Can you stifle half of etrata's damage trigger?
Asked by Geralf_Cecani 5 years ago
A friend of mine has built an Etrata, the Silencer deck and Stifles a PART of the trigger, the part that shuffles itself into the deck, but not the part the exiles the Boi with the hit counter. I am 2374% sure this is complete garbage, but I just need proof. The way he says it works is that, since there's a fullstop (maybe it's called a period in America?) between the two sections of the ability, it a seperate ability.
Boza is correct, but I wanted to make one tiny comment.
There is a way to get around the shuffle portion of Etrata's ability. If, while Etrata's ability is on the stack, you bounce her (say with Unsummon); flicker her (Deadeye Navigator), or otherwise remove her and send her to the command zone, the rest of the ability will still resolve normally, but she will either not be on the battlefield or be a new object, and thus not subject to the shuffle effect of the ability. You're not countering that part of the ability, but rendering it a nullity works just as well.
I figured I'd mention this, in case your friend did not know/think of this option, and requires a new battleplan in light of his original idea being improper.
Boza says... Accepted answer #1
You cannot be more than 100% sure. Other than that, you are completely correct - all of that paragraph is one single trigger. Usually in MTG separate triggers have separate paragraphs - compare Etrata, the Silencer to say Riverwise Augur and then both to Niv-Mizzet, Parun. You cannot Stifle just the "put two cards back" part of the Augur trigger; however, you can stifle either the draw ability or the damage ability of Niv Mizzet (which will trigger it again, but the point still stands).
October 23, 2018 5:17 a.m.