Damage Reduction and Removal Timing

[jackalopespam]

Suppose my opponent has Jane Foster active to reduce damage from character abilities. (Assume only 1 Jane Foster die is active)

Jane Foster: League of Realms
While Jane Foster is active, reduce damage from opposing character's abilities by 2. When Jane Foster is KO'd, you may move a fist with purchase cost 5 or more from your Used Pile to your Prep Area.

I have both Thor and Mystique in my field.

Thor: Jormungand's Fear
While Thor is active, when you field a character die, deal 2 damage to target character die or player.

Mystique: She Walks Among Us
Teamwatch - Spin target opposing character die to an energy face of your opponent's choice

By fielding a Villain/Brotherhood character I would trigger both Thor and Mystique. Placing Mystique's ability into the queue first, I could remove my opponent's Jane Foster. Would this allow Thor to deal 2 damage, without reduction? Or should Thor's damage still be reduced as Jane Foster was active when Thor's ability entered the queue?

[dmrulesteam]

Yes, Thor would deal 2 damage, depending on the sequencing of these abilities.

All of these are Static abilities. As such, they are not in the queue per se, but are placed into the queue once an action or ability occurs that initiates or triggers the applicable Static ability.

In this scenario, the fielding of a Villains/Brotherhood affiliated character die simultaneously triggers Thor and Mystique’s abilities. Here, the following rule applies:

Rule 3.2.4 All of the Active player’s abilities, followed by all of the Inactive player’s abilities, will enter the queue in the order they each choose. This is called the order of entry. These abilities will then be resolved in the order they entered the queue, called the order of resolution.

As stated, the Active player chose to initiate Mystique’s ability first, which would remove Jane Foster from the Field Zone.

The Active player can now initiate Thor’s ability without the damage reduction impact. Jane Foster’s ability never enters the queue because no damage from an opposing character ability occurred while was she was active.

If Thor’s ability is initiated first, then Jane Foster’s ability would reduce that damage to 0 because her ability would be placed into the queue before Mystique’s ability is fully resolved.