Winding Constrictor and Evolve interactions

Asked by Mailman81 7 years ago

When you cast the following:

Turn1: Experiment One

Turn2: Winding Constrictor

Turn3: Avatar of the Resolute

How many counters Experiment One and Avatar of the Resolute will have end of turn3, and why?

Rhadamanthus says... #1

Turn 1 Experiment One. Seems good.

Turn 2 Winding Constrictor. Experiment One evolves, and because Constrictor is on the battlefield the Experiment gets 2 counters instead of 1.

Turn 3 Avatar of the Resolute. Entering the battlefield with counters is considered "putting/placing", so it enters with 2 counters instead of 1. Experiment One evolves again, getting 2 counters again.

Experiment One has 4 +1/+1 counters and Avatar of the Resolute has 2 +1/+1 counters.

April 28, 2017 4:03 p.m.

sonnet666 says... Accepted answer #2

Assuming you don't take any counters off of Experiment One, it will have 4 +1/+1 counters.

Experiment One has a triggered ability that gives itself counters (evolve).

Winding Constrictor has a replacement effect that puts an additional counter on any permanent you control if it would get a counter.

Avatar of the Resolute has a replacement effect that replaces it entering the battlefield normally with it entering the battlefield with a certain number of +1/+1 counters.

This will play out like this:

1. Experiment One enters the battlefield.

2. Winding Constrictor enters the battlefield.

3. Experiment One's evolve ability triggers because Winding Constrictor's power or toughness is higher than it's power or toughness.

4. Experiment One's evolve ability goes on the stack.

5. Experiment One's evolve ability resolves and goes to place 1 +1/+1 counter on itself, but Winding Constrictor's replacement effect replaces that event with 2 +1/+1 counters being placed

6. You cast Avatar of the Resolute. As Avatar of the Resolute is resolving its replacement effect causes it to enter the battlefield with 1 +1/+1 counter because you have 1 creature with a +1/+1 counter on it (Experiment One). Because this qualifies as a counter being placed on a permanent you control, Winding Constrictor's replacement effect replaces this event a second time, causing Avatar of the Resolute to enter the battlefield with 2 +1/+1 counters.

7. Experiment One's evolve ability triggers because Avatar of the Resolute entered the battlefield as a 5/4.

8. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to place two more +1/+1 counters on Experiment One, for a total of 4 counters.

April 28, 2017 4:05 p.m.