The new Dr Who Missy and Opponent commanders.
Asked by Elusith 1 year ago
Missy has an effect that states: “Whenever another nonartifact creature dies, return it to the battlefield under vour control face down and tapped. It's a 2/2 Cyberman artifact creature.”
So when an opponent commander dies, do I get a chance to steal it as a 2/2 cyberman before it returns to the command zone?
Clarification: A commander being put in the command zone never enters the graveyard. It just goes straight to the CZ from the battlefield.
October 1, 2023 5:07 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #3
They changed how commanders getting put into the command zone worked a number of years ago, so legendofa's answer would have been correct before the rule change, but no longer is.
Currently a commander being put into the command zone when it goes into exile or the graveyard is a state based action. The commander goes to the new zone, all triggers related to it going to the new zone will have a chance to trigger, and then the commander's owner has a chance to put it into the command zone. The transfer to the command zone happens after any triggered abilities trigger, but before they are put on the stack, and therefore before they resolve and have a chance to affect the commander.
Missy will trigger. But when it tries to return the commander to the battlefield (assuming the commander's owner put it into the command zone) it will not be in the expected zone and can not be affected by the ability.
October 1, 2023 7:47 p.m.
Wait, I completely missed this update. Somehow. So a commander dying is put into the graveyard/exile no matter what, and then it can be optionally moved to the command zone?
The WotC site is out of date, then. "If your commander would be put into your library, hand, graveyard or exile from anywhere, you may return it to your command zone instead." https://magic.wizards.com/en/formats/commander
But, Gidgetimer is completely right. Per the CR:
903.9. A commander may return to the command zone during a Commander game.
903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard or in exile and that object was put into that zone since the last time state-based actions were checked, its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.
legendofa says... #1
No, "dies" specifically refers to a creature or planeswalker being put into the graveyard from the battlefield. If a card doesn't enter the graveyard, it never formally dies, and abilities that trigger "Whenever (something) dies" don't trigger.
October 1, 2023 5:05 p.m.