Note: the full announcement regarding the recent rule changes can be found here.

A while ago, there was a question about whether the abilities on the new “while equipped” characters persisted past the Battle Phase, until the character lost their weapon. That was not the intent of those abilities, but explaining exactly why that condition was different from other conditions requires a definition with some nuance.

In January 2024, I thought that maybe a simpler rule was better and ruled that the abilities did persist until the character lost their weapon. That was a bad ruling and I was quickly disabused of the notion that simpler was better because that’s simply not how a number of cards were designed to operate, and thus had to figure out how to differentiate how the different conditions were supposed to work.

Starting Simple

Previously, duration was somewhat vaguely defined – abilities defaulted to lasting through the phase, and there was a list of cases that override the default, but no details on what that meant for a condition in the special ability. The original question prompted an examination of a proper definition and how complex it should be, so I started with a very basic definition:

Duration (Simple)

• If the special ability on a card specifies a duration, the special ability persists until that duration ends.
• If the card is a territory class character played in a territory, the special ability persists until the character leaves territory.
• If the card is played outside of battle, the special ability persists until the card leaves play.
• If the card is played in battle, the special ability persists until the end of the Battle Phase.
• If more than one of the above apply, the special ability persists until the longest duration ends.

The line about cards played in battle is a nod to the longstanding “removing a card does not negate it” idea that dates back to the early years of the game, if not the very beginning. Maintaining that as a point of differentiation between discard (or any removal) and negate seems reasonable, but it still marks a change to how cards have been played.

That’s so simple it doesn’t match up with the historical precedent of how a lot of players (including the design team) expect 2 sets of cards to play: 1) cards with duration conditions in the special ability, as described in the introduction, and 2) cards played outside of battle, which had been ruled to persist until the end of the phase in which they were removed from play.

Categorizing Conditions

The “while equipped” and similar cards are not the biggest issue with the simple definition. That’s certainly an issue, but one that might have been manageable as a handful of cards, maybe to be handled via errata. It is the cards with abilities that would persist past their removal from play, like Michael, Chief Prince and Achim, the Compiler (when discarded from battle), that are more significant issues, since existing abilities that persist indefinitely when no longer in play without a reminder are often overlooked, like the star ability on Stricken.

So some durations are intended to only work within another duration, while others are intended to stand alone. The durations intended to work within another duration include some of the purple warriors in Israel’s Inheritance that use “while equipped”, like Adino, the Eznite, which are intended to only work during the Battle Phase, or the “negate neutrals” characters from Lineage of Christ with a duration of “while you control a meek Hero”, like Achim, the Compiler, which are intended to work only either while the character remains in territory or during the Battle Phase in which they enter battle. The durations intended to stand alone include The Serpent (“while paralyzed”), The Sordid Spirit (“while placed”) and Teaching in Parables (“this turn”). Differentiating between those 2 sets of durations is where complications can arise.

Some of these durations intended to stand alone have obvious differences, like a specific time (this turn, 1 round, etc.) or something along the lines of “while this card remains in play”. The biggest issue with categorizing the conditions as players expect them to work is explaining the difference between:

 “while equipped”, meaning “while this card is equipped with another card”
 AND
 “while placed”, often meaning “while this card is placed (potentially on another card)”.

You could certainly define those differences based on what status the duration is checking, but there are 2 issues. The first is that the list of statuses is somewhat arbitrary (place, poison, set aside, paralyze, etc.) based on how cards have been designed, so it’s not as clear cut as some alternatives. The second is that it may have broader implications – a rule that a “placed” condition always persists past the phase means a hypothetical “while you control a placed orange card” would persist, despite the intent probably being the opposite.

So the difference is not with those conditions themselves, but with what precedes the conditions. As a starting point, “a card that places itself and bases a duration on that placement persists through that placement” makes a lot of the placed cards work as intended, but misses any cards that are similar but don’t place, like The Serpent (Promo) or the star ability on Authority of Christ (Gospel of Christ), or cards that place something other than themselves, like Cursed for Us or Two Possessed. So the differentiation needs to be a bit broader, something like “If a special ability targets a card and defines a duration based on the result of that targeting, the special ability persists until that result is changed”. So the “special ability specifies a condition” can be broken down into the following:

1. If a special ability targets a card and defines a duration based on the result of that targeting, the special ability persists until that result is changed. This provides an upper bound on any other duration on the card.
2. If a special ability specifies a specific time for the duration, such as this turn, 1 round, etc., the special ability persists until that time has elapsed.
3. If a special ability specifies the ability remains active “while this card remains in play”, or some similar phrasing about the card leaving play, the special ability persists until the card leaves play.
4. If a special ability specifies a duration that is not covered above, the special ability requires another duration as the upper bound. If none of the above durations are present, the upper bound is the end of the phase.

The mentions of “upper bound” in the above list mean “the point the ability cannot persist past”.

Default Duration

The other issue from the simple definition is how a duration works for cards played outside of battle. The status quo ruling has been that cards like Artifacts and Fortresses persist to the end of the phase in which they are removed, which has led to some questions. So there’s not a new issue, but since we’re defining duration it’s worth examining.

The status quo ruling goes back to the “removing a card does not negate it” idea, but it seems out of place in the current state of the game and in a definition of duration. The original scenarios where that idea applied were characters in battle getting removed but their ability persisting, like Captain of the Host (Warriors) being discarded by Christian Martyr. That idea applied to a majority of cards until placed cards and territory class characters were printed, which had their own durations that ended on removal, creating some confusion with other cards that still persisted. A duration defined as “until the end of the phase in which the card leaves play” is a mouthful and seems somewhat out of place with everything else.

Most abilities have a default duration of “this phase”, that can be overridden by special ability or some attribute inherent to the card (such as type or class). It seems cleaner to rule that default as why some cards persist past removal, and define inherent durations as ending when the card leaves where it was played.

The cards that have “inherent” durations include Artifacts, Fortresses, Lost Souls and Sites (except Rainbow Sites), along with territory class characters which were covered separately in the simple definition anyway. The default duration of “this phase” covers characters and Enhancements in battle, unless they have a duration in the special ability. That leaves Enhancements in territory (essentially territory class Enhancements) and Dominants covered by the default but with the potential to have an inherent duration.

Most Dominants either don’t have an ongoing component and don’t need a duration, or they specify a duration for their ongoing component like Buckler (Roots) and Glory of the Lord (Seasonal Promo). Two Dominants that rely on the default duration are Chronicles of the Kings and Voice from Heaven. Chronicles of the Kings probably functions more as expected and intended if the negate ends when it leaves play, but it’s manageable if it persists through the phase. Voice from Heaven definitely should persist in order for the first sentence to work, since it can’t grant “regardless of protect abilities” retroactively, so Dominants should maintain the default duration. Territory class Enhancements can be grouped similarly – most don’t rely on the default duration, but those that do generally function better that way than if they ended immediately on removal. Less distinction between how the Enhancement is played is probably better for the game in general as well.

One benefit to simplifying the “inherent” durations is that we can also simplify when a player can use triggers and manual triggers. If the ability doesn’t persist past the card being removed, there’s no need to specify that mandatory triggers can still be used and optional triggers can’t – you can only use any type of trigger or manual trigger as long as the ability persists. This also empowers some “after battle” triggers on characters – if they are removed from battle, the ability persists and can be used for the rest of the phase, but the targets still have to be in play or a set-aside so they may not be able to target themselves. So something like Moabites Marauders actually works even if he loses the battle, rather than really only working in a stalemate.

Orderly Operation

Putting all of the above together, we end up with the following definition moving forward:

Duration

• Many special abilities have a component that lasts for longer than a simple instant effect, requiring an upper bound on how long the special ability persists. If none of the following apply, the upper bound is the end of the phase.
• Some effects have their own duration limitations that override any other duration listed below.
• If a special ability targets a card and defines a duration based on the result of that targeting, the special ability persists until that result is changed. This provides an upper bound on any other duration.
• If a special ability specifies a specific time for the duration, such as this turn, 1 round, etc., the special ability persists until that time has elapsed.
• If a special ability specifies that it remains active “while this card remains in play”, or some similar phrasing about the card leaving where it was played, the special ability persists until the card leaves where it was played.
• If the card is a territory class character played in a territory, the special ability persists until the character leaves territory.
• If the card is a Site (except a rainbow Site), Artifact, Fortress or Lost Soul, the special ability persists until the card leaves where it was played or the Artifact is deactivated.
• If a special ability or identifier specifies a duration that is not covered above, the special ability requires another duration as the upper bound. If none of the above durations are present, the upper bound is the end of the phase.
• If more than one of the above apply, the upper bound is any duration specifically noted as an upper bound, or the duration that would last the longest if there is no specific upper bound, so the upper bound can change as the game progresses. A special ability with multiple durations persists until the upper bound has elapsed, but its effectiveness may vary as the shorter durations change.

Most of that was covered somewhere above. The line about “effects with their own duration limitations” is primarily about copy, which ends when the card resets to face value regardless of any other duration due to the nature of copy. The rule is written broadly to cover any other similar situation.

The last section covers anything with multiple durations. Most of that falls back on “whichever duration would last the longest” while still fitting the previous rules. The exception is placed cards – those end immediately when the place ends, so something like Three Woes ends immediately rather than persisting through the rest of the round.

This rules update wound up being one part “what exactly is the status quo as a written rule” and one part “why is this the status quo”, but it should allow more abilities to persist or not in a simpler manner.

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