this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024
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I would greatly appreciate some clarification on how triggered/activated abilities, especially those that involve a cost, can be copied. Thank you for your help with this. (lemmy.ml)
submitted 8 months ago by bec@lemmy.ml to c/mtg@mtgzone.com
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Could you please clarify for me? If I activate an ability that has a cost and then copy it, do I need to pay the cost again for the copy to resolve?

For example, the ability of [[Isareth, the Awakener]]. If I decide to attack and pay X mana to reanimate a creature, do I also have to pay again if I copy the ability? And if so, am I able to pay a different amount, considering that the source of the copying states, "You can choose new targets for the copy"?

A second question is for a card like [[Drana, Liberator of Malakir]]. If she deals direct damage and her ability triggers, would the +1/+1 counter be placed on each attacking creature, including herself, twice, were I to copy it?

I'm not sure if it's necessary to mention, but I am new to this, I am using [[The Peregrine Dynamo]] to copy those abilities.

Thank you for your help in clarifying this!

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[–] Godort@lemm.ee 8 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Copying an ability simply adds a second one to the stack with all the same text as the first.

I was wrong in my first reading. With Isareth, the ability is placed on the stack before the cost is paid. If you were to copy the ability, you would need to pay X for each copy, but could pay different values

Your second example is correct, you would place a +1/+1 counter on all your creatures, twice.(Ie: 2 +1/+1 counters per creature)

[–] bec@lemmy.ml 4 points 8 months ago

Thank you for the clarification! I was actually going to ask for more information before your edit, haha.

I think this combination looks great and I would be interested in trying it out!

[–] Evu@mtgzone.com 2 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If I'm not mistaken, Isareth's ability is actually two triggered abilities: "Whenever Isareth attacks" is one, and "When you do [pay X]" is the other. With The Peregrine Dynamo, you could copy either ability. If you copy the first one, you can pay X twice, choosing different amounts (or the same amount) each time. If you copy the second, the value for X has to stay the same, but you can revive two creatures with the same mana value.

If instead of The Peregrine Dynamo you had a [[Roaming Throne]], you could end up returning as many as four creatures.

[–] bec@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago

I took a look at Isareth's entry on Gatherer, and it seems that there are indeed two different abilities at play here. This means that you are correct in pointing out that one can copy either the first part or the second part of the ability. It's quite an interesting interaction! I am excited to try it out and see how it plays out in a game!

[–] cardbot@mtgzone.com 1 points 8 months ago

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