If Arcbound Ravager sacrifices itself

Asked by tyforthevenom 9 years ago

For example Arcbound Ravager has 4 counters on it then sacrifices itself how many counters go onto (let's say) Inkmoth Nexus

Named_Tawyny says... #1

Just the four it already has on it.

Sacrificing a creature is a cost : by the time the first ability activates, the Ravager will already be in the graveyard.

December 18, 2014 6:24 p.m.

tyforthevenom says... #2

the part that confuses me is that both things trigger at the same time so i thought in theory you can stack it so the counter floats (as that is technically what modular does) with the rest of the counters

December 18, 2014 6:27 p.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #3

Modular only puts the +1/+1 counters that were on the modular creature (in this case Arcbound Ravager) onto another artifact creature.

Regardless of the order of resolution, it still won't do you any good. The activated ability, when it resolves, will look for the Ravager, and not find it - it will fizzle.

Here's roughly the timeline.

  1. Declare that you're activating the Ravagers activated ability.
  2. Pay the costs (ie sacrifice the Ravager). The Ravager goes to the graveyard.
  3. As the Ravager goes to the graveyard, modular triggers.
  4. Abilities resolve.

When the activated ability resolves, it searches the battlefield for the Arcbound Ravager, not finding it. It fizzles.When the modular ability resolves, it uses the last known information of the Ravager on the battlefield. In this case, that is a Ravager with 4 +1/+1 counters. Those counters can be put on another artifact creature you control.

December 18, 2014 6:34 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #4

@Named_Tawyny: You have the order of a couple things mixed up.

The modular ability triggers when you sacrifice Arcbound Ravager, and is put onto the stack the next time a player would get priority: after you're done with the ability activation process. So now the modular trigger is on top of the stack with the activated ability below it. The trigger resolves first, putting 4 +1/+1 counters on another artifact creature. Then the activated ability resolves and does nothing, because Ravager is long gone.

December 18, 2014 6:53 p.m.

Named_Tawyny says... #5

@Rhadamanthus

Thanks. I hadn't meant to indicate that that was the order that things were on the stack, but reading it again, it does come across that way. =)

December 18, 2014 6:55 p.m.

This discussion has been closed