If Ezren has the Illusionist role and plays the spell Dominate, can he still put the monster on the bottom of the deck after he shuffles the deck?
My guess here is yes, but it is just one of those things I'd feel better knowing for sure. Or at least having a consensus on.
Thanks.
I know Vic said he'd get back to you on it, but in this instance, wouldn't the clarification for "Finish One Thing Before You Start Something Else." kick in?
Since it'd end up being two things happening at the same time (as Ezren's ability activates when you play a spell to evade, not after), the current player decides the order in which things happen. So one could deal with the spell's search/shuffle and then put it on the bottom, or could decide to put it on the bottom and then search/shuffle.
"Finish One Thing Before You Start Something Else. You do many
things in a specific order, and you need to finish doing each thing
before you do the next thing. You move before you explore, not after.
If a spell used in a check can be recharged, finish the first check before
you begin your check to recharge it. If a villain requires two sequential
combat checks, finish the first before starting the second. Don’t start a
new process until you’ve finished the last one. (That said, if the game
doesn’t specify an order for things, you decide the order.)"
That's just my thoughts, anyway, and I could be totally wrong.
I have been before, lol.
I could also be misremembering the Dominate spell card.
Though, after typing that, it's quite possible that you don't have a choice at all, since the 'finish one thing before you start another' could also mean that you have to finish the spell in its entirety and then deal with any consequences of the spell, one of which would be Ezren's triggered ability.
I really hope his power will work here. From a strategy perspective, there is something really interesting going on with this spell that I think will be a great choice you'll have to make as a player.
Ezren's Illusionist power already changes how evading works by having you not shuffle the deck before you put the monster on the bottom. So not only do you move the monster to the bottom, but you don't change the deck order which you've probably spent a lot of resources on manipulating. But with this one, you will be shuffling, even though after shuffling you will place the evaded monster on the bottom. But that shuffling will undo all the other evading or scouting Ezren has done (my Illusionist Ezren is built largely around those two things and doesn't pack a lot of attack spells). So even if his power applies, he'll have to use it wisely to not undo all the work he's already done.
Obviously, you all will do what you feel is best, but even though I asked the question, I'd be fine with it not receiving an errata. Just a confirmation that he gets to use his power is fine.
Like I said, Ezren's evade power already changes how evading work:
If Seoni plays Invisibility, you put the monster on the top, pick up the whole deck and shuffle it. If Ezren plays Invisibility, you don't shuffle the deck and you put the monster on the bottom. So not only do you put the monster on the bottom, but what you do with the deck changes as well.
For Dominate, Seoni would search the deck, find a boon, then place the monster on the top of the deck and shuffle the deck. Ezren would search the deck, find a boon, shuffle the deck, then place the monster on the bottom. The shuffle is instructed by the card. Ezren's evading power always makes placing the monster on the bottom of the deck the last step of the encounter.
So, I don't think I really need an errata. And I would expect that most people also assume his power works with Dominate just as I described above. No one else seems to have had the question (it hasn't come up on Board Game Geek).
I really appreciate your dedication to making the game as clear and understandable as possible, and that you'll issue an errata for even things like Blessing of the Gods instead of just saying "that isn't how it works". But I'm not sure this is as likely to be misunderstood as even BotG.
If you did issue an errata, I'd suggest making it to Ezren's power to future proof all such cards. "If you play a spell to evade a monster, you may put the monster on the bottom of the deck at the end of the encounter." But seriously, I'm not sure that is even necessary. Just saying "that is what Ezren's power does" seems more than sufficient.
Just wanted to throw that out there for you.
Chief Technical Officer
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You're suggesting that when you evade a card, it hangs around while you do everything else that may have happened during the encounter. But evading does not wait until the end of the encounter, it happens immediately: "If you have a power or card that lets you evade the card you’re encountering, you may immediately shuffle it back into the deck." (The S&S wording is different, but the outcome is the same.)
Dominate's first power does two things, and you have to do them in the order stated:
• Discard this card to evade a monster.
You are correct that Ezren's power redefines "evade"; that means that after you do this sentence, Ezren has put the evaded monster on the bottom of the unshuffled deck.
• Search your location deck and choose a boon to add to your hand, then shuffle the location deck.
So after you do this sentence, the deck has been shuffled and the evaded monster is no longer on the bottom.
This is not what we want, so we need to fix Dominate.
Hmm...Yeah, I guess you are right. Well, that is why you guys write the cards and I just play them.