How exactly does Devotion work?
Asked by SharuumNyan 11 years ago
If a card requires devotion of 5 blue, but you don't yet have that devotion, is the card still considered a creature-type in your library, hand, and graveyard?
For example, the new god Thassa is in your library. Your devotion to blue is currently only 2. So can your opponent cast Council of the Absolute and name Thassa since you could only cast it as an enchantment at this point in the game?
And what about if the card is in play but the devotion isn't met? Can AEther Adept still return it to your hand?
Also, if Thassa died before becoming a creature, does it still count as a creature card in your graveyard? For example, when Artisan of Kosilek returns a creature from the graveyard, can you pick Thassa even if she was never a creature andor could not be a creature at that point?
SharuumNyan says... #2
Okay. So, let's say you do have the devotion cost, and you swing at your opponent with Thassa as a creature. In response your opponent destroys one of your other blue cards which reduces your blue devotion to below 5. Does that turn Thassa back to just an enchantment in the combat phase?
September 5, 2013 9:44 a.m.
PhageTheUnbeatable says... #4
Question 1: The new Theros gods are considered to be creature spells AND enchantment spells at all times in any zone other than the battlefield.
Question 2: Your opponent cannot choose Thassa with Council of the Absolute , as she is a creature as well as an enchantment, and you cannot choose creatures with Council of the Absolute .
Question 3: If Thassa is in play and your devotion is less than the required 5, AEther Adept will not be able to bounce it as it is not a creature. However, if you are casting the AEther Adept and it fufills the required 5 devotion, you may return your own Thassa as it is now a creature.
Question 4: See answer 1.
Question 5 (In post 2): When a creature loses the permanent type "creature" during combat, it is removed from combat.
raithe000 says... Accepted answer #1
First off, so far only the gods have required devotion to become creatures. Other cards with devotion have other effects (there is a demon which puts harpy tokens equal to your devotion to black onto the battlefield, for example)
As I understand it, the gods have a static ability that turns them into noncreatures if your devotion is less than five. Since static abilities (usually) only function on the battlefield, anywhere else, they are still considered enchantment creatures in your hand, library, the stack, graveyard, exile, etc. That answers questions 1, 2 and 4.
As for question 3 (AEther Adept), Thassa would not be a creature if your devotion is less than 5, so it would not be a legal target for AEther Adept.
September 5, 2013 9:14 a.m.