Nekusar + Peer into the abyss - When do you take nekusar dammage?
Asked by Shape_Shifter 3 years ago
In a recent game of magic with friends, the friend that was playing Nekusar, the Mindrazer and cast Peer into the Abyss on another friend.
The way both the Nekusar, the Mindrazer player and i saw it, is that Peer into the Abyss goes on the stack. So far no cards are drawn so no Nekusar, the Mindrazer dammage yet. Then the spell isn't countered, so half the deck will be drawn and half of the life is lost in one effect. Here is where it got tricky -> Does the friend lose half of his life first and then the dammage for the carddraw happens? Or is it the other way around.
We assumed that Nekusar, the Mindrazer would trigger AFTER the spell resolves completely (so in this case when 48 cards are drawn and half of the life is lost THEN you get 48 Nekusar, the Mindrazer triggers on the stack). However the opponent stated that in magic any draw X spell usually counts as X draw 1 triggers for cards that trigger on card draw and this got us all confused.
I personally think that since Peer into the Abyss is one effect on the stack, Nekusar, the Mindrazer will trigger afterwards. However i'm not sure if the same thing would be true if Peer into the Abyss said 'draw cards and THEN lose half of your life' ?
So TLDR: Does Nekusar, the Mindrazer dammage trigger AFTER losing half of the life from Peer into the Abyss?
Rhadamanthus says... #2
One side note: It's not just "rare" for a triggered ability to resolve during the resolution of another spell or ability - it never happens. The rules about how spells and abilities resolve don't allow for it.
September 15, 2020 11:35 a.m.
Tylord2894 says... #3
Rhadamanthus, that's not quite accurate. It is possible to resolve a triggered ability during the resolution of a spell/ability, but it requires several moving piecing. If a spell/ability lets you cast a spell that isn't free (or you have to pay a tax on an otherwise free spell), you can activate mana abilities which could trigger one or more triggered mana abilities. Both of which will resolve immediately without using the stack. But that is, as I said, exceedingly rare.
September 15, 2020 2:39 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #5
Tylord2894: Ah yes, mana abilities. Forever ruining my "always/all" and "never/none" statements. Right up there with Mistform Ultimus.
Tylord2894 says... Accepted answer #1
There will be a bunch of Nekusar triggers that go onto the stack after Peer into the Abyss resolves.
The key thing here is that there is a difference between something triggering, the triggered ability going onto the stack, and that triggered ability resolving. When someone draws with Peer, Nekusar will trigger several times. This means that there will be several triggered abilities that will be put onto the stack, but they do not get put onto the stack yet. The rest of Peer will resolve, they will lose half of their life, and then the spell finishes resolving. After that, state-based actions are checked and performed and then all waiting triggered abilities are put onto the stack. Once on the stack, each Nekusar trigger resolves one at a time, so there is a chance to respond in between each trigger (and before the first one resolves).
It is exceedingly rare to have a triggered ability resolve during the resolution of a spell or other ability. The vast majority of the time, a spell/ability will complete resolve for any other actions can be taken
Hope this helps!!
September 15, 2020 11:05 a.m.