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Zealous Offense: The card that should do nothing

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TakeWalker
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Zealous Offense: The card that should do nothing

Sentinels of the Multiverse has been in print since 2011. The core game has gone through at least one major revision in that time, and yet somehow, small oddities continue to show up.

 I bring your attention, perhaps unsurprisingly, to Zealous Offense, an ongoing card in Fanatic's deck which is itself of no particular regard. And yet, it has the most astounding of peculiarities. The card text, for those who've not memorized the entire game:

Quote:
At the start of your turn, select up to 2 non-Character card targets. Those Targets cannot deal Damage until the start of your next turn. At the end of your turn, if you have not dealt at least 3 Damage this turn, destroy this card.

It seems simple enough, except for one thing: The word "you" in the third sentence.

The fact is, I am Fanatic's player. I have turns, which have starts and ends. I can draw cards, play cards and use powers. But I cannot deal damage. That's Fanatic's job. At the end of my turn, if I have played Zealous Offense and then used Fanatic's Absolution to deal Baron Blade 3 radiant damage, Zealous Offense should destroy itself. Fanatic's the one dealing the damage, not me.

The fact is, this is the only card in the game in which it seems to be on the head of the player -- rather than the hero -- to deal or have dealt damage. Every other instance of hero damage is sourced from the hero.

You grow attuned to this while designing cards for fan content. Far too many first-timers will create cards that make you deal damage or have you regain HP. But in the canon of Sentinels gameplay, the hero/player distinction is clear: heroes have HP and deal damage, players just manipulate cards and effects.

Save for this card.

Anyway, I only just noticed this despite having played the game for years, and wanted to see what everyone else thought of it. :)

Rabit
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Nice catch! :-D

Yeah, I chalk that up to the early inconsistencies. I'd bet good money that would be addressed in the Definitive Edition. :-) (At least _now_ it will, since you pointed it out! ;-) 

Thanks, TakeWalker! 


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FrivYeti
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This actually brings up an interesting question. If you're in Oblivaeon, and Fanatic has, say, the T-Rex bot in play, and Fanatic doesn't do any damage but the T-Rex bot chomps someone for 9 damage, did do three damage for keeping Zealous Offense around? Should it be keyed to Fanatic, or to cards in Fanatic's play area? Has someone tested what the game's decision was on this one? 

Trajector
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Ha! What I want to know is, how many HP of damage do I do if I flick the OblivAeon standee across the room in frustration?

Pydro
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Isn't he immune to frustration damage?


Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
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doppelgangerung
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FrivYeti wrote:
This actually brings up an interesting question. If you're in Oblivaeon, and Fanatic has, say, the T-Rex bot in play, and Fanatic doesn't do any damage but the T-Rex bot chomps someone for 9 damage, did do three damage for keeping Zealous Offense around? Should it be keyed to Fanatic, or to cards in Fanatic's play area? Has someone tested what the game's decision was on this one? 

My guess would be that the damage is presumed to come from wherever the card says it comes from - just as an effect that prevents a hero card from doing damage does not prevent damage from a card in that hero's play area, provided the card specified that *it* is doing the damage.

That is probably bad news for Zealous Offense fans.

TakeWalker
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doppelgangerung wrote:
That is probably bad news for Zealous Offense fans.

Do such people exist? <.<

Pydro
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Careful, they may take zealous offense to that.


Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"

Powerhound_2000
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I'm not a fanatic about it but I do like it. 


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31