V1.0; Last Edit: 3rd August 2025;
Introduction
Welcome back to Rules Processing! I’ve prepared some rules for you.
Every now and then a card comes along that does some new rules things, and as there’s nothing we like to do here at Rules Processing more than sink our teeth into some new rules stuff (I’m using the royal “we” and “our” there, cos it’s just me uce), well, I can’t pass up the opportunity to dive into one when it comes along. That’s why this time we’re zooming the Eye of Sauron in on Lightning (26-098L).
At the time of writing, this card is making its way into people’s hands, so, seems like a pretty good time to put this article out there (and the accompanying graphic) and help spread knowledge about it, especially as it looks poised to have at least some splash on the meta. So, let’s dive in.
Auto-Ability Overview
When it comes to Lightning (the character), Hobby Japan sure does seem to love giving her rules interesting cards. As we’ve previously seen with Lightning (19-138S), which, although it wasn’t the first card to use the “were attacking” wording, it was certainly far more prevalent, and as such, demanded some answers we didn’t previously seek about it. Of course, it’s fair to say that Lightning was mostly only rules interesting because of the wording making it harder to parse. However, Lightning (26-098L) does not have that issue. I’m certainly never going to argue the text is perfect – I mean, when it comes to the translation side, there is a lot left to be desired, as I’ve written about before (fun fact, I, for literally years, forgot I ever wrote this article, and kept thinking about wanting to write this article, only to have someone talk to me about it and be like “what the hell, I already wrote it.” And even since then I’ve had periods of forgetting again, but luckily someone talked to me about it recently so it’s fresh in my head) – but it’s fine enough that it’s not the wording being a primary driver for needing to get more rules information, it’s how the effect fundamentally works that drives that. So, strap yourself in, because we’re going to take a drive down rules lane on Lightning (26-098L), but before we can really start moving, we first should take a look at the card, and the text itself:
When it comes to Lightning’s text, what we really care about is her third ability, and her only auto-ability:
“When Lightning attacks, you may play 1 Category XIII Forward of cost 6 or less from your hand onto the field dull, forming a party with Lightning and attacking (you can play a Forward of any Element). At the end of the turn, return it to its owner’s hand.”
We start with a straightforward trigger: when Lightning declares an attack. At the point where Lightning attacks, this auto-ability triggers, and when it’s time to put autos on the stack, there is nothing that is done when it comes to this effect, it simply goes on the stack. The decision to play a Forward is done at resolution. No need to decide when first putting the ability on the stack, no need to declare anything. In terms of the text, from the comma after “attacks”, as in the text that says “you may play…” onwards, this entire thing is the effect that goes on the stack.
It’s worth mentioning that in terms of the Attack Phase, for the Attack Declaration Step, Block Declaration Step, and Damage Resolution Step, the first thing that happens is the action the step is named after. As in, turn player declares an attack, non-turn player declares a block, and damage to a player or battle damage is dealt respectively (for the attack and block steps, the relevant player can of course elect not to perform the action (attack or block respectively), and if they control no Forwards, well, the choice to not attack/block is made for them). Only after each of these actions conclude do players then get priority for the first time in a given step, and only at the point where players (turn player first) would get priority, do auto-abilities get put on the stack (turn player’s are added first, then non-turn player’s). So, we declare our attack with Lightning, the ability triggers, and then once the attack has successfully been made, we move to turn player going to receive priority, and now Lightning’s auto goes on the stack. Then, both player’s pass priority, and, if we assume in this scenario nothing else was added to the stack, we finally resolve Lightning’s ability.
Before we get further, it’s important to provide this context, not just because there’s nothing wrong with a little quick recap, especially if you’re newer and less familiar, because it goes a long way to explain just how a lot of what Lightning’s ability allows to happen.
So, now that we are resolving Lightning’s auto, let’s take this part by part and break down what’s happening. First, you “may play 1 Category XIII Forward of cost 6 or less from your hand onto the field dull.” It’s important to note that the “may” is actually functionally redundant here. Playing a Forward from hand is always optional (unless an effect explicitly says otherwise). If you remove the “may”, nothing changes (as we know because of cards like Tama (1-111C)).
So far, we’re still in reasonably charted territory. It’s safe and familiar, playing something from hand has been printed loads of times.
Next, we have the line “forming a party with Lightning and attacking.” Okay, that was quick, now we’re here, uncharted territory. This part alone is actually the crux of what makes Lightning so interesting. Remove this part and you wouldn’t be reading this article. We’re now not just playing a Forward, but playing a Forward straight into party attacking. Spicy. Now, it might make some sense to go through all the interesting rules about this card now, while we’re on the text that makes it so interesting, but instead, let’s go through the rest of the text, so we can discuss the other parts and have a more complete picture, then we can get into the thick of things.
So, moving on we have some text in brackets, “you can play a Forward of any Element.” Text in brackets, for most card games, functions as “reminder text.” Reminder text is text that is generally treated as “not there.” It is simply there to explain an existing rule, or, rather, remind you of how a specific rule works. You can see a common example of this on a card like Samurai (1-014C), where usually when keywords are newly printed, reminder text is used to remind and teach how those keywords work (it is worth saying that FFTCG has not done this for later added keywords, for some reason). However, be aware that FFTCG has decided to sometimes use bracketed text for actual parts of the effect, such as “cannot become 0”, which you can see an example of with Shantotto (24-027C). We (royal) here at Rules Processing are not going to go on a heated rant about this, but we (royal) would like to kindly ask HobbyJapan to not do this because come on. Anyway, in the case of Lightning, it is just reminder text, even if it is written in a way that could easily give the illusion it’s part of the effect (especially when the card game doesn’t consistently just use it as only reminder text…deep breathe…only calm words, I will not rant).
Lightning’s effect ends with: “At the end of the turn, return it to its owner’s hand.” This is a delayed auto-ability created by Lightning’s auto-ability. At the end of the turn is the trigger, which means the timing for the ability triggering is at the start of the End Phase. Like the printed auto-ability of Lightning, this delayed auto-ability does nothing at the time it goes on the stack. At resolution, it will put the Forward back to hand if it’s still on the field.
Rulings Deep Dive
Okay, so now we’ve pulled apart Lightning’s auto-ability and given some more context for what’s going on, it’s time to move on to the main event: the deep dive on what exactly the rules around an ability that puts a Forward from hand straight into a party attack are.
Let’s start by talking about Lightning’s role in this. Now, as FFTCG does generally do effect flavour well (I’m told), I can only assume that Lightning loves to fight alongside her friends, whether they like it or not. And, she respects their time, not letting them join if she’s already moved on. Probably. I say this, or at least that last part specifically, because Lightning must still be on the field at the time the auto-ability resolves for the Forward to enter. If Lightning has left the field, even if it was only temporary via some effect such as Unei (10-23H), which will temporarily remove a Forward such as Lightning and bring her back. The reason for this is that when a card moves zones, it’s treated as a new card in that zone. As such, when Lightning returns (like in that game, probably) she’s treated as a different Lightning than the one the auto-ability came from.
This rule also applies even if Lightning isn’t the only Forward attacking. Meaning, even if Lightning declares a party attack with another Forward(s), the Forward that is to be played still cannot enter unless the Lightning the auto-ability came from is on the field.
If we look again at the wording “forming a party with Lightning and attacking”, you can see it specifically says “with Lightning.” Which is why you need her to remain, because the effect demands you form a party with Lightning, and if Lightning isn’t there (or is there but has left the field temporarily and isn’t treated as the same Lightning), you ain’t getting to play a Forward.
Now, while the Forward cannot be played if Lightning leaves the field (even temporarily) before the effect resolves, it’s a different ballgame if Lightning leaves after the effect has resolved. At this point, the Forward has already been played and is party attacking with Lightning. As such, things default back to the normal and understood rules around party attacking. If Lightning leaves, the played Forward remains attacking. If there are other Forwards in the party, then it remains partying with them, if there aren’t, and it was just Lightning and the played Forward in the party, then the attack is no longer a party attack, it’s just the played Forward out here attacking alone.
Sidebar: Is it lore accurate for Lightning to die and leave her friends fighting by themselves? We’ll just say it is, no one needs to fact check that.
So, that’s Lightning’s side of things, but what about the Forward itself? I mean, what if, say, the Forward had some form of restriction? For example, Vanille (13-056R)? Well, you remember earlier when I said to keep the fact we’d moved beyond attack declaration in mind? Yeah, this is where that begins to matter. You see, Vanille’s restriction prevents her from doing the whole declaring an attack. You know, the part Lightning did to trigger her ability. It is during this stage that a lot of the rules “checks and balances” are done to prevent various things. It is the whole “declaration” (aka declaring an attack) aspect of the Attack Declaration Step that Vanille is restricted from doing. But if an effect, like Lightning’s auto, just brings it out after the current attack has been declared, and just makes it join in? Well, all bets are off. Lightning doesn’t want to hear your excuses about not being able to attack Vanille, geez. Lightning’s already started to attack the enemies, she’s charging at them, and she’s teleporting Vanille in to join her, one way or another.
The next reason to “keep in mind” the part about Lightning’s auto bringing the Forward in after the attack has been “declared” has to do with auto-abilities related to attacking. Take, for example, Fang (19-131S). Fang’s auto triggers when she declares an attack. The exact same as Lightning. As we are passed the point of declaring the attack, and Lightning’s ability does not require/cause the Forward to “declare” an attack, naturally, we are beyond the point autos such as Fang’s will trigger, and as such, if Fang is played and becomes attacking via Lightning’s auto, Fang’s on attack auto will not trigger.
Earlier in the article, I brought up a different Lightning, Lightning (19-138S), and we find ourselves once again coming back to this card. You see, this Lightning from Opus 19 has a reference to Forwards that “were attacking.” You can also find another form of this with Lasswell (16-042R), where he references a Forward that “attacked” this turn. In both cases, these effects are referencing Forwards having successfully attacked. If this was prior to Lightning (26-098L), I’d probably tell you it’s looking at if Forward’s declared an attack, because there wasn’t a way around that, however, Lightning (26-098L)’s auto bringing in a Forward mid-attack to also be attacking creates a new situation, a new quandary. Does this Forward actually count as having “attacked” or can it be considered as if it “were attacking”? Does a Forward actually need to go through the declaration part for it to “count”? Well, turns out, it does count. It is considered as having “attacked.” It is true that it “were attacking” (look I didn’t decide on that god awful translation, trying to fit “were attacking” in a grammatically correct sentence is garbage, so, let me just not this one time, okay, thanks).
For those of you playing Title (and I’ve heard there are dozens of you), this means you get some good easy synergy between the Opus 19 and Opus 26 Lightning cards. If the XIII card you played was a Knight, you can also get some synergy with Lasswell, or, at least you know for future reference if a different effect makes it easier for Lasswell to have synergy. Right now the only Knight card in the XIII Category is, you’re not going to believe this, another fucking Lightning. Lightning (PR-003). She’s returning more often than Palpatine. (I’ve also just learned, when double checking my spelling, that Palpatine’s first name is Sheev? Just sounds like someone suggested Steve and someone else was like “no, we need it be more space-y.” Sheev though? Awful.)
One last thing I’ll mention, just for the sake of complete-ness, even if it’s not a new rule, the played Forward will not return to hand if it’s left the field, and more importantly, even if it has left the field temporarily. As I explained earlier, the game treats it as a new card in each zone it moves to, so, it’s no longer the card Lightning’s auto-ability played in this situation.
Recap Rundown
Now it’s time for the Recap Rundown of Lightning, with a condensed summary of the important points, a simplified breakdown, and a graphic as well.
Condensed Summary
In order for the Forward to be played, Lightning must continually remain on the field before the ability resolves. If she leaves, even temporarily via effects that move her to another zone and back to the field immediately, the Forward is not played. If she leaves after the Forward has been played, while the attack is still going, then the played Forward gets to remain attacking.
The Forward that is to be played is determined and played at resolution of Lightning’s effect. You can play a Forward, and have it enter the attack state, even if it has restrictions around attacking that would otherwise not allow it to attack, such as not being able to attack at all.
The Forward once it has been played will not trigger any attack-related autos, this includes on attack autos it may have itself such as “when [this card] attacks”. The timing for when the Forward enters the field is after the attack declaration trigger timing has passed, and as Lightning does not make it “declare” an attack, then nothing related can trigger.
The Forward after being played is considered to have made an attack, meaning it cannot declare any further attacks (unless there is an effect(s) that would allow otherwise), and it will also count towards any effects that check for “attacked”/”attacking”, such as those found on Lightning (19-138S) and Lasswell (16-042R), providing the Forward meets any relevant criteria of course, such as being a XIII Forward for Lightning, or being a Knight for Lasswell.
Simplified Breakdown
If Lightning leaves the field (even temporarily):
- Before the auto resolves, the Forward will not be played.
- During the attack, after the Forward is played, the played Forward remains attacking.
The Forward to play:
- Is determined and played at resolution.
- Can be played and enter in the attacking state, even if it has attack restrictions, such as not being able to attack.
The Forward once played:
- Will not trigger attack-related autos, such as “when [this card] attacks.” The Forward enters after the attack declaration trigger timing has passed.
- Has made an attack. As such, it cannot declare further attacks (unless an effect(s) allows otherwise), and it counts for relevant “attacked”/”attacking” effects, such as those on Lightning (19-138S) and Lasswell (16-042R).
Graphic
You will also find a Google Drive link for this image in the resources section, along with a PDF version. The PDF version implements clickable links, showing sources for each of the points, as well as Materia Hunter links for the referenced cards, Lightning (19-138S) and Lasswell (16-042R).
Video Alternative
While I do not make video content currently (not counting livestreams) because I’d forever be editing out my inane ramblings and tangents, which are much easier to control in written form (mostly, if you prefer video content, or simply want to consume this information in a different medium, fellow rules content creator, and someone I trust (as far as I trust anyone), “Judge Jared” has covered this card in a video, which you can find here.
Q&A
Can I still play a Forward if Lightning has left the field before the effect resolves?
No. Lightning must still be on the field when the effect resolves. If she leaves, the Forward will not be played.
If Lightning left the field and returned, by an effect such as Unei (10-23H) or Rinoa (6-041L), as the game treats a card as new whenever it moves to a zone, this means the game treats it as a different card when it returns to the field. As such, the returned Lightning is not the one that triggered the auto-ability as far as the game is concerned, and thus, as the original Lightning is not there, the Forward is not played
If Lightning leaves the field after the Forward is played, is it still attacking? And, does it still count as a party attack?
Yes, the played Forward will remain attacking, even if Lightning were to leave the field in this case. If Lightning and the played Forwards were the only members of the party, then it would no longer be considered a party attack, as a party requires 2 or more members to exist. If there were additional Forwards attacking as part of the party, besides the played Forward and Lightning, then it would remain a party attack provided at least one of them remained attacking as well as the played Forward.
If Lightning leaves the field and returns during the attack, is she still considered attacking?
No. As soon as a Forward leaves the field, it stops being in the attacking state, even if it returns immediately.
At what point do I pick the Forward to play?
The decision of which Forward to play is done at resolution. This means you decide the Forward and play it in one action.
This means you should not show your opponent the Forward you have decided to play when Lightning’s auto first triggers or is put on the stack.
Can I decide not to play something?
Yes, you may always opt not to play a card from hand, unless an effect explicitly says otherwise. The hand is a hidden zone, and as such, even if you have searched, publicly shown, and added to hand a card that could legally be played by Lightning, the game considers hidden zone information to be “unknown” when it comes to situations like this. As such, even if Lightning did not say “may” before the play, such as you can see with Star Sibyl (5-091H), you would not be forced to play something (if you had something that legally fit Lightning’s restrictions).
Can I play a card such as Vanille (13-056R)? Can it join the attack/party with Lightning?
Yes and yes. Lightning’s auto circumvents the timing (and thus the rules) of when an attack is made that prevents Vanille from attacking by default, as such, Vanille can be played and becomes attacking and partying with Lightning.
Any restrictions around attack (at least so far, at the timing of writing) are ignored as far as Lightning’s auto is concerned.
Will my Forward’s trigger enter the field autos (both its own and others)?
Yes. Although Lightning’s auto does weird things in terms of attacking, it’s straightforward when it comes to making the Forward enter the field as part of the effect resolving. As such, any relevant auto-abilities that would trigger when the Forward enters the field (both its own and other’s) will trigger when the Forward enters from Lightning’s auto resolving.
Will my Forward’s on attack auto trigger? What about party attack auto triggers?
No, it will not. Lightning’s auto brings the Forward out after the timing of when these autos trigger, specifically when an attack is being declared at the start of the Attack Declaration Step. Lightning’s auto also does not cause the Forward to “declare” an attack to trigger these otherwise.
Party attack auto triggers, such as those on Mid Previa (12-087H), are a sort of subcategory of attack triggers, and as such, do not trigger for the same reasons. Lightning would have to form a party with another Forward(s) at the time it attacks to trigger these types of autos, but the Forward played by Lightning’s effect that joins a party with Lightning does not cause these party attack auto-abilities to trigger.
Can my Forward make another attack, since it didn’t officially “declare” an attack?
No. Despite not “declaring” an attack in the conventional sense, the game still considers the played Forward to have attacked. As such, unless an effect allows otherwise, the Forward (if activated again) cannot make further attacks.
Would the attack count for an effect such as Lightning (19-138S)?
Yes. Although the played Forward’s attack would not trigger Lightning, it would be part of the count for the total attacks made by XIII Characters. If the Character was a Knight it would also count for Lasswell (16-042R) end of turn auto-ability.
Sources
- If Lightning leaves the field (even temporarily), before the auto resolves, the Forward will not be played: Source
- If Lightning leaves the field during the attack, after the Forward is played, the played Forward remains attacking: Source
- The Forward can be played and enter in the attacking state, even if it has attack restrictions: Source
- The Forward counts as having made an attack, and cannot make further attacks by default: Source
- The Forward counts, where applicable, for the count/check of effects such as Lightning (19-138S) and Lasswell (16-042R): Source
- The Forward once played will not trigger attack-related autos: Source
- The Forward to be played is both determined and played at resolution: Source
- You are never forced to play a Forward from hand: Source
Resources
- FFTCG Rules Compendium
- Global Discord Server
- Rules Processing Articles
- Rules Processing Material Folder
- Rules Processing Provisional Test
“Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes”
El. Psy. Kongroo
– Yoh Zoey Ceeza
Hidden Zone
Howdy, welcome to the Hidden Zone portion of the article, where we’ll get into some off-topic stuff. Today, I figured I’d talk a little bit about some of the newer stuff that wasn’t in my previous article, and give a little update about the test and the upcoming workshop livestream.
Although I included a “Recap Rundown” last time, this is the first time I’ve actually been able to use it properly. The name is still something I may adjust later, but the idea is it’s the part where I just recap what’s been covered in a more condensed format. My aim, like in this article, is to provide a short paragraph, a simplified breakdown using a more bullet-point list format, and a graphic as much as possible. In the past, I mostly only did the simplified breakdown, and while I’ve always liked that approach, I’ve found over time it doesn’t work for everyone. So, after consideration, based on seeing what some people want/need, I decided doing a paragraph or so summarising everything – which allows for a bit more detail than the breakdown while still keeping things cut down – would be my approach. The graphics don’t necessarily provide an “alternative” in terms of explaining, but they do provide me a way to “export” out the article content quickly (the design is also something that’s easier to edit and evolve than some of my previous graphics, so I will adjust based on feedback). While part of my approach I covered last time, especially with the table of contents, is to allow people to easily get to the information they want within the article, especially on return visits, I’d still like to provide ways so you don’t need to come back and search the text to find what you’re looking for. I’ve heard multiple times people have used specific parts/things I said in my articles to help others understand something, or in some cases to settle a rules debate, and the easier I can make it for people to get to the relevant information, the better. Although I didn’t mention it last time, I am also going to be working on exporting the useful information from my articles into other forms. Most likely I’ll just integrate it into my new rules compendium document, but I haven’t started on this plan yet, so I’ll figure it out once I’m closer to doing it.
One other thing in this article I didn’t do last time is the Q&A. I will be looking to expand these as time goes on and I see more questions that fit, so you may find if you return later there are some new questions added.
Although it does mean a little bit of repetition of information, by putting it into different forms, my aim is to make sure I’m doing what I can, within reason, to hit the right “sweet spot” for as many people as possible, because everyone has their own preferences for how they want the information presented or explained. As the Recap Rundown and Q&A are generally short-form and quick-fire, it’s not like it’s making the articles much longer – if you can make it through a few of my tangents, you can make it through re-reading the same information if you perfectly took in and understood everything before the Recap Rundown/Q&A (or you can skip them if you’re so inclined, I won’t know, but I will sense it in some way if I look you in the eyes, so be warned).
I’ll also mention that, as you saw, I pointed people to a video Jared made covering the same topic. Firstly, I’m never going to avoid covering a topic because someone else has, even if I trust they’ve covered it well (full transparency, I have not watched the video, I can’t watch/read other people’s rules content without being nitpicking, so I just avoid it if I can), I just do my own thing (I also would not expect Jared not to make a video on a topic just because I cover it). With that said, I’m also not going to pretend it didn’t happen, and given it’s a different medium I have no real interest in pursuing, well, it’s yet another good thing to put in the Recap Rundown since I’m trying to cast the net on how people need/want things explained.
Okay, now let’s talk about the test. I am very proud to announce that a whole 2 people, including myself, have taken the beta test. Incredible stuff. Hold on, I’m getting word in my ear. What’s that? I didn’t take the beta test and I can’t read numbers? Oh okay. So, as it turns out, at time of writing, 71 people have taken the test. Wow. Seriously, I am blown away. I was hoping to maybe get 30 people for the entire beta test period. In the first 24, roughly 50 people took the test. Incredible stuff. And I’ve had a lot of positive feedback to it so far.
So yeah, thank you to everyone that’s taken it, it’s great to see, and warms my heart void.
Now, of course, the hard part is keeping at least some of that momentum (I do not expect to keep all of it) going into the 1.0 test and beyond. I assure you I’m working hard, studying the data, and doing some research to make the 1.0 test even better. Okay, working hard is a stretch, but the rest is true, and I do have a ton of notes and a general idea of what I’ll do. Not that it’s going to be something drastically different of course, it’s still a rules test, and there’s only so many ways to do that.
At present, I’m currently working my way through getting back to everyone that took the test, releasing your score and letting you know the areas you need to study further based on wrong answers in the test. Plus, for the ones that pass, you’ll also be receiving a server invite.
I am currently aware that one of the questions – question 3 – has a small grammatical error in one of the answers. I have decided not to correct this at the moment. Unfortunately, Google Forms completely invalidates that option if I make changes. This means it will affect people’s scores, and the data accordingly. This already happened with around the first 15 or so people, as I made a change based on feedback, and then realised after. As such, I decided for those affects, I’d consider that question “correct”, although I can tell you I had been looking at results prior to doing it, and so I know only one person went below the pass threshold as a result of the change, and giving others the “free” point doesn’t let anyone actually pass that wouldn’t otherwise, so, technically it didn’t actually make a difference, except to screw up some of the stats.
Once I’ve gotten back to everyone, I will consider if it’s worth fixing the grammar error or not, as ideally I’d like to maintain accurate data, especially as I’d like to discuss it during the livestream.
So, if you see this error (and read this), no need to tell me about it!
In regards to the workshop livestream, I already announced it will take place on 5th September, but now I’ll let you know I expect to go live at 8PM BST. I believe the livestream will go at least an hour, and my aim is to not go over 2 hours if I can avoid it (especially as I need to be up early to head to the Glasgow Materia Cup). In terms of topics, I will primarily be covering the test. I intend to go through the questions, talk about the areas each question aligns to, and cover the actual rules information for those areas. While I will generally not focus on just “telling” you the answer to the question, because the focus should be on the areas, and understanding why something is the right answer, I will be providing you with all the information you should need to understand which is correct. But, I will not be trying to “skirt” around talking about answers, and in some cases, it would be very difficult to not actually talk about the answer as part of giving the information. We’ll of course also talk about some of the data regarding the test.
On top of this, I will also be discussing (and showing) the test that was used for the now defunct official judge program – although I won’t be going over it in the same detail as I will my test – and I’ll also talk about the 1.0 test.
There will probably be a few other things on the agenda as well, but I’ll figure out what makes sense once I sit down and plan it. As I mentioned last time, this will be very “off the cuff”, but I will still make a general plan/agenda to cover, and of course, I will prepare some material in advance, so you’re not watching me dig around Twitter live (unless you’re into that sort of thing? Well, whatever floats your boat I guess).
Of course, the livestream will have chat enabled, and I welcome any reasonable questions, feedback, discussions etc.
That’s everything I have for this Hidden Zone. Until next time.
Bye.
Okay, bye.
No, you hang up heh.
Okay, I’ll hang up.
