Layers, Dependencies and Timestamps

Apply copy effects first. Only copyable traits belong in that first pass; an added Mech tag from a later layer is not copied. Next apply changes to traits (the card’s characteristics): changes to the controller (the player making decisions for the card) and setting Might to a stated value belong here. Then apply changes to abilities, including text supplied by attached Equipment. Finally apply numerical increases and decreases; Might increases come before Might decreases.

Example - Set, then modify An effect sets a unit’s Might to 4 this turn. A separate effect gives it +2 Might. The set value is the starting value, so the result is 6. The +2 does not disappear merely because the set effect started later.

An effect can become applicable after the layer where it belongs was checked. Return to that layer and apply the newly applicable effect, then continue. Each effect applies only once in this calculation; rechecking is not permission to add the same bonus repeatedly.

Fiora, Victorious starts at 4 Might. A buff raises her to 5 in the numerical calculation layer. Recheck her ability layer: she now gains Deflect, Ganking and Shield. While defending, Shield adds 1, so she reaches 6. The buff is still only +1.

A dependency means one effect changes how another applies. Within the same layer, ask whether applying one effect changes the other’s existence, the objects it affects or its result. If only one depends on the other, apply the independent effect first, then the dependent effect immediately after it.

Example - A bonus that keeps raising Might to at least 5 A 4 Might unit is affected by a passive ability (text that keeps applying while active) that increases its Might to 5, and a +2 effect. The amount supplied by the passive ability depends on +2. Apply +2 first: 4 → 6. The passive ability now adds 0. The result is 6, rather than 7.

If each effect changes how the other is evaluated, the rules do not establish a dependency between them. Use timestamp order (the order in which the effects began applying, earliest first) within their layer and the smaller steps within it.

Example - Two limited increases A 4 Might unit has an older passive increase to 5. A later effect gives +2, to a maximum of 5. Applying either first changes the amount the other would add, so neither gets dependency priority. The older passive effect adds 1 first; the limited increase then adds 0. This follows the order in which the effects began applying, not a choice of whichever order you prefer.

A timestamp records when the effect began applying. It is not automatically the moment its card entered play. When Rules Text becomes inactive (its effects stop working), it loses its timestamp; when that text becomes active again, it gains a new one.

Example - A changing condition Two ability-changing effects have no dependency. One becomes inactive and later active again. On the next calculation, its new timestamp places it after the effect that kept applying. Track when each effect actually began applying rather than sorting by the cards’ original entry order.

Remove the support and calculate again from the current effects. Fiora defending with a buff is 6 Might with her three granted keywords. Spend or remove that buff: she returns directly to 4 without those keywords. Shield cannot keep itself switched on after the condition granting Shield fails.

The intermediate values used to calculate layers are not separate game events. A change that finishes at 4 Might does not briefly make the unit Mighty merely because a layer that sets the starting value used 5 before a reduction of 1 was included. A real transition from below 5 to at least 5 can matter to an ability triggered when it “becomes Mighty”; arithmetic inside one calculation does not create extra transitions.

Calculate each object separately. If one needs another object’s current characteristics, pause and calculate that other object first, then return. Follow longer dependencies to their end. If the objects form a loop, calculate the objects in that loop together, layer by layer, checking objects outside the loop first when needed. This object-level check differs from ordering two effects inside one layer.