Yes.
If one of my characters is KO’d, does it keep its damage counters?
[Source: WotC] 
A KO’d character has damage counters on it equal to its health. Note that this is true even if it took
more damage while on the battlefield. For example, if a character with 7 health takes 10 damage, it ends
up in the KO area with 7 damage counters.
Characters don’t change modes when are KO’d. If a character was in bot mode when it was KO’d, it
will be put in the KO area in bot mode.
If a card returns a KO’d character to the battlefield, what mode is it in? Is it tapped or untapped?
[Source: WotC]
Unless the card that returns the character says otherwise, it will be untapped and in the same mode it
was in the KO area.
Several cards in this set cause battle cards to be put into the KO area. What does that mean?
[Source: WotC]
Those cards are essentially out of the game, except if something specifically puts them somewhere else. They aren’t scrapped, so they won’t be reshuffled into your deck when your deck is empty.
No.
When KO’d, a
Battle Master comes back as a weapon. Then once it gets destroyed, it goes into the KO area. My question is, can you flip it back to bot mode in the KO area after it falls off?
[Source: WotC]
No. You may only flip characters in the KO area using your normal once-per-turn flip.
If a
Battle Master or
Weaponizer is in the KO Pile, and the match runs to time and damage on all characters is assessed, should they count their damage for that total, or are they simply an upgrade with no damage on them?
[Source: WotC]
They are an upgrade with no damage on them.
This FAQ item refers to a form of tie-breaker from November 2019 tournament rules prior to November 2019. It is no longer relevant.
1. "When this is in your KO area and you flip to this mode => [do something]"
This suggests to me that A) you can flip characters in the KO area, and B) character abilities are active while in the KO area. Is this correct?
2. If the answer to either the above is "yes", how does a card like Ransack work while in KO?
"When you flip to this mode => move 2 damage counters from another character to this one."
[Source: WotC]
1. Yes, when you flip a character in your turn, you can flip a character on the battlefield or in your KO area.
2. Abilities only function in the KO area if they specifically say so. Most abilities, like Ransack’s, do not function in the KO area.
Regarding when
Battle Masters go to the KO area when they're removed from the battlefield in upgrade mode: Do they switch to bot mode when they go there or do they stay in upgrade mode? And if they do stay in upgrade mode, how does this interact with
Emergency Maintenance?
[Source: WotC]
They stay on their Upgrade side and it does not interact with
Emergency Maintenance because upgrades are not counted as characters.
So, when a
Battle Master is KO'd, does it count as a KO since they are technically not sent to the KO pile? Or is the instance of "KO" simply contingent on reaching your HP total?
[Source: WotC]
It is a KO and they go to the KO Area, before flipping to its Upgrade side.
Speaking of when a
Battle Master is KO'd, it states that you "play" the Upgrade side. Does that mean that you are technically Upgrading a character triggering effects like
Wheeljack's alt mode? Furthermore--and I think I know the answer to this question--does this "play" take up the Upgrade for a turn?
[Source: WotC]
Playing the Upgrade side of a
Battle Master is just like playing an Upgrade from anywhere else.
Wheeljack’s ability will trigger. As you probably know, this does not count as the one upgrade for your turn.
When a character is KO'd as part of resolving a card effect, like
Peace Through Tyranny, is the character put into the KO area fully damaged, or only with the amount of damage it had when it was KO'd?
[Source: WotC]
Characters in KO are always fully damaged.
If a character flips in the KO area, will you benefit from any "When this character flips to this mode -" abilities? Do flip abilities matter if they're on the field or in the KO area, as long as the action of flipping happens?
[Source: WotC]
K.O.’d characters flip abilities do not trigger when flipped unless specifically stated.
Not unless specifically stated. K.O.’d characters flipping wont trigger any abilities unless otherwise stated.
Do you check for KO as soon as you calculate damage or is it at the end of the attack phase? Is there a specific order for extra damage calculation outside the normal attack? This matters because of
Reckless Charge potentially KOing both attacker and defender simultaneously. It also matters because of
Electrified Spikes.
[Source: WotC]
We are constantly checking for KO. In the case of
Electrified Spikes, it will deal the damage to the attacker before combat damage is assigned. If the attacker is Ransack in bot-mode, he will benefit from the additional damage and increase his attack by 1.
If a combiner is KO'd, do each of its individual components get put into the KO space, or does it stay a combiner? If it's the components, do they get KO'd in bot mode?
[Source: WotC]
It is KO’d in combiner mode. That is generally the end of the game, but in corner cases like Volcanicus and REDACTED this can come up.
Can you clarify timing on when heads activate in regard to finishing a trigger that caused the Body to be KO'd? Examples: Does
Decepticon Quake damage his own Head when he dies? Octone killing a Body and then his bounty triggers does this kill the Head when it is played?
[Source: WotC]
A head’s deploy ability is a triggered ability. When both players trigger an ability at the same time the active player’s abilities will complete before the defending player. A player may order their own simultaneous triggers how they wish. The player controlling Quake may order Quake’s damage trigger and Quake’s head’s deploy trigger such that Quake’s damage ability resolves first, and Quake’s head second. If Octone’s controller is the active player, they must use Octone’s bounty trigger before the defending player resolves their head’s deploy trigger.
This answer is an update on the originally published answer in the Roundup
In this scenario, the Stratagem
Sky Shadow Sync is also in play. What exactly happens when you only have Sky Shadow (Tank) and Sky Shadow (Plane) as your last characters and both get KO'd at the same time?
[Source: WotC]
If all your characters are KOed, and there is no other card text saying otherwise (like a head's deploy ability), you lose.
Sky Shadow Sync doesn't include such text, so if Sky Shadow (Tank) and Sky Shadow (Plane) are your last characters and both get KO'd at the same time, you lose the game.
