RulingHall of Heroes (rules 1.0–1.4)

SPDR/Iron Spider’s Sinister Six mod: I wanted to ask you guys to consider a rule change. In regards to preventing damage as a cost. For exam

Question

I wanted to ask you guys to consider a rule change. In regards to preventing damage as a cost. For example with “Focused rage” or “Spider Tingle”. You guys say that using a card like “energy barrier” along with those cards prevents the cost and therefore the ability doesn’t work. But another way of looking at it, is that you didn’t actually prevent that cost, the damage still had to be dealt with and it would create a way more fun player experience and open up cool combos if you guys went a different direction with this.
What do you think? If you look at the SP//DR hero pack and the preconstructed deck for example, there are negative play experiences, like if you have the “forcefield generator” in play with 6 counters and only your hero in play you can’t use “spider tingle” or play “thwip thwip”. How cool would it be to combo these cards to block the damage that came your way or even use the “energy barrier” to pop a pesky minion or tough status card?!
I meant “forcefield generator” not “energy shield” ha (that’s not a card) and it being a forced interrupt

Answer

We are issuing a new ruling that is relative to this interaction. We are choosing to distinguish the phrases “deal X damage” and “take X damage” when used in the costs of player cards. If a player card requires you to “deal X damage” to a target, the damage does not all have to be applied to the target for that card’s cost to be considered paid. An example is Karmic Blast, which deals 4 damage to a target as part of its “cost.” That 4 damage can be in excess of the target’s health, or can be subjected to damage-reducing effects, and in either case still have its cost considered paid. On cards that require you to “take X damage”, though, all of that damage must be applied for the effect to occur.
An example is Karmic Blast, which deals 4 damage to a target as part of its “cost.” That 4 damage can be in excess of the target’s health, or can be subjected to damage-reducing effects, and in either case still have its cost considered paid.
On cards that require you to “take X damage”, though, all of that damage must be applied for the effect to occur.
What this means for Forcefield Generator is that it is now possible for SP//dr to have Forcefield Generator attached, then activate Spider-Tingle and “deal 1 damage” to herself–even though Forcefield Generator prevents the damage, the cost of Spider-Tingle is considered paid, and she could still resolve the rest of its effect.
We hope that you find this new ruling empowering. We understand that this is a relatively large adjustment, so please feel free to send us additional questions if you have any.

-Alex