Can Bloodrush trigger Heroic?
Asked by sewellius 9 years ago
I was thinking that this could easily be a confusing scenario, and I'm pretty sure the answer is no here, but I'm hoping to get some solid rule citation to explain why Bloodrush does Not trigger Heroic.
Example scenario:
I have Akroan Skyguard
out and I use the Bloodrush ability of Slaughterhorn
to pump it during combat. What happens?
I think for the same reason that Bloodrush cannot be Counterspell ed, it does not trigger Heroic.
I apologize if this is already covered in an older Q&A. I didn't find any.
billpasdmf says... Accepted answer #2
Bloodrush is an activated ability that is used while Slaughterhorn (for example) is in your hand. Heroic explicitly states (certainly in the case of Akroan Skyguard that whenever you cast a spell that targets.. etc. Since you're not casting Slaughterhorn to use it's bloodrush ability, it does not constitute a spell that is targeting Akroan Skyguard .
Spells are cast. Activated abilities are activated.
May 29, 2014 3:41 p.m.
Going with the more in-depth answer here. Does anyone have any citation of rules/rulings that support this? Would be appreciated.
May 29, 2014 4:39 p.m.
billpasdmf says... #4
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/228
Quote:
"A bloodrush ability isn't a spell and can't be countered by things that only counter spells. It uses the stack and can be responded to normally."
May 29, 2014 4:47 p.m.
Heroic
"A heroic ability triggers whenever you cast any spell that targets the heroic creature, including a spell that also targets another creature. If a spell targets multiple creatures with heroic abilities, all of them trigger. Activated abilities, such as equip, do not cause heroic abilities to trigger.
An instant or sorcery spell has a target if it includes the word "target" in its rules text. Each Aura spell also has a target, indicated by its enchant ability. Creature spells and other permanent spells (except for Auras) never have targets."
Bloodrush:
"Bloodrush is an ability word that marks a particular kind of activated ability you can use when a creature card with bloodrush is in your hand. Each bloodrush ability has a cost of paying some amount of mana and discarding the creature card. It targets an attacking creature, which means it can be activated only during combat and only targeting a creature that's currently attacking."
equip is an activated ability (from heroic text)
"702.6a. Equip is an activated ability of Equipment cards. Equip [cost] means [Cost]: Attach this permanent to target creature you control. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery."
If you read the heroic reminder text, it says "when you cast any spell ...". You shouldn't need more than this to understand the ruling, that activated abilities do not trigger heroic, because they are not casted and not spells.
GoldGhost012 says... #1
Bloodrush cannot trigger Heroic because Heroic explicitly states that only spells targetting Akroan Skyguard trigger Heroic. Bloodrush is an activated ability.
May 29, 2014 2:56 p.m.