Delayed triggered abilities

One unusual type of triggered ability is the delayed trigger ability. Delayed triggered abilities are created by spells and abilities (and some replacement effects). They are unique in that they wait around for a bit and then trigger at an appropriate time. Like other ‘normal’ triggered abilities they are recognizable by the words ‘when,’ ‘whenever,’ […]

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The ‘Intervening if’

Some of the more complicated triggered abilities are those that include what is known as the ‘intervening if’ clause. These triggered abilities are generally written in the format “When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].” These condition followed by the ‘if’ functions as an addition trigger condition. If it is not true when this ability would […]

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Welcome to Triggered Abilities week – Identifying triggered abilities.

Triggered abilities appear in a lot of different forms and on every type of card, yes even sorceries and instants. How triggers work, when they trigger and how they resolve can be confusing to even veteran players. If you look over the right, you’ll see that rules tip blog posts involving triggered abilities one of […]

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The abilities in the Magic 2012 Crown / Scepter / Throne combo check on resolution.

Magic 2012 has three ‘royal’ artifacts that have abilities that are all increased if a player controls all three of these artifacts. They are the , and the . For example, the Scepter will deal a single point of damage to a targeted player under normal conditions. However if you control the Crown and the […]

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What discard means.

Discard is not a keyword ability like Trample or Flying, however it is a keyword in that it is defined in the comprehensive rules. In Magic it means to take a card in your hand put it in your graveyard. (Discarding means similar things in other games.) Unless specified the person that is discarding a […]

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