diff --git a/.claude/skills/wizwar-duel/SKILL.md b/.claude/skills/wizwar-duel/SKILL.md
index a19e80e..4808f6d 100644
--- a/.claude/skills/wizwar-duel/SKILL.md
+++ b/.claude/skills/wizwar-duel/SKILL.md
@@ -225,6 +225,21 @@ probing legality is free, so when unsure, try it and read the error.
   expect neither bias nor exploitability from the bots — their BFS is
   natively non-Euclidean.
 
+## Game-thirteen scars (the goat)
+
+- **BUTT-HEAD is a cross-map physical nuke**: damage = the full walked
+  distance of the charge, and it found 8 points across half a maze.
+  ABSORB SPELL answers spells ONLY — at low life with no teleport in
+  hand, there is NO answer to big physical; your only defenses are
+  position and never being worth the charge. Audit the hand for
+  physical answers separately from spell answers.
+- He parks his OWN chest on open floor when he needs free arms —
+  custody is a dial, not a state. Watch every drop: grounded chests
+  are targets again the moment they land.
+- My game-one wall and his one dust cloud shaped the ENTIRE game:
+  single-square terrain on a junction outlives every spell cast near
+  it. Place terrain at junctions, not corridors.
+
 ## The board is the truth (I keep paying for this one)
 
 - NEVER narrate a persistent effect without re-verifying it in the
diff --git a/packages/engine/src/game.ts b/packages/engine/src/game.ts
index 06c5f75..aafa082 100644
--- a/packages/engine/src/game.ts
+++ b/packages/engine/src/game.ts
@@ -238,8 +238,10 @@ export interface CastParams {
  * Rev 7: DISEASE is a self-cast plague ("You're the carrier!") — the caster
  * carries it, sharing a square bites both directions, no counteraction.
  * Rev 8: the fire imp's scorch is a SPELL (FAQ) — counteractable, magical —
- * and SOULSTONE's floor holds even at 3 life or below. */
-export const CURRENT_RULES_REV = 8;
+ * and SOULSTONE's floor holds even at 3 life or below.
+ * Rev 9: the WARD's bite is counteractable ("COUNTERACTIONs ... otherwise
+ * work as written"), though nothing a counter does touches its caster. */
+export const CURRENT_RULES_REV = 9;
 
 export interface GameConfig {
   playerIds: PlayerId[];
@@ -4567,8 +4569,29 @@ function doWardChoice(prev: GameState, play: boolean): CommandResult {
     owner.displayed = owner.displayed.filter((id) => id !== card!.instanceId);
     state.discard.push(card!);
     events.push({ type: "wardSprung", owner: owner.id, victim: taker.id });
-    applyDamage(state, events, taker, 3, "warded treasure", null);
-    checkVictory(state, events);
+    // Rev 9: "COUNTERACTIONs against WARD ... otherwise work as written" —
+    // the bite rides the stack. `trapped` carries the card's other clause:
+    // nothing a counter does can touch the Ward's caster. Older games
+    // recorded the instant bite and replay it.
+    if ((state.config.deckRev ?? 1) >= 9) {
+      state.stack = {
+        attackerId: owner.id,
+        defenderId: taker.id,
+        attackCard: null,
+        numberValue: null,
+        amplifyFactor: 1,
+        extendFactor: 1,
+        powerAttackPoints: 0,
+        params: { damage: 3 },
+        kind: "spell",
+        counters: [],
+        waitingOn: taker.id,
+        trapped: true,
+      };
+    } else {
+      applyDamage(state, events, taker, 3, "warded treasure", null);
+      checkVictory(state, events);
+    }
   }
   return { ok: true, state, events };
 }
@@ -5839,7 +5862,7 @@ function resolveStack(state: GameState, events: GameEvent[]): void {
       ? (stack.params?.damage ?? 1)  // a creature's blow
       : stack.tearTreasure
         ? 0                          // the tear wrestles; it does not bruise
-        : 1;                         // a punch
+        : (stack.params?.damage ?? 1); // a punch — or a cardless trap's bite
   // Webs burn: "Any fire damage done to player in webs causes two extra points."
   if (attackId === "fireball" && sustainedOn(state, defender.id, "sticky-web").length > 0) {
     base += 2;