Let’s say you have a Kothophed on the battlefield, but your opponent was wise to your ways and enchanted him with Suppression Bonds. He can’t attack, block, or use activated abilities, but thankfully his triggered ability still functions like normal. But let’s say that your opponent decides to clear the board, and casts a Day of Judgment. Will Kothophed trigger off of the Bonds going to the graveyard?
The answer is no. While Kothophed will see other permanents owned by another player going to the graveyard at the same time as itself, the Bonds won’t go to the graveyard quite yet. They’ll go to the graveyard once Day of Judgment is done resolving and state-based actions see the Bonds are not attached to anything. When the Bonds finally go to the graveyard, Kothophed is no longer around and will not trigger for the Bonds going to the graveyard.
Note that the result is also the same if Kothophed dies due to damage. First, we check state-based actions, and Kothophed goes to the graveyard since it has lethal damage marked on it. Then, we check state-based actions again and the Bonds goes to the graveyard.
In short: Kothophed doesn’t work as well with auras and him dying at the same time, since the auras won’t go to the graveyard until after Kothophed has died and it won’t trigger for them.
Today’s Rules Tip written by Nathan Long