Interaction between Gond Gate and Reshape the Earth

Asked by pedroedmarcos 1 year ago

Hey there,

If I use Reshape the earth to tutor for gates how will they interact with gond gate if its already on the field? And how about if I don't have it on the field but I go tutor for the gond gate +9 other gates? Will they see eachother and enter untapped?

Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #1

Gond Gate has a replacement effect on it. The first case (where Gond Gate is on the battlefield already) is pretty clear-cut. Any gates you find will enter untapped.

Replacement effects must exist before the event they are replacing occurs. If you grab Gond Gate with 9 other gates they will all enter the battlefield tapped. There was originally a little doubt in my mind on this point because of things that have replacement effects that change how they themselves enter the battlefield. Notably hydra creatures and the replacement effect that they will enter with counters (eg. Mistcutter Hydra). After I dug into the rules, 614.12 (and specifically the third example, which is why I left examples in when I normally don't) makes it pretty clear that replacement effects on cards only affect themselves if that is the only card they affect and not a larger subset that the card in question is part of.

614.4. Replacement effects must exist before the appropriate event occurs—they can’t “go back in time” and change something that’s already happened. Spells or abilities that generate these effects are often cast or activated in response to whatever would produce the event and thus resolve before that event would occur.

614.12. Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c–d.) Such effects may come from the permanent itself if they affect only that permanent (as opposed to a general subset of permanents that includes it). They may also come from other sources. To determine which replacement effects apply and how they apply, check the characteristics of the permanent as it would exist on the battlefield, taking into account replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield (see rule 616.1), continuous effects from the permanent’s own static abilities that would apply to it once it’s on the battlefield, and continuous effects that already exist and would apply to the permanent.

Example: Voice of All says “As Voice of All enters the battlefield, choose a color” and “Voice of All has protection from the chosen color.” An effect creates a token that’s a copy of Voice of All. As that token is created, the token’s controller chooses a color for it.

Example: Yixlid Jailer says “Cards in graveyards lose all abilities.” Scarwood Treefolk says “Scarwood Treefolk enters the battlefield tapped.” A Scarwood Treefolk that’s put onto the battlefield from a graveyard enters the battlefield tapped.

Example: Orb of Dreams is an artifact that says “Permanents enter the battlefield tapped.” It won’t affect itself, so Orb of Dreams enters the battlefield untapped.

July 16, 2022 6:01 p.m.