How does Blighted Battleaxe work when?

Question

Accepted Answer

Blighted Battleaxe’s [Equip] is an activated ability on the card. When you activate it, it becomes a Pending Item on the Chain [401] [333]. During Finalize you choose the unit to attach it to (and pay any costs); when that Chain Item resolves the gear is attached to the chosen unit [340].

Activating Blighted Battleaxe’s [Equip] creates a Pending Item on the chain [401] [333]. Finalize the item by choosing a legal unit you control and paying the Equip cost (choices and costs are made during Finalize; see assumptions). When the Equip Chain Item is the newest item and then resolves, execute its effect in full — attach Blighted Battleaxe to the chosen unit you control [340].

Player activates the [Equip] on Blighted Battleaxe. Per rule 401.1 a Pending Item representing that ability is added to the Chain, creating a Closed State [401] [333]. The Chain processing moves to Finalize for that Pending Item. During Finalize the controller chooses the unit to attach to and pays the Equip cost (choices and costs are handled in Finalize; see assumptions and [FAQ:unleashed#17]) [FAQ:unleashed#17]. If any other items are added to the Chain while Finalizing, they become Pending Items and are handled by the FEPR loop; a Cleanup cannot occur during Finalize [340] [FAQ:unleashed#17]. Once the Equip Pending Item has been finalized and is the newest item, it will eventually reach the Resolve step. The newest item on the Chain resolves and you execute its game effects in full — that effect is to attach Blighted Battleaxe to the chosen unit you control, per the card’s rules text [340] [333]. After resolution, normal Cleanups may occur as appropriate (see rule 323 for Cleanup tasks) [323].

If there is ambiguity whether the Equip requires choosing a target during Finalize: the provided rules emphasize choices and legality are determined during Finalize (see [FAQ:unleashed#17]). Therefore assume the unit to be equipped is chosen during Finalize rather than being chosen at resolution. If the chosen unit becomes an illegal target after Finalize but before resolution: the provided excerpt does not give the exact outcome. The most defensible reading is that Finalize confirmed a legal target, and the attach is attempted on resolution; if the attach cannot be performed because the unit no longer is a legal object to attach to (for example it moved to a zone that can't be equipped), the attach will fail. This specific failure resolution is an assumption due to missing explicit rule text. If anything else on the chain creates Pending Items while the Equip is finalizing or resolving, follow the normal FEPR ordering: newly added Pending Items are finalized before resolution proceeds and Cleanups only occur between FEPR steps [340] [FAQ:unleashed#17]. If a Cleanup would be triggered by something that happens while the [Equip] ability is being finalized or resolved: cleanups cannot interrupt Finalize or Resolve steps; they occur after those steps finish [FAQ:unleashed#17] [321].

The card Blighted Battleaxe has the keywordized instruction [Equip] followed by a cost. The provided Core Rules do not include a definition for the Equip keyword, but the available rules do describe how activated abilities are handled. Activating an ability adds a Pending Item to the Chain (401.1) and creating or activating an ability creates a Chain (333). The FEPR process requires Finalize (where choices and costs are made), Execute, Pass, and Resolve. The official clarification notes that Finalize is where players make choices, pay costs, and check legality, and that a Cleanup cannot occur during Finalize ([FAQ:unleashed#17]). Therefore the most defensible operational sequence for using Blighted Battleaxe is: activate its Equip ability (add Pending Item to the Chain) [401] [333]; during Finalize choose the unit you control to attach it to and pay the shown cost (this is the step that handles choices and costs per [FAQ:unleashed#17]); once finalized and the item reaches Resolve, the newest Chain Item resolves and you execute its full effect — attach Blighted Battleaxe to the chosen unit — per rule 340. After resolution, any resulting Cleanups happen as normal (see rule 323). Because the provided ruleset does not include explicit Equip/attachment or target-failure rules, I assumed Equip behaves as an activated ability that targets a unit during Finalize and then attaches to that unit on resolution; if the target is no longer valid at resolution the provided context does not state the exact outcome, so I noted that as an assumption.