Sacrificing a Creature that is being stolen
Asked by ManaGuruEDH 4 years ago
So I was watching an episode of Game Knights, and one of the players stole Jimmy's creature. They mentioned that they could normally sacrifice the creature instead of allowing it to be stolen, but he didn't in order to make sure another player didn't win. I don't know if I misunderstood them or if it is an actual rule, I would like some clarification.
ManaGuruEDH says... #2
Ok, that makes sense now. Jimmy did have a Phyrexian Altar on the battlefield at the time, for some reason I thought you just had an opportunity to sacrifice your creature spontaneously in response to it being targeted by a card like Mind Control , which I know the rules clearly state is illegal. That's why I was confused, it just didn't register with me Jimmy had a sac outlet. Thanks for clarifying.
July 7, 2019 7:10 p.m.
No problem.
Yeah, you can't sacrifice a creature spontaneously; you need to have some game effect that allows you to do so, such as the activation cost of an ability or an additional/alternative cost to a spell.
July 7, 2019 7:43 p.m.
ManaGuruEDH says... #4
Ya, that's what confuzzled me. I knew the rules but missed what Jimmy had on the field, he had been sacrificing things all game long, but for some odd reason it didn't register in my brain.
July 7, 2019 8:07 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #5
If you require no further clarification please select an answer to remove the question from the unanswered queue.
Kogarashi says... Accepted answer #1
All control-changing effects such as Mind Control or Act of Treason use the stack. Before anything on the stack can resolve, players are given a round of priority and must all pass without adding anything to the stack in order for the topmost item to resolve. This continues for each item on the stack.
So if Josh casts Mind Control to take Jimmy's creature, and Jimmy has a sac outlet on the board like Phyrexian Altar , Jimmy can respond to Mind Control on the stack by sacrificing his creature to the Phyrexian Altar , leaving Mind Control to fizzle for lack of a legal target.
I don't know which episode this was, or the specific cards involved, so I don't know what "making sure another player didn't win" involves, but responding to a theft ability with a sacrifice ability is valid gameplay.
July 7, 2019 7:05 p.m.