Transferral potion + Wizard Charm

[talamia]

I've read a bunch of threads on transferral potion queries but none cover this conundrum that popped up during this evening's game play.

Player A kicks down a door and encounters a monster, I, Player B, play Transferral Potion to transfer the combat to myself. Player A then proceeds to assert that his casting Wizard Charm (Discard the Monster and take its Treasure) on that monster nullifies my Transferral Potion action.

That makes absolutely no sense to me. In my view, once I played the Transferral Potion the combat was switched over to me and if Player A chose to cast Wizard Charm that would have been a spell cast on the monster I was fighting and thus I would walk away with the treasure(s).

Please help clarify?
Thanks

[Mister Ed]

Once the combat was transferred, they couldn't use their Wizard's Charm ability at all, anyway, since they would no longer be fighting the monster in question, and the Wizard's Charm clearly requires that YOU be fighting the monster in order to charm it.

[talamia]

Thank you Mister Ed :)

Wow this argument is seriously so silly.

Player C, who is also arguing for Player B, says:

"Yes that's TRUE... If he used it AFTER the transfer had RESOLVED... But at the time he used the ability it was in response to you playing it... Which is a phase that happens before the card activates. It's called the stack... It's how things work. That post (the response above) is talking about someone trying to use the ability after the fact. It doesn't resolve as soon as it's played... There is a phase between playing a card and a card resolving. This is a common theme shared amongst card games."

What?! (Take into account he is talking from experience with playing Magic the Gathering) There is no time between a card being played and it being activated if I plopped it down and put it directly in play. There is no such thing as MTG stacking in Munchkins, I don't see how any other game rules would apply in another different game.

So yeah they pretty much ganged up on me and I just gave up on what I was trying to do.

[Mister Ed]

You can tell player C that they are 100% wrong. Munchkin has no stack. This has been reaffirmed many, many times by official sources. The "stack" is only a common theme shared amongst SOME card games, all of which describe and explain said "stack" mechanism in their rules. Munchkin is not one of them, which is why the rules don't say anything about it.

Here's a quote from the FAQ:

Q. When do we resolve cards? As they are played, or once everyone says they're done playing them?
A. As they are played. Some games have a "stack" mechanic, where all cards are resolved at once. Munchkin is not one of them.

And here's further elaboration from MunchkinMan:

Originally Posted by MunchkinMan

Let me expand upon that: The stack mechanism is not a natural application of real time cause-and-effect, so games that use it actually have to define what a stack is and how it works with respect to that game. Munchkin doesn't provide such rules, so no stack mechanism should be inferred by those who are familiar with such a mechanism.

In fact, in Munchkin, cards that do cancel another card are rare, and specifically say that they can cancel another card that was just played.

As he says, there are some cards that specifically state on them that they can be used to cancel something after it is played, or whose effects can interrupt something that has already been played, but they are the exception, and the text on those cards makes that usage clear.

[talamia]

Thanks so much, Player C has now conceded (grumpily I expect).

:P

[DeluxeFlame]

So this term "stacked" similar to chain rules in Yugioh? Were the cards are resolved backwards from when they are played?

[Clipper]

Originally Posted by DeluxeFlame

So this term "stacked" similar to chain rules in Yugioh? Were the cards are resolved backwards from when they are played?

Yes. The Stack in MTG and Chaining in Yu-Gi-Oh operate very similarly. Munchkin has no such mechanic, with each card completely resolving before the next card can be played, as described above.

There are a few exceptions, as some cards can be played as a reaction to other cards or events, such as using a Wishing Ring to cancel a Curse before it resolves, but they are clear in their text when you would play them and when they resolve.