Liliana, Defiant Necromancer and Diabolic Servitude
Asked by Opifex 7 years ago
Does Liliana, Defiant Necromancer Flip's emblem make a creature that was returned with Diabolic Servitude return at the end of the turn? I know it wouldn't with Whip of Erebos because it replaces the death with exile.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2
The creature in your example won't get returned. If an effect is trying to do something to an object after it changes zones, it will look for the object in the first zone it moved to. The effect will lose track of the object if something else causes it to move out of that zone.
In your example, the creature goes to the graveyard and triggers both Diabolic Servitude and the emblem from Liliana, Defiant Necromancer Flip. The Servitude trigger moves the creature from the graveyard to exile. At the beginning of the next end step, the delayed trigger created by Liliana's trigger will try to find the creature in the graveyard, but it's gone. The delayed trigger will do nothing when it resolves.
603.6c Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written as, but aren't limited to, "When [this object] leaves the battlefield, . . ." or "Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . ." (See also rule 603.10.) An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone "from anywhere" is never treated as a leaves-the battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the battlefield.
February 18, 2017 11:39 p.m. Edited.
bushido_man96 says... #3
Thanks for the clarification there. Just shows to go you that you can't always try to reason your way through the cards. Sometimes, it would be nice to have a judge in casual games at home.
bushido_man96 says... #1
Good question. Reading the cards straight up, it looks like Liliana doesn't care where the creature is, only if it died. Diabolic Servitude's second paragraph states that the creature has to die before it is exiled, so that meets Liliana's requirement, and I would think it should return to play at the beginning of the next end step. If the condition in the third paragraph of Diabolic Servitude is met, then the creature gets exiled, but doesn't "die," so you'd be out of luck there.
I don't know if that's right, but that's how I read it, and looking the cards up don't show any errata on the wording.
February 18, 2017 11:18 p.m.