Can you kill a creature with "enters the battlefield" counters before the counters attach to the creature?
Asked by RedAltOne 7 years ago
Pretty new to magic, just have a couple scenario questions involving revolt/enters the battlefield mechanics.
Let's say I sacrificed a Renegade Map to trigger Revolt. I then cast a Narnam Renegade an opponent cast Shock as Narnam Renegade enters the battlefield so it dies before getting its counter?
Basically same scenario - sac map, cast Greenwheel Liberator. Can an opponent use Walking Ballista to kill it by removing 1 counter in response before it's a 4/3?
Thanks for your assistance!
Panzerforge says... Accepted answer #2
The reason for this is the specific way it's worded.
"Enters the battlefield WITH" is the important part. This means the counters never go on the stack, so there is no delay between the creature entering and getting the counter.
If the wording was "whenever creature enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on it" THEN they would be vulnerable, because that is a triggered ability that would use the stack, and could be responded to.
"Creature enters the battlefield with +1/+1" is a static ability, and won't use the stack. The counter is (basically) part of the creature spell itself.
(You could, for example, respond to the Walking Ballista using its ": Put a +1/+1 counter on Walking Ballista" ability, to kill a 2/2 Ballista with Shock before the Ballista becomes a 3/3.)
Panzerforge says... #1
Scenario 1:
Shock would not kill your Narnam Renegade if you met the revolt trigger. In order to be a valid target for Shock, your Renegade would have to be fully resolved and on the battlefield, with the +1/+1 counter.
Same deal for Scenario 2.
The counter will enter the battlefield with the creature as the creature resolves. It doesn't use the stack, and can't be responded to.
Hope this helps!
April 3, 2017 1:15 a.m. Edited.