Deathrite Shaman and the stack.

Asked by WizardInTheWoods 9 years ago

My question is:

I have priority. I tap my Deathrite Shaman and an Overgrown Tomb . I point to the top card in my opponent's graveyard, which is Divination . I ask him to exile it and take 2 damage.

He says "in response" and casts the burn side of Turn / Burn , targetting Deathrite Shaman .

Does he take the damage or not?

Thanks.

Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1

First, Deathrite Shaman 's ability causes loss of life, not damage. The two happen to have the same overall impact in this situation, but the difference is important.

He will still take the damage. Once on the stack, an activated or triggered ability exists independently of its source. Removing the source will not counter the ability.

July 26, 2014 10:26 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... #2

@Theone10: That's incorrect. Even if Deathrite Shaman 's ability did damage, it would still be independent of its source. The creature doesn't need to be on the battlefield for the ability to do damage (unless stated otherwise). The ability would use Deathrite Shaman 's last known information to determine the nature of the damage (e.g. if it had lifelink, etc.).

July 28, 2014 7:27 a.m.

@Epochalyptik - Thanks for clearing those issues up for me (us).

@theone -

I appreciate that you made your comment. I, too, was under the impression that if a card had text in the format "Pay X cost: ~cardname~ does Y damage to Z target.", that damage would not occur if the ~cardname~ was removed from the battlefield at instant speed prior to its ability resolving. If you hadn't commented, I would still be under that mistaken impression. So, thanks.

July 28, 2014 5:22 p.m.

MrShhh says... #4

@ Epochalyptik Does this rule apply to this example: There's a tapped creature & a Royal Assassin is trying to destroy it with it's ability. There's a Prodigal Sorcerer in play & is used to kill the Royal Assassin in response to using it's ability to destroy the tapped creature. Does the Royal Assassin's ability still kill the tapped creature even though the Royal Assassin dies from the Sorcerer's ability? Thanks.

March 2, 2017 8:07 a.m.

Epochalyptik says... #5

Yes. Abilities on the stack exist independently of their sources; they'll still resolve even if the source changes zones.

As a note, though, you should ask unrelated or tangential questions in new threads instead of in old ones. People will only see a post in an old thread if they're still subscribed to it.

March 2, 2017 12:26 p.m.

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