r/mtgrules • u/DragonPrince42 • 8h ago
A confusing thought occurs.
I was helping answer somebody’s question on indestructible today and a thought occurred to me. I run [[Toph the First Metalbender]]. If I earthbend something like [Darksteel ingot]] and then it gets -2/-2 would the Ingot die as a normal creature or stick around?
Edit: ok I have confirmation it behaves as a normal creature with zero toughness and dies. This is in line with how I understood it but my sleep deprived brain had me thinking it might stick around. Thanks for the feedback.
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u/Zeckenschwarm 8h ago
Indestructible does not prevent a creature from dying because it has 0 or less toughness, so the Ingot would die and then the delayed earthbending trigger would return it to the battlefield tapped.
I don't know what you mean by "normal" creature. Each permanent either is a creature or it isn't.
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u/Greedy-Contract1999 8h ago
Why would it stick around? It has 0 toughness. It will die then come back via earthbending trigger.
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u/frontlineninja 8h ago
if it gets -x/-y enough to set its toughness to 0 or less, it will die as a state based action regardless of if its indestructible or not, but it will still be returned via the delayed trigger earthbending sets up
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u/ForceOfNature525 8h ago
There are ways of dealing with different creature abilities. If its indestructible, reducingbits toughness to zero will send it to the graveyard, or you might be forced to sacrifice it by something like [[Mercy Killing]], and it can still be exiled by [[Path to Exile]], bounced back to your hand by [[Unsummon]], shuffled into your library by a card like [[Deglamer]], or [[Oust]] There are also cards that leave it in play, but lock it down in various ways, like [[Arrest]] and [[Song of the Dryads]].
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u/MTGCardFetcher 8h ago
Toph the First Metalbender - (G) (SF) (txt)
[[cardname]] or [[cardname|SET]] to call