Most esteemed guests, welcome! Olivia and Edgar’s ceremony has already begun, but there’s still plenty of time to join in the wedding festivities. As long as you’ve got your invitation, your finery… And maybe a few notes on how to safely engage with a room full of Vampires. Below we’ve compiled the cards this set that have generally detrimental triggers, along with how several of them deviate from standard remedies. Take some time to read through so you’ll be prepared.
Nine cards have a trigger that upgrades when missed:
“Whenever an opponent casts a spell, that player creates a Blood token.”
The Purveyor does have an attack trigger that gives it +1/+0 for each Blood a defending player has, so arguably this trigger makes it hit harder… But a 5/6 with Flying and Trample is already big enough to close out a game quickly without the extra damage. And giving the opponent Blood tokens means they have more opportunities to dig for answers. This one is a bit closer to the line than Clackbridge Troll or Desecration Demon were, but still generally detrimental.
“At the beginning of your upkeep, Graf Reaver deals 1 damage to you.”
This trigger is a reasonable downside for an undercosted 3/3, especially since it has a positive ability as well.
“When Undead Butler enters the battlefield, mill three cards.”
Following last set’s Covetous Castaway and Ghostly Castigator, the Butler is another card that can mostly mitigate the cost of its self-mill. But its “dies” trigger would be just as valuable without self-milling, and nothing else about the card specifically benefits from putting cards in the graveyard. Without a compelling reason to qualify for the “Bomat Courier exception” this trigger counts as generally detrimental.
“At the beginning of that turn’s end step, you lose the game.”
Losing the game is pretty clearly a drawback. If this card is Cleaved the delayed trigger isn’t created at all, but that should usually be easy to catch since the turns will be back-to-back.
“Whenever a player plays a land or casts a spell, if it shares a card type with the exiled card, Cemetery Gatekeeper deals 2 damage to that player.”
The Gatekeeper’s trigger is symmetrical, so it will upgrade or not depending on which player played the land or cast the spell. If its controller is responsible they’ll get a Warning if the trigger is missed; but if the opponent’s land or spell is responsible, they’re not obligated to point out the trigger and no player will receive a Warning if it’s missed.
“(create a token) Exile that token at the beginning of the next end step.”
Self-destructing the token created earlier is a downside, and it qualifies as “undoing a zone change” since the same ability that created it also sets up the delayed trigger. That means that even if it has been more than a turn cycle since the trigger was missed the remedy is still applied.
“(reanimate a creature, it gains) When you don’t control a Legendary Vampire, sacrifice this creature.”
The state trigger that Olivia grants to the creature she brings back is clearly a drawback… But it does not technically count as undoing a zone change. The IPG requires the trigger that “undoes” the move to be a delayed trigger. Since this is the wrong type of trigger it just falls under our general remedy rules.
“At the beginning of each end step, if you were dealt 4 or more damage this turn, exile Boarded Window.”
Losing the Window if enough damage comes through is detrimental in any common situation.
“When Dorothea, Vengeful Victim attacks or blocks, sacrifice it at end of combat” and “(create a token) Sacrifice that token at end of combat.”
Both triggers here are disposing of a 4/4 with Flying, which is a lot of value to lose. Dorothea’s trigger on the front face is fairly standard and follows the usual remedy. But since the delayed trigger from the Retribution on the back face comes from the same ability that creates the token, that counts as “undoing a zone change” and the remedy doesn’t expire.
And with that, we’ve reached the end of the guest list! Hopefully this will help you prepare for the set’s festivities. Next set will be a longer wait than the average gap, with Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty landing in February, so sit back, relax, and we’ll see you then!