Cinccino: Amazing Plea - Card Clarification

[RegiRoss2000]

Great card but...does anyone know how the effect for Amazing Plea works IF there are NO cards in the discard?

 

[donavannj]

Great card but...does anyone know how the effect for Amazing Plea works IF there are NO cards in the discard?

Trying to find a ruling that confirms what I think is the case, but I'm pretty sure since the discard pile's contents are known to both players, I think the answer is that you can't use the attack.

 

[RegiRoss2000]

This is helpful, thanks. If you find a ruling, I would still be curious. I think you're right, though. The attack of 80 is very strong for needing just one energy and not having the ability to take the "plea" seemed unfair. Appreciate the response!

 

[ddrox13]

This is helpful, thanks. If you find a ruling, I would still be curious. I think you're right, though. The attack of 80 is very strong for needing just one energy and not having the ability to take the "plea" seemed unfair. Appreciate the response!

To expand to the best of my understanding: If the initial effect of a card or attack cannot be resolved (i.e. is certainly going to fail based on information known to both players), the card cannot be played or the attack not used. As an example, a card that says "put this Pokemon onto your Bench" cannot be played if you have a full bench, however you can use the effect of Brooklet Hill if you have no basic Water or Fighting Pokemon remaining in your deck, provided you have a bench slot available, as the contents of your deck remain a mystery because they are face down. I'll often use this in the late game to just look at my deck and remind myself what's in there, despite knowing I'm out of Basics.

When a card or attack has multiple effects, joined by the conjunction "Then" or "If you do", the effects must be resolved in the specified order. If the first portion of such a card fails, the whole card cannot be played. Guzma is the common example here, as you cannot use it to switch your active and benched Pokemon if the opponent has no Benched Pokemon.

The Primary effect of Amazing Plea is "Choose two cards from your Discard Pile". Because there are not two cards in your Discard Pile, this portion of the attack cannot be used, rendering the whole attack unusable. This doesn't mean "has no effect". You cannot use the attack within the bounds of the rules in that case. Even if you could, you would still have to plead with your opponent, to which they could just say "Sure, feel free to take no cards out of your Discard" and not take damage.

As an added bonus, due to the fact that it specifically mentions two cards (as opposed to "up to two"), Amazing Plea also should fail if there is only one card in your Discard Pile, though I'm not as confident on that one.

 

[donavannj]

To expand to the best of my understanding: If the initial effect of a card or attack cannot be resolved (i.e. is certainly going to fail based on information known to both players), the card cannot be played or the attack not used. As an example, a card that says "put this Pokemon onto your Bench" cannot be played if you have a full bench, however you can use the effect of Brooklet Hill if you have no basic Water or Fighting Pokemon remaining in your deck, provided you have a bench slot available, as the contents of your deck remain a mystery because they are face down. I'll often use this in the late game to just look at my deck and remind myself what's in there, despite knowing I'm out of Basics.

When a card or attack has multiple effects, joined by the conjunction "Then" or "If you do", the effects must be resolved in the specified order. If the first portion of such a card fails, the whole card cannot be played. Guzma is the common example here, as you cannot use it to switch your active and benched Pokemon if the opponent has no Benched Pokemon.

The Primary effect of Amazing Plea is "Choose two cards from your Discard Pile". Because there are not two cards in your Discard Pile, this portion of the attack cannot be used, rendering the whole attack unusable. This doesn't mean "has no effect". You cannot use the attack within the bounds of the rules in that case. Even if you could, you would still have to plead with your opponent, to which they could just say "Sure, feel free to take no cards out of your Discard" and not take damage.

As an added bonus, due to the fact that it specifically mentions two cards (as opposed to "up to two"), Amazing Plea also should fail if there is only one card in your Discard Pile, though I'm not as confident on that one.

Basically what I was thinking was the case.

 

[cprmauldin]

LOL! Don't you wish some cards provided better clarification?

I usually only play with friends and family, so we just make our own ruling while we are playing. I doubt I'll ever get into tournament play so I don't think this will ever be an issue.

 

[RegiRoss2000]

Wow. Thanks for these great responses. Very, very helpful. I really appreciate you both taking the time to field my question. Indeed, you both make perfect sense, especially about not being able to use the card at all unless there are clearly 2+ cards in the discard.

 

[Tek]

I think Ultra Decidueye is correct in saying "If the initial effect of a card or attack cannot be resolved (i.e. is certainly going to fail based on information known to both players), the card cannot be played or the attack not used." I can't find any rulings that actually specify this, unfortunately. I checked the regular TCG Rulebook and the Play! TCG Rules. https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/about/tournaments-rules-and-resources/

But in addition to the previous examples, I know that in the TCG Online you can't play a Fisherman (move 4 basic energy from discard to hand) if there are no basic energy in the discard pile. If this line of thinking is correct, then it's certainly the case that the attack can't be used if there's only one card or zero cards in the discard pile.

Edit: not sure about that last bit. Ultra Ball specifies that it can't be used if you can't discard two cards and Xerneas' Geomancy can be used if there is only one Pokemon on the bench.