How does Viktor, Innovator work when?

Question

Accepted Answer

When you play a card while it is an opponent’s turn, Viktor, Innovator’s triggered ability becomes a triggered item on the Chain. That triggered item is finalized and resolves like any other triggered ability; when it resolves you play a 1 :rb_might: Recruit unit token into your base. The token-play itself is a play (it creates its own Chain) and can cause further Chains/Cleanups as appropriate.

If you play any card during an opponent’s turn, Viktor, Innovator’s “When you play a card on an opponent’s turn …” ability triggers, is put on the Chain, is finalized and then resolves; on resolution you play a 1 :rb_might: Recruit unit token into your base. That play of the token is itself a play and will create its own Chain and subsequent Cleanups as normal.

You play a card while it is an opponent’s turn. The act of playing that card creates a Chain [333]. Because the play occurred during an opponent’s turn, Viktor, Innovator’s triggered ability (“When you play a card on an opponent’s turn …”) meets its trigger condition and is added to the Chain as a Pending Item [333]. Adding a Pending Item to the Chain causes a Cleanup to be made an Outstanding Task [319.3]. Per the official clarification, Cleanups occur after adding an item to the Chain and will pause FEPR until complete [FAQ:unleashed#17]. After the cleanup(s) complete, FEPR resumes and the pending triggered item for Viktor, Innovator is finalized (there are no costs or choices on this text, so it becomes Legal) and then waits to resolve according to the normal Chain resolution rules [340.3] [340.1]. When the triggered item resolves, execute its game effect in full: play a 1 :rb_might: Recruit unit token into your base, per the text on Viktor, Innovator [340.1]. Playing that token is itself a play, which creates its own Chain [333]. That play (and the token entering the board) can create additional Pending Items and will cause additional Cleanups as specified by the Core Rules (e.g., 'after any number of Game Objects enter or leave the Board' triggers a Cleanup) [319].

If the card you "play" is later countered or otherwise prevented from resolving, that does not retroactively stop the trigger: the trigger occurred on the play action and was added to the Chain when the card was played [333]. If multiple copies of Viktor, Innovator are present, each copy's triggered ability will trigger separately when you play a qualifying card and each will be added to the Chain as separate Pending Items [333]. If some effect replaces or prevents the playing of the 1-might Recruit token when Viktor, Innovator’s ability resolves (for example, a replacement that recalls instead of playing), that could prevent the token from entering; the Core Rules text for replacements and tokens (e.g., Replace rules) would govern those interactions [438]. The provided context does not give a specific replacement example, so this is noted as a potential interaction. If an effect causes the "play a card" event to occur during a Cleanup or while Chain Items are resolving, Cleanups and Chain resolution interactions follow the rules: a Cleanup cannot occur while Chain Items are Resolving [321], but Cleanups are queued as Outstanding Tasks at the listed times [319].

High-level behavior: The ability on Viktor, Innovator is a triggered ability whose condition is "When you play a card on an opponent's turn." Per the Core Rules, the act of playing a card creates a Chain, and triggered abilities that result from that play are added to the Chain as Pending Items [333]. Once the trigger is on the Chain, standard FEPR applies: Cleanups are queued when Pending Items are added [319.3], and per the official clarification cleanups occur after adding an item to the Chain and will pause the FEPR process until they complete [FAQ:unleashed#17]. After any required cleanup, the pending triggered item is finalized (it has no costs or choices) and then resolves following normal Chain resolution rules [340.3] [340.1]. When Viktor, Innovator’s trigger resolves you "play a 1 :rb_might: Recruit unit token into your base" as the effect on resolution [340.1]. That play of the token itself is a play (cards or tokens being played create a Chain) and so will create its own Chain and may cause additional Pending Items and Cleanups [333] [319]. Practical notes: the trigger happens on the play action (not on resolution of the played card), multiple copies of Viktor, Innovator each trigger separately, and token creation can itself produce further Chains and Cleanups. If you need a ruling for a particular sequence (e.g., which Cleanups happen before finalization in a specific example, interactions with replacement effects, or multiplayer nuances), provide the exact game state and I will walk the ordered FEPR/Cleanup sequence with exact citations.