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Now that we've dealt with the major generic portions of triggered abilities, I will now turn to specific rules dealing with large classes of triggered abilities.
For those of you who wrote to me about it, I have noted the small mistake in the last article; that will be dealt with in "Rule of Law 7c - In Clarification..."
Combat Triggers
410.9. Some abilities trigger when creatures block or are blocked in combat. (See rules 306-311 and section 500, "Legal Attacks and Blocks.") They may trigger once or repeatedly, depending on the wording of the ability.
This is simply a warning, as I mentioned previously, to read the card!
410.9a An ability that reads "Whenever [this creature] blocks" or "Whenever [this creature] becomes blocked" triggers only once each combat for that creature, even if it blocks or is blocked by multiple creatures. An effect that causes the creature to become blocked (if the creature wasn't already blocked) will also trigger such abilities.
410.9b An ability that reads "Whenever [this creature] blocks a creature" triggers once for each attacking creature the named creature blocks.
This also applies to things like Tangle Asp.
Each creature that blocks Tangle Asp or becomes blocked by Tangle Asp triggers the ability separately.
410.9c An ability that reads "Whenever a creature blocks [this creature]" triggers once for each creature that blocks the named creature. It doesn't trigger if the attacking creature becomes blocked by an effect rather than a blocking creature.
This is slightly different than the "whenever this creature blocks" or the "whenever this creature becomes blocked" triggers above. It specifically has to be blocked by a creature, and it triggers a number of times equal to the number of creatures that block it. Effects that cause a creature to become blocked trigger the earlier wordings, but not this wording.
410.9d If an ability triggers when a creature blocks or is blocked by a particular number of creatures, the ability triggers only if the creature blocks or is blocked by that many creatures when the attack or block declaration is made. Effects that add or remove blockers can cause such abilities to trigger. This also applies to abilities that trigger on a creature blocking or being blocked by at least a certain number of creatures.
I specifically waited to send this until I got clarification about why this rule even exists. The following is from Jeff Jordan, NetRep for the mtg-l mailing list:
This rule is for effects like Sorrow's Path and False Orders, that "make" new blocks which didn't exist before. A new block declaration is created.
Things That Change Zones
410.10. Trigger events that involve objects changing zones are called "zone-change triggers." Many abilities with zone-change triggers attempt to do something to that object after it changes zones. During resolution, these abilities look for the object in the zone that it moved to. If the object is unable to be found in the zone it went to, the part of the ability attempting to do something to the object will fail to do anything. The ability could be unable to find the object because the object never entered the specified zone, because it left the zone before the ability resolved, or because it is in a zone that is hidden from a player, such as a library or an opponent's hand. (This rule applies even if the object leaves the zone and returns again before the ability resolves.) The most common types of zone-change triggers are comes-into-play triggers and leaves-play triggers.
Keep this in mind, as it will solve many of your questions. When an object changes zones, some triggered abilities attempt to do something to it after it has gone to the new zone. If it's trying to do something to the object, it keeps track of the object so it knows what to act on when it resolves. If the ability can't find the object, it won't do anything to it.
As mentioned above, it may be unable to find the object because it never entered the zone that the ability expected to find it. Auriok Champion wants to trigger on a Phyrexian Dreadnought entering play, but if it doesn't come into play, the triggered ability does nothing.
The other way a triggered ability can lose track of an object is if that object leaves the expected zone. Even if it comes back, the ability loses track and fails to do anything.
410.10a Comes-into-play abilities trigger when a permanent enters the in-play zone. These are written, "When [this card] comes into play, . . . " or "Whenever a [type] comes into play, . . ." Each time an event puts one or more permanents into play, all permanents in play (including the newcomers) are checked for any comes-into-play triggers that match the event.
This means that a permanent with a "comes into play" ability can trigger on itself, if the conditions match.
If you have Hair-Strung Koto out and play Battered Golem, it triggers on its own coming into play. You may then activate the Hair-Strung Koto by tapping the Battered Golem, let that resolve, and then the Battered Golem will untap itself.
410.10b Continuous effects that modify characteristics of a permanent do so the moment the permanent is in play (and not before then). The permanent is never in play with its unmodified characteristics. Continuous effects don't apply before the permanent is in play, however (see rule 410.10e).
Example: If an effect reads "All lands are creatures" and a land card is played, the effect makes the land card into a creature the moment it enters play, so it would trigger abilities that trigger when a creature comes into play. Conversely, if an effect reads "All creatures lose all abilities" and a creature card with a comes-into-play triggered ability enters play, that effect will cause it to lose its abilities the moment it enters play, so the comes-into-play ability won't trigger.
This is important, especially with the "comes into play" abilities. This rule states that you judge whether a "comes into play" ability triggers based on what the new object will look like after all the continuous abilities are done modifying it. In some cases, the object will either gain or lose the types that cause the trigger to take place, whereas in others, the object will lose the ability in question, so there is nothing to trigger in the first place.
410.10c Leaves-play abilities trigger when a permanent leaves the in-play zone. These are written as, but aren't limited to, "When [this object] leaves play, . . ." or "Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from play, . . . ." An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left play checks for it only in the first zone that it went to.
In other words, when a "leaves play" trigger tries to do something to the object, it can't track the object beyond the first zone it went to after it left play. Also, as per above, it can't track the object into a zone where its identity is hidden information, such as the hand or library.
410.10d Abilities that trigger on one or more permanents leaving play, or on a player losing control of a permanent, must be treated specially because the permanent with the ability may no longer be in play after the event. The game has to "look back in time" to determine what triggered. Each time an event removes from play or changes who controls one or more permanents, all the permanents in play just before the event (with continuous effects that existed at that time) are checked for trigger events that match what just left play or changed control.
Example: Two creatures are in play along with an artifact that has the ability "Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from play, you gain 1 life." Someone plays a spell that destroys all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact's ability triggers twice, even though the artifact goes to its owner's graveyard at the same time as the creatures.
This is another important distinction. "Comes into play" triggers (and most triggers, for that matter), only trigger if they are in a position to do so after the event happens. "Leaves play" triggers, including "graveyard" triggers, look to see if there were appropriate triggers before the event took place. This allows an ability that triggered on its associated object leaving play to actually work, such as Soulshift.
410.10e Some permanents have text that reads "[This permanent] comes into play with . . . ," "As [this permanent] comes into play . . . ," "[This permanent] comes into play as . . . ," or "[This permanent] comes into play tapped." Such text is a static ability-not a triggered ability-whose effect occurs as part of the event that puts the permanent into play.
Remember the three trigger words, "At, when, whenever." There are plenty of abilities that have "comes into play" but don't have any of the three trigger words. Without the trigger word, there is no triggered ability.
State Triggers
410.11. Some triggered abilities trigger on a game state, such as a player controlling no permanents of a particular type, rather than triggering when an event occurs. These abilities trigger as soon as the game state matches the condition. They'll go onto the stack at the next available opportunity. These are called state triggers. (Note that state triggers aren't the same as state-based effects.) A state-triggered ability doesn't trigger again until the ability has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack. Then, if the object with the ability is still in the same zone and the game state still matches its trigger condition, the ability will trigger again.
Example: A permanent's ability reads, "Whenever you have no cards in hand, draw a card." If its controller plays the last card from his or her hand, the ability will trigger once and won't trigger again until it has resolved. If its controller plays a spell that reads "Discard your hand, then draw the same number of cards," the ability will trigger during the spell's resolution because the player's hand was momentarily empty.
I mentioned state triggers before. This is the rule that deals with them. They use a trigger word, therefore they are actual triggered abilities and not state-based effects. (Although a state-based effect may be referenced by reminder text, they are implemented by the rules, and therefore don't need rule text. State triggers use actual rule text.)
There are two important things to consider here. The first is that a state trigger can trigger any time the condition is met - even in the middle of another ability resolving. It won't actually go onto the stack until after that ability is finished resolving, though. The second is that once a state trigger has been noticed, won't trigger again until the first instance has left the stack. (Note that an ability that has not been put on the stack can't possibly have left it yet.)
Next time, I will not only correct mistakes, but also deal with other questions, comments, and the like that this subject generates.
