Ink-Treader Nephilim

Creature — Nephilim

Whenever a player plays an instant or sorcery spell, if Ink-Treader Nephilim is the only target of that spell, copy the spell for each other creature that spell could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures.

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (47)

Rhadamanthus on How does priority work with …

8 months ago

vic: Sorry, I thought you were still asking about normal fight effects, not Arena's specific behavior. But now it seems like we need to clarify what happens when you make a copy of a spell or ability.

Making a copy of a spell or ability on the stack creates an exact copy that accounts for any choices made during the casting process, including modes, targets, distribution of counters/damage and other such things. This is why every spell/ability copying effect will allow you to choose new targets for the copies (Doublecast, Illusionist's Bracers, etc.) or will tell you something specific about what to do with the targets for the copies (Radiate, Ink-Treader Nephilim, etc.), otherwise copy effects wouldn't be half as useful or interesting. There are no Ink-Treader style effects in the game that can copy a spell/ability with more than one target, meaning you would be using an effect that allows you to choose new targets for the copies. Your opponent wouldn't get a say in it.

To the bigger question you might be asking about what happens when different players need to make choices about something simultaneously: first the active player makes their choices and then the non-active player makes their choices. If there are more than 2 players in the game, then it starts with the active player and goes around the table in turn order. But if your Ink-Treader Nephilim makes a bunch of copies of something, you're the only one who will be making decisions for the order that the copies go onto the stack because you control them all.

vic on How does priority work with …

8 months ago

I'm still not clear on which happens between A and B, above. That's really my main point. Maybe I'm not wording it as clearly as I think. I'll try again.

With Ink-Treader Nephilim, both my opponent and I are going to get to have a bunch of our own creatures to target, so each of us gets to choose the order within our own respective sides of the battlefield.

The question is do I (as the priority holder) make a selection first, then my opponent makes one, then me, then him, etc. until all (surviving) creatures have been selected?

OR...

Do I select ALL of my creatures in the order I choose, THEN my opponent selects gets to make all of his selections on his side?

I just want to know if we alternate with me going first, or if it's all of my board first and then all his board second?

StopShot on New format idea: "Cursebound"

8 months ago

@Bookrook, the restriction on curse rarities is in place to keep curses themselves from being arbitrary. If most decks wanted to splash a color, an overwhelming amount of them would likely by default utilize whatever curse disrupts them the least, such as Curse of the Pierced Heart with seldom any deck ever picking any of the other red curses to splash into that color. An Ink-Treader Nephilim that uses Curse of Oblivion as their commander's fate would likely get much more value from color splashing into black than whatever drawback that curse would exert on them.

The mindset should be that the strength of the nonlegendary commander should also determine the strength of the curse. I do acknowledge rarity is and can be a very inaccurate way to determine power level, but it's a simple solution that benefits game balance to some extent better than to have no rule that mandates equal strength between commander and curse.

Rhadamanthus on How does priority work with …

8 months ago

This specific scenario can't happen. Prey Upon has two targets, so Ink-Treader Nephilim's ability won't trigger for it.

If you were to somehow make a bunch of copies of a spell simultaneously with an effect you control, you would also control the copies and would decide what order they get put onto the stack. They would resolve one at a time according to the order you chose

In the case of multiple copies of Prey Upon resolving, each fight would be handled individually as each Prey Upon resolves. If a creature is the target of multiple Prey Upons and happens to die after one of the earlier ones, any later ones that targeted it will do nothing when they start resolving because a "fight" effect does nothing if one or both of the creatures are no longer on the battlefield or have otherwise become illegal targets.

vic on How does priority work with …

8 months ago

I control an Ink-Treader Nephilim and several other creatures. My opponent controls several creatures. Let's say we have an equal number of creatures.

I cast a Prey Upon on my Nephilim. Since it is my turn, and I have priority, does that mean I get to copy the Prey Upon for each of my creatures before my opponent can make any copies? Or does it go one for me, then one for him, etc.?

And when does each copy resolve? I'm wondering if I could potentially wipe out his army before he could either target anything or deal any damage to my creatures.

And since this is not complicated enough, now let's do this scenario for a multiplayer game where everybody has several creatures.

Rhadamanthus on Inktreader Nephilim interactions with the …

1 year ago

Ink-Treader Nephilim will only make copies of the original Show of Confidence, not the copies the Show made of itself.

Ink-Treader Nephilim triggers when someone casts a spell targeting only it (the official Oracle rules text has been updated to use the word "cast" instead of "play"), but the copies of Show of Confidence aren't being cast here, they're just being created directly on the stack. An effect that makes copies of a spell only counts as "casting" if it specifically uses the word "cast" in the text, like on Isochron Scepter, for example. You will only find this on effects that make copies of something that isn't currently on the stack (it's usually in exile or in a graveyard).

This is why the copies that Show of Confidence makes of itself don't start infinitely making their own copies. The copying ability specifically triggers when Show of Confidence is cast, but the copies themselves aren't being cast.

Slanktime on Inktreader Nephilim interactions with the …

1 year ago

So I'm building a Rukarumel, Biologist edh deck with the 5 Nephilims 10 humans and 10 angels with a legendary theme. I found this card Show of Confidence and was wondering if I cast like 2-3 instants or sorceress before it, and have each copy target Ink-Treader Nephilim then would I have 3-4 copies from his ability to target all my other creatures?

Gidgetimer on Does casting a copy count …

1 year ago

You have all the necessary pieces, you are just overthinking it a bit. The MtG comp rules are always interpreted exactly literally. To play an object means to put a land into play as a special effect, or to cast a spell. Some copy effects, such as Cipher or Isochron Scepter, make a copy in a zone besides the stack and then instruct you to cast it. You are casting the spell, so it is played.

As noted previously Ink-Treader Nephilim (as well as every other trigger condition I can think of that used to say "play") has been eratta-ed to say "cast". "Play" is only currently used in effects that allow you to play cards that you otherwise would not be able to (like Abbot of Keral Keep or Fight Rigging. Though even that templating for "play" seems to be going away because things like Sen Triplets and Bolas's Citadel say "play lands and cast spells" in their oracle text.