603.1.
Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as «[Trigger
condition], [effect],» and begin with the word «when,» «whenever,» or «at.» They can also be
expressed as «[When/Whenever/At] [trigger event], [effect].»
603.2.
Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability‘s trigger event, that ability
automatically triggers. The ability doesn‘t do anything at this point.
603.2a
Because they aren‘t cast or activated, triggered abilities can trigger even when it isn‘t legal
to cast spells and activate abilities. Effects that prevent abilities from being activated don‘t
affect them.
603.2b
When a phase or step begins, all abilities that trigger «at the beginning of» that phase or step
trigger.
603.2c
An ability triggers only once each time its trigger event occurs. However, it can trigger
repeatedly if one event contains multiple occurrences. See also rule 509.4.
Example: A permanent has an ability whose trigger condition reads, “Whenever a land
is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . .” If someone casts a spell that destroys
all lands, the ability will trigger once for each land put into the graveyard during the
spell?s resolution.
603.2d
Some trigger events use the word «becomes» (for example, «becomes tapped» or «becomes
blocked»). These trigger only at the time the named event happens—they don‘t trigger if that
state already exists or retrigger if it persists. Similarly, they don‘t trigger if an object enters a
zone in that state.
Example: An ability that triggers when a permanent “becomes tapped” triggers only
when the status of a permanent that?s already on the battlefield changes from untapped
to tapped.
603.2e
If a triggered ability‘s trigger condition is met, but the object with that triggered ability is at
no time visible to all players, the ability does not trigger.
603.2f
An ability triggers only if its trigger event actually occurs. An event that‘s prevented or
replaced won‘t trigger anything.
Example: An ability that triggers on damage being dealt won?t trigger if all the damage
is prevented.
603.3.
Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that‘s not a card the
next time a player would receive priority. See rule 116, «Timing and Priority.» The ability becomes
the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other
characteristics. It remains on the stack until it‘s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed
from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.
603.3a
A triggered ability is controlled by the player who controlled its source at the time it
triggered, unless it‘s a delayed triggered ability. To determine the controller of a delayed
triggered ability, see rules 603.7d–f.
603.3b
If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player,
in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she
chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and resolves state-based actions
until none are performed, then abilities that triggered during this process go on the stack. This
process repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the
appropriate player gets priority.
603.3c
If a triggered ability is modal, its controller announces the mode choice when he or she puts
the ability on the stack. If one of the modes would be illegal (due to an inability to choose legal
targets, for example), that mode can‘t be chosen. If no mode can be chosen, the ability is
removed from the stack. (See rule 700.2.)
603.3d
The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the
process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d. If a choice is required when the triggered
ability goes on the stack but no legal choices can be made for it, or if a rule or a continuous
effect otherwise makes the ability illegal, the ability is simply removed from the stack.
603.4.
A triggered ability may read «When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect].» When
the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers
only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it
resolves. If the condition isn‘t true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does
nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the «intervening
?if‘ clause» rule. (The word «if» has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a
card; this rule only applies to an «if» that immediately follows a trigger condition.)
Example: Felidar Sovereign reads, “At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or
more life, you win the game.” Its controller?s life total is checked as that player?s upkeep
begins. If that player has 39 or less life, the ability doesn?t trigger at all. If that player has
40 or more life, the ability triggers and goes on the stack. As the ability resolves, that
player?s life total is checked again. If that player has 39 or less life at this time, the ability is
removed from the stack and has no effect. If that player has 40 or more life at this time, the
ability resolves and that player wins the game.
603.5.
Some triggered abilities‘ effects are optional (they contain «may,» as in «At the beginning of
your upkeep, you may draw a card»). These abilities go on the stack when they trigger, regardless of
whether their controller intends to exercise the ability‘s option or not. The choice is made when the
ability resolves. Likewise, triggered abilities that have an effect «unless» something is true or a
player chooses to do something will go on the stack normally; the «unless» part of the ability is
dealt with when the ability resolves.
603.6.
Trigger events that involve objects changing zones are called «zone-change triggers.» Many
abilities with zone-change triggers attempt to do something to that object after it changes zones.
During resolution, these abilities look for the object in the zone that it moved to. If the object is
unable to be found in the zone it went to, the part of the ability attempting to do something to the
object will fail to do anything. The ability could be unable to find the object because the object
never entered the specified zone, because it left the zone before the ability resolved, or because it is
in a zone that is hidden from a player, such as a library or an opponent‘s hand. (This rule applies
even if the object leaves the zone and returns again before the ability resolves.) The most common
zone-change triggers are enters-the-battlefield triggers and leaves-the-battlefield triggers.
603.6a
Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are
written, «When [this object] enters the battlefield, . . . » or «Whenever a [type] enters the
battlefield, . . .» Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all
permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-thebattlefield
triggers that match the event.
603.6b
Continuous effects that modify characteristics of a permanent do so the moment the
permanent is on the battlefield (and not before then). The permanent is never on the battlefield
with its unmodified characteristics. Continuous effects don‘t apply before the permanent is on
the battlefield, however (see rule 603.6e).
Example: If an effect reads “All lands are creatures” and a land card is played, the
effect makes the land card into a creature the moment it enters the battlefield, so it
would trigger abilities that trigger when a creature enters the battlefield. Conversely, if
an effect reads “All creatures lose all abilities” and a creature card with an enters-thebattlefield
triggered ability enters the battlefield, that effect will cause it to lose its
abilities the moment it enters the battlefield, so the enters-the-battlefield ability won?t
trigger.
603.6c
Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to
another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the
game. These are written as, but aren‘t limited to, «When [this object] leaves the battlefield, . . .»
or «Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . .» An ability that
attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone
that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone «from anywhere» is
never treated as a leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the
battlefield.
603.6d
Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event
matched any trigger conditions. Continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine
what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like. However,
some triggered abilities must be treated specially because the object with the ability may no
longer be on the battlefield, may have moved to a hand or library, or may no longer be
controlled by the appropriate player. The game has to «look back in time» to determine if these
abilities trigger. Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a permanent phases
out, abilities that trigger when an object that all players can see is put into a hand or library,
abilities that trigger specifically when an object becomes unattached, abilities that trigger when
a player loses control of an object, and abilities that trigger when a player planeswalks away
from a plane will trigger based on their existence, and the appearance of objects, prior to the
event rather than afterward.
Example: Two creatures are on the battlefield along with an artifact that has the ability
“Whenever a creature dies, you gain 1 life.” Someone plays a spell that destroys all
artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact?s ability triggers twice, even though
the artifact goes to its owner?s graveyard at the same time as the creatures.
603.6e
Some permanents have text that reads «[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,»
«As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,» «[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . .
,» or «[This permanent] enters the battlefield tapped.» Such text is a static ability—not a
triggered ability—whose effect occurs as part of the event that puts the permanent onto the
battlefield.
603.6f
Some Auras have triggered abilities that trigger on the enchanted permanent leaving the
battlefield. These triggered abilities can find the new object that permanent card became in the
zone it moved to; they can also find the new object the Aura card became in its owner‘s
graveyard after state-based actions have been checked. See rule 400.7.
603.7.
An effect may create a delayed triggered ability that can do something at a later time. A delayed
triggered ability will contain «when,» «whenever,» or «at,» although that word won‘t usually begin
the ability.
603.7a
Delayed triggered abilities come from spells or other abilities that create them on resolution,
or are created as the result of a replacement effect being applied. That means a delayed triggered
ability won‘t trigger until it has actually been created, even if its trigger event occurred just
beforehand. Other events that happen earlier may make the trigger event impossible.
Example: Part of an effect reads “When this creature leaves the battlefield,” but the
creature in question leaves the battlefield before the spell or ability creating the effect
resolves. In this case, the delayed ability never triggers.
Example: If an effect reads “When this creature becomes untapped” and the named
creature becomes untapped before the effect resolves, the ability waits for the next time
that creature untaps.
603.7b
A delayed triggered ability will trigger only once—the next time its trigger event occurs—
unless it has a stated duration, such as «this turn.»
603.7c
A delayed triggered ability that refers to a particular object still affects it even if the object
changes characteristics. However, if that object is no longer in the zone it‘s expected to be in at
the time the delayed triggered ability resolves, the ability won‘t affect it. (Note that if that object
left that zone and then returned, it‘s a new object and thus won‘t be affected. See rule 400.7.)
Example: An ability that reads “Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end
step” will exile the permanent even if it?s no longer a creature during the next end step.
However, it won?t do anything if the permanent left the battlefield before then.
603.7d
If a spell creates a delayed triggered ability, the source of that delayed triggered ability is
that spell. The controller of that delayed triggered ability is the player who controlled that spell
as it resolved.
603.7e
If an activated or triggered ability creates a delayed triggered ability, the source of that
delayed triggered ability is the same as the source of that other ability. The controller of that
delayed triggered ability is the player who controlled that other ability as it resolved.
603.7f
If a static ability generates a replacement effect which causes a delayed triggered ability to
be created, the source of that delayed triggered ability is the object with that static ability. The
controller of that delayed triggered ability is the same as the controller of that object at the time
the replacement effect was applied.
603.8.
Some triggered abilities trigger when a game state (such as a player controlling no permanents of
a particular card type) is true, rather than triggering when an event occurs. These abilities trigger as
soon as the game state matches the condition. They‘ll go onto the stack at the next available
opportunity. These are called state triggers. (Note that state triggers aren‘t the same as state-based
actions.) A state-triggered ability doesn‘t trigger again until the ability has resolved, has been
countered, or has otherwise left the stack. Then, if the object with the ability is still in the same zone
and the game state still matches its trigger condition, the ability will trigger again.
Example: A permanent?s ability reads, “Whenever you have no cards in hand, draw a
card.” If its controller plays the last card from his or her hand, the ability will trigger once
and won?t trigger again until it has resolved. If its controller casts a spell that reads
“Discard your hand, then draw that many cards,” the ability will trigger during the spell?s
resolution because the player?s hand was momentarily empty.
603.9.
Some triggered abilities trigger specifically when a player loses the game. These abilities trigger
when a player loses or leaves the game, regardless of the reason, unless that player leaves the game
as the result of a draw. See rule 104.3.
603.10.
Some objects have a static ability that‘s linked to a triggered ability. (See rule 607, «Linked
Abilities.») These objects combine both abilities into one paragraph, with the static ability first,
followed by the triggered ability. A very few objects have triggered abilities which are written with
the trigger condition in the middle of the ability, rather than at the beginning.
Example: An ability that reads “Reveal the first card you draw each turn. Whenever you
reveal a basic land card this way, draw a card” is a static ability linked to a triggered
ability.