How does Xyris work with multiple cards drawn?
Asked by elvennoble 3 years ago
I just recently got the arcane maelstrom deck, and I was wondering about Xyris, the Writhing Storm. Does drawing multiple cards at once (such as his ability, or Divination) create snakes equal to the number of cards drawn? or is it one snake per trigger (ie I'm drawing one or more cards outside my first draw phase, create a snake)?
One additional note: You discussed drawing cards outside of your "draw phase" (for future reference it's the "draw step", but the semantics are not relevant here), which seems to be a indicate a misunderstanding about the restriction placed on Xyris' ability triggering.
Xyris' ability will trigger during cards drawn during the draw step also, provided it is not the first card drawn during the draw step. If something like Howling Mine is on the field, the second card drawn due to Howling Mine will trigger Xyris, giving you one snake. If they cast an instant during their Draw Step that draws a card, you will get snakes for the cards drawn by that instant, since they are not the "first card" drawn during that step.
If your opponent somehow have multiple draw steps and are only drawing one card during each, then you get 0 snakes, since each of their draws is still the "first" in "each of their draw steps."
September 25, 2020 12:50 p.m.
elvennoble says... #3
Thanks for the extra clarifications around rules. I did already know these, I just didn't want to make my post too wordy and confusing. I appreciate the answers.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
With the way Xyris is written, it triggers for every card and you get snakes equal to the number of cards drawn. If Xyris was only meant to give you one snake regardless of how many cards were drawn, it would be written to say something like "Whenever an opponent draws one or more cards except the first one...", kind of like how Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons is written to only give one snake regardless of how many counters are placed.
Just to make sure it's clear: Xyris, the Writhing Storm only gives you snakes for extra cards your opponents draw, not extra cards you draw.
September 25, 2020 12:44 p.m.