Excellent Question.
Pie ‘Oh’ Pah can use his ability at any time, once per turn. He does NOT pivot when naming his power.
Judith Odell’s ability is an Ally Action power, so it can only be used in the Ally Phase which only Active Allies are allowed to perform an action. So, Judith Odell must be active in order to user her ability. Her ability is almost the same ability as Anarchy (Flash) except Anarchy is not restricted to males.
From page 16 in the rulebook:
“Once Allies have been established, every active Ally may perform one action. Active Allies are characters in the active area of the Autarch’s Realm. Allies in Reserve, called reserves, may never perform actions.”
Actions: The actions the Autarch’s Allies can perform are:
- Challenge Rival’s Ally: Attempt to kill one targeted character of a rival Autarch.
- Seize a Site: Attempt to control a Site in the Circle
- Ally Action: Play any Ally Action card.
- Retreat: The Ally moves from the active area to the reserve.
After Judith Odell and Pie ‘Oh’ Pah use their Ally Action powers, each must pivot.
So yes, it is a valid play to pivot male allies up to prime 20 with this combination.
There are cards that can help if you are a victim of this situation, so here is a quick list of what can be done to help counter the scenario:
- Have females in your deck.
- Hologram(s) can be played to unpivot target character(s) during the Ally phase. (Before a challenge officially begins.)
- Klupo(s) can be played to cause a character to lose any powers until the end of the round. (Before a challenge officially begins.)
- Scintillants(s) can be played on a character in the Ally or Autarch Phase to be pivoted instead of the character. (Must already be on character.)
It’s a great combo and can hurt someone pretty bad if that person doesn’t have a balanced male/female deck or the cards necessary to combat it.
I’ll be adding this to the Card Combinations article. With your permission, I will provide credit to you.
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