can i cast twisted image after a creature has sustained lethal damage to save it?
Asked by lainxyz 14 years ago
ok if i have a Merfolk Sovereign and they Lightning Bolt and once damage is done can i in response, Twisted Image it to make it a 0/2 or does it immediately go to the grave before it can be done. i read the rulings on the card and it said it modifies after everything that effects it is done so will it work..? sorry for bad situation in other question this is what i was trying to get at.
Nightmist10 says... #2
dasickbert is right, since Lightning Bolt does 3 Damage either way, you're gonna lose your Merfolk Sovereign simply because you cannot swap the power and toughness after damage is done, since the same instant that it hits zero, the creature dies, so there's no time to "add to the stack" of its death. So you would lose your merfolk either way. But you would be able to target the merfolk if you played on the stack, really not changing its values either way (since they are both the same), but you would be able to get the card draw, whereas after damage, you wouldn't have a target, and therefore couldn't cast the spell unless you targeted something else.
This would work on the stack, if your Merfolk Sovereign already had a power buff, and its power was over 3, then switching via Twisted Image on the stack, would save it. But since that isn't the case, Merfolk Sovereign dies.
April 11, 2011 3:18 a.m.
MagnorCriol says... Accepted answer #3
tl;dr for below: No, it doesn't work that way. Casting Twisted Image on a Merfolk Sovereign at any time will give you a 2/2 Merfolk Sovereign no matter what, and the damage marked on it stays the same.
Explanation:
When the rulings on the card refer to other effects, it's referring to effects that modify power and toughness - things like "target creature gets +3/+0 until end of turn," "target creature is 0/2 and loses all abilities until end of turn," counters, effects like that. It's saying that once you factor in all of those effects, THEN you switch the power and toughness.
Okay, back to the issue at hand. Something you seem to be missing is that when something does damage to a creature, it doesn't change that creature's toughness.
Let's look at this with a tougher creature first: If you have a Baneslayer Angel , and she gets hit with a Lightning Bolt , she does NOT become a 5/3 Baneslayer Angel. If you cast a Twisted Image on the Baneslayer at this point, you'll still end up with a 5/5 Angel, not a 3/5 Angel.
Damage marked on a creature is something separate from toughness entirely. When something deals damage to a creature, imagine that there's little invisible counters getting put on that creature. If these counters ever add up to the value of the creature's toughness, it's destroyed. But they don't modify the value of the toughness.
SO, long story short: if you have a 2/2 Merfolk Sovereign, and your opponent casts a Lightning Bolt at it, you can't cast a Twisted Image and hope to end up with a 2/0 Merfolk Sovereign.
There's a second reason for this, too: Once your opponent's Bolt hits your mermaid, you don't have a chance to do anything before she goes to the graveyard. You'll have to cast anything you hope you can save her with BEFORE she takes that damage to her blue face.
April 11, 2011 3:30 a.m.
to correct it. it would be a 5/2 or a 2/5. magnor is right just correcting the math on lightning bolt
April 11, 2011 7:56 a.m.
MagnorCriol says... #5
D'oh. You're right, supernick, 5-3=2, not 3 in that Baneslayer scenario. (Though it still would NOT be a 5/2! =p) Hahaha, that's what I get for trying to think when I'm so groggy.
dasickbert says... #1
no either way your Merfolk Sovereign is dead if you wait till after the damage is done his toughness will hit zero and whenever a creatures toughness is zero it dies, if you played Twisted Image on the stack you'd be able to draw a card but the merfolk would still die. so short answer no srry.
April 11, 2011 2:34 a.m.