Nova/Armadillo mod: When is the response window for when a hero “uses a basic power”? Particularly when defending using a hero’s…

Question

When is the response window for when a hero “uses a basic power”? Particularly when defending using a hero’s basic defense power. For example, if Quicksilver exhausts to defend against an enemy attack, when can he ready using his “Super Speed” ability? Is it (A) immediately after exhausting to “use” his basic defense power and declaring himself the defender during Step 2 of the enemy attack, or; is it (B) after the attack he is defending against is fully resolved at the end of Step 4? Does the “use a basic power” trigger refer to exhausting a character to apply the matching stat, or does it also include the associated action that uses the matching stat (Attack, Thwart or Defend)?

This also affects other heroes, such as Nova and when he can ready his helmet, or when Ghost Spider can play Ghost Kick or Phantom Flip, which are all Response actions that use similar wording for triggering conditions (“After [the hero] uses a basic power …”). The ruling for Rapid Growth distinguishes “using a basic power” from “applying the stat for a basic power” to other effects like Mass Attack, but Rapid Growth is an Interrupt, so it’s not quite the same thing as a Response. It makes sense to trigger Rapid Growth when a basic attack is initiated (it’s an interrupt that modifies the resolution of that attack), but does that mean that the window for playing a Response to a basic power is the same (after exhausting, not after resolving the entire associated action)?

Answer