Does sacking scions trigger Zulaport Cutthroat?

Asked by ThoughtShift 9 years ago

I play Brood Monitor and get 3 Scion tokens. I sacrifice all 3 for 3 mana. Do I get 3 Zulaport Cutthroat triggers?

Gidgetimer says... #1

Please link all cards in your question. Zulaport Cutthroat Brood Monitor

Yes Zulaport Cutthroat triggers upon a creature you control dieing and when you sacrifice a creature it is considered to have died.

January 12, 2016 8:27 p.m.

Note: dying means moving from the battlefield zone to the graveyard zone.
Regardless of how it got there, dying triggers will trigger.

January 12, 2016 9:51 p.m.

Programmer_112 says... #3

So, the reason this works is actually a bit deceptive. "Dying" in Magic is defined as "going to the graveyard from play". Unfortunately, tokens are really bad at going to the graveyard (they fail to exist upon hitting the 'yard, as a state-based action). Luckily, the rules work around this. The sequencing is as follows:

Token hits the 'yard, SBAs are checked

Tokens cease to exist

Zulaport Cutthroat triggers

SBAs have finished being checked, Cutthroat triggers go on the stack

Cutthroat triggers resolve

January 12, 2016 9:53 p.m.

Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #4

That's not quite the order and it is easier to understand if you know the correct order and how triggered abilities work. The important thing to remember about triggered abilities is that they can trigger at any time and simply wait until the next time a player would receive priority before going on the stack. The actual sequence of events is-

  • Tokens are sacrificed sending them from the battlefield to the graveyard.

  • Zulaport Cutthroat trigger and the ability waits to go on the stack.

  • The next time a player would receive priority SBA are checked and the tokens are destroyed.

  • SBA are checked again and none are performed, so abilities that have triggered since the last time a player received priority go on the stack.

  • The player receives priority and the abilities are on the stack and will resolve one at a time as players pass priority over them.

January 12, 2016 10:09 p.m.

Little superfluous fix to the sequence:

Tokens aren't destroyed in the graveyard, things can only be destroyed when they're on the battlefield, they simply cease to exist, same as a copy of an instant or sorcery that just resolved would when it enters the graveyard.

January 13, 2016 12:52 a.m.

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