Necropotence Pay life, Zero cards in library.

Asked by underbrl 11 years ago

Im using the Necropotence + ( Phyrexian Unlife OR Platinum Angel ) + Repay in Kind combo as an alternate win con in my Teysa, Orzhov Scion infinite combo edh deck.

My question is simple, and admittedly noobish. Can i use the pay life ability of Necropotence if i have no cards in my library? I ask, because there are several ways i can get infinite draw with Teysa, Orzhov Scion and Skullclamp . so if i drew all the was into my deck to find Repay in Kind or Phyrexian Unlife or whatever piece im missing, and i hav, say only 15 cards in my library. well if i cant pay life with Necropotence after i exile the remaining 15, it breaks my combo, cause that likly wont drag me to 0 health for the Repay in Kind .

so, can i pay life with Necropotence if there are no cards in my library to exile.

ForPsionics says... #1

Yes, you can pay the life; the ability will activate, but because you have no cards, the ability will be countered.

August 1, 2013 11:12 p.m.

underbrl says... #2

ahhh, that makes perfect sense. ty. (thats what i thought too, but how embarassing would it b if i was wrong and tried to kill the whole edh group on a flawed combo)

August 1, 2013 11:14 p.m.

Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #3

@ForPsionics: That's partially incorrect. A spell or ability is only countered as a state-based action if all of its targets are illegal. Necropotence 's ability doesn't target anything, so it can't be countered by SBAs.

@underbrl: You pay the activation cost for the ability, and the ability goes onto the stack. When it resolves, it attempts to exile the top card of your library. Because your library is empty, it won't exile any cards. The ability will still resolve, though. It's worth noting, though, that you can't pay life if you have 0 or less life. Therefore, Necropotence becomes useless after Phyrexian Unlife kicks in.

August 2, 2013 12:01 a.m.

underbrl says... #4

word. ya i just need to get to 0 and not lose the game. i mentioned above that i can use Platinum Angel here rather than unlife. the whole reason behind the life lose is to line up for Repay in Kind . but yes, thank you both.

August 2, 2013 12:06 a.m.