Sundial

[de_spy]

I don't know if it's a bug, but at least I've got a question about the new card 'Sundial'.

As it description says it shall hinder all creatures attacking for 2 turns. This works fine for my creatures in the round I played it out, also in the next round when my opponent makes his move and then again in my round. But in the next two rounds (the next of the opponent and mine afterwards) the creatures are doing damage again even though the sundial-card is still in play.

So question: what is a turn in this case?? I thought: turn =  my round + opponent's round. Then the opponent's creatures won't attack in 2 rounds as well, what really would make sense... otherwise it's a card for defensive players (without any attacking creatures) ONLY. Better would be a card where the player has 2 rounds of pure silence on the battlegound e.g. for tuning the own creatures before the great showdown ^^
But now it's more like a disadvantage although its hasting ability...

[de_spy]

The sundial bug seems a bit more buggy than described.  When you play it, your creatures (correctly) do not attack.  Then your opponent's also (correctly) do not attack.  Then next turn yours (correctly, I think) do not attack again.  But then your opponents creatures (incorrectly) do get to attack.  So you lose 2 attacks and your opponent only loses 1.  It probably is because the counter goes down to 0 at the end of your turn, after your attack, and is then at 0 during your opponent's turn.  Since everything is triggered during attack, it stops yours but not theirs, is my guess.

Yes, that's what I tried to describe - thank you ^^

[OneLeggedRhino]

The sundial bug seems a bit more buggy than described.  When you play it, your creatures (correctly) do not attack.  Then your opponent's also (correctly) do not attack.  Then next turn yours (correctly, I think) do not attack again.  But then your opponents creatures (incorrectly) do get to attack.  So you lose 2 attacks and your opponent only loses 1.  It probably is because the counter goes down to 0 at the end of your turn, after your attack, and is then at 0 during your opponent's turn.  Since everything is triggered during attack, it stops yours but not theirs, is my guess.

[T]

Y. fix it.

[whorehammer]

I just fought a person who put out 10 Sundials... has anyone else had a game where a player used more than the 6 card limit with this card?

It was a little rediculous having 20 turns of no attacking.

[jmizzle7]

Okay, here is how Sundial ticks. The card has two abilities, one static (creatures can't attack) and one activated (card draw). This is the first time a card with two abilities has come out in Elements, so naturally, it's going to have some quirks. Here's how they break down.

If you play Sundial, your creatures don't attack. Your opponent will not be able to attack on the following turn. Here is where it gets interesting. The following turn, Sundial's activated ability becomes available to use. For simplicity, I will refer to this as turn B. If you decline to draw a card from Sundial, your creatures will not attack, and neither will your opponents, and the following turn you can draw a card from sundial and it will disappear from play while letting your creatures attack. That is how Sundial is supposed to work.

However, there are other conditions that determine when creatures attack while Sundial is in play.
1.) If you draw a card from sundial on turn B, your creatures will not attack, but your opponent's will.
2.) If you draw a card from sundial on turn B, and draw a card through another permanent such as hourglass, your creatures will attack, as will your opponent's.
3.) If you draw a card from a non-sundial permanent on turn B and do not draw from sundial, your creatures will not attack, but your opponent's will.

I have tested many other situations to find a universal rule with sundial:
Every card you draw through an activated ability while sundial is in play shortens the stasis period by 0.5 turns. (1 full turn = your turn + opponent's turn)

If you have any other questions regarding sundial, just ask. This should clear up most of the confusion.

[Macintosh]

Jmizzle7 is a bug hunter god. :]

Everything he has found is accurate when it's you who are using the sundials...
I found that if the AI uses sundials and on turn B, it uses the sundial's draw abilities, I still cannot attack.

[PandaGod]

nice one jmizzle, i agree with Mac you ARE the bug hunter god xD thanks for helpin out with all of the confusion dude!

[oki]

Still a bug, and doesn't match the card description.

[Cerril]

I've had another wrinkle a couple times on this one:

*  If I draw a card from another ability on turn A, my creatures will not attack but my opponent's will.

So much for static properties.

[jmizzle7]

Cerrill, as stated before in my main post, Sundial comes into play with an implied 4 attack phases cancelled. If you play Sundial and activate, say, hourglass that same turn after you play it, you have effectively reduced the number of attack phases cancelled to 3.

[jmizzle7]

Way to be a buzz-kill, oki! I was just explaining how you could effectively control when creatures attack by when you activate its ability. Yes, it doesn't match the card text. Yes, the interaction with Hourglass is terrible if you are using it as a pseudo-phase shield. You can choose to complain about the card text or learn how it works and use it accordingly.