AP's Lazav, Dimir Mastermind attacks NAP's Jace, Telepath Unbound, reducing the planeswalker to zero loyalty and sending it to the graveyard. Can Lazav become a copy of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy?

On the one hand, Telepath leaving the battlefield does not cause “whenever a creature dies” abilities to trigger, suggesting the game sees a planeswalker card changing zones until the transition is complete. If this is not true, does it mean there is a technical, step-by-step process for changing characteristics during a zone change that I could not find in the CR?

On the other hand, this interpretation might cause Lazav attempting to copy a dying Manifested sorcery to break the game. So maybe he does only care about the physical card appearing in the graveyard rather than a triggering event sending it there?

Thoughts?

Edited Nick Gajary (Sept. 19, 2018 10:29:23 PM)

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind can become a copy of Jace, Vryn's Prodigy.

There is no technical step-by-step process for changing characteristics during a zone change–there is simply one simultaneous action where an object that has a certain set of characteristics leaves the old zone, and a new object with a different set of characteristics enters the new zone.

So Jace, Telepath Unbound being put into the graveyard would not trigger an ability that triggers “whenever a creature dies”, because that trigger condition is looking to see an object that is a creature on the battlefield leaving that zone for the graveyard, and Jace, Telepath Unbound being put into the graveyard will not match that description.

Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, on the other hand, triggers “whenever a creature card is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere”, meaning it's looking to see an object that is a creature card arriving in the opponent's graveyard from anywhere, and Jace, Telepath Unbound being put into the graveyard will match that condition.