Court of X - Upkeep trigger check

Asked by venjamin 4 years ago

I'm just curious as to how upkeep triggers work, especially with intervening if statements. The effect of the Court (of Bounty, for instance) is to put a land into play. Then it has an "if you're the monarch, instead" clause.

So does the check happen when the effect enters the stack? Or when it's resolved? Say, for instance, I'm the Monarch - could someone flash in something that gives them the monarch in response to the effect on the stack?

Or vice versa - with the effect on the stack, could I flash out something that gives me the monarch?

Thanks!

venjamin says... #1

Oops. Forgot to do the card thing. Court of Bounty

November 23, 2020 3:33 p.m.

Neotrup says... Accepted answer #2

The courts don't use an intervening if clause, as those appear between the trigger condition and the effect. The 'if' portion of the statement is instead a self replacement effect, that is, a part of the ability that modifies it as it resolves under certain conditions. These self replacement effects check whether the condition is met on resolution, not on triggering. That is, if you're the monarch when the ability resolves, you'll get the improved effect. Note that you'll rarely gain or lose monarch between the triggering and resolution as most effects that change the monarch are ETBs of permanents without flash and the combat trigger of the Monarch itself.

November 23, 2020 4:23 p.m.