The Scarab God vs Clever Impersonator
Asked by chosenone124 6 years ago
Sorry if this has been asked before, but what happens if The Scarab God creates a copy of Clever Impersonator?
Clever Impersonator copies a 5/5 creature.
Clever Impersonator copies a Marble Chalice (does it become a noncreature zombie basically).
Clever Impersonator copies a Vehicle.
Raging_Squiggle says... #2
Copy effects are applied in Layer 1, and effects that set P/T to a certain value are applied in Layer 7b, so it will be a copy of a creature but it'll be a 4/4 black zombie in addition to its other things.
A card can't be given a creature subtype if it doesn't have either "creature" or "tribal" types, so for as long as it's non-creature, it'll only have the black color attribute and a P/T of 4/4 (which isn't important since it's a non-creature). If an effect turns it into a creature later on, it'll have that P/T 4/4 and will gain the zombie subtype.
Same as 2, since a vehicle is a non-creature artifact.
August 13, 2017 10:22 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
@Raging_Squiggle The eternalize ability and The Scarab God work by means of a modified copy effect and are applied in Layer 1.
706.9c Some copy effects modify a characteristic as part of the copying process. The final value(s) for that characteristic becomes part of the copiable values for the copy.
Example: Copy Artifact is an enchantment that reads, "You may have Copy Artifact enter the battlefield as a copy of any artifact on the battlefield, except it's an enchantment in addition to its other types." It enters the battlefield as a copy of Juggernaut. The copiable values of the Copy Artifact now match those of Juggernaut with one modification: its types are now artifact, creature, and enchantment.
August 13, 2017 10:29 p.m.
chosenone124 says... #4
Is there a reason why the Scarab God's layer applies before the Clever Impersonator layer?
August 15, 2017 12:47 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #5
They're both in the same layer (layer 1), so that means they get applied in timestamp order. If you choose to apply it, the copy effect from Clever Impersonator's ability will have a more recent timestamp, so it will be applied after The Scarab God's effect that created the token.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
Clever Impersonator makes a regular, normal copy of the original in each situation.
As the token copy of Clever Impersonator is about to enter the battlefield, it's a 4/4 black zombie with the ability "You may have Clever Impersonator enter the battlefield as a copy of any nonland permanent on the battlefield." If you choose not to copy anything then it will be a 4/4 black zombie. If you choose to copy something then the Impersonator's own copy effect will completely overwrite the results of The Scarab God's copy effect that created the token.
August 13, 2017 10:17 p.m.