Chains of Mephistopheles + wheel effects
Asked by TheRedGoat 7 years ago
My theory about the interaction of these type of cards is that Chains of Mephistopheles makes people discard, or mill, when they would draw extra. My question that I need confirming is, if an opponent with a full hand "gets wheeled" (by Winds of Change maybe?), then do they just mill for seven cards before replacing their hand or, do they mill every other card?
In further context, this obviously is for a Nekusar, the Mindrazer deck, so I might also follow up asking whether his damage trigger functions in the same manner.
TheRedGoat says... #2
Damn, that is still a pretty brutal move. Especially if you catch people in the first few turns. Thank you btw. I honestly didn't expect a reply this quick. That and I used the Mtg gatherer page (like an an intelligent player should have done in the first place) to double check about the timing and it would trigger on every other card draw. The end result is as you say, being milled out, but how it happens can matter for my playgroup that is still learning the nitty gritty stuff like this.
November 8, 2016 8:39 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
Chains of Mephistopheles isn't a trigger, it is a replacement effect. This is important because triggers have to go on the stack and resolve and replacement effects simply modify an action and don't have to be put on the stack and resolve for each thing they modify. I am also confused as to why you think it only effects alternating card draws. I'm going to do a breakdown of what the card does so that you grasp what happens in this case.
The oracle text is always used to determine what a card does, and Chains' oracle text reads:
If a player would draw a card except the first one he or she draws in his or her draw step each turn, that player discards a card instead. If the player discards a card this way, he or she draws a card. If the player doesn't discard a card this way, he or she puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Each time a game action happens it is checked against this condition that would read better as a flowchart than a paragraph.
During the resolution of Winds of Change each player will shuffle their hand into their library. Then as they try to draw Chains of Mephistopheles will go through its check for each card.
Is it the draw due to it being the draw step? No.
Does the player have any cards in hand? No.
The player mills 1.
Then for the next draw it goes through the exact same process.
So if Chains is out and any Wheel of Fortune effect is cast the players will mill 7 and draw none.
November 8, 2016 10:45 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #4
If your question has been answered please select an answer to remove it from the unanswered queue. Otherwise feel free to ask for further clarification.
Raging_Squiggle says... Accepted answer #1
9/16/2007
During the resolution of Winds of Change, when players begin drawing their hand back, their hand is currently empty. Because of this, the second portion of Chains applies, wherein they instead mill that many cards and draw no cards at all. Because of this, Nekusar will not trigger at all.
November 7, 2016 11:38 p.m.