Sanctum of Ugin destroyed in response to Trigger ability

Asked by Dadouuxx 7 years ago

I wonder how would it resolve :

Let's say I have 7 lands including a Sanctum of Ugin, I cast a Karn Liberated and trigger Sanctum of Ugin ability.

Is the sacrifice of the land part of the ability? Can my opponent destroy the land in response to the ability? If he does, will I be able to fetch anything?

My understanding would be that he respond to the trigger ability so he might be able to destroy it but as the Sanctum of Uginis worded in one sentence, I wonder if I could keep the priority and sacrifice it anyway?

sonnet666 says... #1

The short answer is yes. Your opponent can destroy the land to stop you from searching.

This is because Sanctum of Ugin has what is called an "intervening if clause" that checks to see if you actually sacrificed the land before performing the rest of the ability. An intervening if clause will whatever follows it to not occur if the conditions of the "if" are not met.

How it works:

1. Sanctum of Ugin's second ability triggers everytime you satisfy it's trigger condition, casting a colorless spell with CMC 7 or greater.
2. The next time a player would get priority, it goes on the stack.
3. Path A) If there are no responses, the ability resolves.
4. Path A) As it resolves, you choose whether or not to sacrifice Sanctum of Ugin. It does nothing if you choose not to sacrifice it.
5. Path B) Your opponent responds with a spell that destroys Sanctum of Ugin.
6. Path B) You have no responses and that spell resolves.
7. Path B) Sanctum of Ugin's ability resolves.
8. Path B) You cannot sacrifice Sanctum of Ugin because it is no longer on the battlefield. The ability does nothing and finishes resolving.

Makes sense?

January 23, 2018 12:35 p.m.

Neotrup says... Accepted answer #2

It's not an intervening if clause, but rather a cost on resolution. The answer remains the same though, if you cannot pay the cost (sacrificing Sanctum of Ugin) when the ability resolves, you do not get the effect, as you did not satisfy the "if you do" clause. Unlike activated abilities, costs of triggered abilities are paid on resolution, and thus your opponent can try to disrupt you paying the cost.

January 23, 2018 1:03 p.m.

sonnet666 says... #3

Neotrup is right, I was mixing up my terminology.

It still goes down as I described.

January 23, 2018 3:49 p.m.

Dadouuxx says... #4

Thanks both of you guys, Neotrup and sonnet666 for your explanations! Sadly I can't pick up both of your answers as they are complementary.

January 24, 2018 9:55 a.m.