Mogis' ability vs. Sigarda's
Asked by swkelly89 11 years ago
if i have Sigarda, Host of Herons out and an opponent has Mogis, God of Slaughter , will sigarda's ability nullify mogis. or will i automatically lose 2 life since i cant sac. a creature
gatherer:
5/1/2012 If a spell or ability an opponent controls instructs you to perform an action unless you sacrifice a permanent (as Ogre Marauder does), you can't choose to sacrifice a permanent. You must perform the action. On the other hand, if a spell or ability an opponent controls instructs you to sacrifice a permanent unless you perform an action (as Killing Wave does), you can choose whether or not to perform the action. If you don't perform the action, nothing happens, since you can't sacrifice any permanents.
January 22, 2014 5 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
The difference between Mogis, God of Slaughter 's ability and Killing Wave is what the choices are.
Mogis, God of Slaughter tells you to choose between taking 2 damage and sacrificing a creature. You can't sacrifice a creature to an opponent's spell or ability, so you can't choose the second option. You must choose to take 2 damage.
Killing Wave tells you to choose between paying X life and not paying X life. The sacrifice is a consequence of the choice, but it is not part of the choice itself. You can therefore choose not to pay X life, and you won't be forced to sacrifice the creature.
January 22, 2014 5:04 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #5
If we're trying to be perfectly technical, Mogis, God of Slaughter gives you a choice between "sacrifice a creature" and "don't sacrifice a creature", in the same way that Killing Wave gives the choice between "pay X life" and "don't pay X life". Taking 2 damage is a consequence of the "don't sacrifice" choice for Mogis.
January 23, 2014 10:01 a.m.
Right, but unlike Killing Wave , where sacrificing is the consequent, allowing you to opt to NOT pay the life, and then still fail to sacrifice creatures because of Sigarda, Mogis is a choice between Sacrificing or Not but Sigarda prevents you from picking 'sacrifice' so you have to take the 'not'
Killing Wave with Sigarda basically does nothing, while Mogis still deals you the damage.
Devonin says... Accepted answer #1
When there are modes that need to be chosen, and something restricts you from choosing one of the modes, you simply can't choose that mode.
Since you must choose between taking 2 damage or sacrificing a creature, but Sigarda, Host of Herons is preventing you from sacrificing something from an opponent-controlled effect, your only choice is to choose 'take 2 damage'
"Can't" always overrules "Can"
January 22, 2014 4:54 p.m.