Do Creatures like Scourge of the Skyclaves have Zero Power When They’re not on the Battlefield?

Asked by Sultai_Sir 3 years ago

Basically just the title. Do they count as having 0 power for cards like Nethroi, Apex of Death, or is the power predetermined before it enters the battlefield?

Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1

Creature's like Scourge of the Skyclaves that have a * for power and/or toughness and have a Characteristic Defining Ability. Characteristic Defining Abilities apply in all zones (as well as outside the game), so it will have more than 0 power in the graveyard (unless a player is at or above 20 life).

208.2a The card may have a characteristic-defining ability that sets its power and/or toughness according to some stated condition. (See rule 604.3.) Such an ability is worded "[This creature's] [power or toughness] is equal to . . ." or "[This creature's] power and toughness are each equal to . . ." This ability functions everywhere, even outside the game. If the ability needs to use a number that can't be determined, including inside a calculation, use 0 instead of that number.

604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object's colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met.

December 11, 2021 9:43 a.m.