Is there a set order in which different types of state-based actions are checked/resolved?
Asked by Yesterday 3 years ago
A Vastwood Hydra is on my side of the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it. My opponent targets it with a Puncture Blast. After that spell resolves, before state-based actions are checked, there's a moment when the hydra is on the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters on it, three -1/-1 counters on it, at P/T -1/-1.
I was playing on MTGO a while ago and something similar to this happened (though I can't remember the exact cards involved), and the game handled it by default — the creature died before the +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters removed each other, and so the owner of the creature got the benefit of it dying with the two +1/+1 counters, rather than none.
In a different scenario, I'm attacking an opponent in a multiplayer game with three vanilla 2/2s and I control a Blood Artist. The opponent only has 3 life and a vanilla 1/1, and decides to block one of my creatures. When combat damage resolves, as state-based actions are checked, the opponent loses the game for having 0 or less life (and therefore all their creatures are removed from the game), and also their creature dies. If the creature dies before my opponent loses, my Blood Artist would see it dying and trigger.
I've only ever handled it as the creatures seeing each other dying, as I think one intuitively would do if two 2/2s were trading with each other rather than just a 1/1 blocking the attacking 2/2. But if the defending player is able to influence the way the state-based actions resolve, I suppose this isn't necessarily always the case.
Is there a specific order in which these state-based actions always resolve? If not, who gets to choose the order in each scenario?
Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #1
All SBA are performed at the same time. In the hydra situation they get the benefits of having the counters because last known information is used and as the hydra last existed it had the counters. The Blood Artist situation will have the 1/1 die and you will get a trigger at the same time that the opponent loses.
September 26, 2020 1:53 p.m.