‘s ability is pretty cool. If an effect an opponent controls says “sacrifice a creature” Sigarda says, “No, I’d rather not.” So she keeps you safe from things like and . But what if the opponent targets your Phantasmal Image (copying something other than Sigarda) with ? On the surface, it almost looks like the […]
Category: Triggered Abilities
Surgical Extraction vs. Miracles
Miracle causes lots of questions, as it’s a pretty complex mechanic. First, there’s the static ability that says “You may reveal this as you draw it if its the first card you drew this turn.” Then once you do that, there’s the triggered ability that say “When you do, you may cast this for its […]
Strategy Week: Ordering Triggers for Fun and Profit!
While Triggered Abilities may seem confusing at first, there is profit to be made by understanding them! First, let’s review how to identify a triggered ability. Triggered abilities are identifiable using 3 key words: 1) When 2) Whenever 3) At If you see one of these words, you’re in trigger-town! If you can memorize these […]
Stuffy Doll doesn’t target anything, but you can respond to its damage-triggered ability.
A very common misconception by MANY players is “implicit targeting”. It’s a belief that anything that directly affects something, targets it. This is not the case, as rule 114.9a tells us. Just because something is being affected by a spell or ability doesn’t mean that it’s being targeted! The word ‘target’ needs to be used […]
When you sacrifice Solemn Simulacrum to Birthing Pod, you always draw BEFORE you search.
There is a common confusion that comes up when you activate an ability that requires a sacrifice as a payment, and the sacrificed creature has an ability that triggers when it dies. Many people (mistakenly) think you can stack the order of the abilities so the activated ability resolves before the triggered ability. This is […]
You can use Zealous Conscripts and Restoration Angel to a steal a creature permanently.
is a card that says, ʺExile target creature you control, then return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control.ʺ Normally, you will be both the controller (the player who currently controls the creature) and the owner (the player whose deck originally contained the creature). While the owner of a creature can’t change, its controller […]
Thragtusk will give you a 3/3 if it leaves play for any reason (not just if it dies).
is one of the exciting new cards from M13 that everyone is talking about. Anyone who has been paying attention to Standard immediately sees that this guy is ‘s new best friend. What’s most interesting about this card is that it doesn’t have the word “dies” anywhere in its text box. Instead, it says “leaves […]
Rancor only returns to your hand if it went to the graveyard from the battlefield.
is a card I’m quite familiar with, because I play so much Commander. We’ve got a few green decks like Uril, the Miststalker and Jenara that tend to ‘go Voltron’, so I’ve had to learn how Rancor works. Mainly by telling my friends it’s not QUITE as unstoppable as they’d hope! Now, the normal ways […]
Roaring Primadox’s ability doesn’t target anything.
Probably one of the most-misused words in Magic has to be ʺtarget.ʺ Despite how often people seem to be confused, it’s actually quite simple: a spell or ability only has a target if the word ʺtargetʺ is included somewhere in its rules text (or in the comprehensive rules text for certain keyword abilities, such as […]