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,’ […]
Category: Abilities
How Storm works.
Storm is a keyword ability that first appeared in Scourge and made a return visit in Time Spiral block. Storm is also a triggered ability that triggers when a spell with storm is cast. This trigger will go on the stack on top of the spell itself and it will resolve first. When this trigger […]
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 […]
APNAP and you
APNAP is an acronym that stands for Active Player, Non-active player. It describes what happens when multiple triggered abilities trigger at approximately the same time. When they trigger does not matter as much as when they try to go on the stack. As pointed out on Monday, triggered abilities can happen at any time. And […]
Triggers can happen at anytime.
Because triggered abilities are not played, they can trigger and happen at any time. This means that they can trigger when a spell is being cast, when a spell or ability is resolving, or in the cleanup step or a turn. Players do not receive priority in those situations, with the exception of the cleanup […]
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 […]
Manabarbs’ ability uses the stack and can be responded to.
In most cases exactly how ability works doesn’t matter. Players will end up taking a point of damage each time players tap an individual land for one or more mana. However this ability is a triggered ability that does use the stack and knowing this can be useful under the right circumstances. Mana abilities do […]
Mana abilities do not use the stack
Mana is how the vast majority of spells are paid for and played. Mana abilities are those activated abilities that add mana to your mana pool. These abilities do not use the stack. Simple huh? As with so many other things in Magic, there are a few things to add to the above statements. Triggered […]
Once an ability is activated or triggered it is independent of its source.
A common misconception in Magic is that you can prevent an activated or triggered ability from being resolving by destroying the source of the ability. This is not true and has never been the way that Magic works. Once an ability is played or triggered and put on the stack it is independent of its […]