Stack ordering for activated ability and state based action.

Asked by Coelacanth710 3 months ago

Let's say that I have a Fertilid on the battlefield with only one +1/+1 counter on it, and it is enchanted with Bequeathal . If I were to pay the cost of Fertilid's activated ability by removing the last counter from it, it would die as a state-based action, thus triggering bequeathal. My question is, would the trigger of bequeathel always go onto the stack first since Fertilid died as a result of paying the cost for its activated ability, or would fertilid's activated ability go on the stack at the same time and thus allow me to order the stack to allow me to search for the land before drawing?

Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1

You have to draw before searching and you don't get a choice.

State-based actions are checked and dealt with right before each time a player would get priority to take another action. In your example, that moment is right after you're completely finished with the process of activating Fertilid's ability, meaning the activated ability is already on the stack. When Fertilid dies to the 0-toughness SBA, Bequeathal will trigger and that trigger will go on top of Fertilid's ability.

April 28, 2025 12:16 p.m.