Placing Into Play

## Overview

Placing into play is a concept for how cards can enter play without being traditionally played. A card placed into play is best explained by what it does not have, rather than what it does have. The main distinction with being placed vs being played is that a card placed into play does not have a Card Resolution Order - this has several knock-on effects, described below:

* A card placed into play does not use its On-play ability
* A card placed into play does not trigger any reactions to entering play, such as "after" reactions like Hatchling or "when" reactions like Control Minion

There are several reasons you might want to place cards into play, including:

* Evading trap cards which will punish you for playing on a base (like Leprechaun or Flame Trap)
* Avoiding triggering bad On-play abilities (like Weed Eater or Elder Thing)
* Having discrete modes of play (one where it is played normally, and an alternate mode of play which places into play)
* Ignoring restrictions on play (like Shoggoth)

Although placing into play is theme-agnostic, it does convey a sense of the minion (or card) just appearing out of thin air, or sneaking onto the base somehow. Smash Up has historically had some cards which get close to placing into play, especially Last Call from the Halflings. Placing into play is very convenient because it doesn't add any new rules text, and "place" is already a keyword in Smash Up. The mechanics for placing into play can in many ways be extrapolated directly from the existing definition of "place", making this a very easy new mechanic to understand, and one which the published game may likely use in the future.

## Examples

**Example #1: Winter Witch** - Winter Witch slings any minion of power 3 or more from your deck, which is incredibly strong. However, due to the way that placing works, it forfeits its On-play abilities for the turn, and Winter Witch makes it also lose its power for the turn. That makes this effect this more akin to the Winter Witch having access to higher tier Ongoing and Talent abilities from your deck, along with benefits for having high quantities of minions. There are other benefits for Unseelies as well, as they have area control traps which punish all players, so being able to place a minion there can avoid those traps. In this case, placing a minion into play becomes an interesting solution to the Judd Brown paradox of high power minions having the best engine abilities, because it allows you to access those engine abilities with a 2-power recruit. Significant risk does exist as the engine minion really is out on the base during this time, meaning it can be destroyed or otherwise removed from play.

**Example #2: Cielito Lindo** - Cielito Lindo has two distinct modes of play. She has a useful On-play ability which pulls a Song to her, but she can also be placed for free in response to a Song. Placing her forfeits the Song transfer, so it creates a meaningful choice for the player. This dynamic is improved with other aspects of Mariachi, such as the ability to replay a minion after a base scores to replay a Cielito Lindo which might have been placed originally so that you can save a Song from the scoring base. Songs also require a minion at their base to function, and both of Cielito Lindo's modes of play guarantee that you will have a minion at the base with the Song.

**Example #3: Black Omen** - Black Omen is a hybrid card which uses both stasis (from Excellent Movies, Dudes) and placing into play to achieve a very unique effect. It breaks the rules temporarily for stasis, forcing the minion you put into stasis to go to the Black Omen base instead of being playable anywhere. Above and beyond that, the minion is placed and not played, which seems like a bad thing, since you lose the On-play abilities. However, many Diabolist minions have negative On-play abilities (such as their leader Marid, who draws four Madness cards), so losing the On-play ability can be a benefit. There is counterplay for rivals as they can see both what minion is coming, and where you are planning to place it, so rushing the base or removing the Black Omen action are both viable - in fact, Diabolists themselves can destroy the Black Omen action to free up the minion in stasis to be played anywhere, making for an interesting decision space for all players. In this case, placing into play can be both a positive and negative, and as a result the card becomes very versatile and exciting.

## Factions Using Placing Into Play

Factions Using Placing into Play
 Unseelies |  | ludichrisness | Sling your stronger minions for their abilities while sneaking past traps which punish all players.