About Valakut, the molten pinnacle
Asked by banchs 14 years ago
Say an opponent has 4 mountains and a valakut, the molten pinnacle in play. They succesfully cast Primeval Titan, bringing in two tapped mountains. Does Valakut's ability resolve, the event being that the two new mountains "see each other" and both of them actually satisfy the conditions for Valakut's ability and at the same time trigger the ability? Or does one mountain satisfy the condition and the other one triggers the ability? Or, lastly, do they do nothing?
thaimaishuu says... #2
Mr. Green beat me to it.
A little bit of info about Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle triggered ability mechanics.
"Whenever a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control..." This is the trigger for the ability. Ability goes on stack.
"...if you control at least five other Mountains..." There is an "intervening 'if' clause." This means something is checked before the ability resolves. In this case, the ability is checking for 5 OTHER mountains. This means the mountains OTHER then the ONE triggering it.
"...you may have Valakut the Molten Pinnacle deal 3 damage to target creature or player." If there are not 5 OTHER mountains then the ability will still resolve but do nothing.
Since there is a time interval between after the ability triggers and before it resolves, shenanigans such as with Primeval Titan is possible to modify the 5 mountain check.
September 9, 2010 12:34 a.m.
mistergreen527 says... #3
Just one correction with what thaimaishuu put. The "intervening if" clause prevents the ability from triggering at all if the condition is not met.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle ruling:
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle's triggered ability has an "intervening 'if' clause." That means (1) the ability won't trigger at all unless, at the time a Mountain enters the battlefield under your control, you control five or more Mountains other than that new one, and (2) the ability will do nothing if you control fewer than five Mountains other than that new one by the time it resolves.
September 9, 2010 12:47 a.m.
Ok. I was unclear about it just seems rather counter-intuitive that bringing in 2 mountains with only 4 in play triggers the ability. Good explanations though thanks a lot!
September 9, 2010 1:22 a.m.
thaimaishuu says... #5
Ah, mister green is right. I messed up the "intervening if clause." My bad.
mistergreen527 says... Accepted answer #1
Yes, they will both allow Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle 's ability to trigger since the Mountain s enter the battlefield simultaneously, due to Primeval Titan s ability. So, you'll be able to deal six damage.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle ruling:
If multiple Mountains enter the battlefield under your control at the same time, Valakut's second ability could trigger that many times. Each ability takes into consideration the other Mountains that entered the battlefield at the same time as the one that caused it to trigger.
September 8, 2010 11:43 p.m.