Can multiple players play Just Say No on the same card? For example:
Player A: Rent.
Player B: Just Say No on the Rent.
Player A: Just Say No on Player B's Just Say No.
Resolves.
Player C: Just Say No on the Rent.
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Interesting. Note that it matters who played the JSN because the player that plays it can choose to only immunize themselves (as opposed to all players) from the card against which it is played. (I don't know the rules, and I'm too tired to look them up right now.) – ikegami Apr 27 '19 at 6:42
Assuming Player B could play Just Say No in that situation, it will be legal for Player C. However, this is a big assumption.
The problem is that you have waded into the extreme grey area of Monopoly Deal rules. Monopoly deal has a woefully incomplete rules framework and is missing the all-important official Errata and FAQ document. monopolydealrules.com has many opinions on the game and how it should be played, but has the double downside of being nether official nor definitive.
So let's dig into how Just Say No works in general, with what precious little we have to go on. The text of the card is:
Just Say No! Use any time when an action card is played against you. Play into the center to use.
There are two things unclear about this card: which types of cards it effects and what it means to negate a card. There are three possible interpretations of Just Say No:
"Played against you" is read strictly as cards that affect one player in particular. To put that in Magic the Gathering terms, a card must target one player in order to be eligible for Just Say No (i.e. Just Say No is the equivalent of Rebuff the Wicked). This means Just Say No only works on any-color Rent cards (because they target one player), Deal Breaker, Sly Deal, Debt Collector, and Deal Breaker.
We take the looser definition of "played against you" to mean Just Say No can be used on any card that directly affects you negatively, thus adding the following to the list of valid targets: Just Say No, It's My Birthday, and 2-color Rent cards. However, the relevant thing is that it only cancels the part that is "against you". Thus, if you Just Say No a card that affects all players, it only cancels the effect for you and not for everyone else.
We take the same definition of "played against you" in #2 but a stronger definition of "saying no". Just Say No can cancel any card that harms you in any way, and cancels the card completely.
In the case of interpretation 1, your question is moot for two reasons: Just Say No can't be played on a 2-color Rent card (because it affects all players) and Just Say No can't be played on another Just Say No (Just Say No targets a card, not a player).
In the case of interpretation 2 or 3, there is nothing preventing multiple people from playing Just Say No on the same card. In interpretation 2, multiple people may normally play Just Say No on a Rent card just so multiple people are immune from its effects. Meanwhile, in interpretation 3, if the first Just Say No was negated by one from the original player, than anyone (including player B in your example) could play another one to try to negate the original card.
My play group uses interpretation 1. monopolydealrules.com suggests either interpretation 2 or 3, but offers no definitive opinion between the two.
I believe that what you described can happen.
As noted at http://monopolydealrules.com some people play that a JSN card cancels the targeted action for all players but more commonly people play that it protects only the player who played the JSN.
If playing the first option then I would argue that you would have to declare you JSN before any player paid rent. However the situation described could then become:
- Player A: Rent
- Player B: JSN on Rent
- Player A: JSN on JSN
- Player C: JSN on Rent
- No-one plays rent
If playing the second interpretation of the rules then a similar series of events could occur with the following outcome:
- Player A: Rent
- Player B: JSN on Rent
- Player A: JSN on JSN
- Player B: Pays Rent
- Player C: JSN on Rent
- Player C does not pay rent
As with many circumstances in monopoly deal the rules don't seem to explicitly cover this situation so it's best to make sure all players understand the rules the same way before you begin.
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How is it that Player C can play Just Say No on Player A's Just Say No in your first example? Player A's Just Say No is played against one of Player B's cards not Player C's. – Zags Apr 28 '19 at 22:56
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Yes, you can do that.
It's just saying Just Say No to the Rent card, but Player A says Just Say No to Player B, and if Player B has run out of Just Say No's, then it goes to Player C, who can (if they want to) put down a Just Say No to that rent card, and then only Player B has to pay, if Player A doesn't have another Just Say No card.
