Damaging Targets

Damage is dealt to a target until the damage meets or exceeds the health of a target. For unit targets, this may trigger additional abilities.

When a unit is forcibly removed from play and goes to the discard pile, it is defeated. There are two main ways of being defeated, damage and destruction. Damage is accumulated over time and tracked by damage tokens. When the health of a unit, plus any modifiers, is met or exceeded by the number of damage tokens, the unit is defeated. It is not destroyed and does not trigger React cards that react to destruction. Destruction is triggered by cards that cause the destruction. Like damage, destruction results in a unit being defeated. Credit for the defeat goes to the player who played the card or triggered the ability. If a unit is defeated, its controller loses one morale. If a player sacrifices their own unit, they do not lose morale, and their rival is not credited with defeating their units. Through self-inflicted damage, a player may end up defeating their own unit, which results in the loss of morale, but your rival is not credited with defeating them

Dealing damage may result in a unit being defeated. When damage is dealt, it adds the following steps to the resolution order. Each step contains the same Interrupt and React steps as any part of the card resolution order

1. Deal damage
2. Defeat Unit
3. Defeat Unit goes to the discard pile
4. Check to see if other units are defeated as a result of step 3

There are multiple types of damage, each with their own timing and resolution

### Numeral Damage

In most cases, damage is dealt to a single target, all at once. When a card or ability deals damage, it is considered Numeral Damage unless otherwise specified. This damage is dealt all at once to a unit and triggers a single reaction. The reaction begins once the damage is applied and before the target is considered defeated.

*Example: Magic Missile deals 3 damage to a target. Aggression is on a unit there, while Guerilla Warfare and Offensive Formation are on an adjacent base. The damage is applied, then Aggression or Offensive Reaction, reacts to the damage, then the unit is checked for defeat, which may trigger additional cards*

### Iterative Damage

Some cards may deal iterative damage, where damage is dealt one at a time to targets that may change between each damage. When iterative damage is dealt, it resolves as a series of independent occurrences of Numeral Damage. Each damage is dealt and resolved before proceeding to the next.

*Example: Incendiary Rage can deal damage to multiple targets. If you place 5 cards on the bottom of your deck, you would deal damage to units, one damage at a time, and can change targets each time.*

When iterative damage is dealt, a target is not selected for damage until the damage is about to be applied. Therefore, if multiple units are in play and one has an ability that protects the others, it is possible to damage the others by defeating the protecting unit first.

*Example: Incendiary Rage can defeat Delta, then deal damage to Hivions previously protecting protected by Delta.*

When a unit is defeated during iterative damage, it’s defeat is resolved before continuing with the rest of the iterative damage. If a target enters play as a result of a reaction to iterative damage, it may be targeted with remaining iterative damage.

### Area Damage

Area Damage is a form of iterative damage that is dealt to all targets on a battlefield. Area Damage, by default, only affects a Rival’s targets, unless otherwise specified. Area Damage does not deal damage to a battlefield normally.

Before any area damage is applied, all cloaked units are first uncloaked, in the order chosen by the player dealing area damage