JUDGE! Eldrazi Mimic and Cranial Plating
Asked by TMBRLZ 8 years ago
Eldrazi Mimic targeting something Cranial Plating on it.
Can you get double the value of Cranial Plating? Essentially - is the bonus provided by Cranial Plating based on the oracle text of EMimic something that is capable of being copied or would you just get the base p/t of the creature?
"2
Creature - Eldrazi
Whenever another colorless creature enters the battlfield under your control, you may have the base power and toughness of Eldrazi Mimic become that creature's power and toughness until end of turn."
I don't believe so. Eldrazi mimic has a static ability that needs a colorless creature to ETB for its ability to be true. So if you play Ornithopter you can not respond to eldrazi mimic's ability by paying 
to attach Cranial Plating to Ornithopter. So you only have the option to make the eldrazi mimic a 0/2 till EOT.
December 29, 2015 5:33 p.m.
Thank you.
I understood it didn't actually target but I was being lazy with my words.
But thank you for your response sir.
I'm still confused on one thing though. And this is something the fellow from my LGS also mentioned in his argument that caused me to raise this question in the first place.
Why does the first activated ability need to come into play? Am I missing something? Wouldn't the values of lets say Steel Overseer with a CP on it be enough as is to be the not actually targeted target of EM. You'd get all that power. Then move CP over to EM. You essential have a permanent CP buff plus another buff from the actual CP on your Mimic.
Or am I missing something obvious?
December 29, 2015 5:36 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
@addaff: That's incorrect. Cranial Plating's first ability has no timing restriction. Because Eldrazi Mimic's ability, as currently translated, is a triggered ability, it uses the stack. (Remember that triggered abilities begin with "when," "whenever," or "at." No static ability begins with these words.) This means you can respond to it by activating Cranial Plating's first triggered ability.
@TMBRLZ: As I said above in this post, Cranial Plating's first activated ability has no timing restriction. It can be activated in response to spells or other abilities. Equip abilities (such as Cranial Plating's last ability) may only be activated at "sorcery speed," meaning they can't be used in response to anything.
This is important because Eldrazi Mimic's ability, as currently translated, triggers when another colorless creature enters the battlefield under your control. This means that the triggered ability will be put onto the stack after the creature spell resolves. Because there's an object on the stack now, you won't be able to activate an equip ability; you'll have to activate Cranial Plating's first activated ability.
Specifically, Eldrazi Mimic's ability, as currently translated, triggers only when another colorless creature enters the battlefield under your control. This means that it can't just be used to inherit the P/T of a colorless creature that's already under your control, and you can't just use it whenever.
December 29, 2015 5:44 p.m.
Thanks Epochalyptik. So it's a trigger ability and therfore uses the stack.
An example. Cranial Plating and eldrazi mimic on the battlefield. You cast Desolation Twin and it gets countered. You still get 10/10 colorless eldrazi and it triggers the mimic. In response to mimic's ability you attach Cranial Plating with it's first ability () and then the ability resolves. You now have the option of making the mimic a 11/10 because eldrazi are colorless and not artifacts.
December 29, 2015 6:02 p.m.
I realized last night out of the blue where I was getting confused. I kept thinking that Mimic's ability worked the other way. Like he etbs and takes on p/t. When it's the etb of another creature that triggers it. So now I understand the need for an activation of Cranial.
I read the card right. My brain was just processing it backwards.
Sorry for being stupid.
Thanks for clearing it up! And thank you for your time.
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
First, Eldrazi Mimic's ability (as currently translated; the card's image is currently only available in a non-English language) does not target.
The translation available from MTGS is as follows:
"Whenever another colorless creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may change Eldrazi Mimic's base power and toughness to that creature's power and toughness until end of turn."
Assuming you activated Cranial Plating's first activated ability in response to Eldrazi Mimic's triggered ability, then yes. The translations currently available do not suggest that the copied values must be the base power and toughness of the new creature, and the effect is not a copy effect, so it does not necessarily ignore changes to P/T from outside effects.
We will need to wait for more official information about this card before we know for sure if this is the case.
December 29, 2015 5:30 p.m.