The Boss

The Boss

[NEW TEXT] If a buffed unit you control would die, you may pay [C], exhaust me, and spend its buff to heal it, exhaust it, and recall it instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.)

When you conquer, ready me.

[OLD TEXT] When a buffed unit you control would die, you may pay [C] and exhaust me to spend its buff and recall it exhausted instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.)

When you conquer, ready me.

The Boss was mistakenly worded like a triggered ability. It's receiving updated wording to make it clear that its ability is a replacement effect.

The Boss (revised text)

If a buffed unit you control would die, you may pay [C], exhaust me, and spend its buff to heal it, exhaust it, and recall it instead. (Send it to base. This isn't a move.) When you conquer, ready me.

The Boss

Q: Can I use these cards to save a unit that's already in its base? What about one that's already exhausted? If I can't recall it, do I still exhaust it?

Yes. You can save any unit that meets the description in the replacement ability's condition. For Highlander and Unlicensed Armory, that's any friendly unit. The actions you perform on that unit as a replacement are like the effects of a spell or ability; you'll do as much as you can: heal the unit (if it's damaged), exhaust it (if it's ready), and recall it (if it's somewhere other than its base). And yes, you exhaust the unit even if you don't recall it; as per the above wordings, we've changed the "recall it exhausted" language to make that clearer.

The Boss

Q: If I play Cruel Patron and kill one of my units for its additional cost, but one of these cards replaces that unit's death, does the cost still count as paid?

Yes. You made the decision to pay the cost and took the action to pay it. What happened after that doesn't matter.

The Boss

Q: If a unit would be killed by Hidden Blade, but one of these cards replaces that unit's death, does the unit's controller still draw 2?

Yes. Hidden Blade attempts to kill a unit, then says that "its controller" draws 2. Even if the unit doesn't die, it's still on the board and information about its controller is still available, so that player draws 2. This is different from Baited Hook, which requests information about "the killed unit," and can't find any information if no unit was actually killed.