24 – A weird rules situation came up in gameplay. We have a pre-1.5 answer on it already – but we wonder if…

Question

24 – A weird rules situation came up in gameplay. We have a pre-1.5 answer on it already – but we wonder if it remains true with the new valid target rules and how deal/take has now been officially written.

Now, as Shadowcat defending in Phased, we cannot take damage. But the rules reference says that, when assigning indirect damage, we should do so without accounting for interactions with other abilities. So by that logic, and the old ruling, we absolutely can. 1) Do the valid target rules come into play at all here? 2) At what stage during the deal/take process does Indirect Damage have to be assigned? 3) What is the resolution of the example given above? Can we assign the damage to Shadowcat and then let it fizzle against her damage immunity (old ruling), or do we have to assign it to our allies and in doing so defeat them?

Answer

— Alex