Questions about triggers and when they check.
Asked by Zerafiall 9 years ago
Ok... the fundamental question is "Do triggered abilities see stuff upon trigger, or resolution?"
First example... I have Riku of Two Reflections on the battlefield I drop Craterhoof Behemoth and copy him with Riku. I can stack the triggerman and also Riku's copy trigger to resolve first and put a second crater hoof out. So... if I only have Riku and carter hoof out, with the original craterhoof's trigger se 2 creatures when it enters, then resolve and give my, now three creatures +2/+2 (plus another +3/+3 from the crater hoof copy) or will the ability not check creature cunt until resolution giving creatures a total of +6/+6 (3 per Craterhoof)
Next example... let say I'm in a three way game. I'm at say 30 life Player Bob is at 35 Life and Play Joe is at 38 Life. I have Marchesa, the Black Rose out and Hellrider and a couple other guys (let's just go with 2 zombie tokes) I wing all out at player Joe. Both triggers will go on the stack, and if I let Hellrider's resolve first, will it drop the life total and make Dethrone fissile, or will it not care once it's on the stack?
Epochalyptik says... #2
I will note, because of the nature of this question, that there is only one kind of effect that checks both on triggering and on resolution. Triggered abilities with "intervening 'if' clauses" (e.g. evolve, as in Experiment One ) check if the specified condition is true at the time the ability would trigger and at the time the ability would resolve.
If the condition is not true at the time the ability would trigger, then the ability does not trigger.
If the condition is not true at the time the ability would resolve, then the ability resolves and has no effect.
If the condition is true both at the time the ability triggers and at the time the ability resolves, the ability resolves and has its effect(s).
Epochalyptik says... Accepted answer #1
Case 1:
First, spells and abilities that require information from the game determine that information only on resolution. Craterhoof Behemoth 's ability doesn't tally the number of creatures you control until it resolves.
Now, when Craterhoof Behemoth enters the battlefield, two abilities trigger: Craterhoof Behemoth 's ability and Riku of Two Reflections 's ability. Because you control both of these abilities, you may stack them in whichever order you choose. If you stack Craterhoof Behemoth 's ability first, then Riku of Two Reflections 's ability, you will resolve Riku of Two Reflections 's ability first. If you pay the optional cost, you will create a token copy of Craterhoof Behemoth , and that token's own ETB ability will trigger. Each Craterhoof Behemoth 's ability will count all creatures you control, so the ability will count both the source Craterhoof Behemoth , the other Craterhoof Behemoth , and Riku of Two Reflections . Your creatures will get +3/+3 until EOT for each of these abilities.
Case 2:
Once dethrone triggers, the ability no longer depends on players' life totals. Even if the defending player no longer has the most life when the ability resolves, your creature will still get a +1/+1 counter.
Also, note that a spell or ability can only fizzle if all of its targets become illegal prior to resolution. Spells and abilities without targets cannot fizzle.
September 23, 2014 4:59 p.m.