If a unit has damage marked on it and Thousand Tailed Watcher reduces its Might below the marked damage, does the unit die despite TTW's 'minimum of 1 Might' clause?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. After Thousand-Tailed Watcher reduces a unit's Might, you compare the unit's marked damage to its new current Might. If the marked damage is equal to or greater than that (which will be at least 1 due to the "minimum of 1" clause), the unit is Killed.

Apply Thousand-Tailed Watcher’s “-3 Might, to a minimum of 1” to get the unit’s current Might. If the damage already marked on the unit is equal to or exceeds that current Might, the unit is Killed [143.2.a] [710].

Determine the unit's original Might and the amount of damage currently marked on it. Apply Thousand-Tailed Watcher’s effect: reduce the unit's Might by 3, but enforce the clause that the unit's current Might for the turn is no less than 1 (i.e., new Might = max(original Might - 3, 1)) [710]. Compare the damage marked on the unit to its new current Might. If the marked damage is nonzero and is equal to or greater than the current Might, the unit is Killed [143.2.a]. If the unit is moved to a non-board zone during this process, checks about its Might become null and those calculations are ignored [359.3.e.12].

If the unit had zero damage marked on it, it will not be killed by the reduction because 0 is not nonzero and cannot meet the "nonzero damage equalling or exceeding its Might" requirement [143.2.a]. If the unit already had 1 or less Might before the reduction, the "to a minimum of 1" means its Might will remain 1 and it can be killed if it has at least 1 damage marked [710] [143.2.a]. If the unit is moved off the board (banished, returned to hand, etc.) before the kill check, its Might becomes null for checks and the calculations based on it are ignored, which can change whether it is considered killed by those effects [359.3.e.12]. TTW's wording prevents Might from becoming 0 or negative for the purpose of the reduction, so rules that treat negative Might as 0 [143.2.b] aren’t relevant here because the effect enforces a minimum of 1.

When Thousand-Tailed Watcher resolves it applies “give enemy units -3 [M] this turn, to a minimum of 1 [M].” That changes the unit's current Might for the turn to max(original Might - 3, 1), and units on the board are evaluated using their current Might [710]. A unit is Killed any time it has nonzero damage marked on it equal to or exceeding its current Might [143.2.a]. Therefore, if the unit already has damage marked that is equal to or greater than its new Might after Thousand-Tailed Watcher’s reduction (which may be 1), it meets the kill condition and is Killed. If the marked damage is less than the new Might, it is not Killed. If the unit leaves the board during this process, checks about its Might are treated as null and the damage-to-Might comparison is ignored for that non-board object [359.3.e.12].