RulingHall of Heroes (rules 1.0–1.4)

Expansion card questions: Marvel Champions interrupt timing question: The rules state that an “interrupt ability is executed when its…

Question

Marvel Champions interrupt timing question: The rules state that an “interrupt ability is executed when its triggering condition becomes imminent, but before that triggering condition resolves”. Is there any meaningful difference between “is” and “would be” for interrupts? Example: Defiance says “When a boost card on an enemy attacking you would be turned faceup”, and Preemptive Strike says “When a boost card is turned face up while the villain attacks”. Are both supposed to be played before the card is actually turned faceup? The rule suggests so, but the card texts imply some difference.

Answer

It mainly depends on the card if such a distinction is significant or not. For the cards you mentioned: Defiance allows you to discard a boost card without turning it faceup, and Preemptive Strike allows you to cancel boost icons, but requires you to turn the card faceup to do so, since that’s the only way you’d know how many boost icons are being cancelled. For those two cards, the different phrasing matters.

— Alex Werner, FFG Game Rules Specialist