Does Belbe's Portal require you to show the card?
Asked by Urge 6 years ago
If I activate Belbe's Portal's ability, do I have to reveal the chosen card prior to the ability resolving? The only rule I can find on the card is that "Putting the card onto the battlefield is optional. When the ability resolves, you can choose not to." The way I see it, the word "target" and "reveal" don't show up anywhere in the card, so I shouldn't have to tell my opponents anything until the ability resolves. Is this correct?
Secondly, do I have to have any cards in hand to activate the ability? Kind of an odd question, but I figure I'd ask.
Lastly, if Belbe's Portal is destroyed with its ability on the stack, will the ability resolve? This is more of a general question about activated abilities on permanents, I guess.
Thanks in advance.
ZomBee_Hunt says... #2
Just think of Aether Vial
This card is just a worse version of it lol
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
No, you don't have to reveal what card you plan to put onto the battlefield as you activate the ability. There are some decisions you have to make when initially casting a spell or activating an ability (targets, mode choices, a few other things), but Belbe's Portal doesn't have any of those. You make the decision for what creature to put onto the battlefield as the ability is resolving.
The current Oracle text for Belbe's Portal clarifies that "you may put" the creature onto the battlefield. This means you don't have to do it if for some reason you don't want to, and it also means you can activate the ability without having a creature of the given type in your hand. Note that the card always worked this way, but the updated text just makes it more clear.
Once you activate the ability of the Portal, it will eventually resolve unless some other effect specifically counters it. It doesn't matter whether the Portal is still on the battlefield at that time. If it isn't, the game will use information from the last moment the Portal was on the battlefield to get what it needs to properly resolve the ability (most importantly: the chosen creature type). There are some particular cards and effects ("fight" is the best example) that do specifically require the card to remain on the battlefield in order for the ability to work properly, but Belbe's Portal isn't written to be that way.
January 2, 2018 10:07 p.m.