If a unit is reduced to 1 Might by Smoke Screen (which prevents reduction below 1), then a buff is removed from it, can it go to 0 Might or does Smoke Screen keep it at 1?

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Accepted Answer

While Smoke Screen is active, the unit’s Might cannot be reduced below 1. Removing a buff while the Smoke Screen effect is still on will not drop the unit to 0 Might — it stays at 1. Once Smoke Screen expires, subsequent removals or recalculations can reduce the unit below 1 (and it will be treated as 0 where appropriate).

The Smoke Screen's “to a minimum of 1 :rb_might:” prevents the unit's current Might from going below 1 while that effect is active, so removing a buff during that time will not send the unit to 0 Might.

Start from the unit's current Might = base Might + buffs + other modifiers; units on the board are evaluated by their current Might [710]. Apply Smoke Screen: it reduces Might by 4 this turn but includes a floor of 1 Might (the card text creates the minimum for the effect). Remove the buff: the game's continuous recalculation recomputes the unit's current Might (base + remaining buffs + modifiers including the active Smoke Screen minimum). Because the Smoke Screen effect enforces a minimum of 1 while active, the recomputed current Might cannot go below 1, so the unit remains at 1 Might. When Smoke Screen expires (end of turn), the floor no longer applies and further changes can reduce the unit's actual Might below 1 (and it will be treated as 0 where applicable) [143.2.b].

If an effect would set the unit's Might to a specific value (instead of simply removing/adding buffs), how that interacts with Smoke Screen depends on whether that effect and the Smoke Screen create continuous modifiers that are simultaneously applied; the Smoke Screen minimum would still prevent the final computed current Might from being below 1 while it is active [710]. If the unit is moved off the board (or otherwise becomes a non-board zone) while Smoke Screen is on the chain, the relationship and continuous effects may be affected per targeting/zone rules; in such cases the rules about targets and non-board zones apply (see relevant targeting/zone rules) [359.3.e.12]. While a unit’s Might can be treated as 0 for referencing or damage-assignment purposes if its actual Might is less than 0, the Smoke Screen minimum prevents the actual computed current Might from dropping below 1 while it’s active; after Smoke Screen ends, the unit could then be treated as 0 if its actual Might becomes <0 [143.2.b].

The core interaction is about how current Might is computed and the effect of a minimum clause on that computation. Units on the board are evaluated by their current Might, and current Might reflects all applied increases and decreases at the time of evaluation [710]. Buffs each contribute +1 Might to a unit, so removing a buff reduces its computed Might by 1 while all other effects remain the same [703]. Smoke Screen reads "Give a unit -4 :rb_might: this turn, to a minimum of 1 :rb_might:." The most defensible reading is that Smoke Screen applies a continuous modifier for the turn that reduces the unit's Might by 4 but also enforces that the unit's computed current Might for that duration cannot be below 1. Therefore, if the unit is reduced to 1 Might by Smoke Screen and then a buff is removed while Smoke Screen is still active, the game recalculates the unit’s current Might with Smoke Screen's minimum in place and the unit remains at 1 Might rather than dropping to 0. Once Smoke Screen expires (end of turn), its minimum no longer applies and subsequent recalculations can reduce the unit's Might below 1; at that point, rules about treating negative Might as 0 for references and combat apply [143.2.b].