I looked back to March in this forum and couldn't see a post about this, so here goes:

I control Thassa, Nightveil Spectre and Opalescence. As it stands I know Thassa is a 3/3 regardless of timestamp.

Now, say I play a Bident of Thassa. I know the Bident is a 4/4, that much is easy. However we now have two effects trying to make Thassa a creature, and two trying to set her power and toughness. From what I can ascertain, timestamp comes into play here. Thassa will be a 5/5 if he has the earlier timestamp, and a 3/3 if Opalescence does?

Since the ability turning Thassa into a creature is static and not activated, it doesn't get a new timestamp like Inkmoth Nexus would, for example?

I phrased this really badly, but basically I just want my EDH deck to work ;)

This depends on the order the cards entered the battlefield and what your devotion is.

Both Opalescence and the Thassa's “I'm not a creature if your devotion isn't high enough” effects apply in layer 4. There's no dependency, so we apply them in timestamp order.

If the god entered the battlefield first, then Opalescence has a later timestamp, so its effect will apply after the god's effect. No matter what your devotion is, Thassa will always be a 3/3 creature (although if your devotion to blue is 4 or less, Thassa will not have the god creature type).

If Opalescence entered the battlefield first, and your devotion to blue is five or more, then Thassa will be a 3/3 creature (Opalescence's effect applies later in later 7b and will still make the Thassa into a 3/3 instead of a 5/6).

If Opalescence entered the battlefield first and your devotion to blue is four or less, then Thassa will not be a creature. In layer 4, we apply Opalescence's effect first (making it a creature), then we apply Thassa's effect and Thassa is not a creature. Since Thassa is not a creature, it won't gain a power and toughness in layer 7b, so Thassa would end up as not a creature.

In short: Thassa will be a 3/3 creature, unless Thassa entered the battlefield after Opalescence and your devotion to blue is less than four, in which case Thassa will not be a creature.

Nathan Long
Wizards.Com Boards NetRep