Can I tutor Aysen Crusader w/ Recruiter of the Guard?
Asked by Metroid_Hybrid 3 years ago
At first glance the answer would appear to be yes.
However, the strange wording of Aysen Crusader, and the fact that Recruiter of the Guard is a Soldier, has me thinking otherwise. Because the Crusader would be (at a minimum) a 3/3— and therefore can not be fetched by the Recruiter..
I think it comes down to a question of: Does Aysen Crusader's ability count in all zones, or just on the Battlefield?
TheRealSpecialK says... #3
Rhadamanthus beat me to it. I learned this the hard way playing brawl on MTG Arena. I put Ashaya, Soul of the Wild into a Nethroi, Apex of Death deck. After Ashaya had landed in the graveyard, I mutated Nethroi onto something fully expecting Ashaya's power to count as 0, only to find that it had was equal to something like 8 - whatever my land count was. Abilities like Aysen Crusader or Ashaya, Soul of the Wild work in all zones.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
In your example, Aysen Crusader has more than 2 toughness and can't be fetched with Recruiter of the Guard.
With the way it's written, the Crusader's ability is a special type called a "Characteristic-Defining Ability". CDAs are always on and function in every zone (even outside the game). As the number of Heroes and Soldiers you control changes, the Crusader's P/T will change with them regardless of what zone it's currently in.
You can get around this if the Recruiter is your only Hero/Soldier and you're able to get it off of the battlefield somehow before its enter-the-battlefield trigger starts resolving. Then the Crusader will only be a 2/2.
February 1, 2021 5:53 p.m.