Cards And Zones
Quick-Draw Step by Step
Walk through Reaction gear entry, its separate attachment trigger and the response window before the unit gains its bonus.
Guide overview
What you’ll learn
- Separate immediate gear entry from its play trigger.
- Identify where players can respond.
- Distinguish Quick-Draw from activating Equip.
Guide content
Understand the concept
Quick-DrawAn Equipment keyword that gives the gear Reaction and, when you play it, triggers an ability to attach it to a unit you control.View in Glossary combines permission to play gear with ReactionA timing keyword that includes Action's permissions and also permits a card or activated ability while a Chain is waiting. You still need the proper opportunity, normally Priority; it does not allow an interruption halfway through resolution.View in Glossary timing and an attachment Triggered AbilityAn ability started by a stated event or time, usually introduced by "when" or "at." It goes on the Chain when its condition is met.View in Glossary . GearA permanent type normally played to Base. Non-unit gear normally enters ready and does not have Standard Move. Equipment is gear with the Equipment tag. Gear that is also a unit follows the specific combined-type rules.View in Glossary is a type of card that stays on the board after being played. Reaction lets you play it when you have PriorityThe right to take a legal action now. Only one player can have Priority at a time, and having it does not remove a card or ability's timing restrictions.View in Glossary , including while another spell or ability waits on the ChainAn off-board zone that holds cards and abilities during the process of playing them. Cards and abilities on it are public information.View in Glossary . The chain is the ordered list of spells and abilities waiting to ResolveCarry out a finalized Chain item's effects. Normally the newest waiting item resolves after everyone passes Priority in sequence. Units, Gear and Add abilities instead resolve immediately when finalized.View in Glossary : resolving means carrying out their instructions. The trigger is a separate ability created when its stated event happens. Follow the sequence: play the gear, place that ability on the chain, resolve it, then apply the attachment bonus.
Play the gear while another item waits
Suppose an opponent’s spell is on the chain and you have Priority. You may play Long Sword because Quick-Draw gives it Reaction. Make the usual choices, calculate its play cost, pay and check legality. The Quick-Draw attachment TargetA specific object, player or zone chosen by a spell or ability under the targeting rules. Check legality when choosing and when resolving. Costs, automatic groups and explicit "pick" choices do not target; pending Chain items cannot be targeted.View in Glossary is a choice for the resulting triggered ability, not a target you must select as part of playing the gear itself.
Quick-Draw changes timing, not the ordinary entry rules for gear. Without a separate permission, Long Sword enters your Base, ReadyReady means a card or rune is available to be used for something that requires it to Exhaust. Ready objects are kept upright.View in Glossary .
Card example
Long Sword
Quick-Draw supplies Reaction and a play trigger; the separate Equip line is not paid for this attachment.
Gear
Long Sword
[Quick-Draw] (This has [Reaction]. When you play it, attach it to a unit you control.) [Equip] [Fury] ([Fury]: Attach this to a unit you control.)
The gear enters before the trigger resolves
After choices, costs and the legality check are complete, the gear card is finalized: its play is confirmed. A finalized gear card resolves immediately. The opponent’s spell is still waiting on the chain. Long Sword is now a gear card on the board; it is not yet attached simply because it entered.
Its play trigger is processed and placed above the waiting spell. Choose a unit you control for that attachment trigger. Long Sword’s +2 Might bonus does not apply to that unit yet: the trigger must attach it first.
Respond to the attachment trigger
Players receive their ordinary opportunities to respond to that chain item. Imagine the chosen unit has 3 Might. The opponent responds by killing it with a legal Reaction. That response resolves before the attachment trigger. When the trigger later resolves, it cannot attach to the departed unit, so Long Sword remains unattached.
Players can also affect the gear or the target in other legal ways. Check whether attachment is still possible when the trigger resolves. The opportunity to respond is to the trigger on the chain; the Attach action during its resolution is not another response window.
Resolve a successful attachment, then continue
If both cards and the choice of target remain valid, the trigger attaches Long Sword. The 3 Might unit now gains its +2 bonus and has 5 Might. If it is at a battlefield, the sword changes location to be with it without a Move or a Ready action. The chain then continues to the older spell after the usual passes.
You paid Long Sword’s play cost. You did not activate EquipAn activated ability on Equipment: pay its listed cost to attach that gear to a unit you control when the ability resolves. This is normally separate from playing the gear.View in Glossary or pay its separate Fury PowerA resource used to pay Power costs. Power normally has a domain that must suit the requirement; Universal Power can pay for any domain.View in Glossary cost. Having no suitable unit does not create an automatic attachment, and having Quick-Draw more than once does not create extra attachment triggers. For later attachment changes, follow the separate Equip, InactiveText that is still present but does not currently apply, trigger or allow activation. Other effects can still check that the text or keyword is present.View in Glossary -text and attachment rules.
Keep in mind
Key points
- Gear entry is immediate; the attachment trigger uses the chain.
- The bonus begins when attachment happens.
- Quick-Draw does not activate Equip or pay its cost.