If Mirage Mirror responds to itself, will it change twice?
Asked by Urge 6 years ago
Let's say I have 1 Mirage Mirror on board, use its ability to copy a Kozilek's Translator, and then respond by using its ability to copy a the same Kozilek's Translator.
My first question is: Will Mirage Mirror's first attempt to change to a Kozilek's Translator resolve?
Secondly, if it does, will Mirage Mirror be able to use Kozilek's Translator's ability in between resolutions of each of its copy abilities, and will it be able to do so twice that turn?
Thanks in advance.
Abilities exist independant of their source, and cards that refer to itself by name mean "this permanent", not "this permanent with this name". Therefore, activating the ability multiple times in response will work, as emphasized by this ruling:
If you activate Mirage Mirror's ability multiple times in a turn in response to itself, then each time one of those abilities resolves, it will overwrite whatever Mirage Mirror is copying. Mirage Mirror will wind up as a copy of the permanent targeted by the last ability to resolve. When the turn ends, all instances of the ability will wear off at the same time.
Every time you copy a Kozilek's Translator this way, it will overwrite the previous instance, meaning it will have a new, not previously activated ability that lets you pay 1 life to get .
Last but not least, every time the copy effect resolve, the active player gets priority (followed by all other players). When it does, you can activate the ability of the copy it just turned into in response to whatever else may be on the stack (if anything). However, since Mirage Mirror won't retain its ability to copy another permanent, you won't get to respond by creating yet another copy of Kozilek's Translator.
To summarize, if you have in your mana pool, you can activate the copy ability of Mirage Mirror four times while retaining priority inbetween, then after each resolves pay 1 life to add to your mana pool, leaving you with , 4 life less, and 2 Kozilek's Translators after some showing off of your mad stack skills (all of which not counting the activation of the original Kozilek's Translator).
July 17, 2017 5:36 a.m.
Gidgetimer says... #3
One small nitpick with Blo's response. Kozilek's Translator's ability is a mana ability. It does use the stack, and therefore there is not a round of priority to resolve it.
July 17, 2017 10:04 a.m.
Whoops. My bad Gidgetimer! Thanks for correcting ;)
Also, thanks to Bluescope for explaining it better. I'm learning as is, and answers like these hopefully help me construct better answers in the future ;)
July 17, 2017 5:11 p.m.
ok....im sure this is an old thread but im dying to know....if i triggered mirage mirror twice... Mirage mirror targets doubling season. Mirage mirror targets basic land. Would it retain the text when it became the land or does it overwrite the text and simply become another instance of the targeted land? I saw someone pull some shenanigans like this with other effects. I really want to pull this off and then thespian stage it to have doubling season on a land....maybe its not possible.
August 9, 2021 11:19 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
When an object becomes a copy of another object, it becomes an exact copy. There will be no difference at all between the two, unless the copy effect specifies as it does. Here is a scryfall search for how a copy ability will be worded if there are differences between the copy and the original. Mirage Mirror does not specify that there will be any difference, so it will be exactly a basic land, with no other abilities.
August 10, 2021 6:13 a.m.
I think what im remembering was somebody double triggering the mirror to activate a different cards effect so the second target of mirage mirror would be more effective.....think it was a game knights episode
Blo says... #1
I could be wrong since this example uses two copies of the same permanent, and I'm not sure how that works. However, You can activate the mirror > target the translator, retain priority and activate the mirror again > targetting the same translator.
The stack currently has 2 activations reading as:
1> activate the mirror > target the translator
2> activate the mirror > target the translator
You then pass priority. Assuming noone responses, the top of the stack (2) will resolve and Mirage Mirror will become a copy of Kozilek's Translator. You will gain priority again (AP-NAP order) and will be able to use the translator to pay one life and make a mana.
The stack currently reads:
1> activate the mirror > target the translator
2> pay one life to gain one <> mana.
You then pass priority again. Again the top will resolve (2) and you will gain a <> mana. Assuming noone does anything, the next one will resolve (1) and you will make a copy of the translator again. As you will make a copy of it again, the game should treat it as a new permanent, and you will be able to pay 1 life and gain one <> mana once more.
Now, I'm not 100% sure if you can copy the same permanent twice, and the copy would treat it as a new permanent both times, but it should work. It works if you copy 2 permanents for sure though ;) Just keep in mind that you have to activate it in the proper order. Last one to copy will resolve first.
July 17, 2017 5:06 a.m.