What is Attack Prep?

Attack Prep is the time it takes for the attack gauges to connect to their targets. While the unit cards are in attack prep, players can use action cards, hero arts, and various card effects to disrupt the attack prep and influence the outcome of the damage calculation. An incoming attack gauge is also cancelled when the unit that launched the attack has been destroyed or removed from the field using card effects.

One of the best examples of effects that can affect Attack Prep is Halt, prominently used by Morrigan’s purple deck. In the example below, Metall C-15 was played early so it was able to start its attack prep earlier.

However, Anakaris has a Halt effect that gets applied on a unit in front of it, as soon as he is played on the field. This stuns Metall C-15 and completely resets its attack prep.

What’s better is that since Anakaris also begun its attack prep as soon as it got played, it can deal damage without retaliation as soon as its attack gauge connects, and long as Halt is active on the target. (See the hourglass icon beside the portrait? That’s the duration of Halt’s status effect.