Nightmare Shepherd Interaction

Asked by crash328 4 years ago

My question is this: how does nightmare shepherd interact with A) Kaya's Ghostform and B) The god eternals. With the first, when the exile happens dor the shepherds effect do I get both the token and the original creature? And with the eternals, after exiled by the shepherds effect does it get shuffled back in?

Kogarashi says... Accepted answer #1

Nightmare Shepherd , God-Eternal Oketra

With Kaya's Ghostform , the creature dying creates two triggers: Shpherd's trigger and Ghostform's trigger. Assuming you control both triggers, you can put them on the stack in whichever order you want, and the top one will resolve first.

If Kaya's Ghostform resolves first, it will return the creature to the battlefield under your control. Nightmare Shepherd will not be able to exile the creature at that point (it can't find the card in the graveyard, and the creature on the battlefield is a new game object with no memory of its previous existence), and no copy will be made.

If Nightmare Shepherd resolves first and you choose to exile the creature, you will get the copy. Kaya's Ghostform will not be able to find the card in the graveyard, and the card in exile is a new game object with no memory of its previous existence.

Ruling from Kaya's Ghostform :

• If the enchanted permanent is put into a graveyard or exile but leaves that zone before the last ability of Kaya’s Ghostform resolves, that card stays in its new zone, even if that zone is also a graveyard or exile. You don’t return it to the battlefield. (2019-05-03)

With the God-Eternals, such as God-Eternal Oketra , it's the same. Two triggers happen due to the creature dying. You can either exile it and make a copy with Nightmare Shepherd , or let its own trigger put it into its owner's library, but you can't do both, for the same reasons (zone-changes cause the card to become a new object and thus the other ability can't find it.)

February 13, 2020 12:59 p.m.