Heroic on stack!
Standard forum
Posted on March 30, 2014, 8:22 a.m. by Chucktesta
Hey friends,
to keep it simple, we have Phalanx Leader and Soldier of the Pantheon . I cast Gods Willing for black protection on Phalanx Leader and in reaction opponent kills it with lets say Doomblade. The question is...will my Soldier of the Pantheon get +1/+1 counter? Heroic says whenever you cast...and Gods Willing was already cast. So I think my creatures will get counters before Phalanx Leader will die.
Chucktesta says... #3
How can ability stay on stack if creature granting it is no longer on the battlfield? I am more confused than I was before :D
March 30, 2014 8:36 a.m.
Like Slycne said, abilities exist on the stack independent of their source. So while Phalanx Leader has a triggered ability which was put on the stack, the ability will try to resolve to the best of its ability regardless of whether the leader is still in play or not. In your scenario, your Soldier of the Pantheon would get a +1/+1 counter.
March 30, 2014 9:29 a.m.
There's no "granting it" when it comes to abilities that go on the stack. It's either on the stack or it hasn't gone off, but once it's been added to the stack it's locked in to attempting to go off. There are a few specific cards for countering abilities, like Stifle , but none in Standard currently.
I think you might be confusing it with a static ability like say Knight Exemplar
, which are on all the time, but when the source is removed the ability goes away.
Slycne says... #2
In the future, the MTG Q&A section is where rules questions should go.
Abilities exist on the stack independent of their source. Once Phalanx Leader 's heroic has been triggered, regardless of if the spell is countered or if Phalanx Leader is removed the ability is still on the stack. So Soldier of the Pantheon will get the counters.
To be specific to your wording "So I think my creatures will get counters before Phalanx Leader will die." Everything uses the stack, but Phalanx Leader will still die first. The stack will look like Gods Willing below Phalanx Leader ability below Doomblade. Assuming everyone passes Doomblade resolves first killing Phalanx Leader . Phalanx Leader ability goes off putting counters. Gods Willing attempts to resolve but it countered by no longer having a target.
March 30, 2014 8:30 a.m.