Disintegrating Ecosystem

Frequently Asked Questions

Blighted Island cards

• The Blighted Island card Disintegrating Ecosystem reads: <i>"Immediately, on each board destroy 1 Beast and add 1 Blight to a land with a Town/City."</i> Are both effects to the same land, or can the destroyed Beast come from anywhere on the board?
  The destroyed Beast can come from anywhere.

  (There should be a comma at the linebreak.)
  Tags: Blighted Island, Disintegrating Ecosystem
• The Blighted Island card Disintegrating Ecosystem adds Blight to the board. Where does that come from?
  The Blight comes from the Blight card, from the pool of 5 Blight per player that is created when the card flips.

  Unless explicitly stated otherwise, Blight is always added from the Blight card (not the box), and is returned to the Blight card when removed from the board.
  (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Disintegrating Ecosystem

Effect Rules

• When an effect checks if the Ravage Step added Blight to a board (e.g., "Invested Aristocracy" or Level 6 of The Tsardom of Russia), which sources of Blight count?
  Count Blight added during the Ravage Step, no matter the reason Blight was added at that time. While this will usually be Blight added by a Ravage Card, the condition can also be met by flipping a Blight Card that adds Blight on each board, like "Disintegrating Ecosystem".
  Tags: Ravage, Invested Aristocracy, Tsardom of Russia, Disintegrating Ecosystem, 1 more...
• When an effect does multiple things "on each board," can each thing happen in a different land?
  Yes in principle, but most such effects specify otherwise.

  By default, as long as you're resolving everything on a particular board, you can split the effect. For example, "On Each Board: Remove 1 Beasts. Add 1 Disease" (part of the first choice of the "Life's Balance Tilts" Event) can remove a Beasts token from one land and add a Disease token to a different land on the same board. And similarly, "On Each Board: Push up to 2 Dahan" (part of the first choice of the "Hard-Working Settlers" Event) can Push 2 Dahan from different lands on the same board.

  Nevertheless, many of these effects specify that they happen in a single land on the board, which means that they can't be split. For example, if "On Each Board: Gather 1 or 2 Dahan into a land with Dahan Setup Symbols." (the "Return to Old Pillars" Dahan Event) moves two Dahan, it must move them into the same single land, since the Dahan are gathered into "a land" (singular).
  Tags: Fear Cards, Events, Seek Company, Distracted by Local Troubles, 35 more...
• When Blight is Added, what order do you perform all of the effects of Adding Blight? If you were in the middle of a Ravage, do you finish the Ravage first?
  Do the ‘Immediately’ effects on the Blight card, and then finish resolving whatever caused the card to flip (whether it's a Ravage or something else).

  More precisely, the order is:

  1. Take Blight off the card. If this empties the card, flip it, refill the Blight pool, and resolve any ‘Immediately’ effects on the card as a nested Action.
  2. Actually put the Blight in the land.
  3. Destroy Presence and do anything else that cares “when” this happens, like Kingdom of Sweden Level 5, Tsardom of Russia Level 1, or the Blight card All Things Weaken.
  4. If Blight was already present, cascade (returning to Step 1 in that adjacent land).
  5. Finish resolving the Action (usually the Ravage) that caused the Blight card to flip.
  6. Perform any Triggered Actions that care about Blight being added, like Kingdom of Scotland Level 5.

  In particular, if more Invaders are added to the land being Ravaged (e.g., with Promising Farmlands), they don't deal more damage, as that step has already happened; however, they are susceptible to a Dahan counterattack, and any new Dahan (e.g., with Unnatural Proliferation) would participate.
  (Discussion elsewhere) (Discussion elsewhere)  Tags: Blighted Island, Timing, Nested Actions, Blight, 13 more...

Invader Actions

• If a piece is added or moved to a land mid-Ravage (e.g., by a Blight Card that flips during the Ravage), does that piece participate in the Ravage?
  Yes, generally speaking. Dahan counterattack if added or moved to the land by a flipping Blight Card (or anything it triggers), and any Invaders added or moved to the land by that Blight Card (or anything it triggers) can be dealt Damage by the counterattack. (The Invaders arrive too late to deal any Damage – Blight has already been added, after all.)

  Even more detailed/unusual corner-cases:

  If a "do not participate in Ravage" effect is in the land, check if the new pieces are included in it the moment the Ravage resumes (i.e., the first point in the Ravage that they're in that land). In particular:

  • If the Incarna of Wandering Voice Keens Delrium is nearby, newly-added/moved Dahan do not participate in the Ravage if any Strife is remaining (unlikely, unless an Invader had more than 1 Strife or "Exhale Confusion and Delirium" was used to prevent the Invaders with Strife from losing that Strife by participating in the Ravage); if all of the Strife is gone, the new Dahan will participate and counterattack (even if the original Dahan do not).
  • If the Incarna of the Lair Aspect is in the land, newly-arrived Dahan and Explorers don't participate in the Ravage unless they put the Incarna over its limit of non-participating pieces. For example, if there were already 2 Dahan in the land (both not participating in the Ravage) and 2 more arrive mid-Ravage due to a Blight Card, 1 of the new Dahan doesn't participate in Ravage while the other new Dahan does, since the Incarna prevents 3 total Dahan from participating.

  In the even more unusual case where you had previously determined whether or not an adjacent piece was participating in this Ravage and then that piece was moved in part way through the Ravage Action, stick with your original determination; don't re-check if the moved piece participates.
  Tags: Ravage, Do not participate in Ravage, Promising Farmlands (Blight Card), Disintegrating Ecosystem, 5 more...

Power Cards

• If you have a choice between destroying a normal Beasts token and a Beasts token marked by Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, can you pick the marked Beasts? If so, what happens?
  Yes, you can pick the marked Beasts, and it's generally advantageous to do so: if it would be destroyed, removed, or replaced, skip those effects.

  It won't count as destroyed, removed, or replaced for effects that scale off the number of Beasts that leave the board, like A Dreadful Tide of Scurrying Flesh or Pent-Up Calamity.
  Tags: Destroy, Remove, Replace, Unearth a Beast of Wrathful Stone, 12 more...