MTG

1924 readers

15 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

[email protected]

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 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Roaming Throne - (G) (SF) (txt)

[[card name]] to call

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago

I took a look at Isareth's entry on Gatherer, and it seems that there are indeed two different abilities at play here. This means that you are correct in pointing out that one can copy either the first part or the second part of the ability. It's quite an interesting interaction! I am excited to try it out and see how it plays out in a game!