Multiple Biomancers at the same time
Asked by RussischerZar 12 years ago
My opponent uses Detention Sphere on one of my 4 Master Biomancers, then I destroy it with Naturalize.How many counters will be placed on each of my Master Biomancers and why?
RussischerZar says... #2
Makes sense. I was torn between zero, six and infinite (the latter probably resulting in a draw).
I once read that a Primal Surge into Soul of the Harvest + some other creatures will trigger Soul of the Harvest's ability for each creature that comes on the battlefield at the same time so I was wondering if that would be the same case here.
March 15, 2013 12:01 p.m.
The difference here is that Primal Surge has you put the creatures onto the Battlefield one at a time, each time causing the Soul of the Harvest's triggered ability to trigger. - (Note however, that the triggers do not go on the stack until after Primal Surge has resolved.)
With Detention Sphere, they enter at the same time, so none of them are already on the battlefield when the replacement effect would have occurred.
Also, the fact that it is a replacement effect is important. Compare to Angel of Glory's Rise being cast when you have 2x Goldnight Commander and 2x Champion of the Parish in the grave... they each have an "enter the battlefield" triggered ability, not a replacement. As such, even though they enter at the same time, they will see each other enter, and all of their abilities will trigger. The Champions will each get 3 +3/+1 counters, and all creatures will get a total of +6/+6 until the end of turn.
March 15, 2013 1:09 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #4
Well, that Primal Surge example doesn't work exactly the way you're describing it. For Surge, the permanents don't all enter the battlefield simultaneously, they enter sequentially. That will make Soul of the Harvest trigger for each creature that enters the battlefield after him while you're going through the process.
But triggered abilities do end up working differently than your question about the Biomancer. Triggered abilities trigger right after the event happens, meaning an ETB ability triggers right after something enters the battlefield. That means, for example, that if your replace the Biomancers in your question with Soul of the Harvest their abilities will exist at the time they would trigger. Put simply, they're all able to see each other enter the battlefield, and you'll get to draw up to 12 cards.
March 15, 2013 1:09 p.m.
RussischerZar says... #5
Regarding Primal Surge: I confused that card with Genesis Wave, sorry :)
Anyway, I understand the difference between the replacement effects and the other abilities, so all is clear now.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
Zero. Master Biomancer's ability is a replacement effect that modifies how a creature enters the battlefield, which means it needs to exist before a creature would enter the battlefield in order to affect it. Because all the Biomancers in your example are entering the battlefield simultaneously, none of them are on the battlefield at the time the replacement effect would have to be applied.
March 15, 2013 11:49 a.m.