Saga cards
Asked by BuriedOnSunday 4 years ago
Tymaret Calls the Dead I'm just coming back to MTG after a long break and had questions about Saga cards... (1) (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter). Would an example of playing this card look like... Play on my main phase, put a lore counter on it then add additional lore counters on my next turns after my draw step? (2) When using this card, do lore counters get removed, or are they permanent? (3) (Sacrifice after III) Does this mean sacrificing the card when the lore counters hit 4?
They don't tap to use their own abilities, and if you have ways of adding additional counters you can trigger their chapter abilities with those, instead of the turn based action.
April 22, 2021 10:42 a.m.
BuriedOnSunday says... #4
Neotrup If Tymaret Calls the Dead has one counter on it, can it be used indefinitely? (well until you run out of cards). Or can you only use the Saga once per turn?
April 22, 2021 10:45 a.m.
BuriedOnSunday, the saga gains a counter each upkeep, until it hits the last effect, then it is destroyed. So unless you have a way of removing counters from it, you can't have it infinately.
But if you can manipulate the amount of counters on it, you can trigger it multiple times a turn.
April 22, 2021 10:51 a.m. Edited.
BuriedOnSunday says... #6
Naksu Good to know. To clarify my question, when it is my Main Phase, can the Saga card be used as many times as you like per Main Phase? Or is it used only once per Main Phase?
April 22, 2021 10:56 a.m.
Only on the trigger of gaining a counter (Which happens at upkeep, not at the beginning of main phases). So like I said, you can trigger it multiple times if you can remove and add counters on it.
April 22, 2021 10:58 a.m. Edited.
BuriedOnSunday says... #8
Naksu Thanks! One last question, can I choose to take the Saga cards action or do I have to take the action every upkeep?
April 22, 2021 11:06 a.m.
It is a triggered ability, so no, you can't choose. I really do like the saga design, prolly my faverite new card type in a long time.
April 22, 2021 11:22 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #10
Naksu: The counter is added at the beginning of the precombat main phase, not the beginning of the upkeep. Please see the quotes from the Comprehensive Rules provided in Neotrup's response.
To avoid confusion, I'm going to go ahead and mark Neotrup's response as the "Accepted answer".
Neotrup says... Accepted answer #1
As the saga enters the battlefield you place a lore counter on it, this will trigger the first chapter:
714.3a As a Saga enters the battlefield, its controller puts a lore counter on it.
Normally this will be during your main phase, but if you have a way to cast it at instant speed it can be at any time. Then, during your precombat main phase you'll add another one:
714.3b As a player's precombat main phase begins, that player puts a lore counter on each Saga they control. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack.
This will trigger the next ability on the card. Saga's don't have built in ways of removing counters, so they'll move down the list of abilities without backing up. After the third (or fourth, for sagas with 4 abilities) resolves, you'll sacrifice the saga:
714.4. If the number of lore counters on a Saga permanent is greater than or equal to its final chapter number, and it isn't the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack, that Saga's controller sacrifices it. This state-based action doesn’t use the stack.
April 22, 2021 9:36 a.m.