Can Mesmeric Fiend abuse the stack to parmanently exile a card?
Asked by Asok_Green 11 years ago
I found this combo online, but could find no verification that it is legal.
Heartless Summoning is in play, reducing the colorless mana cost of creature spells I cast by up to 2. Creatures I control get -1/-1.I cast Mesmeric Fiend (for a black). It enters the battlefiled and immedieatly dies due to the -1/-1 effect of Heartless Summoning .
Here's the part I'm fuzzy on:Because Mesmeric Fiend enters the battlefield and immediately dies, its ETBand LTB effects occur simultaneously, and so I can choose the order in which they go on the stack (or so I am led to believe).
IF the above is correct, then I should be able to put Mesmeric Fiend 's ETB effect on the stack first and its LTB effect on second. They resolve in reverse order, first attempting to return the exiled card (which it can't do, as it hasn't exiled anything yet), and then letting me exile a non-land card from an opponent's hand (presumably forever).
So: is the above correct?Thanks for your wisdom.
Ignore what I said, you don't choose when it resolves but I think it returns then exiles, and therefore is exiled permanently.
July 28, 2013 1:32 p.m.
I don't think it works like that. the fiend would enter the battlefield triggering the ETB effect which would go on the stack. Then the stack would resolve when the stack clears state based actions would be checked which is when the the fiend would be checked with the zero toughness from heartless summoning and be sent to the graveyard and the LTB action would then trigger.
July 28, 2013 1:44 p.m.
Didn't it check for state-based actions every time a spell resolved?
July 28, 2013 1:59 p.m.
Actually, runelord, state based actions are checked every time a player receives priority.
So to answer the question, here's how things would work. Mesmeric Fiend would enter, triggering the ETB ability. You then receive priority to respond to that, and SBA are checked. The Fiend has 0 toughness and is sent to the graveyard, triggering the LTB ability. So long as both abilities are allowed to resolve, the LTB ability would resolve first, essentially turning your Mesmeric Fiend into a better Appetite for Brains .
July 28, 2013 2 p.m.
Thanks acbooster, that's what I thought at first, but I wasn't so sure.
203995014 says... #1
I don't think so.
The fiend's ability goes on the stack when it enters, then the fiend's ability goes on the stack when it leaves. Unlike choosing whether Dark Confidant or Bitterblossom triggers first, you can't change the order of when Mesmeric Fiend 's abilities resolve. The card will just get exiled and get returned again.
Of course, if someone had a Stifle , Trickbind , or Voidslime ...
July 28, 2013 1:26 p.m.