Does Sacrificing an eldrazi spawn go on stack?
Asked by Luciferian 8 years ago
I apologize if this has been answered or is an obvious question, but I had a dispute with a friend and need to know for sure.
The question is does the activate ability of eldrazi spawn, is a mana ability which doesn't go on stack and can't be responded to, or is a normal activated ability, which goes on the stack.
The disputed was as follows:I played Pattern of Rebirth resolved, went on my eldrazi spawn, i sac and my opponent responded with an, instant "destroy target enchantment"
If eldrazi spawns ability is a mana ability then the enchantment triggers before it's destroyed hence i search my library for a creature card.If it isn't then the enchantment is destroyed before it triggers.
TheRedMage says... Accepted answer #2
To answer your question: yes, the sacrifice ability on Eldrazi Spawns is indeed a mana ability and as such won't use the stack. There are three criteria that an activated ability has to meet in order to be considered a mana ability:
- It puts mana in your mana pool (duh)
- it doesn't have any targets (sorry, Deathrite Shaman)
- it is not a planeswalker loyalty ability (sorry, Xenagos, the Reveler)
The ability on scions meets all these criteria and as such is a mana ability.
That said, even if it wasn't (let's say, for example, that you had enchanted a Mogg Fanatic, that has a sacrifice ability which is not a mana ability) Pattern of Rebirth would still let you search your library, for two different reasons.
The first reason is that the sacrifice part of the ability is a cost. Remember that when activating an ability you only get the effect whn the ability resolves, but you pay costs when you activate it. When you go to sacrifice your Mogg Fanatic, by the time your opponent gets a chance to respond with their Demystify effect, the scion already died, and state-based actions have already noticed Pattern of Rebirth, an aura, sitting on the battlefield without anything to enchant and have put he enchantment in your graveyard, where our opponent can't target it at all.
The second one is that abilities are independent by their sources. Let's say the card in this example was not Pattern of Rebirth, which is an aura, but, say, Dictate of Erebos, which is going to stick around the battlefield after you sacrifice the creature. You sacrifice your Mogg Fanatic, causing Dictate of Erebos to trigger. Your opponent responds by blowing Dictate of Erebos up with a Demystify. Even if they do Dictate of Erebos already triggered and its ability is already on the stack. Once again, because sacrificing is a cost, your opponent does not get a window to stop it from triggering when you decide to sacrifice the creature, and they will still have to sacrifice a creature even if Dictate of Erebos is not on the battlefield anymore.
October 24, 2015 11:11 a.m.
TheRedMage says... #3
So there you have it. You asked about the interaction of Eldrazi Scions with Pattern of Rebirth, and you got the interaction of Mogg Fanatic with Dictate of Erebos :)
October 24, 2015 11:13 a.m.
TheRedMage I'm assuming this is the question that spurned that recent post about a new article on Rules interactions?
October 24, 2015 4:58 p.m.
TheRedMage says... #5
Kinda? I had been toyed with the idea for a few months, I just had not gone ahead and posted anything about it :)
October 24, 2015 5:40 p.m.
Luciferian says... #6
Pretty much figured it was as much after i posted this, but your answer cleared more things, thanks
Epochalyptik says... #1
It's a mana ability. A mana ability is any ability that doesn't have targets, isn't a loyalty ability, and adds mana to a players mana pool. Mana abilities do not use the stack.
In this case, it wouldn't matter anyway. Sacrificing the creature is a cost to activate the ability, so the creature dies during the activation process and Pattern of Rebirth is put into its owner's graveyard as a state-based action before anyone gets priority.
October 24, 2015 10:57 a.m.