Azusa + flicker = more land?
Asked by graft 12 years ago
Let's say I control Azusa, Lost but Seeking and play three lands during my turn. Then, I flicker Azusa with Cloudshift . Can I then play a fourth and fifth land this turn?
I was not ever aware that continuous effects remained for the duration of the turn if their source left play. That's really cool. :0
March 26, 2013 10:18 a.m.
Or maybe I am misunderstanding your answer, Rhadamanthus. Sincerest apologies, if so.
March 26, 2013 10:19 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #4
No, that's not what I was saying. I guess the key thing here is that abilities like this don't talk about an upper limit, but additional plays. The first Azusa let him play 2 additional lands, and he did. It doesn't say "up to three lands this turn" or anything like that, it just says "two additional lands", meaning on top of whatever else you play this turn. So when the "new" Azusa comes in, her ability will allow him to play 2 more lands.
March 26, 2013 10:26 a.m.
Thanks Rhadamanthus! I suspected as much, but I didn't want to look like an idiot when I post a sweet Ovinomancer list :D
March 26, 2013 10:32 a.m.
For clarification, do you have to flicker Azusa AFTER laying your first "two additional lands" in order to play two more that turn, or would her effect stack on itself to allow you to play 4 more lands at once?
It probably doesn't make sense to play like that, but I'm curious.
March 26, 2013 11:19 a.m.
Yes, you have to play the lands before Azusa leaves play because her ability is only in effect while she is on the battlefield. Flickering her removes the effect of the first Azusa.
March 26, 2013 12:01 p.m.
Well, that doesn't make much sense. If flickering her removes the effect of the first altogether, then wouldn't the second just keep the total available lands at 3?
I would imagine it has to be on the same turn, but the lands can be placed pre-or-post flicker.
March 26, 2013 1:21 p.m.
It's a static effect that only applies when she's on the battlefield. For example, if you flicker Mayor of Avabruck Flip , your humans won't get +2/+2 because the static effect ends the moment he leaves play.
However, if Azusa's ability was an ETB ability stated like "When Azusa enters the battlefield, you may play 2 additional lands this turn," then flickering her would cause the ability to stack.
March 26, 2013 1:41 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #10
Like I tried to explain in my second post, "you may play two additional lands" means "you may play two lands in addition to whatever else you've played this turn, including your normal land drop".
- If you play 0 lands before flickering Azusa, Lost but Seeking , then when she comes back the end result is that you still have your normal drop and you're allowed to play 2 more, a total of 3 for the turn.
- If you play 3 lands before flickering Azusa, then when she comes back the end result is that even though you've already played 3, you can play 2 more, a total of 5 for the turn.
March 26, 2013 1:55 p.m.
I wrote this and now I'm posting it even though everyone beat me to the punch :P
Azusa's ability gives you two additional land drops that you can use for as long as she is on the battlefield. Any additional instances of Azusa will also give you two additional land drops, but again only as long as she is on the battlefield. When you play the additional land, you are subtracting one additional land drop from a specific instance of Azusa. So in actual play, you might acknowledge it by saying "land, azusa additional land, azusa additional land", indicating that you are using her ability to play the additional land.
March 26, 2013 2:02 p.m.
The difference between her and Mayor of Avabruck Flip is that when you flicker the Mayor, your other humans briefly lose his +1/+1 bonus before getting it back. If you flicker Azusa, Lost but Seeking after you've already played two extra lands from her effect, the rules aren't going to force you to bounce those lands, so that benefit isn't taken away (unless you haven't used it yet). Then when Azusa returns to the battlefield, she brings a new instance of "you may play two additional lands," which you can then use to drop two more lands.
There would only be a land cap if her ability said "You may play up to three lands this turn," as someone else pointed out.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
Yes, you can. Effects like Azusa, Exploration , and friends don't make extra "land drop slots" that disappear if they leave the battlefield, they create effects that say "now you can play more lands". The Azusa that returns to the battlefield from Cloudshift is a different object than the one from before, so you get a fresh "now you can play more lands" effect to work with.
March 26, 2013 10:15 a.m.