Kalitas & Negan, replacement interaction?

Asked by Bitships 2 years ago

Hi all,

In a game where I have Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet on the field, I then play Negan, The Cold-Blooded .

My understanding is that Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a replacement ability, and so when Negan, The Cold-Blooded comes out they would need to go to sacrifice the chosen creature(s), but then rather than going to the graveyard they would of course be exiled and I would make the zombie token(s). And because of that, my understanding would be that I WOULDN'T ALSO get the treasure tokens, seeing as the creatures never made it to the graveyard.

However, I have also seen someone argue that you get both the Zombie and the Treasure token(s), because the sacrifice trigger isn't dependent on the creature making it to the graveyard, just the owner choosing to remove it from the battlefield.

I would love it if that were true, but I have a sinking feeling that I am right and that I would only get the Zombie token in this scenario, and not the Treasure too.

Anyone able to explain the interaction more clearly would be greatly appreciated!

Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1

You would get both the zombie and the treasure.

Sacrifice, destroy, discard, and counter are all keyword actions that ultimately result in a card being put into a graveyard, however. If the card doesn't go there. The action was still performed. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet modifies the result of the action, but does not replace the action with an entirely new one like Eligeth, Crossroads Augur does (replacing a keyword action is rare which is why the example seems so unrelated). This is in contrast to 'dies' which a player is never directed to have something die and does care where a card ends up.

Leyline of the Void won't stop triggers from Negan, The Cold-Blooded , Liliana's Caress , or Lullmage Mentor , nor change the number of cards Decree of Pain would cause you to draw. It will stop Fecundity from letting players draw cards.

July 20, 2021 7:45 a.m.