How does Dancing Grenade work when?

Question

Accepted Answer

When you play Dancing Grenade it creates a Chain item [333]. When that Chain item resolves it performs its Deal action (Deal 2 to a unit). The card then gives its controller the option to play the spell again for :rb_rune_rainbow:, which — if taken — creates a new Chain item for another instance of Dancing Grenade [333]. Each time a later instance resolves, it gets 1 additional Bonus Damage for each prior time this spell has dealt damage this turn. Bonus Damage modifies the total damage of that instance as described in [715].

Each time you play and resolve Dancing Grenade it is a separate Chain item [333]. The first resolution deals 2 to a chosen unit. If you choose to pay the :rb_rune_rainbow: cost to "play this spell again," doing so creates a new Chain item for a new instance of Dancing Grenade [333]. When that later instance resolves, count how many prior instances of Dancing Grenade have actually dealt damage this turn; that number is the amount of additional Bonus Damage applied to the current resolve (so Current Instance Damage = 2 + Bonus Damage) and the Bonus Damage applies to the total damage of that single Deal action per [715].

You play Dancing Grenade. A Chain is created for that play [333]. When the newest Chain item (the Dancing Grenade play) resolves, execute its effects fully: Deal 2 damage to a chosen unit (the Deal action) [340]. Apply any relevant Bonus Damage to that single Deal action per [715] (for the first instance there is no extra Bonus Damage from the card's own clause). After that instance has resolved, the card's text gives you the option to "play this spell again for :rb_rune_rainbow:." If you choose to do so, paying that cost creates a new Chain item for another instance of Dancing Grenade [333]. (This interpretation assumes the "play again" creates a new play/chain item — see assumptions.) That new Chain item can be responded to by players while it is on the chain. When it resolves, it performs its Deal 2 action, then receives additional Bonus Damage equal to the number of times Dancing Grenade has dealt damage this turn (i.e., the number of prior instances this turn that actually dealt damage) and that Bonus Damage is applied to the total damage of this one Deal action per [715]. Each subsequent optional replay repeats this process: choose to pay the cost → new Chain item [333] → possible responses → resolution deals 2 + Bonus Damage (counting prior successful damage instances) [715].

If an earlier play of Dancing Grenade dealt 0 damage because the damage was prevented or replaced, that earlier instance should not count toward Bonus Damage for later instances per [715.4]. Because each replay is a separate Chain item, opponents can respond to each replay in between Finalize/Execute/Resolve cycles [340] [333]. A Cleanup may be scheduled when a Pending Item is added to the chain; Finalize and Resolve steps and Cleanups happen in the order described by the FEPR process and the Cleanup rules—Cleanups do not interrupt a single Finalize or Resolve step, but they will occur between those steps [319] [FAQ:unleashed#17]. If some game effect replaces or modifies the Deal action so that the spell deals to multiple targets or splits damage, Bonus Damage applies according to the rules in [715].

Explanation and reasoning

What the card says (quoted): "Deal 2 to a unit. Its controller may play this spell again for :rb_rune_rainbow:. If they do, this deals 1 additional Bonus Damage for each time this spell has dealt damage this turn." That language instructs that each play of Dancing Grenade is a separate spell play, so each play creates its own Chain item when played [333]. Resolving a Chain item follows the FEPR Resolve rules: the newest item resolves and you execute its game effects in full [340]. The Deal 2 to a unit is a single Deal action; Bonus Damage modifies the total damage of one instance of a Deal action [715].

How the repeated-play clause functions (most defensible interpretation given the provided rules): The optional "play this spell again" choice produces a new play of the spell that becomes a new Chain item when chosen. That new play can be responded to by players while it is on the chain [333] [340]. When the new instance resolves, the card instructs you to compute additional Bonus Damage equal to the number of times this spell has dealt damage this turn. "This spell has dealt damage this turn" is most defensibly read as counting prior resolved instances of Dancing Grenade this turn that actually dealt damage; those prior successful instances increase the Bonus Damage for the current resolve. The Bonus Damage then increases the total damage dealt by that resolve per [715].

Important technical points and interactions

- Counting instances: Only instances that actually dealt damage count toward the Bonus Damage, because Bonus Damage does not apply if no damage was dealt [715.4]. The Core Rules excerpt does not provide a special secondary tracking mechanism for 'this spell' across multiple plays, so we use the simplest operational rule: each resolved instance that dealt damage in the current turn increments the counter used by later instances (assumption called out above).

- Chain timing and responses: Each replay creates a new Chain item [333], so opponents can respond to each replay separately in the normal FEPR steps; resolution order follows newest-on-top resolves first [340].

- Bonus Damage application: The extra damage provided by the card is Bonus Damage and therefore attaches to the whole Deal action of that instance according to [715]. For a single-target Deal action this increases damage to that target by the full Bonus Damage [715.1].

- Cleanups and Finalization: Adding a Pending Item to the Chain can schedule a Cleanup [319.3], and Cleanups occur between Finalize/Execute/Resolve steps but do not occur in the middle of a single Finalize or Resolve step [FAQ:unleashed#17]. That means the act of choosing to "play the spell again" will follow the normal chain finalization and resolution ordering and any Cleanups will occur at the appropriate boundaries.

If you want a concrete numeric example: You play Dancing Grenade once and it resolves dealing 2 damage. You choose to pay :rb_rune_rainbow: to play it again; the second instance resolves and deals 2 + 1 Bonus Damage (because it has dealt damage once earlier this turn) = 3 damage. If you replay it a third time (and both prior instances actually dealt damage), that third instance resolves for 2 + 2 Bonus Damage = 4 damage, and so on. This assumes each earlier instance successfully dealt damage and was not replaced or prevented, per [715.4].