Rulings:Shift

Shift Rulings

You can play a Shift Character normally by paying its Ink Cost and putting it into play.

You can choose to pay its Shift Cost by playing it on top of one of your Characters that has the same name. That Character is completed covered by the Shift Character so its Ability and other properties such as its Strength, Willpower or Lore are no longer in effect.

As long as the name is the same, you can Shift a Character on top of another Character even if the 2 cards are of different Ink.

• You can also play a Shift Character on top of a Shift Character.

Playing a Shift Character on top of a Character also counts as the Character entering play. If you have Coconut Basket and Stitch - New Dog in play and you Shift for Stitch - Rock Star, you will be able to remove up to 2 damage from a chosen character.

Cards that allow you to use less Ink to "play" a card (such as Lantern, will also allow you to pay less Ink to "play" that card using its Shift ability.

If a Floodborn Character could be played for free, you can use their Shift ability to play them onto a Character of the same name without paying the Ink cost of the ability.

• As long as the actual cost of the Character is 5 or less, Just in Time will make Aurora - Dreaming Guardian free to play as either a Shift Character on top of an Aurora - Regal Princess or directly on her own.
• Since Stitch - Rock Star original cost is 6, you cannot use Just in Time on Stitch - Rock Star even if Shift allows it to be played for 4 Ink.

Any states the previous Character had will carry over. If the previous Character was Exerted, the Shift Character is Exerted as well. Any damage on the previous Character also carries over to the Shift Character.

• If the previous Character was able to Quest or Challenge, the Shift Character is able to Quest or Challenge as well. If the former version could not Challenge for any reason, including an effect preventing that, the shifted character cannot challenge either. Shifting a character into a new version doesn't end any effects that were on the former version.
• If the previous Character was under any effects from another card, such as Reckless from The Beast is Mine!, the Shift Character would be under the same effects as well.

Whatever happens to the top card in the stack of a shifted character also happens to any card under them.

• If Let It Go is played on Aladdin - Heroic Outlaw which was played over Aladdin - Prince Ali, both cards will go to the Inkwell and become 2 Ink. If they are banished, both cards will go to the Discard pile.
• If they would be returned to hand, such as by Cruella De Vil - Miserable as Usual, both cards go back to hand.

Banishing a card always moves it to your Discard pile, so effects that move a card to your Hand or Inkwell when it is banished, move it (and any cards in its stack, if it's a shifted character) to your Discard pile first. Any cards in that stack become separate cards again at that point.

• If you control Dr. Facilier - Agent Provocateur and one of your Floodborn Characters who used their Shift ability to be played on top of another card is banished in a challenge, the stack of cards all go to your Discard pile first, and become separate cards, before you may choose to return the top card of the stack to your hand via Dr. Facilier - Agent Provocateur's INTO THE SHADOWS ability.

When a Shift Character is Banished, both cards go to the Discard pile though only the top most Shift Character is considered banished for purposes of effects.