Ok - so the obvious question. Xaviers dream gets flipped on both sides of the table on turn 4 (beast is out)no stunned characters are out and both players proceed to recruit nothing for the next two turns...

is this a matter of who has initiative and therefore priority to determine which effect goes on the chain first?

I can see this going either way...

1-player who has initiative puts his counter on first and as soon as this happens wins the game.

2-player who has the initiaive puts his counter on and passes priority then player 2 puts his counter on. then the effects resolve in reverse order, therefore players 2's dream resolves first and so he wins...

which scenario is correct?

Basically,the player with initiative will place his effects on the chain first, followed by each other player.

The chain resolves last in, first out.

If both XD's already have 2 counters on them, and there are no stunned characters in play at the start of the recovery phase, the player without initiative's effect will resolve first.

If this player is able to discard an X-Men character card, when his effect resolves, he will win the game.

Xavier's Dream
Plot Twist, 5
Ongoing: At the start of the recovery phase, if there are no stunned characters in play, you may discard an X-Men character card. If you do, put a dream counter on Xavier's Dream. Then, if there are three or more dream counters on Xavier’s Dream, you win the game.

so - next question. I'm playing revenge squad and bizzarro world (don't ask me why...). Recovery comes with no stunned characters. My opponent has XD with 2 counters. he discards an x-men card and put counter 3 on XD, I chain the current bizzaro world text onto it and switch positions - I now control XD. Do I win the game? Best part is his fizzle would be useless against biz world...

There is no priority point where you would be able to use Bizzaro World to steal X-Dream once the 3rd counter is placed on it. Once that effect resolves, that player wins.

First up, you are looking at the text that will become legal for Bizarro World on June 1st 2005, and not the current text...:That said...

At the start of the recovery phase, XD's triggered effect is placed on the chain, then the primary player gets priority.

It is at this point, when you have priority that you will have to 'steal' XD. (*)

The chain only resolves (one effect at a time) when both players pass.

When you get to the point when your opponent may discard for XD, it would mean you are in the process of XDs effect resolving. You have no priority point to play effects (or flip locations) until XD has finished resolving; of which when it does, your opponent has won the game.

(*) Note, I do believe stealing XD like this would still not help, and you will lose the game. However, I'm finding myself a little unsure and would like another judges opinion:

Effects on the chain are independant of the source. If you stole XD, it's effect will still resolve. Your opponent may still discard a card, place a counter on the stolen XD, and win the game...

IE:
Player A has XD (with 2 counters), and has priority.
Player B has Bizarro's World.
{chain: empty}
Enter recovery phase, XD effect triggers and is placed on the chain
{chain: XD}
Player A passes
Player B flips Bizzaro's World, BW & XD changes places.
{chain: XD}
Player B passes
Player A passes; 2 passes in succession, XD resolves.
Player A discards a X-Men character card, places a 3rd counter on the stolen XD and wins the game.

This is possible because there is no requirement for the player to control XD.

Could another judge verify that this indeed is correct?

I'd have to agree with you, slowmail.

Since the text is all on one line, it seems the powers are tied together, and the player who puts the effect on the chain is the one who receives the benefit. That is, it's not who controls the Dream that wins, but the player who discarded to put the counter on.

This seems odd to me. Does this mean that if my opponent controls XD with 1 counter on it, and I control the inititive, that the effect goes on the chain and that we can both discard a XM character card to put a counter on it. If my counter is the 3rd one then, do I win the game? Does the "You" refer to the card's controller or simply the person who put the 3rd counter on, and what is preventing me from putting on a counter seeing as there is no explicit need to control XD in order to meet its win condition?

Please note - I'm not asking these ??? to be contrarian or a jerk - I'm simply wanting to truly understand how the card works - and I thank you all for your answers.

Shamilton,

Not at all. The important thing to remember is that the effect goes onto the chain while your opponent controls the Dream. Once an effect is on the chain, changing the controller of the object that generated the effect does not change the controller of the effect itself.

The way I came about agreeing with slowmail is because the entirety of the effect seems to be tied with who controlled the effect in the first place, not "who controls Xavier's Dream with 3 counters on it," which would be a state-based effect.

The wording of Xavier's Dream makes the whole thing a big triggered effect. That means while it remains in-play, who controls the card itself doesn't matter, but the controller when the effect was put on the chain does. It's a weird case of the "Basketball Rule". The person who had XD in play at the start of the recovery phase has its effect on the chain under his control. So long as XD remains in-play, as Bizarro World on its own accomplishes, it's still tied to the effect for checking counters. That means BW cannot steal a win from an XD player. Now, if you combo it with LexCorp, you can replace XD and therefore remove its counters, effectively negating their hopes of winning.

I'm reading it the same as you two, based on the rewording of Xavier's Dream; the win condition is now part of that single resolving effect, rather than being a separate triggered effect. I suppose this is one of those actual changes brought about by phasing out state-triggered powers. :)

With the old text, there were two separate triggered powers, one to place a token and the other to win the game. It mattered who controlled Xavier's Dream when the 3rd token was placed, because that player would then be the controller of the winning effect.*

With the new text, all that matters is which player controlled Xavier's Dream at the start of the recovery phase, when the token-placing effect was triggered. That player will also control the winning effect.

*There are some oddities that could occur, I imagine, but with the exact rules for state-triggered powers no longer in the Comp. Rules , I can't recall how they would work.

Thanks guys-

I figure with this card possibly seeing a bit more action as a result of this weekend we should all brush up our understanding of how it works and resolves....

Thanks again for your answers

Not at all. It's your opponents XD, and his effect. You have no option to discard for and place a counter on XD.

If you both had an XD, your XD will only allow you to put a counter on your own XD and not his. (each XD is self referencing and refers to placing a counter on itself).

The rest of this discussion is happening because of 'what happens if XD is stolen' after the triggered effect is placed on the chain...