Which resolves first? Teysa, Orzhov Scion OR Grave Pact?
Asked by Dreno33 12 years ago
Which resolves first? Teysa, Orzhov Scion 's first ability OR Grave Pact when you sac the 3 white creatures?
Ok, so if I wanted to resolve Teysa, Orzhov Scion 's first ability first that way I can exile a creature before my opponent gets to decide they want to sac that creature so it's not exiled, I can?
April 4, 2013 3:32 a.m.
Not exactly. If you're planning on Grave Pact triggering due to the creature sacrificed to Teysa, Orzhov Scion , then Teysa's ability will go on the stack before Grave Pact 's trigger. Thus Grave Pact 's trigger will resolve first (last in, first out), and your opponent will get to choose which creature to sac. Then Teysa's ability will resolve (and fizzle if your opponent sacrificed the creature Teysa was targeting).
Grave Pact will only resolve first if a different creature you control goes to a graveyard and then you activate Teysa's first ability.
April 4, 2013 3:44 a.m.
I meant to say that Teysa's ability will only resolve first if a different creature you control triggers Grave Pact .
April 4, 2013 3:45 a.m.
so if I have Grave Pact out, then her first ability is pretty much useless b/c they will just choose the creature I do? great...
April 4, 2013 3:47 a.m.
BawbMaggit says... #6
the sacrifice is part of the cost of the ability not part of the ability it is my belief that gravepact should go on the stack before her ability but I'm not a judge
April 4, 2013 4:31 a.m.
While it may not seem grand... You do still get to force them to sac 3 creatures. Gravepact will trigger for each creature you sac to Teysa to activate her ability.
@BawbMaggit What happens is that you will sac the 3 creatures and Gravepact will trigger simultaneously for all 3 creatures but wait until you are finished activating Teysa's ability and be placed onto the stack on top of her ability.
Also even if it was triggered off another ability, there is no way for you to get Teysa's ability to resolve first if you have Gravepact out without countering each instance or something. Since when you go to activate her ability you need to sac 3 creatures and retrigger it anyways.
April 4, 2013 4:53 a.m.
thank you Tunde. let's hope my friends don't know this and sac creatures I don't choose :D
April 4, 2013 5:04 a.m.
euknemarchon says... #9
@BawbMaggit: To clarify even more, players technically only pay the costs of spells and activated abilities after they have announced they're playing the spells or activated abilities. Hence, you can't pay the costs - sacrificing creatures - until you're already in the process of putting Teysa's ability on the stack. And once you're in that process, nothing else (like Gravepact's triggered ability) will get put on the stack until the next time a player receives priority - which means after Teysa's ability gets put on the stack. See generally rule 602. Hope that helps.
April 4, 2013 8:40 a.m.
Thanks for the clarification on the timing, Tunde. I was momentarily blanking on the creature sac re-triggering Grave Pact .
But yes, even though your opponent might sac the creature you want to exile, it's still nice to have an easy sac outlet for the Grave Pact in the first place since it doesn't allow sacrificing a creature itself.
April 4, 2013 1:28 p.m.
so if i target Sigarda, Host of Herons with Teysa, Orzhov Scion 's first ability. they can't sac her right? Therefore I can remove her from play?
And since Grave Pact resolves first they don't have to sac any creature even when she is removed from play, right?
April 4, 2013 2:38 p.m.
another question: how would Illusionist's Bracers stack when equipped to her?
April 4, 2013 2:50 p.m.
Wrong on two counts.
First, Teysa, Orzhov Scion 's first ability targeting a creature doesn't prevent that creature's controller from sacrificing it for something else in the interim. If the creature's controller has, say, Ashnod's Altar , they could sac the creature to that to keep it from being exiled. Teysa's ability would just fizzle upon resolution due to its target no longer being valid.
Second, and more specific to your question about Sigarda, Host of Herons , Sigarda there has hexproof. Teysa can't target her with the ability. She could still be chosen by her controller as a creature to sac to Grave Pact 's ability, because that doesn't target.
For your second question, if Teysa is equipped with Illusionist's Bracers , then you would sac three creatures to activate the first ability and target a creature to exile. Then the Bracers copy that ability and allow you to choose a new target creature to exile if you want. You would not have to sacrifice three creatures for the copy, so in the end, you sac three creatures and exile two other creatures, thanks to the Bracers.
April 4, 2013 2:53 p.m.
ok thank you Kogarashi. sorry i forgot to say i have Glaring Spotlight b/c my friends run plenty of hexproof and indestructible crap, lol.
April 4, 2013 3:08 p.m.
Ah, yes, with a Glaring Spotlight you can target Sigarda.
And I also managed to miss the part where Sigarda, Host of Herons protects its controller from being forced to sac permanents, so she wouldn't actually be chosen by Grave Pact at all. But with a Glaring Spotlight she can be removed by Teysa.
PotatoPi says... #1
You can choose what order to put them on the stack if you control both.
April 4, 2013 3:18 a.m.