Is it possible to "miss" triggers?
Asked by Sathanas 9 years ago
So the general question is it possible to miss non-may triggers or resolve only parts of triggers?
Specifically I'm wondering about cards like Aqueous Form, Ordeal of Thassa (or other ordeals), and heroic triggers on something like Battlewise Hoplite. So for the first two say I declare a creature as attacking and I forget to remember to put my Aqueous Form on the stack and I pass priority and my opponent blocks or something have I completely missed the trigger or because it isn't a may trigger is the scry required?
Same question with the Ordeal of Thassa does the same thing happen if I forget the ability to put a counter on the creature is the counter put on the creature irregardless of if I remember to put it on the stack. Say I attack with a creature that has an ordeal I forget the ordeal and then my opponent blocks and kills my creature but if I had put the counter on it would have made a difference in combat.
And then with Battlewise Hoplite if I remember to put the counter on it from heroic but forget to scry can I go back and scry or did I miss my opportunity?
Similar to the Battlewise Hoplite if I cast Gods Willing on my hoplite and I resolve the heroic trigger with the scry and then just for flow of the game I decide to do the Gods Willing scry right away (say that I know I want to keep it on top and so I say that the Gods Willing scry is going in the same place) but then I forget to name a color of protection since part of the card resolved am I forced to rewind the game to go back and name a color or do I just not get to name color that the creature has protection from.
Sorry about the long question but they all seemed really similar and didn't want to post multiple questions.
Gidgetimer says... #2
You can miss triggers and at tournament play the answer is rather complicated and covered in 2.1 of the Magic: The Gathering Infraction Procedure Guide
January 28, 2015 4:46 p.m.
Ok thank you and also what about the gods willing case?
January 28, 2015 7:17 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #4
The controller of a trigger has to acknowledge it by the time it would first have a visible impact on the game state. If that player doesn't, then it's considered "missed". Most of the time in a tournament setting the remedy for a trigger that was missed fairly recently is to let the opponent choose whether or not to put it onto the stack right now. If it happened too long ago then it's just ignored. If the missed trigger is a delayed triggered ability that makes something change zones (Obzedat, Ghost Council, etc.) then it's resolved right now. A Warning for "Game Play Error - Missed Trigger" is only issued if the trigger is considered generally detrimental. Otherwise there's no penalty issued. Missing your own triggers on purpose is not allowed. You're never responsible for helping your opponent remember his triggers.
In your first question about Aqueous Form, you missed the "whenever enchanted creature attacks" trigger when you passed to your opponent for blocks (scrying would have made a visible change in the game state). In your second question about Ordeal of Thassa, you also missed the trigger when you passed (putting a counter on something is a visible change in the game state).
Your third question about Battlewise Hoplite isn't a missed trigger. You acknowledged the trigger but resolved it incorrectly. In a tournament setting this is considered a "Game Play Error - Game Rule Violation". If your opponent doesn't notice and point it out immediately he will be committing a "Game Play Error - Failure to Maintain Game State". The penalty for these is a Warning. A Judge would have you back up to the point of error, unless a backup would currently be too complicated or disruptive. Your fourth question about Gods Willing is a similar case. You resolved the spell incorrectly. In this case a Judge would likely just have you name a color now, unless he thinks a backup is more appropriate.
Cirburus says... #1
Sathanas,These are good questions. If the mechanic has "Whenever" in it, you are not allowed a choice, and it must happen. I am not sure on how this would play out in a tournament type setting, but in casual play, I have "rewound" the game to ensure that all is fair, with in reason. If I am trying to go for lethal, but I forgot a +1/+1 from a whenever mechanic 6 turns ago, I probably would talk it over with whomever I am playing with. However, here is the rule:
112.3c Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as [Trigger condition], [effect], and include (and usually begin with) the word when, whenever, or at. Whenever the trigger event occurs, the ability is put on the stack the next time a player would receive priority and stays there until its countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. See rule 603, Handling Triggered Abilities.
This would say to me that the onus to remember is on you, if you forget and the stack resolves, you lose that chance and can not go back.
Hope this helps,
Cirb
January 28, 2015 3:57 p.m.