this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024
19 points (100.0% liked)

MTG

1859 readers
6 users here now

Magic: the Gathering discussion

General discussion, questions, and media related to Magic: the Gathering that doesn't fit within a more specific community. Our equivalent of /r/magicTCG!

Type [[Card name]] in your posts and comments and CardBot will reply with a link to the card! More info here.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
andrew@mtgzone.com
mike@mtgzone.com
19
I would greatly appreciate some clarification on how triggered/activated abilities, especially those that involve a cost, can be copied. Thank you for your help with this. (lemmy.ml)
submitted 6 months ago by bec@lemmy.ml to c/mtg@mtgzone.com
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Could you please clarify for me? If I activate an ability that has a cost and then copy it, do I need to pay the cost again for the copy to resolve?

For example, the ability of [[Isareth, the Awakener]]. If I decide to attack and pay X mana to reanimate a creature, do I also have to pay again if I copy the ability? And if so, am I able to pay a different amount, considering that the source of the copying states, "You can choose new targets for the copy"?

A second question is for a card like [[Drana, Liberator of Malakir]]. If she deals direct damage and her ability triggers, would the +1/+1 counter be placed on each attacking creature, including herself, twice, were I to copy it?

I'm not sure if it's necessary to mention, but I am new to this, I am using [[The Peregrine Dynamo]] to copy those abilities.

Thank you for your help in clarifying this!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Godort@lemm.ee 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

Copying an ability simply adds a second one to the stack with all the same text as the first.

I was wrong in my first reading. With Isareth, the ability is placed on the stack before the cost is paid. If you were to copy the ability, you would need to pay X for each copy, but could pay different values

Your second example is correct, you would place a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures, twice.(Ie: 2 +1/+1 counters per creature)

[–] Evu@mtgzone.com 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

If I'm not mistaken, Isareth's ability is actually two triggered abilities: "Whenever Isareth attacks" is one, and "When you do [pay X]" is the other. With The Peregrine Dynamo, you could copy either ability. If you copy the first one, you can pay X twice, choosing different amounts (or the same amount) each time. If you copy the second, the value for X has to stay the same, but you can revive two creatures with the same mana value.

If instead of The Peregrine Dynamo you had a [[Roaming Throne]], you could end up returning as many as four creatures.

[–] cardbot@mtgzone.com 1 points 6 months ago

[[card name]] to call

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)