If my opponent activates and KO's Spider-Man, Zombie, does my Pathetic Attempt prevent Spider-Man from returning to play at the start of the recovery phase? In other words - does P.A. negate everything after the payment arrow?

Spider-Man, Zombie:
Activate, KO Spider-Man → Target player exhausts a ready character he controls. At the start of the recovery phase this turn, return Spider-Man from his owner's KO'd pile to play under your control. Use only during the combat phase.

Pathetic Attempt:
Negate target effect targeting you or a card in play you control.

Yes, it does. The cost is seperate from the effect, so once Spider-man hits the graveyard and the effect is negated there is nothing to bring him back and he stays there.

How can you negate both effects. I can understand the negate the KO part but how does it stop you from bringing back the zombie? Its doesnt say "negate all effects"?

Copied, pasted, and adjusted from a PM I was coincidentally (I think) writing today:

Spider-Man's payment power generates one big effect, with everything that follows the arrow. That effect creates two modifiers as it resolves, but is still just one effect; the first modifier is an exhaust, and the second is what's called a delayed triggered modifier (DTM). A DTM is essentially a floating triggered power that stays around waiting to trigger.

If you negate Spider-Man's effect, you always negate the whole effect. Which means nobody exhausts, no DTM gets created, and there's going to be nothing to pull Spidey out of the KO'd pile later in the turn.

Hope that helps,
HC

To tell a truth, i cant sign off on any questions created here (rules related) without your final say. thanks HC. :)

No coincidence, HC. I was asking on behalf of Carlos, who was thinking of playing a Zombie deck of mine at the MegaWeekend until we found out that Pathetic Attempt sends Spidey to Never-Never Land.

Who else thinks P.A. is a really overpowered card?

I think it's pretty much on par for what a PT with a threshold of 4 ought to be able to do.

It's comparable to Savage Beatdown in terms of how much it can swing the game. It's just slightly more frustrating to be on the receiving end of since we're all used to people packing combat pump but negation is kind of a GK/Shadowpact specific thing.

There goes one of MY decks too...

:(

Can't you just pack Omnipotence to counter this?

Take even initiative and play rogue on 4 (copying Puppet Master) and Spidey on 5 with an omnipotence?

Yeah, I suppose. Another disaster averted :)

Yep. The two pieces of obligatory tech this modern cycle.

Yay for generic negation. ;)

Pathetic attempt is quite frankly needed.

How else can you deal with stuff without going team specific.

At least enemy is going away in June!!!

Its pretty amazing how many people whine about EOME when its completely not needed and just shows their ignorance.

Enemy of my Enemy damn near killed this game. Made it basically unplayable for about a year and a half.