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Rules Q&A » Post: Turn & a suited-up creature.

Turn & a suited-up creature.

Aug. 11, 2013 12:34:51 AM

Todd Dalton
Judge (Uncertified)

USA - Pacific West

Turn & a suited-up creature.

Let's say I control a Loxodon Smiter enchanted with Indestructibility and equipped with Fireshrieker and Batterskull, My opponent opts to cast Turn // Burn, casting Turn, targeting the smiter. The smiter is a 0/1 Weird and loses all abilties. In regards to the equipment/enchantments, which abilities are lost, if any? I'd think that Indestructibility won't apply as it's a keyword being granted, so Turn is removing it, same for Fireshrieker and Batterskull granting Double Strike and Vigilance/Lifelink, respectively.

But what about the Batterskull granting +4/+4?

Edited Todd Dalton (Aug. 11, 2013 12:47:21 AM)

Aug. 13, 2013 10:07:10 AM

Daniel Kitachewsky
Judge (Uncertified)

France

Turn & a suited-up creature.

It's 4/5 with no abilities.

To work out what an object looks like, you use layers. Simplifying a little bit, you start with the printed values of the object, and apply effects of the same type in the order they were created. The moment they're created is called their timestamp.

Indestructible is now a keyword (since Magic 2014 came out). Auras like Indestructibility now grant this keyword, which means that it can be removed by an effect removing all abilities.

So here we have the following effects:

- In layer 4, Turn makes the creature type Weird.
- In layer 5, Turn makes the creature red.
- In layer 6, Indestructibility gives indestructible, Fireshrieker gives double strike, Batterskull gives lifelink and vigilance, and last Turn removes all abilities.
- In layer 7b, Turn makes the creature 0/1.
- In layer 7c, Batterskull gives it +4/+4.

As you can see, it's all in separate layers, except for the various effects relating to adding/removing abilities. Since Turn resolved after the equipments were equipped and after the aura started enchanting the permanent, it's applied last, effectively removing all abilities.

Note that the timestamp of an equipment changes every time it's equipped to a new object. Activating the equip ability onto the same object won't do; you actually have to move it elsewhere and then back to the object. If you had another creature and enough mana, you could give the creature lifelink + vigilance (by moving Batterskull) or double strike (by moving Fireshrieker). The same goes for auras, although only a handful of effects lets one move auras around (see for example Aura Graft). Or you could wait until Turn's effect ends!

Daniel Kitachewsky
L3, Paris, France
Rules NetRep

Edited Daniel Kitachewsky (Aug. 13, 2013 12:01:59 PM)