Requirements for a Chained "Do X to do Y to do Z"

Making a forum post per Ankha's request.

Victim of Habit

Card Text
+1 stealth action.
Put this card in play and choose a card in your prey's ash heap by name. During any Methuselah's unlock phase, you may lock this card to remove three copies of the chosen card in your prey's ash heap from the game to cause your prey to burn 1 pool.

has a ruling [LSJ 20050408-2] wherein

> Is tapping Victim of Habit to remove only 2 cards possible because the
> removing of three cards is an effect itself (of tapping the VoH), in
> addition to being a cost (for burning 1 pool)?

Yes.

If it were just "remove three to cause pool loss", then you couldn't
do it without three.

Extrapolating from this, to start the chain you need to be able to do X (lock), but Z(pool loss) only happens if Y (all 3 cards) was completed in full.

I guess the question is whether or not this should be overruled such that both X and Y need to be completable on announcement before starting the chain?

Not a rulesmonger, but chiming in anyway....

Not sure how many other chained effects like this exist in single-sentence format. But this one seems easy to address if you have stomach for a small erratum.

"During any Methuselah's unlock phase, you may lock this card to AND remove three copies of the chosen card in your prey's ash heap from the game to cause your prey to burn 1 pool."