Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

Big Joe can change from steed to hireling.
He was in play as a steed and the Flatulent Steed Curse was played against him.
what would I do?
a) would changing him to hireling prevent the curse from applying to him?
or cancel the curse put on him?
or would he have to be discarded since the hirelings run away from the stinky steed?
(I had no other hireling)

b) does he have to remain as a steed until I found a wishing ring to remove the curse?
c) or is Big Joe immune to this curse?

Re: Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

If you change him from a Steed to a Hireling, the curse is discarded. You do not have to discard Big Joe.

Re: Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

Thank you so much for this clarification. Big Joe is even cooler now.

Re: Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

An old thread, but there are two options that you presented that have had clear rulings against:

a) You cannot change Bog Joe’s state in reaction to a curse (or any other event, for that matter). He remains in whatever state he was in when the curse was played.

c) Big Joe is not immune to this curse if he was a steed at the time it was played

The tricky part is b)... I would be inclined to rule that since you cannot have hirelings while this curse is in effect, you cannot declare Big Joe to be a hireling without him fleeing from the lingering stink, while simultaneously meeting the criteria of getting rid of the curse since you no longer have that steed. If the curse were on the Horse Shoes (which can switch between being a steed and being footgear), then I would not argue, since footgear isn’t prohibited by the curse.

I guess the chances of an official ruling on an old, resurrected thread are low, but let’s see...

Re: Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

I'm going to disagree with Devin's ruling. Reading the cards in question, it's clear that you cannot have any Hirelings while you have a Steed, and that means Big Joe can't become a Hireling unless you find some way to get rid of him (which also gets rid of the Curse).

Re: Big Joe / Flatulent Steed Curse
 

Thanks for the swift ruling. I will never doubt again.