Our dice masters play mats are pretty distinctly organized. That's a good thing, because there are a lot of places for our dice to go.

We have our prep area, the reserve pool, the field zone, the attack zone, the used pile... even the dice bag is technically part of the play mat.

But there's another, oft-ignored section of the mat where dice go to die. Ok, they don't die, but this is (allegedly) where they go when they've been knocked out.

I say allegedly because no one seems to play that way, and the rule book doesn't tell us. KO'd die? Move it to prep. Immediately. Do not pass go.

But is this the intent? What's the deal with our ill-defined KO zone?

Definitions

The big problem with this KO zone is that while it's on every single play mat there is and is clearly intended to be used, it is not really ever mentioned in the rules. At all.

What we know is that the die goes there when it's knocked out before it goes to the prep area. The problem is that we only know that because of the play mats that WizKids has put together and included on their website and in their rule book.

But we don't know anything else because once more - it's not anywhere in the rule book!

Why Does This Matter?

There's a distinction between a character getting knocked out and going directly to prep versus having to pass through this distinctly marked area. If WizKids would codify this area, it would certainly prevent future rules disputes.

It may have even prevented some other earlier issues that were later covered by the FAQ, such as the Iron Man/KO question that came up.

How Should It Be Done?

Here's what I think. The KO should be considered an extension of the field, just as the attack zone is. Characters who are knocked out go there and at the end of the turn, during cleanup, they proceed to the prep area.

This makes the purpose of it clear and also prevents any questions from arising where folks want to claim that a KO'd character can't trigger something, although the rules say that they can, or from folks who claim that knockout is completely distinct area as happened recently in debates about Invulnerability and "when fielded" effects. Surely we'll see a true "resurrection" card somewhere down the line and this may be a necessary distinction.

This still maintains other rules, such as the FAQ example with Black Widow, where the ruling was not about her status on the board but rather about whether or not she was engaged.