I attack with Odric and Hero of Bladehold, do I control blockers?
Asked by RobinSong 9 years ago
Odric, Master Tactician , Hero of Bladehold .
When they both attack, Odric has three other attacking creatures, so it makes sense that his ability would trigger.
However I'm not sure if that's true because of complicated priority/timing rulings about when attackers are declared and when certain abilities trigger.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Abilities that trigger "Whenever X attack(s)" trigger when those things are declared as attackers. When Hero of Bladehold creates tokens that are attacking, they were never declared as attackers, so they don't count toward the 3 additional attackers necessary for Odric, Master Tactician 's ability to trigger.
August 19, 2014 3:43 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #3
Odric, Master Tactician 's ability reads "Whenever ~ and at least three other creatures attack . . ."
This means the ability only triggers if you declare Odric, Master Tactician and three other creatures as attackers. Remember that creatures put onto the battlefield attacking are attacking creatures, but were never declared as attackers, and weren't on the battlefield at the time Odric, Master Tactician 's ability would have triggered (which is immediately upon the declaration of attackers).
In this case, Odric, Master Tactician 's ability would not trigger because you only declared one other attacking creature.
Note that you never control the blocking creatures, either. Rather, you choose which creatures block this combat and how. "Control" is a very specific term as far as the rules are concerned, and although it's clear what you mean, it's best to use these terms properly.
Also, note that priority has nothing to do with this situation. Priority is the right to take actions such as casting spells and activating abilities. It doesn't affect how abilities trigger, and it only becomes relevant for triggered ability stacking if multiple players control abilities that have triggered since the last time a player has received priority. In this case, the abilities are put onto the stack in turn order.
August 19, 2014 3:45 a.m.
Yeah, I didn't think that would work. Thanks for the clarification, guys .
Draugo says... #1
Short answer, no.
It's not really about complicated priority/timing rules.
Simply put when you declare Odric and Hero as attackers both of their triggers check for their conditions. Hero's trigger has no other conditions than Hero being declared as an attacker and so goes on the stack. Odric however has a condition 'is declared as an attacker and three other creatures are declared as attackers as well' and since there's only one other creature declared as attacker the trigger does not happen and doesn't go on stack.
Furthermore even if the trigger would go on the stack 'attack' in trigger conditions specifically means 'declared as an attacker'. Creatures that are put on the battlefield are never declared as attackers, they're just attacking i.e. going to deal damage in damage step, and so they can never fulfill trigger requirements during attack triggers.
August 19, 2014 3:40 a.m.