Can a double-faced card copying a double-face card via Metamorphic Alteration transform?

Asked by Dracoson 5 years ago

If i control a double-faced card (let's say Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  Flip), and enchant it with Metamorphic Alteration and copy another double-faced creature (say Thing in the Ice  Flip or Liliana, Heretical Healer  Flip), is it capable of transforming?

Worded another way, while only double-faced permanents can transform, and copy effects only copy the currently "face up" side, does Bolas "lose" it's transformed side?

Dracoson says... #1

Minor edit: it would have to be one of the Origins transform walkers, otherwise even if it worked the way I want it to, it’d be a planeswalker with 0 loyalty, so it needs the “exile and return it transformed” line of text.

July 30, 2018 12:50 p.m.

Caerwyn says... #2

Edit: Misunderstood the question (clearly need more caffeine). Disregard--Rhadamanthus is correct.

July 30, 2018 12:56 p.m. Edited.

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #3

It can transform, but depending on the specific cards involved you might not get the result you're going for.

As you said in your question, only double-faced cards can transform and a copy effect will overwrite whatever face is currently showing. This means if you turn Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  Flip into a copy of Thing in the Ice  Flip and transform it, the card itself will turn over to the Nicol Bolas, the Arisen side but will still be a Thing in the Ice  Flip. If you remove Metamorphic Alteration then you have a problem: a planeswalker with no loyalty counters (because it didn't re-enter the battlefield), which will be put directly into the graveyard.

However, if you turn Bolas into a copy of Liliana, Heretical Healer  Flip instead and trigger the ability, you follow the "exile and return transformed" instructions and get a planeswalker Bolas with the proper starting loyalty.

July 30, 2018 12:57 p.m. Edited.

Dracoson says... #4

@cdkime, don’t feel too bad, while the answer wasn’t correct, the link you posted had the right answer in it.

July 30, 2018 1:07 p.m.

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