targetting or sacrificing first?
Asked by koylucumert 8 years ago
so i had an Saffi Eriksdotter and an oppoment cast Path to Exile targetting it. Can i use her effect on herself to return her and protect her from getting exiled? f so will still get to search for a land card?
koylucumert says... #3
but i could not understand why she wont be back. i mean i have targetted herself already and her ability triggers in the grave.
April 27, 2015 3:42 p.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #4
Yes, the effect works by way of a delayed trigger that waits for the targeted creature to die this turn, but that delayed trigger is created during the resolution of her activated ability (triggered starts with "when/whenever/at", activated is written as "cost: effect"). If the target of the activated ability is illegal when it would start to resolve then it gets countered by the game rules, meaning the delayed trigger doesn't get created.
April 27, 2015 3:49 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #6
The significant thing here (besides the order of targeting vs. paying when activating abilities) is that objects that change zones become new objects. You targeted Saffi Eriksdotter, the permanent, and the ability will look for that permanent when it tries to resolve. However, your sacrificing Saffi Eriksdotter caused a zone change (battlefield to graveyard), and the ability will not look for Saffi Eriksdotter in other zones. It will look for the instance it targeted on the battlefield. If it fails to find it (which it will, since the object changed zones and became a new object), then the ability will be countered by the game rules because it has zero remaining legal targets.
Also, the ability wouldn't do anything even if it did resolve. The delayed triggered ability that it creates triggers when the relevant creature dies; if that creature has already died, then the trigger event has already passed and the ability will not trigger. Abilities can't trigger retroactively.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
You can use Saffi Eriksdotter's ability to target herself, but the end result in this situation is Saffi in the graveyard and no land searching.
Choosing targets is one of the first steps of casting a spell or activating an ability, and paying costs is the last step. After you announce the activation of Saffi's ability you can choose her as the target. Then you pay the cost and sacrifice her. Keep in mind that the ability hasn't resolved yet (you only just now finished activating it). When the ability does start to resolve it will be countered by the rules for lack of a legal target. Saffi stays in the graveyard. Path to Exile will be countered by the rules for the same reason. You don't search for land.
April 27, 2015 3:27 p.m.