Specific card name effects and Undead Servant
Asked by legendofa 2 years ago
The general rule is that whenever a card refers to itself by name, it can be replaced by "this card."
Undead Servant refers to other cards named Undead Servant. If an Undead Servant enters the battlefield under my control, and I equip Spy Kit at instant speed before the token creation ability resolves, does the ability count the number of cards named Undead Servant in my graveyard or the number of non-legendary cards that share a name with the Spy Kit-equipped Undead Servant? The current ruling doesn't quite seem to address this: "Count the number of Undead Servants in your graveyard as the ability resolves to determine how many tokens to put onto the battlefield. If Undead Servant dies in response to its own triggered ability and is in your graveyard as that ability resolves, it will count toward the number of Zombies you get."
For the opposite end of this question, if Sakashima the Impostor enters the battlefield as a copy of Undead Servant, will it count the number of Servants or the number of Sakashimas in my graveyard?
Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #2
When a card refers to itself by name it means "the card this ability is on", if it cares about the actual name of the card it says "card(s) named". All four cards you have asked about say "card(s) named" in the parts you are asking about and therefore care about the name of the card listed in the abilities.
Undead Servant is the only one that has an instance of the ability referring directly to the card it is on. So the ability there for the purpose of the rules is "when THIS CARD enters the battlefield, create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token for each card named Undead Servant in your graveyard."
August 5, 2023 7:12 p.m.
Gidgetimer Thanks! I'm brainstorming ideas for another Spy Kit deck, and this clears up a lot of points.
legendofa says... #1
Apologies for the double post, but I'm finding more, similar questions. Spy Kit is a weird card.
What cards can Elvish Clancaller or Howling Wolf search for when equipped with Spy Kit?
What creatures can be discarded by a creature with Grandeur equipped with Spy Kit? Can Korlash, Heir to Blackblade discard a Gutterbones to search for Swamps?
I guess the general question is, when a card refers to other cards with the same name as itself, are all instances of "CardName" replaced by "this card", or only when it specifically refers to itself as a game object?
August 5, 2023 2:13 p.m.