Can I still sac a creature for it's ability even after something kills it?

Asked by marin274 13 years ago

So lets say I have a Vampire Hexmage and someone casts Lightning Bolt on it, I'm assuming I CAN'T sac it to still use it's ability. But what if I attack with vampire hexmage and someone blocks with a 10/10, can I sac it right before the 10/10 kills it? If the answer to that is yes, lets say someone attacks with a 10/10 and I block with the hexmage, then sac it. Is the 10/10 still blocked?

djdauenbaugh says... #1

Reading KrazyCaleys forum post about abilities will help you understand this greatly. rules-primer--kinds-of-abilities. The Lightning Bolt no, I don't think you can activate, but yes the block and sac, or block and tap can actually happen. That's my understanding, but I look forward to being proven wrong. :)

January 2, 2011 10:08 p.m.

Jarrod_0067 says... Accepted answer #2

Okay, Lightning Bolt uses the stack. You can put any abilities above it, then the stack resolves reverse order. First in last out applies, meaning the first spell or ability on the stack resolves last. The Lightning Bolt targets your Vampire Hexmage . In response to the creature being targeted, you sacrifice it to kill their planeswalker or whatever. The hexmage is no longer a valid target as it has been sacrificed, so the Lightning Bolt fizzles.

As to blocking, I quote directly from the rulebook:

509.1h An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first. A creature remains blocked even if all the creatures blocking it are removed from combat.

January 2, 2011 10:20 p.m.

jewpop42 says... #3

thats interesting. never knew you could legally block sac. where exactly do you find a rule book?

January 3, 2011 4:23 p.m.

jewpop42 says... #4

Wait no I thought you couldn't remove from combat via sac

January 4, 2011 12:48 p.m.

Xin says... #5

So... you can still legally block with the PentavusMTG Card: Pentavus ability and immediately sacrifice all 5 of them? I thought they got rid of those types of combat tricks a while back?

January 19, 2012 6:42 p.m.

Jarrod_0067 says... #6

In all cases, if a creature has an ability that removes itself from a combat situation, or that creature dies before combat is initiate, the attacking creature is still considered blocked

HOWEVER, if a creature with Trample is attacking and your defender is removed from combat, the Trampling creature still deals the full amount of combat damage to the player/planeswalker. It is still "blocked" but considers the creature's toughness to be 0, trampling over the full damage

January 20, 2012 4:38 a.m.

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