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!
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)
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!
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.
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!
Triggered and activated abilities can be divided into two parts: condition, and effect. For activated abilities, the condition is a specific cost being paid and is separated from the effect by a colon, while triggered abilities just happen whenever a specified criteria is met. When copying one of these abilities, you only ever copy the effect, not the condition.
So if you copy an ability that says “whenever x happens, do y” you get y effect twice without having to meet the x condition a second time. If you copy an ability that says “do x: get y effect” you get y effect without having to do x a second time.
Hope that makes sense!
This definitely helps clarify things, thank you!
If I’m understanding correctly, then, when copying a “boast” ability, it allows me to receive the effect of the boast twice while only having to pay the cost once (“pay x, do y”). Correct?
That’s correct.
Boast is interesting because it’s an activated ability (cost:effect) that can only be activated when a condition is met, like a triggered ability.
As long as the first activation happened while the condition was met (the creature attacked this turn) the effect from the ability can be copied before it finishes resolving.
Thank you, I appreciate the help! Happy Gathering
- Isareth the Awakener - (G) (SF) (txt)
- Drana, Liberator of Malakir - (G) (SF) (txt)
- The Peregrine Dynamo - (G) (SF) (txt)
[[card name]] to call
From the Comprehensive Rules:
707.10. To copy a spell, activated ability, or triggered ability means to put a copy of it onto the stack; a copy of a spell isn’t cast and a copy of an activated ability isn’t activated. A copy of a spell or ability copies both the characteristics of the spell or ability and all decisions made for it, including modes, targets, the value of X, and additional or alternative costs. (See rule 601, “Casting Spells.”) Choices that are normally made on resolution are not copied. If an effect of the copy refers to objects used to pay its costs, it uses the objects used to pay the costs of the original spell or ability. A copy of a spell is owned by the player under whose control it was put on the stack. A copy of a spell or ability is controlled by the player under whose control it was put on the stack. A copy of a spell is itself a spell, even though it has no spell card associated with it. A copy of an ability is itself an ability.
This means that you don’t pay the activation cost again.
In your first example, X would remain the same for the copy and you can’t change it. If a copy effect says that you may choose new targets, that specifically refers to choosing game objects specified by the word target in the text of the ability, so in Isareth’s case, you could reanimate another creature with the same mana value.
In your second example, yes, you’d place counters on each attacking creature twice.
also note that these are the rules for spells or abilities on the stack. some effects have you copying cards in exile, in which case you do play those, and you do pay the associated casting costs unless the effect states otherwise.
Yeah, you’re totally right about being able to copy the ability after I already paid the mana cost and choose new targets. So I can target a different creature with the same mana value to bring back now. Makes sense!
I checked out Isareth’s Gatherer page and it seems like the first ability, the one triggered by attacking, doesn’t actually target anything when it goes on the stack. So I can either copy the ability after I paid mana like we talked about earlier, or I can copy the first one right after the trigger. This means I can pay mana twice and bring back two creatures with different mana values! It’s a pretty cool trick that can be really handy depending on what’s going on with the board and graveyard.
Ah shoot, you’re right, I didn’t read the card closely enough and see that it’s a triggered ability, not a an activated ability.
Don’t worry about it!
