CoE Digests 111 and 110 provide incorrect rulings on the how to prevent the effects of Nazgul Permanent-events when they tap.
These mistakes appear to be based on failure to understand the difference between "discard" and "cancel" and failure to recognize the timing rules on Nazgul Permanent-events. Nazgul permanent events immediately become declared (not in-play) short-events when tapped instead of in-play permanent events. You cannot "discard" a declared event before it resolves because it is not yet in play. This is because "discarding" in this context is the action of moving a card from play to the discard pile. But you can "
cancel" declared event that have not yet resolved. This is because cancellation negates the conditions required for the event to resolve, so the event is discarded without effect (it "fizzles").
CoE 111 wrote:(1) The question has arisen whether the previous understanding of the interaction of Marvels Told & Voices of Malice with The Witch-King of Angmar is correct. In light of digest 110's ruling on the interaction of nazgul events and certain event-cancelers, we are making the following ruling:
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If the Witch-King is tapped in response to the play of Marvels Told or Voices of Malice, then it will resolve before MT/VoM and thus be unaffected by them. If, by contrast, MT/VoM is played in response to the tapping of the Witch-King, then MT/VoM will resolve first, and discard (and thereby cancel, since it has not resolved yet) the event.
CoE 110 wrote:(1) The interaction of Wizard's River-Horses, In the Name of Mordor, and Praise to Elbereth on the one hand and Nazgul events (permanent, long, and short) on the other hand has been brought into question.
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Regarding Wizard's River-Horses (WRH), In the Name of Mordor (ItNoM), and Praise to Elbereth (PtE): Since the tapping of a nazgul permanent event turns it into a short (or long) event, the short (or long) event is never considered "played". Therefore, if a nazgul event is in play (as a short event, long event, or permanent event) then it will be canceled by WRH, ItNoM, or PtE when they resolve. There are some subtleties in the exact mechanism of each card due to timing and a certain CRF entry:
WRH: Here we must distinguish between two different chains. If a nazgul event is tapped in response to the play of WRH, then it will resolve before WRH and thus be unaffected by WRH. If, by contrast, WRH is played in response to the tapping of the nazgul event, then WRH will resolve first, and discard (and thereby cancel, since it has not resolved yet) the event.
ItNoM: The timing issues for this card are identical to those of WRH.
PtE: According to the CRF ruling by card title on Praise to Elbereth, Nazgul events may not be tapped in response to the play of PtE. Therefore, there is only one chain possible for this card (PtE in response to the tapping of the nazgul), and so this card is 100% effective.
To recognize why the CoE Ruling is wrong, note the rulings on Nazgul timing in the CRF:
CRF wrote:Nazgul: If a Nazgûl is tapped to become a short-event as printed on its card, it turns into a short-event upon declaration. At this point, the Nazgûl is a short-event just as if had been played as such from your hand.
Witch-king of Angmar: Although he becomes a long-event when tapped, he is discarded when the effect resolves just like other Nazgûl. The long-event effect will remain until the appropriate time.
The CoE ruling is partially correct on a few things so let's go one at a time:
CoE 110 wrote:If a nazgul event is tapped in response to the play of Wizard's River-horses, then it will resolve before WRH and thus be unaffected by WRH.
Correct. This is due to the last-in first-out nature of the Chain of Effects based timing in this game.
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CoE 110 wrote: If, by contrast, WRH is played in response to the tapping of the nazgul event, then WRH will resolve first, and discard (and thereby cancel, since it has not resolved yet) the event.
Incorrect. Per the CRF (copied above), the tapped Nazgul turns into a short-event upon declaration just as if it had been played as such from your hand. A short event played from your hand cannot be targeted by the
discard effect of Wizard's River-horses (or Marvels Told) because it is not yet "in play" per Annotation 1: "
A card is not in play until it is resolved in its chain of effects. When the play of a card is declared, no elements of the card may be the target of actions declared in the same chain of effects."
There may be confusion because the timing of tapping Nazgul Permanent-events changed. Originally, the tapped Nazgul permanent event was not turned into a short-event at declaration and so it could have been discarded by Wizard's River-horses.
The correct rules are given by ICE:
ICE Ruling wrote:Question: I know Marvel's Told cannot cancel the effect of a Nazgul after it has tapped and become a short-event. Can *Wizard's River Horses* played in response to the tapping of a Nazgul, cancel the effect of the Nazgul event?
ICE Netrep: I would say no. The event is not in play, or in anyone's hand. Where is being discarded from? My point is that resolving cards are never discarded elsewhere in the game, and nothing in the rules says their effect would be cancelled even if they were.
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CoE 110 wrote:
ItNoM: The timing issues for this card are identical to those of WRH.
The timing issues are NOT identical because WRH only causes a "discard" action while In the Name of Mordor causes a "discard" action AND a "cancel" action. In the Name of Mordor prevents the tapped Nazgul Short-event from resolving.
The correct rules are given by ICE:
ICE wrote:Question: Is it correct that unlike MT/VoM, *In the Name of Mordor* can cancel a Nazgul event whether the Nazgul is a permanent-event or has been tapped and made a short-event?
ICE Netrep: Yes.
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CoE 110 wrote:PtE: According to the CRF ruling by card title on Praise to Elbereth, Nazgul events may not be tapped in response to the play of PtE. Therefore, there is only one chain possible for this card (PtE in response to the tapping of the nazgul), and so this card is 100% effective.
Correct, Praise to Elbereth stops a tapped Nazgul because it "cancels" the event, preventing it from resolving. Early on ICE decided that Nazgul were too strong and something needed to stop them so they ruled that "Nazgûl permanent-events that are targeted by Praise to Elbereth may not be tapped in response to its play."
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CoE 111 wrote:If, by contrast, MT/VoM is played in response to the tapping of the Witch-King, then MT/VoM will resolve first, and discard (and thereby cancel, since it has not resolved yet) the event.
Incorrect. The misconception may be based on the fact that Marvels Told does not target short-events (which the other Nazgul become) but it CAN target long-events, which the Witch-king becomes. However, that is not the only issue. There is still the issue that a tapped Nazgul is not in play, it is merely declared (see above). Marvels Told cannot target and discard a declared event. It can only discard an event in play.
Furthermore, note the CRF to the Witch-king of Angmar (also above) which states: "Although he becomes a long-event when tapped, he is discarded when the effect resolves just like other Nazgûl. The long-event effect will remain until the appropriate time." Therefore, Marvels Told cannot discard Witch-king of Angmar even after the on-tap long-event effect has resolved. This reasoning is the same as the reasoning given for Wizard's River-horses. This is noted in the ICE ruling:
ICE Ruling wrote:Question: I know Marvel's Told cannot cancel the effect of a Nazgul after it has tapped and become a short-event. Can *Wizard's River Horses* played in response to the tapping of a Nazgul, cancel the effect of the Nazgul event?
ICE Netrep: I would say no. The event is not in play, or in anyone's hand. Where is being discarded from? My point is that resolving cards are never discarded elsewhere in the game, and nothing in the rules says their effect would be cancelled even if they were.