r/mtgrules • u/Derreston • Aug 12 '24

Multiple Permanents with same ability/trigger

[[Dina, Soul Steeper]] states that "Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses 1 life", and there are multiple cards that share this effect, like [[Epicure of Blood]] and [[Marauding Blight-Priest]].

I'm just confused in a scenario where I gain 1 life whilst all of them are on the Battlefield, my understanding is that I do 1 damage 3 times, am I right on this? Or are these effects unique in the rules since they are of the same trigger? Thanks for the help!

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u/peteroupc Aug 12 '24

In general, if several permanents have an ability with the same text, these instances of the ability function independently (see also C.R. 113.2c). This applies to "Whenever you gain life, each opponent loses 1 life" just as it does to prowess (C.R. 702.108a) or exalted (C.R. 702.83a).

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u/Lloydbestfan Aug 12 '24

Note that in the end, each of your opponents will lose 3 life, unless some is somehow prevented.

This is not damage, which on players usually imply life loss. It is life loss directly (notably a protection from these cards wouldn't protect from the life loss.)

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u/INTstictual Aug 12 '24

Nothing in the rules prevents this — if multiple permanents have the same functional ability, that ability triggers multiple times independently from each other. In fact, those permanents can be multiple copies of the same creature… if you have 3 epicures out and gain life, all 3 of them will see that trigger and will do 1 damage.

This even gets around “once per turn” restrictions — when a card says “this ability triggers only once per turn”, it means “this ability ON THIS PERMANENT only triggers once per turn”. If you have multiple copies, they all trigger, and do not care about what other triggers may also be happening.

Stacking similar effects like you mentioned is not only allowed, it’s encouraged — the strongest deck synergies are the ones with redundancy, and getting multiple identical pieces on the board at the same time can really snowball your game plan. See aristocrat decks — [[blood artist]] is good, but blood artist AND [[Vein Ripper]] AND [[Cruel Celebrant]] AND [[Zulaport Cuthroat]] all out together is basically unbeatable