hey,
I have a question about layers, namely about the interaction between Turn // Burn and Favored Hoplite. Say Aaron is playing Noah, and Aaron targets his Favored Hoplite with a spell (nevermind which spell, the point is that he triggers and resolves the Heroic ability). After the trigger has resolved, Noah casts a fused Turn//Burn, targeting the Favored Hoplite. So my question is, where does the heroic ability affect the Hoplite exactly? Obviously, the +1/+1 counter goes in layer 7d (counters that affect P/T), but does the damage prevention part also exist somewhere in the layers (if it does, I'm guessing layer 6; adding and removing abilities), or is it just a continuous ability that exists, but is not on present on any layer of the affected permanent?

I may be looking at this from the wrong perspective, but I'd like to know:
what happens to Aaron's Favored Hoplite? Is it going to have 2 damage marked on it or not?

PS: excuse me for using a Theros card in the example, before the pre-release: I figured it'd be okay since the question isn't about the new mechanics themselves, but rather prevention effects and layers.

Edited Walter Hoekstra (Sept. 18, 2013 01:28:10 PM)

The prevention effect just exists independently of the layers.

Layers are a system to determine an object's characteristics; those include, among others: name, type(s), power/toughness, and abilities. Those are organized into layers because there can be conflicts between various effects that modify characteristics; for example one that would grant an ability and another that would make it lose abilities.

Abilities comprise abilities printed on the card as well as those granted by effects. They are phrased, e.g., "echanted creature gains ". An effect that prevents the next damage that would be dealt to a creature is not granting an ability to it; it's simply an effect that affects the creature. No layers are needed for this. As a consequence, removing the creature's abilities will not change anything and the next damage will still be prevented.

Daniel Kitachewsky
L3, Paris, France
Rules NetRep