I believe the source of this is page 22 , Appendix IInitiation Sequence . If following initiation sequence to the letter technically an AoO fires after paying the cost and before the card effect . I admit it is a little hard to swallow considering what lengths the rest of the rules goes to emphasize that a bold fight should be treated as a fight action , but if you follow the timing of initiation strictly this might be true . As much as I ' d hate to admit it because it feels wrong . Apply any modifiers to the costs Pay the costs . If this step is reached and the costs cannotbe paid , abort this process without paying any costs . Upon completion of this step , attacks ofopportunity , if applicable , resolve . The card commences being played , or theeffects of the ability attempt to initiate . The effects of the ability if not canceled in step 3 completetheir initiation , and resolve . The card is regarded asplayed and placed in play , or in its owner ' s discard pileif it ' s an event , and the ability is considered resolvedsimultaneously with the completion of this stepAs far as initiation timing is concerned you used a Play action and not a Fight action since that does not come into effect until after the AoO has resolved . This feels like a quirk to the rules that could be fixed with an errata , but maybe it is intended .