Can you still be milled out with a Kozilek or Ulamog?
Asked by EvilSquirrelz 5 years ago
Scenario: my opponent has 10 cards left in my library and one of them is Kozilek, Butcher of Truth . I hit them with a mill 20 cards (actual numbers are irrelevant; just that they have to mill more cards than what remains in their library). Does Kozilek's ability save them or do they lose because the ability needs to wait for the milling to complete to resolve on the stack?
The trick would be to do something that forces your opponent to draw a card while the Kozilek trigger is still on the stack, while their library is still empty. Something like Comparative Analysis , Cephalid Broker , Cephalid Coliseum , etc.
April 9, 2019 1:11 p.m.
PlatinumOne says... #3
how does your "opponent have 10 cards left in my library"? did you mean they have 10 cards left in their own library?
April 9, 2019 11:20 p.m.
Yes, PlatinumOne, from context that is very obviously what they meant.
April 13, 2019 8:05 p.m.
In the future, please remember to hit the "Mark as Answer" button to indicate your question has been resolved and you have no follow-up questions. This keeps the Rules Q&A section clutter-free and helps future users quickly identify the correct answer. Since this question has been answered for several days without any subsequent questions, I've gone ahead and marked an answer accepted. I generally try to avoid choosing my own answers, but it was the most responsive in this case.
Caerwyn says... Accepted answer #1
You do not lose for having 0 cards in your library; you lose for drawing a card when you have 0 cards in your library.
Rule 104.3c If a player is required to draw more cards than are left in their library, they draw the remaining cards and then lose the game the next time a player would receive priority. (This is a state-based action. See rule 704.)
So, even in the absence of Kozilek, Butcher of Truth , the mill will not cause them to lose the game.
To illustrate, here's how things play out in your situation.
You mill them to 0, one of those cards being milled is Kozilek, Butcher of Truth . At this point, they have not lost the game, because they have not drawn from an empty library.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth 's ability triggers and goes on the stack. The trigger resolves and shuffle's their library back into their graveyard. They now have cards in library, so will not be drawing from an empty deck on their draw step.
April 9, 2019 11:06 a.m.