Dead vs Illusion

[MunchingKing]

Last night some friends and I played a game and a situation arose where my friend was in combat with a monster he was not going to beat. He played Dead on the monster. However, I wanted to play Illusion in response. He argued that the monster was already dead so combat was over and I couldn't play Illusion. My question is: Could I have played Illusion in response to him playing Dead on a monster?

Thanks.

[MunchkinMan]

Dead does not immediately end the combat, because of its wording. Therefore, it's a card that's simply modifying a Monster. If you play Illusion (with another Monster, as required) then the Dead Monster was just an illusion and is replaced with the (very lively) new Monster.

[Moldon]

But this contradict Andrew's answer

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

Dead is not a monster enhancer; it is an immediate effect. It and the associated monster would be discarded immediately if you didn't need to keep it there to remind you that the monster you play it on has been killed (and you need to keep the monster there so you remember how much Treasure it has).

So this is a weird corner case in which the cards are neither discarded nor still in play, just like a Curse that is left on the table to remind you to take a penalty at some future time, for instance Change Sex. Annihilation cannot be played on Dead after the fact because Dead is not "in play" in the sense that Annihilation requires.

[Andrew Hackard]

Originally Posted by Moldon

But this contradict Andrew's answer

I'm standing by my answer. The Dead monster is no longer in combat (being, y'know, dead) and cannot be replaced by using Illusion.