If a unit moves to a battlefield during an ongoing showdown at a different battlefield, does the new showdown interrupt the current one, or does the current showdown finish first?

Question

Accepted Answer

The ongoing Showdown finishes first. The Move that applies Contested will be recorded and a Showdown will be staged (in cleanup), but it will not interrupt the currently open Showdown; the new Showdown will begin later when the game returns to a Neutral Open State and the turn player chooses a staged Showdown to open [323.8] [FAQ:unleashed#6] [344] [323.11].

When a unit moves to another Battlefield while a Showdown is already open at a different Battlefield, the move applies Contested and that contested Battlefield is marked to have a Showdown staged in the next cleanup [323.8] [FAQ:unleashed#6]. It does not immediately interrupt the current Showdown. Showdowns begin when the turn is in a Neutral Open State, and when one or more Showdowns are staged the turn player selects which to open [344] [323.11].

A unit moves to another Battlefield and, by being located there, applies the Contested status to that Battlefield per the Move effect [446] [446.1]. The Contested status causes the game to mark that Battlefield as having a Showdown staged in the following cleanup (Showdowns are staged in cleanup after Contested is applied) [323.8] [FAQ:unleashed#6]. Because a Showdown is already open elsewhere (the game is in a Showdown Open State), the newly staged Showdown does not open immediately; Showdowns begin when the turn is in a Neutral Open State [344]. When the current Showdown finishes and the game returns to a Neutral Open State, if there are one or more staged Showdowns the Turn Player picks which staged Showdown to open [323.11].

446.1 appears to state a Showdown is opened when a Move causes Contested while only the movers are present. The FAQ [FAQ:unleashed#6] clarifies that Showdowns are staged in cleanup after Contested is applied; therefore, in practice the Move will cause the Showdown to be staged (not immediately interrupt another open Showdown) unless other rules explicitly change the Open State. If the Move happens while there is no ongoing Showdown (i.e., the game is in a Neutral Open State), the staged Showdown may be chosen to open immediately per normal selection rules [323.11] [344]. If a Combat is also staged at the same Battlefield as a staged Showdown and the turn player chooses to initiate the Showdown there, it will open as a Combat Showdown [323.11] [323.12]. If other game effects change the Open State between the Move and the cleanup (for example, ending the current Showdown earlier than usual), the timing of when the staged Showdown begins could change; such interactions would need to be evaluated case-by-case under the same staging/opening principles.

When a unit moves and thereby applies Contested to a Battlefield, the game records that Contested status immediately, but per the rules Showdowns are staged in the cleanup after Contested is applied rather than opening mid-action [323.8] [FAQ:unleashed#6]. The core rule that Showdowns begin when Control is Contested requires the turn to be in a Neutral Open State for a Showdown to begin as an Open State change [344]. Because an existing Showdown means the game is not in a Neutral Open State, the newly staged Showdown does not interrupt the currently open Showdown; instead it waits until the current Showdown finishes and the game returns to a Neutral Open State. At that point, if one or more Showdowns are staged the Turn Player chooses which staged Battlefield’s Showdown to begin [323.11].

Note about apparent conflict: [446.1] reads like a Move can "open" a Showdown when it applies Contested and no opposing units are present. The FAQ clarifies the intended timing: contested Battlefields are marked as having a Showdown staged during cleanup after Contested was applied, and Showdowns begin from staged status when the game is in the appropriate Open State [FAQ:unleashed#6] [323.8] [344]. Following that clarification, a Move during an already-open Showdown does not immediately interrupt that Showdown; it results in a staged Showdown that will be considered once the current Showdown ends and the game reaches a Neutral Open State [323.11].