Hero of Bladehold's triggered ability... ?
Asked by Dugorithon 12 years ago
If I put Hero of Bladehold onto the battlefield tapped and attacking with Preeminent Captain 's ability, will her second ability, which puts tokens onto the battlefield with her, actually trigger? I'm not sure how this would work.
No, it won't.
While it doesn't specify on the card, whenever an ability triggers Whenever ~ attacks... it means Whenever ~ is declared as an attacker... whereas, when using Preeminent Captain s ability to put Hero of Bladehold on the battlefield, Hero was never declared as an attacker.
April 27, 2013 2:25 p.m.
Denial048 has the right of it. Cards like Preeminent Captain and Kaalia of the Vast bypass creatures' "Whenever (this creature) attacks" abilities. The creature never attacks because when it enters the battlefield, it's already attacking.
Ruling from Kaalia of the Vast
's Gatherer page:
The creature card is already tapped and attacking as it's put onto the battlefield. Any abilities that trigger when a creature becomes tapped or when a creature attacks won't trigger for that card.
And from the Comprehensive Rules:
508.4. If a creature is put onto the battlefield attacking, its controller chooses which defending player or which planeswalker a defending player controls it's attacking as it enters the battlefield (unless the effect that put it into play specifies what it's attacking). Such creatures are "attacking" but, for the purposes of trigger events and effects, they never "attacked."
April 27, 2013 2:30 p.m.
No it won't.
When a creature ability triggers when attacking, the source has to be declared as an attacker during the Declare Attackers step. If the creature is "cheated in," the ability won't trigger.
April 27, 2013 2:31 p.m.
Also, if you were wondering if Preeminent Captain had a ruling similar to Kaalia's, here it is:
If you use the ability, the Soldier creature enters the battlefield attacking. It doesn't trigger "when a creature attacks" triggers and is not subject to restrictions on declaring attackers.
April 27, 2013 2:31 p.m.
Damn, I was wrong.I was already thinking in the direction of declaring attackers, but yeah.
April 27, 2013 2:39 p.m.
infinitemana says... Accepted answer #7
You also can't even use Preeminent Captain 's ability on Hero of Bladehold because Hero of Bladehold is a knight, not a soldier.
April 27, 2013 2:57 p.m.
Following the same lines; you wouldn't be able to place a new creature out and get Battalion triggered because abilities like that of Hero of Bladehold and say Wojek Halberdiers only trigger in the DECLARE Attackers step.
April 28, 2013 1:12 a.m.
They really need to change how these cards are worded then. Preeminent Captain say they come into the battlefield tapped and attacking, then you have a card like Brimaz, King of Oreskos that say when it attacks. Captain should read comes into the battlefield tapped and assigning damage as though it was attacking. Would just make things a bit more simple. Makes it a little easier for people to understand.
Arnonator says... #1
The general rule is to follow the text on the card literally, so if it says 'whenever this creature attacks', they mean whenever this creature attacks.
The question here is: does it attack? And since Preeminent Captain tells you that it is attacking, the answer will be yes.
However, I can still be wrong here, so I'd like to see more replies before you assume my answer is correct.
April 27, 2013 2:23 p.m.