Does War Stomp exhaust me before I am the defender?

Question

This question is related to the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.

I have a Hunter, no allies out, and in my hand is a Frost Trap.

My opponent attacks with Himul Longstrider, who has War Stomp. He wants to target my hero with the War Stomp power.

Will my hero be exhausted before I am able to pay the cost of Frost Trap? Put another way, does War Stomp exhaust my hero before my hero is "defending," thus preventing me from paying its cost by exhausting my hero?

Answer 1

Yes.

According to answers on the wowtcg.com forums, War Stomp triggers in two different places, depending on whether the character with War Stomp is attacking or defending.

If attacking, then War Stomp triggers at the beginning of the Attack Window, just after the attacker exhausts for that attack.
Since this happens before the Protect Point, you can exhaust a protector before they can protect with it.

If defending, then War Stomp triggers at the beginning of the Defend Window, just after the Protect Point. You cannot use War Stomp while defending to stop the current attack, but you can exhaust another character to stop them from attacking that turn."

The upshot of this is that when you are attacked by an ally with War Stomp, the attacker can exhaust your hero before the Protect Point, when you are still just the proposed defender. Since you're not yet the defender, you can't respond by exhausting your hero to pay Frost Trap's cost.