Is Chaos Warp's ability a triggered ability?

Asked by Aspitxon 2 years ago

In short, if a player shuffles his/her library due to Chaos Warp's ability and then reveals a permanent, would I be able to Stifle it causing the permanent not to enter the battlefield?

legendofa says... Accepted answer #1

No, it's a condition, not a triggered ability. Triggered abilities use one of three phrases:

  1. Whenever (X happens), (do Y). Whenever Slate Street Ruffian becomes blocked, defending player discards a card.

  2. When (X happens), (do Y). When Merchant of Secrets enters the battlefield, draw a card.

  3. At the (beginning/end of X phase/step), (do Y). At the beginning of enchanted player's upkeep, Curse of the Pierced Heart deals one damage to that player.

If it doesn't use one of those formulas, it's not a triggered ability.

February 26, 2022 3:54 p.m.

The above comment is true, but I want to add one more thing: in general you've missed your opportunity to Stifle something if a card is being revealed--that's usually part of the resolution of an ability, and once and ability has started resolving, you can no longer counter it.

For example: if an Egg I control dies while I control Atla Palani, Nest Tender, your chance to Stifle her trigger comes before her owner starts flipping cards. If the ability starts to resolve, and a creature is revealed, you can't interact with it until the ability is done resolving and the creature is in play.

February 26, 2022 4:12 p.m.

Polaris says... #3

Sometimes you can have a triggered ability in a spell, but if you do, it will always be written in the same format as legendofa described above.

An excellent example is Hypothesizzle, which does part of its effect via a reflexive triggered ability. From the Oracle rulings:

Hypothesizzle goes on the stack without a target. While that spell is resolving, you may discard a card. When you do, the reflexive triggered ability triggers and you pick a target creature to be dealt damage. This is different from effects that say “If you do . . .” in that you choose the target after having drawn two cards. (2018-10-05)

February 27, 2022 1:37 a.m.

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