Hero's Path Xenagos without abilities
Asked by legendofa 7 years ago
So, looking for new stuff to do, we broke out the "Defeat a God" deck from the Theros Hero's Path deal. In the course of the match, one person cast a Lignify on the Xenagos card. This prompted a discussion of whether the text on the card was a set of abilities or a reminder of the format rules. If it's abilities, then the players can't win the game, as his "all players win the game" ability is removed with his protection. On the other hand, the text is formatted like an ability set. We house ruled that it counted as a player win, but is there a formal ruling on this?
Raging_Squiggle says... #2
I've never played the event decks like this, so I don't know if making Xenagos leave the battlefield is the only way for the players to win. If so, then once Lignify is on him, the game in un-winnable until someone gets rid of Lignify.
August 25, 2016 1:49 p.m.
Raging_Squiggle Thanks for the input and the card image--I should have put that up myself. You took the position I didn't. My thought was that the victory condition is a function of the format, since there is no other way to win. Since he now has no abilities preventing his leaving the field after being Lignifyed, a Doom Blade or whatever would seal the deal.
I should add that our decision was based more on flavor than anything; once you turn their god into a useless tree, the worshippers will probably just get bored and wander off.
August 25, 2016 3:19 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #4
I finally found time to dig out my challenge deck and check up on this.
Whether or not the challenge's win condition is a format rule or just one of Xenagos' abilities is a little ambiguous. The playmat/rules-insert from the box has its explanation of the challenge separated into 3 sections: "Special Rules for the Player", "Special Rules for Xenagos", and "Winning the Challenge". The "Winning the Challenge" section is the one that says "You win the game if Xenagos leaves the battlefield, which can happen only if there are no Revelers on the battlefield." My opinion would be to handle it as a format rule, but I can understand arguments the other way.
The rules for the challenge decks weren't set up to be as rigorous or complete as the Comprehensive Rules for Magic. Each of them has their own small set of odd quirks with no truly definitive answer, and they haven't been supported with "Official" rulings or release notes in the same way as a normal Magic product. If your group was satisfied with the house rule you came up with, that's probably the best we can do.
Raging_Squiggle says... #1
The first is a static ability, and the second is a triggered ability. Meaning at all times, the first one is simply true. And the second one triggers when he leaves play.
If he loses the abilities, then that's all that happens. He no longer has those 2 abilities.
August 25, 2016 1:40 p.m.