Does Aether Meltdown shut down copycat?
Asked by Shwang 7 years ago
I assume it does... the real question is: when a copy of a creature is made, is the power/toughness copied from straight off the card itself, or whatever its power/toughness are when it's copied?
Here's how I think it would go:
They have Saheeli Rai out and play Felidar Guardian
They try to copy the cat with Saheeli's second ability, but in response, I play Aether Meltdown, making the cat's power 0 (or -3 technically?).
Now it keeps copying versions of itself with 0 attack
So the part that reads "the copiable values are the values derived from the text printed on the object" means it will remain a 1/4?
March 23, 2017 4:54 p.m.
Yes, the copy would be a 1/4.
To rephrase the quoted rule, copiable values are pretty much exactly what's printed on the physical card, one of the more common exceptions being copy effects themselves (so if a Clone copied a Felidar Guardian, a copy of Clone would end up being a Felidar Guardian).
March 23, 2017 5:55 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #5
Yeah. In case you are better with lists, what it is saying is that a copy of a permanent
Will copy:
The printed characteristics of the card (power and toughness, name, mana cost, abilities, etc.)
ETB and Flip abilities that set one or more of the above
Any changes made by previous copy effects (such as those made by Dack's Duplicate, Evil Twin, Gigantoplasm, Progenitor Mimic, etc.)
Face down status (copying a morph gives you a colorless 2/2 with no name, not whatever is on the front of the card.)
Will NOT copy:
Changes made by auras
Counters
Any continuous effects
Status (tapped/untapped, phased in/out etc.)
So if you copy a Felidar Cub with Aerial Modification on it you get a 1/4 without flying, If you copy a Felidar Cub with counters on it you get one with no counters, if you copy a tapped Felidar Cub you get an untapped one, if you copy a Felidar Cub with Aether Meltdown on it gives you a 1/4.
March 23, 2017 6:02 p.m.
I didn't go into law for a reason. Thanks for the explanation BlueScope and Gidgetimer.
Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #1
706.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original objects characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The copiable values are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by as . . . enters the battlefield and as . . . is turned face up abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.
March 23, 2017 4:06 p.m.