How does Living Death actually work?
Asked by ChiefBell 10 years ago
I was just playing a 3-player EDH and somebody played Living Death , which resulted in a crazy amount of stuff happening and we didn't know how to deal with all the triggers.
If I explain a hypothetical situation can someone explain how it would work, in order to help me understand?
Let's say player A plays Living Death .
Player A has Zealous Conscripts , in their GY
Player B has Fleshbag Marauder , and Archon of Justice in they GY.
Questions:
Do all the creatures enter simultaneously? Or do they enter in a certain order? If they enter in a certain order who decides that order?
If I decide that I want to have Fleshbag Marauder trigger first, then can the opponent choose to have Zealous Conscripts trigger first for them as well. Would both trigger simultaneously? If they do happen simultaneously then what would happen if I want to sacrifice Archon of Justice but B also wants to take control of Archon of Justice ?
There was lots of confusing stuff happening but that's all I can remember that became confusing.
The overall description:
All the creatures enter the battlefield at the same time.
Any abilities that modify how creatures enter the battlefield (such as Phyrexian Metamorph
's copying effect or the tribute keyword Nessian Wilds Ravager
; typically these use the word "as", but it can also be something like "
Then, triggers get put on the stack (a triggered ability starts with "When," "Whenever," or "At"). The active player (the player whose turn it is) chooses which order their enters triggers get put on the stack. If any of those triggers are modal ("Choose one..."), target, or involve the division of something (such as damage from Inferno Titan ) such choices are made now. After the active player does this, each other player in turn order does so too.
The stack resolves last-in, first-out, so the last player who had abilities trigger is the first person whose abilities' resolve; the abilities resolve one at a time, in order.
Example using the cards you mentioned: (assuming it is player A's turn when the cast Living Death and that there are no other triggers, abilities, spells, or effects to worry about)
All of the creatures enter the battlefield. Player A is the active player, and they have only one trigger (from Zealous Conscripts ). They choose a target for that ability (the target may be another creature which just entered the battlefield, but does not have to be). Let's assume they target player B's Archon of Justice .
Player B also has one trigger, from Fleshbag Marauder . This involves no choices as it is put on the stack.
The Fleshbag Marauder trigger resolves. Each player sacrifices a creature. Player A sacrifices her Conscripts, because that's her only creature. Player B can choose to sacrifice either of his creatures, and chooses the Archon. The Marauder's ability has finished resolving.
The Conscripts's ability then starts trying to resolve, but then gets countered by the game rules because all of its targets are now illegal. Had Player B sacrificed the Marauder, Player A would have gained control of the Archon until end of turn.
May 1, 2014 9:57 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
Because Living Death doesn't say the creatures enter in a particular order, they enter simultaneously.
When multiple triggered abilities are trying to go onto the stack at the same time, the active player puts all of his triggers onto the stack in the order of his choice, then the next player in turn order and so on. A triggered ability with targets has its targets chosen when it's put onto the stack. In your 3 player game if Player A just played Living Death and the turn order is A, B, C:
- Player A puts his triggers onto the stack
- Player B puts his triggers onto the stack on top of A's
- Player C puts his triggers onto the stack on top of A's and B's
- If no one has any responses then the triggers will start resolving with Player C's (because they're on top of the stack)
May 1, 2014 10 p.m.
So, player A arranges triggers first then player B afterwards. Player B resolves first (in the order they chose) then player A resolves after (in the order they chose).
May 1, 2014 10:02 p.m.
@ChiefBell: Yes.
Also, I didn't realize it was tomorrow morning already. :P
May 1, 2014 10:04 p.m.
I got absorbed in something and didn't sleep. Thanks for the responses.
ChiefBell says... #1
I'm going to bed so I won't be able to pick an answer until tomorrow morning.
May 1, 2014 9:23 p.m.