RulingHall of Heroes (rules 1.5)2024-01-25

143 – I have a question regarding the protection ally Iron Fist. He has the following ability: Interrupt:…

Question

143 – I have a question regarding the protection ally Iron Fist. He has the following ability: Interrupt: When Iron Fist attacks an enemy, remove 1 mystic counter from him -> stun that enemy and deal 1 damage to it. When I attack a Minion with only 1 HP left with him and use his interrupt ability, defeating the Minion – will the attack still happen? Because an interrupt happens before the trigger, and that means, that the Attack has no longer a valid target. And in the case the Attack is no longer happening – would Iron Fist then take consequential damage?

Answer

No; if Iron Fist defeats a minion with his Interrupt ability, he does not take Consequential Damage. We looked through the rules of “initiating abilities” and determined that Iron Fist must first exhaust (as a quasi-“cost” of initiating an attack), then his Interrupt triggers and resolves, and then if the enemy he initiated an attack against is no longer in play, his attack doesn’t have a valid target and does not resolve. He is not considered to have attacked in this way, so he does not take consequential damage, though he is still exhausted.

— Alex