Melira, Sylvok Outcast with Persist/Devoted Druid
Asked by awalk07 11 years ago
If I have Melira, Sylvok Outcast in play, will creatures with Persist come back without the counter, or will the remain in the graveyard? Can I activate the ability of Devoted Druid ?
Persist creatures come back without the counter (melira-pod is a great modern deck that uses her and Kitchen Finks in this way). The other part is yes you can, but the Devoted Druid wouldn't get the counter and thus wouldn't get to untap.
May 20, 2013 2:35 p.m.
Darkness1835 says... Accepted answer #3
Yes to the first question. 702.77a Persist is a triggered ability. "Persist" means "When this permanent is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a -1/-1 counter on it."
Persist will try to resolve, and will do as much as is legal. Since getting a -1/-1 counter is not a legal action while Melira, Sylvok Outcast is out, Persist will do as much as it CAN legally, therefore bringing it back without a counter.
As for the Devoted Druid question, this does not work. Putting on a -1/-1 in this case is the cost of the activated ability. Since Melira prevents you from putting on the counter, you cannot pay the cost and you do not get the effect.
May 20, 2013 2:40 p.m.
GreatSword says... #4
Right, the -1/-1 counter is a cost you must pay to use Devoted Druid 's ability. Since you can't pay the cost because of Meleria, you couldn't use it. Sorry for the mistake.
GreatSword says... #1
Yep, this works exactly how you want it to. A creature with persist will come back without a -1/-1 counter, and Devoted Druid won't get one either when it activates its ability. Have fun with Kitchen Finks .
May 20, 2013 2:32 p.m.