How does evolve work with fractals?
Asked by GolgariRenegade 2 years ago
Let's say I have a recently cast Fathom Mage and I create a Fractal and put 2 +1/+1 counters on it. Does evolve trigger? Do Fractals interact the same way with a card like Elemental Bond ?
Fractals enter the battlefield as a 0/0 before the counters are put on them. They won't trigger Fathom Mage or Elemental Bond how you'd like them to.
Conversely, they do trigger Mentor of the Meek , even if you put 6 +1/+1 counters on the Fractal after it enters.
May 8, 2021 6:32 p.m.
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TheVectornaut says... Accepted answer #1
I haven't gotten the chance to play with Strixhaven yet so I'm not 100% on this, but at face value, it looks like the wording for Fractal creation was specifically chosen to differentiate it from most other 0/0 creatures that are buffed upon entry. The difference is that something like Clockwork Beetle enters "with" its counters while something like the Fractal from Fractal Summoning enters without the counters and they are then "put" on after entry. Therefore, the Beetle would enter as a 2/2 and trigger evolve on a 1/1 Fathom Mage while a fractal on x of 2 would enter as a 0/0, not trigger the evolve, and then get its 2 counters added. ( Elemental Bond 's trigger is worded nearly identically to the reminder text for evolve and should thus work the same too.) What can be confusing about this at first is that the Fractal must then temporarily exist as a creature with no toughness. This isn't a problem because even though state-based actions check to see if a creature is at 0 or less toughness and cause it to die if it is, SBAs aren't checked in the middle of the resolution of spells and abilities. By the time they get checked when someone would get priority again, the token will already have its counters despite not having them on ETB. This lets the Fractal survive. I mean, assuming you didn't add 0 counters at least.
"704.4. Unlike triggered abilities, state-based actions pay no attention to what happens during the resolution of a spell or ability."
May 8, 2021 6:30 p.m.