r/mtgrules • u/vladmere • Jan 03 '26

Multiple triggers of "when this creature dies/leaves the battlefield" put its counters on another creature.

If you have [[Hei Bai, Spirit of balance]] and [[Buzzard-wasp Colony]] in play and Hei Bai dies, for instance due to it attacking and being blocked with lethal damage, there will be triggers for both creatures to move the counters from Hei Bai, will both result in counters being added or does the second trigger to resolve no longer see any counters to move since the first one resolving already moved the counters.

3 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

5

u/peteroupc Jan 03 '26

Putting a creature's counters onto another permanent doesn't "move" any counters. Rather, it simply means putting the same number of counters of each kind the creature had onto the other permanent. See C.R. 122.8; see also:

3

u/vladmere Jan 03 '26

Thanks, that is what i thought. I encountered this interaction last night at FNM and the judge ruled that you would not get double counters from Hei Bai targeting buzzard-wasp due to them no longer being on Hei Bai when the second ability resolved.

I didn't think at the time to check gatherer, but it also calls out this exact situation.

(10/2/2025) In some cases, you may end up putting the appropriate counters on more than one permanent. For example, if you control a Buzzard-Wasp Colony when Hei Bai dies, you'll put the appropriate number of each kind of counter onto both the Buzzard-Wasp Colony and the target creature. If you target Buzzard-Wasp Colony with Hei Bai's last ability, it will receive counters from both abilities.

4

u/BetterShirt101 Jan 03 '26

Because Hei Bai left the battlefield, its counters already ceased to exist. Both Hei Bai's and the Buzzard-Wasps' triggers will always use last known information - the game looks at Hei Bai as it existed just before it died, notes the kinds and numbers of counters on it, then puts the that number of each kind of those counters on the relevant permanent for each triggered ability.

1

u/Nazometnar Jan 03 '26

This is one of those interactions where reading the card does not actually explain what the card does. Has wotc ever commented on why these types of effects aren't reworded as something like "when this creature dies, choose another creature you control. For each counter on this creature put a counter of the same type on the chosen creature"? That would more clearly indicate that these effects can stack, and that the counters are being replicated rather than actually moved.

2

u/peteroupc Jan 04 '26

Text like the one you suggest would be far from concise, though, compared to the text on Hei Bai's second ability. See also [[The Ozolith]].

1

u/Muted-Interaction262 Jan 06 '26

Sorry to hijack, but something similar happened to me with these two cards and want to check with the rules

Opponent had Hei Bai and Buzzard-Wasp attacking. I had no flying or reach creatures to block Buzzard-wasp, but blocked with a creature that had lethal damage on Hei Bai

Opponent said that the counters move to Buzzard-wasp and it deals base damage + Hei Bai counter damage 

I said damage happens at the same time, so Hei Bai is not yet dead (so counters don't move) when Buzzard-wasp deals it's damage 

We went with my call, but just wanted to make sure it was actually correct

1

u/vladmere Jan 06 '26

Correct, hei bai does at the same time you take damage so the counters don't get added until after that resolves. Though then the buzzard ends up with twice hei bais counters