Masked Vandal in EDH
Asked by JoltsOfEnergy 1 year ago
Hi. I have a masked vandal. I exile my commander from my grave. If I use the replacement effect to let my commander go the command zone, does the ability still work?
Rhadamanthus says... #2
JoltsOfEnergy: An answer to your question has been up for a while. Since there don't seem to be any follow-ups or corrections to be made, I marked it as the "Accepted answer" so this topic can move out of the list of unanswered questions. In the future you can take care of this yourself using the "Mark as Answer" button on the response that you feel best answers your question.
Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #1
You can link cards by enclosing them in double brackets.
Masked Vandal
The ability will still exile an artifact of enchantment that an opponent controls. You exiled a card from the graveyard.
The effect that allows you to put a commander into the command zone from the graveyard or exile is no longer a replacement effect, it is now a SBA. So you actually exile commanders. But even when it was a replacement effect cards like Masked Vandal still functioned because when paying a cost and "if you do..." the game only cares that you started the action to pay it, not what actually happened.
118.12. Some spells, activated abilities, and triggered abilities read, “[Do something]. If [a player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t], [effect].” Or “[A player] may [do something]. If [that player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t], [effect].” The action [do something] is a cost, paid when the spell or ability resolves. The “If [a player] [does, doesn’t, or can’t]” clause checks whether the player chose to pay an optional cost or started to pay a mandatory cost, regardless of what events actually occurred.
August 11, 2022 7:47 p.m.