re: Command Knight

[Lancedolittle]

I haven't played competitively in some time like over 3 years anyway. When I did play the ruling on Command Knight was clear.

If you control 2 Command Knights and no other monsters your opponent cannot declare an attack. The same was said of having 2 Marauding Captains and nothing else or all warriors.(I do realize these are two very different effects the reference is merely anectdotal)

I cannot find anything to contradict this understanding and ruling.

However, today a friend of mine told me that he had been told differently at a regional tournament and had had this used against him.

"having two Command knights on the field and no other monsters means that your opponent can attack directly." I about fell over lol

apparently someone attributed The Legendary Fisherman's rulings to Command Knight in the scenario in play. This was because The Legendary Fisherman's card rulings in the registry state that if you control The Legendary fisherman and no other monsters and UMI is active on the field then your opponent could attack directly.

The text on both The Legendary Fisherman and on Command Knight is virtually identical in reference to it checking for other monsters. However, the Ruling in the registry for Command Knight seems to imply that Command Knight is not handled this way at all. ie it references Command Knight + Command Knight + Ring of Magnetism, also Command Knight + The Legendary Fisherman + UMI in both these scenarios it clearly states your opponent may not declare an attack.

This was my ruling on it to my friend. I control Command Knight + Command Knight and no other creatures = No you may not declare an attack.

He agreed with me whole heartedly however we were both still left with the fact that it was not said to work that way for him at his "tournament"

In closing has Command Knight or it's rulings been eratad (changed)?

Is it true that the new said ruling is that with 2 Command Knights and nothing else on your side of the field that your opponent attacks directly?

I can say without reservation they would come out of my Deck if that were the case.

Sorry this is so long :good:

 

[Deathjester]

You and your friend are in the right here. The ruling on Command Knight hasn't changed.

With The Legendary Fisherman being the only monster on your opponent's side + Umi, there's no attack target on the field so the only other target is the player.

However, 2 Command Knights will prevent attacks from being declared.

That's basically the "what". The "why" is too hard to explain, if it can be

Now here's the odd part. The TCG ruling states that Earthbound Immortals cannot be selected as attack targets, but if one is the only monster on one side, the other player cannot attack directly. The OCG supposedly uses the Fisherman ruling.

 

[Entropy]

The OCG and TCG rulings about "Earthbound Immortal" monsters are the same: if you only control an "Earthbound Immortal" monster, then your opponent cannot declare a direct attack (except with a card like "Jinzo #7" that can normally attack directly).

The difference is that "The Legendary Fisherman" prevents your opponent's monsters from attacking it, and all other monsters - "Command Knight", "Earthbound Immortals", "Marauding Captain" - prevent your opponent from attacking it.

When your opponent's monsters cannot attack it, it is (effectively) removed from the field so that there are (effectively) no monsters on the field, so the opponent's monsters can declare a direct attack. When your opponent cannot attack it, it just cannot be attacked, so it (effectively) remains on the field; there is still a monster on the field, so your opponent cannot declare a direct attack.

 

[Digital Jedi]

This whole 2 Command Knight/Direct Attack thing was borne out of some discussion boards where the ruling was challenged and Umi/The Legendary Fisherman was brought up as proof of pudding. Thing is, while there were a small group that agreed with the concept, however faulty their logic may have been, Konami/UDE's never backed their logic up.

 

[Maruno]

Hang on... I think I feel a pseudo-metaphysical explanation coming on...

An attack target is something monsters can attack. By default, this means "opponent's monsters" or, iff the opponent has no monsters, "the opponent". "Iff", as we well know, means "if and only if".

But that alone isn't good enough. Your opponent also needs to be able to direct their monster to attack an attack target. The monsters know what they're able to attack, thanks to game mechanics. It's like the monsters are reporting back on what they can see on the battlefield to their commander, and the commander then instructs his troops on what to do.

Examples. "The Legendary Fisherman" can't be attacked by the opponent's monsters. This means the opposing monsters cannot see it, and if it's the only defending monster around, because it's invisible then the player's Life Points appears as the default attack target. The monsters tell the commander that the Life Points are open for attack, and the commander can tell them to attack directly.

In the case of "Command Knight", though, the monsters can still see it. They report back that the "Command Knights" can be attacked by them, and that the opponent's Life Points are nowhere in sight. However, the player has something of a pact that means he can't declare the "Command Knights" as attack targets, which means he can't order his monsters to attack anything (since the only possible attack targets are out of bounds).

The "Ring of Magnetism", though, is a very sacred relic, and the ceasefire pact can be broken because of it. So the "Command Knight" wielding it can be both attacked by the monsters and declared an attack target by the player.



...Does this make any sense?

Oddly enough, I tried coming up with an explanation practically identical to this the other day, but it required the terminology be swapped round in order to work.

Either way, the STP will be making it clear what goes on, probably with an "(If this is the only monster you control while "Umi" is face-up on the field, your opponent can attack you directly)" after the "can't touch this" effect.