When does Wight of Precinct Six get his counters?
Asked by Skinny 12 years ago
I attack with Wight of Precinct Six who is equipped with Trepanation Blade . Will the creatures, if any, that are milled by the blade affect his static ability before combat damage is dealt? I'm relatively new and this evoked much scratching of many heads during casual play.
Absinthman says... #2
First of all, Wight of Precinct Six does not get any counters. It's static ability just constantly checks how many creatures are in your opponents' graveyards and its power and toughnes are adjusted accordingly.
In this case, when the Wight attacks (that means during the Declare Attackers step), Trepanation Blade triggers, mills the defending player's library and gives the Wight +X/+0. When the cards are milled, the ability of the Wight adjusts its power and toughnes according to the new number of creatures in your opponents' graveyards without using the stack because its a state-based ability. Then the Declare Blockers step comes and only then damage is dealt.
February 6, 2013 11:30 a.m.
Ah, I was mistaken regarding the counters. But thank you for clarifying both :)
Jokernaught says... Accepted answer #1
It's not technically +1/+1 counters. Its a static ability or sometimes called a buff. Meaning he never actually gets any counters. It just sort of adds up. On the Technical part:
If you look at Trepanation Blade , it says "Whenever equipped creature attacks,"
As soon as you declare the equipped Wight of Precinct Six , the mill effect occurs.
Since the Combat Step is set up as 1. Declare Attackers, 2. Declare blockers, and 3. Deal Damage.
Wight of Precinct Six could pick up any buffs from any creatures that might have hit the graveyard during the milling process as well as picking up the +1/+0 effect that Trepanation Blade gives for each card milled in the 'Declare Attackers' part of combat. Effectively getting stronger as you move into the 'Declare Blockers' part, and have that buff as you move into the 'Deal Damage' step.
So yes, before your opponent can declare blockers, your Wight of Precinct Six gets stronger from both it's own ability and Trepanation Blade 's ability during that mill.
February 6, 2013 11:28 a.m.