyler, playing as Levia, controls a Blasmophet, the Insatiable Hunger token, and has 1 card with blood debt in their banished zone. Tyler has not banished any cards this turn. At the beginning of their end phase, both Blasmophet and the card with blood debt trigger. Tyler resolves Blasmophet’s trigger first, and banishes a card with 6 and blood debt, and Blasmophet is not destroyed. Then the second trigger resolves, and Tyler loses no life from blood debt.
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Can Shadow Resist prevent damage from allies?
Yes. Shadow Resist specifies that it can prevent damage from a Shadow hero, which includes all sources that a Shadow hero controls – attack action cards, arcane damage effects, weapons, allies, etc. The source of the damage (e.g. an ally) does not need to have the Shadow talent for the damage to be prevented in this way.
The same principle applies to Dam the Shadowake, which will trigger when it defends any attack controlled by a Shadow hero, including allies.
Tyler is playing as Malice, and Nic controls Dark Arcanite Boots. Tyler attacks Nic with an ally and hits for 3. Nic chooses to destroy their Dark Arcanite Boots to prevent 1 of that damage and takes a total of 2 damage overall (3 – 1 = 2).
Tyler is playing as Levia, and Nic controls Restless Shieldmaiden. Tyler attacks Nic with a (non-Shadow) Brute attack action card. Nic may choose to destroy Restless Shieldmaiden to prevent 1 damage because Tyler is a Shadow hero.
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If I play Shadowrealm Reaper from my Opponents Banished Zone using Planar Chaos, will it get Go Again?
No. Shadowrealm Reaper only gets this effect when it is played from your own banished zone.
‘You’ on a card is from the perspective of the controller of the card, (or the owner if no-one controls the card). In the case of Shadowrealm Reaper, its ability is only functional after it has resolved as an attack from the stack, and has a controller. Since it was not played from ‘your’ banished zone as the controller of the card, it evaluates as false.
Tyler plays Planar Chaos, allowing their next Gate to i’Arathael to target an action card with blood debt in any banished zone. They activate a Gate to i’Arathael token, targeting a Shadowrealm Reaper in Nic’s banished zone. Tyler plays the Shadowrealm Reaper, attacking Nic. When Shadowrealm Reaper becomes attacking, it does not get the effect of its static-continuous effect because it was not played from Tyler’s banished zone.
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If I banish Hex Gauntlet using its own effect, can I turn Hex Gauntlet face-down?
Yes. Hex Gauntlet’s instant activated ability instructs you to turn a card with blood debt face-down when it resolves. Since Hex Gauntlet has blood debt, it can be chosen by the resolution of its ability. You will still count as having banished a card with 6 and as having banished a card with blood debt for the turn, even after Hex Gauntlet is turned face-down.
Tyler controls Hex Gauntlet, and has no cards with blood debt in their banished zone. They activate Hex Gauntlet’s instant activated ability in the action phase. As part of the activation cost, they banish Hex Gauntlet. When Hex Gauntlet’s activated layer resolves, since there are no other cards with blood debt in Tyler’s banished zone, they must turn Hex Gauntlet face-down.
. If there are no Runechants available, you can still play a card with Usurp, but you don’t get the additional +2