Clear Someting Up For Me: Boost

Digital Jedi

Digital Jedi

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It seems I don't know this game as well as I thought I did. It also seems that my fellow VS players at Realms do not understand the way I phrase things. You guys are used to me, maybe I'll get a clearer, or at the very least, a more expanded explanation of why they are saying this is so.

The original question involves Amanda Waller's boost power:

Boost X: When Amanda Waller comes into play, gain 2 resource points for each resource point you paid for X. Spend these resource points only to recruit Checkmate character cards.​

It's turn 7, so the primary player pays the 4 resource points for her recruit cost and then pays the remaining 3 resource points to gain 6 resource points through her effect.

He then recruits Elimination Protocol :vs_diamon Omac Robot (cost 4) and pays its boost cost of 2 with the resource points Amanda generated.

Once I got my facts straight, my initial thoughts were no, you cannot pay the boost for Omac with Amanda's generated resource points, because she specifically says you can only use them to recruit a character.

However, I'm being told that the boost is payed as an additional cost to recruit the character card.
505.1d The player determines the total cost for the effect, first substituting an alternate cost if one is used, then adding any additional costs, and then subtracting any cost reductions. Cost increases or reductions are cumulative. A total cost can't be reduced below zero. The player then pays costs in any order.​
While I realize that boost is defined in the Comp Rules as "'Boost <cost>: <text>' means, 'As an additional cost to play this card, you may pay <cost>.' " and that "recruitment" can be synonymous with "play this card", the thing that is bugging me is the fact that boost is a continuous power. A continuous power shouldn't be accesable before the character resolves into play, right? What am I missing?
 
Try looking at it like this.

The rules say you set the cost. That means you can pay more for the card than he costs but not less unless a modifier of some kind allows it. If you pay the full six to recruit him then the 2 extra are seen by boost and used then but are payed before he hits the field in the total cost of the character.

And just incase that sounds wierd which it might just do lets try it thsi way. The rules say substitute the cost of the card with an alternate cost if one is used. With booxt you can assume that an alternate cost of 6 exists for Omac. Recruiting him for 6 activates his boost effect but the points are counted as being a recruit cost.
 
What bothers me is that I don't see that implied by the rules or by game mechanics. Boost is labeled as a "continuous power". Continuous powers on character cards do not have a bearing on the game until that character card resolves into a character. This is the reason I can chain to the 4 and 6 cost Dr. Doom's recruitment, and have my plot twists resolve before his continuous power has a bearing on the game and prevet me from doing so. What makes boost special? Is its glossary definition actually stating it can function before the character card has resolve into a character?
 
From what i got it was more ya pay the boost cost as part f the recruit cost and once it becomes a character THEN the boost comes into effect DUE TO having been recruited with the extra cost.

So basicly the same as your Doom scenario. Think of it like this......

The card becomes a character.
The caracter checks what cost was used to recruit it.
Two things can occur....

The character gets hit boost effect after being recruited with the added cost
The character doesnt get his boost effect from only being recruited at his normal cost.
 
I think to key is the definition of Recruit.

Recruit
 To recruit a character or equipment means to announce it, put it on the chain, and pay its costs.


combine that with the definition of Boost.

Boost
 "Boost" is a keyword that represents a continuous power that functions in any zone the card can be played from. The phrase "Boost <cost>: <text>" means, "As an additional cost to play this card, you may pay <cost>. If you pay, this card has <text> in addition to any other text it has this turn." If you did not pay, the card does not gain <text> in addition to its other text. All boost costs are expressed in resource points unless noted otherwise.


Boost is a additional cost to play the card, Recuit will allow it because by definition it states pay its costs and boost is just an addition cost. Once the cost is payed the boost effect will occur.
 
I just finished reading the text on VS Realms. Is the continuous power thing still confusing or did you figure it out?

Basically, Boost can function in any zone (Hand/Chain/In-Play/KO/Removed/Consealed), hence why a player can use the boost power when putting the card on the chain. When you recuit a character you announce you are going to play the character, the character goes on the chain if you are able to pay its costs. For instance you can announce that you are going to play Dr. Doom on turn 3, but since you can't pay its cost it never reaches the chain. Its basically the same thing with a charater with boost, you go to put the character on the chain & declare the boost effect before the card hits the chain. If you pay its costs the character is now on the chain. If you opponent does nothing then the character comes in play.
 
Hmmm..... Maybe i should actually have read that 91 page pdf file. Well at least i was half right. Not bad when i ust started learning the game. That keeps me happy and means i learned something.

You learn something too DJ?
 
So boost is special in that respect? I'm not sure I'm completely convinced. however. Why can't the definition of boost just say its an additional cost to recruit the chracter? This way seems decidedly vauge.
 
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