Viktor attacks Sett at Trifarian War Camp with Leona Determined and 3 recruits. Sett has Cithria of Cloudfield (buffed), Sett Kingpin (buffed), Fiora Victorious, and 1 recruit. Viktor stuns Sett Kingpin and plays Siphon Power. What is the might of each side and how does the duel turn out? Bonus: What is the best way for Sett to play Challenge spell and how does it change the outcome?

Question

Accepted Answer

After Leona - Determined stuns Sett - Kingpin and the attacking player casts Siphon Power on Trifarian War Camp, final Might on the battlefield is: Attackers — Leona - Determined = 6, three Recruits = 3 each (total attackers = 15). Defenders — Sett - Kingpin = 7 (stunned, so it does not deal combat damage this turn), Cithria of Cloudfield = 2, Fiora - Victorious = 4, 1 Recruit = 1 (total defenders able to deal combat damage = 7). Attackers therefore deal 15 vs defenders’ 7 (Sett cannot deal combat damage), so the attackers win the showdown. Best play with Challenge for Sett - Kingpin is to challenge Leona - Determined before Siphon Power resolves (or as early as possible); that can kill Leona but does not change the ultimate outcome here — attackers still have more total Might and win the duel.

After the stun and Siphon Power, attackers = 15 Might (Leona 6 + 3 × Recruits 3) and defenders that can deal combat damage = 7 Might (Cithria 2 + Fiora 4 + Recruit 1). Sett - Kingpin is stunned and thus doesn’t deal combat damage this turn, so attackers win the showdown. Playing Challenge optimally (Sett challenging Leona before Siphon Power) can remove Leona but does not change the final result: attackers still retain higher total Might and win.

Start with base Might and permanent buffs: Leona - Determined base 4, each Recruit base 1, Sett - Kingpin base 5, Cithria of Cloudfield base 1 (with a +1 buff from its ability), Fiora - Victorious base 4, defender Recruit base 1. Apply Trifarian War Camp: every unit on the battlefield gets +1 Might ("Units here have +1 :rb_might:. (This includes attackers.)"). Apply Siphon Power (played by attacker): friendly units at the chosen battlefield get +1 Might this turn; enemy units there get -1 Might this turn (to a minimum of 1). Compute final Might after all above effects (use current Might evaluation per [710]): Attackers: Leona = 4(base) +1(Trifarian) +1(Siphon) = 6. Each attacking Recruit = 1 +1(Trifarian) +1(Siphon) = 3. Total attacking Might = 6 + 3×3 = 15. Defenders after Siphon: Sett = 5(base) + (Sett's own static bonus: +1 per buffed friendly unit — here both Cithria and Sett are described as buffed, so +2) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 7. Cithria = 1(base) +1(buff) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 2. Fiora = 4(base) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 4. Defender Recruit = 1(base) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 1 (min 1). Total defenders’ Might = 7 + 2 + 4 + 1 = 14, but Sett is stunned from Leona’s attack trigger and “doesn’t deal combat damage this turn,” so defenders able to deal combat damage = 2 + 4 + 1 = 7. Compare attacking damage potential (15) vs defending damage potential that will actually be dealt (7, since Sett is stunned and does not deal combat damage). Attackers have more damage available and therefore win the showdown under the provided assumptions.

The Core Rules excerpt does not define in this document how combat damage is assigned/allocated and how damage kills units (exact HP/threshold rules). If the game uses a different detailed combat assignment model than the simplified total-Might comparison used above, precise unit deaths and sequencing could differ. Whether Sett - Kingpin counts itself as a 'buffed friendly unit' for its own +1-per-buffed-unit ability depends on the comprehensive definition of "friendly" in the full rules (we assumed a unit is friendly to itself and thus counts), but that was stated as the scenario input ("Sett Kingpin (buffed)"). Timing of responses: Siphon Power is a Reaction and can be played at unusual timings. The attacker played it after the stun in the scenario; if instead the defending player had the opportunity to play Challenge before Siphon Power resolved, Might numbers at the time of the Challenge would be different and could change which individual units survive intermediate interactions. The parenthetical on Leona - Determined’s ability says "(It doesn't deal combat damage this turn.)" I treated that as preventing combat damage only, not preventing non‑combat damage from spells (so a spell like Challenge can still cause a stunned unit to deal damage). If your table uses a broader definition of 'stun' that blocks all damage-dealing effects, outcomes would change.

Stepwise recap and reasoning (with key rule citation): Units’ current Might is what matters when resolving effects and damage amounts [710]. Apply all static and temporary modifiers to each unit’s base Might in the given order: Trifarian War Camp grants +1 to every unit on that battlefield; Siphon Power (played by the attacker) gives friendly units on that battlefield +1 Might this turn and enemy units there -1 Might this turn (minimum 1). Using the cards and the scenario’s stated buff statuses, the numeric math is:

Attackers
Leona - Determined: 4(base) +1(Trifarian) +1(Siphon) = 6
3 Recruits: each 1(base) +1(Trifarian) +1(Siphon) = 3 → 3×3 = 9
Total attacker Might = 6 + 9 = 15

Defenders
Sett - Kingpin: 5(base) +1 per buffed friendly unit (Cithria and Sett are described as buffed) = +2 → 7, then +1(Trifarian) → 8, then -1(Siphon) → 7 final Might. However, Leona’s triggered effect stunned Sett and the card text explicitly notes "(It doesn't deal combat damage this turn.)" so Sett will not deal combat damage during the showdown even though it still has Might.
Cithria of Cloudfield: 1(base) +1(buff from its own effect) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 2
Fiora - Victorious: 4(base) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 4 (not Mighty after Siphon)
Defender Recruit: 1(base) +1(Trifarian) -1(Siphon) = 1 (minimum)
Total defender Might = 7 + 2 + 4 + 1 = 14, but defenders able to deal combat damage this turn = 2 + 4 + 1 = 7 because Sett is stunned.

Because attackers have 15 total damage potential and defenders only 7 that will actually be dealt this turn, the attackers win the showdown under the assumptions above. The key rule used is that units are evaluated by their current Might [710].

Bonus — Best use of Challenge for the defending player: Challenge lets you choose a friendly unit and an enemy unit and have them deal damage equal to their Mights to each other. The most impactful single-target use here is to have Sett - Kingpin challenge Leona - Determined as soon as possible (ideally before Siphon Power resolves). Doing that with the pre-Siphon numbers makes Sett considerably larger than Leona (Sett ≈ 8 vs Leona ≈ 5 before Siphon), so Leona dies to the Challenge. Removing Leona lowers attacker Might (removes the 6 from the attacker’s side), but even after that the three boosted Recruits (3 each after Siphon) still total 9, while the defending units that can deal combat damage after Siphon would be 7 — attackers still have more and win the showdown in this scenario. Because Siphon Power both reduces defender Might and boosts the attackers, the defending player cannot, with a single Challenge, swing the total Might delta enough to flip the overall outcome here.

Notes on timing and uncertainties: The exact timing of when you can cast Challenge relative to Siphon Power and the triggered stun determines the intermediate numbers; if you can force your Challenge to resolve before Siphon Power is played, it’s strictly better for the defender (it maximizes Sett’s Might relative to Leona’s), but under the situation described the attacker still ends up with the higher total Might and claims the showdown. The above explanation follows the provided Core Rules about evaluating current Might [710] and standard spell resolution principles (partial execution and information becoming null if a target leaves the board) [359].