Yasova (or other pay to activate abilities) and Dimiss into Dream
Asked by nurglemarine96 6 years ago
I run a program to play magic and the interaction between Yasova Dragonclaw and Dismiss into Dream is weird. When Yasova gets her trigger at beginning of combat and I target without yet paying the mana, Dismiss triggers removing the creature. I am not sure if this is right since the wording on Yasova says pay then target so I do not think it works this way but I could be wrong if the target must be determined prior to paying the mana. I'm just curious if the interaction becomes a 0 mana or 3 mana removal ability.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #2
The interaction you're seeing is correct. If a triggered ability (starts with "when/whenever/at") has targets, you have to choose them when you first put it onto the stack. You choose whether or not to pay the cost for Yasova Dragonclaw's ability (and similar triggered abilities) as that ability is resolving. The target is always chosen first.
The reason the ability is written out this way is simply to have better flow for the reader. If it was written out to show the way the rules make you process the ability, it would look something like "At the beginning of combat on your turn, choose target creature an opponent controls with power less than Yasova Dragonclaw's power. You may pay . If you do, gain control of that creature until end of turn, untap it, and it gains haste until end of turn."
March 23, 2018 1:42 p.m.
One small correction to Epochalyptik's answer, you cannot choose to pay , even if you really want to. Because the target has been sacrificed, when the ability goes to resolve it will check whether it still has legal targets and find that it's target is gone. The game rules will counter the ability before it gives you the option to pay mana, so the option won't be there. This isn't super relevant for this ability, but if you were instead using something like Sphinx-Bone Wand where the cost is an action you want to preform (adding charge counters), you might be sad that the target was removed.
March 23, 2018 2:30 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
You know, as often as I comment about fizzling, you'd think I'd have caught that. Good pick.
Epochalyptik says... #1
The program is correct here.
Targets are always chosen when an ability is put onto the stack. If a triggered ability has a cost associated with it, the cost is paid on resolution.
Since Dismiss into Dream's ability tiggers when an opponent's creature becomes the target of a spell or ability, it'll trigger as you declare the target for Yasova Dragonclaw's ability. The sacrifice ability will therefore resolve first. When Yasova's ability resolves, the creature will be gone (although you can still pay the cost if you want).
If Yasova's ability were an activated ability, then you'd have to pay to activate it and declare targets for it.
March 23, 2018 1:36 p.m.