I had a friend ask about this one a few days ago. He's a huge Yu-Gi-Oh Clix player, and this came up in discussion.



MASTERMIND: When this character would be hit by an opponent’s attack that deals damage, you may choose an adjacent friendly character that wouldn’t be hit by this attack and that is less points or shares a keyword. That friendly character instead becomes a hit target of the attack, even if it’s already a target (or would be an illegal target).

BREAKING THE BONDS: Exodia the Forbidden One begins the game with 5 Broken Bond tokens on its card. While any Broken Bond tokens are on its card, Exodia the Forbidden One can't be targeted, moved, placed, attacked, or damaged.

How do Breaking the Bonds and Mastermind work together under the 2017 rules set?

My BEST guess: The "or would be an illegal target" would cause the attack's targeting to shift despite Breaking the Bonds. However, Breaking the Bonds directly states Exodia cannot be damaged, so any damage would get negated. An action token from Incapacitate could theoretically apply to Exodia, however, in this instance.

Does that sound about right? Or is there something I'm missing? Are there any older rulings about Exodia and Mastermind that would give a hint of the original intention? (And, yes, I know that Mastermind formerly shifted damage, not targeting.)

You are correct. Although the "or would be an illegal target" is parenthetical reminder text of how "Becomes" is working regarding Mastermind. PAC and Core Rulebook page 15:

It is not that different from the Cosmic Entity Trait question and clarification:
http://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14659
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590058

You can not Mastermind an Incapacitate attack: "When this character would be hit by an opponent’s attack that deals damage."

WOW. So as long as Exodia doesn't break out and the Mastermind can be used, the player basically has pieces that can't be touched?

Yeowza.

If you are playing high enough points + Golden to allow for Exodia plus a great Mastermind piece you kind of get what you deserve

Pretty much.

Well there always the great equalizer PW.
And Critical Hiyt, IIRC, bypass MM since the orgonal target "becomes hit".

I really want to know if there was an actual game situation where you needed to know this, or if this is just a hypothetical. Please.

Same could be said for Tester or Slattern among others.

There's always the option of OW against the MM figure, too... most Mastermind figures aren't protected from OW.

Yeah but unless the caharcter using mastermind is out range of the PW, MM won'y help, since the figure won't be able to use it.