When you have to loot with no cards and you draw a miracle
Asked by pedroedmarcos 4 years ago
Hey there, long time no see
I think I know the answer to this one, but is better to ask just to make sure. Lets say that I have an effect that let me draw and discard a card on my upkeep (Like Ceta Sanctuary) just to ilustrate. With no cards in hand but the card I just drew I have to discard. But the card is an miracle. How does that work? Do I cast the miracle midresolving the effect o the loot? Or the loot resolve without the miracle?
The way miracle works, you're allowed to reveal it while you loot, and if you do you can add a trigger to the stack that would allow you to cast it. However, the trigger is put on the stack after you discard, so when it resolves it won't be able to find the card in your hand to cast it, and will do nothing (not even let you spend the mana).
January 9, 2021 9:46 a.m.
Neotrup i don't think thats quite right, because miracle isn't a triggered ability, so it can't "add a trigger" to the stack.
January 9, 2021 2:55 p.m.
702.93a Miracle is a static ability linked to a triggered ability. (See rule 603.11.) "Miracle [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you draw it if it's the first card you've drawn this turn. When you reveal this card this way, you may cast it by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost."
Emphasis added. Revealing is a static ability that happens during the looting and leads to the trigger that gets added after the card leaves your hand. Because it's a triggered ability, you're able to crack a fetchland after triggering to get the mana necessary to pay for it, and opponents are able to counter the ability even if they're unable to counter the spell (leaving it in your hand to cast normally). While it being a triggered ability is not super relevant here, it is still something you'd be able to put on the stack for no gain.
January 9, 2021 4:44 p.m.
Apparently emphasis was not added. Was trying to call attention to the term "triggered ability" in the quoted rule.
January 9, 2021 4:46 p.m.
Neotrup: thats weird that it would be considered a triggered ability when it doesn't start with "when", "whenever", or "at".
January 9, 2021 6:50 p.m.
It's because the triggered ability is nested in the static ability. The part that triggers is "When you reveal this card this way..." similar to delayed or reflexive triggered abilities. For another triggered ability nested inside a static ability like this, see Keranos, God of Storms who has two triggered abilities hidden in one static ability.
January 9, 2021 7:31 p.m.
Neotrup: the difference though between miracle and keranos, is that with keranos the sentences actually start with the word "whenever", whereas with miracle, the word "when" is halfway through the sentence.
January 9, 2021 11:09 p.m.
In the rule I quoted, 'when' appears after a period and is capitalized. It does look different in reminder text, but reminder text is supposed to remind you generally how a mechanic works, not go into depth on the rules nuances, like how Partner With reminder text doesn't include the word search, but the rules for Partner With do, so it does trigger effects like Psychic Surgery.
Keqing420 says... #1
if you draw a miracle, you have to discard it. you can never add anything to the stack "mid resolution". the effect has to resolve in its entirety before anyone gains priority again.
January 9, 2021 12:23 a.m.