I just want to point out here this quote from the IPG:

Originally posted by IPG 2.1:

Note that passing priority, casting an instant spell or activating an ability doesn’t mean a triggered ability has been forgotten, as it could still be on the stack.

AP would need to have done something like casting a sorcery or creature, or moving to another step/phase in order for the trigger to have been missed – otherwise, we assume that the trigger is still on the stack.

In other words, she hasn't missed her trigger. No penalty.

Removed multiple replies that misquote the original scenario (in a way that might change folks' answers).

Originally posted by Joe Klopchic:

Howdy folks, and welcome back to another edition of Knowledge Pool. This week we have a Silver scenario, so L2s should wait until Friday to jump into the discussion.

Acacia and Naomi are playing in a Legacy 5k. Acacia controls a Sylvan Library. Acacia draws for turn, resolves Sylvan Library's ability and puts two cards back on top of her library. Acacia casts Shardless Agent and says “Does Shardless Agent resolve?” Naomi answers “Yes, it resolves.” Acacia then flips over the top two cards of her library, revealing a Misty Rainforest and an Abrupt Decay. Naomi calls for a judge and explains that she thinks Acacia missed her cascade trigger. What do you do?

(Credit to Max Perlmutter for the scenario idea)

I would say this is missed trigger for AP, and also LEC for looking at those cards with the fix being to put the cards back in the place. Even if AP knows the cards she can't look at them again without permission, but since they are all known we don't do the shuffle.

If it was any other way of passing priority or asking for a resolution of the stack without explicitly mentioning resolution of Shardless Agent, I would say what resolved is the cascade trigger, but this way it is clear that it is missed since Agent can't resolve before the trigger.

I would rule this as a missed trigger. A trigger must be acknowledged at the time it would be relevant to the game - for cascade this means *before* Shardless Agent resolves. By asking if Shardless Agent resolves, Acacia has missed that window. There's no penalty here, and Naomi will have the choice to put the trigger on the stack now (perhaps so that the Abrupt Decay can't be drawn next turn). I would take the time to educate Acacia on the difference between cast triggers and enter the battlefield triggers, since she seems to have gotten these mixed up. Since she skipped her trigger, revealing cards from the top of her library is LEC. Because their location was already known, we'll put them back right where they were. LEC does warrant a warning, but considering the specific case, I would treat it as the missed trigger being the root cause.

Seems I have a different take on this than most.

AP casts Agent, passes priority (Does it resolve?)
NAP passes priority back (Yes)
AP begins to Cascade

This interaction has done nothing other than create a sequence of priority passes that leads to the point where Cascade would resolve, which is exactly what AP has begun to do. AP has not taken any actions that would result in Cascade being missed.

I would issue no infraction and have AP finish resolving Cascade, choosing whether or not to cast the Abrupt Decay. Shardless Agent is still on the stack.

This question is a trap. Why isn't it rated gold?

Hi folks, Shiggins here from the KP team.

There have been some replies to this scenario that quote a draft version of our scenario. While I can certainly understand the confusion (the draft was publicly posted in the thread for about 20 minutes before we realized the error), please make sure you are quoting the correct language used in the scenario when you post your reply.

If folks reply with an alternative version of the scenario, others are going to respond to that version and soon, no one will know which version is being discussed. Please don't alter the scenario, even in small ways. Stick to the written text in the original post only.

Knowledge Pool scenarios are carefully crafted to target a specific area of policy. While we know and encourage you to investigate all angles in the real world when taking a call, that would burden down a posted scenario, and we really don't want threads to Descend into Madness.

Thank you for your understanding,

Shiggins and the KP team

Thanks everyone for all the participation this week. As Jeff pointed out, there was, for a short period of time, a version of the text of this scenario where Acacia asks “Does it resolve” instead of “Does Shardless Agent resolve?” as is in the final text. This makes a huge difference, and is why we edited the text.

As many of you pointed out, Acacia is asking for Shardless Agent to resolve, and that is granted, so the cascade trigger is missed. With the previous version of the text, whether or not the trigger is missed is certainly more up in the air.

As Andrew Keeler mentioned, finding a good answer in scenarios like this can be greatly helped by investigating. When you take this call, its possible that the players won't agree on exactly what Acacia said. For Knowledge Pool, we do intentionally try to make player statements explicit so that one ruling is a result. That won't always happen when you take a call at a tournament.

Acacia has missed her cascade trigger. Since it is not generally detrimental, she does not receive a penalty for missed trigger. Ask Naomi if she would like the trigger to go on the stack now. In either case, Acacia has looked at extra cards by resolving the cascade ability that wasn't there. Acacia receives a warning for Looking at Extra Cards. Since the two cards revealed from the top were known from Sylvan Library and the order they came off the library is not in question, we can simply place the revealed cards back on top in the order they came off and leave the library as is without shuffling and proceed with the game. Note that if Naomi does choose to have cascade go on the stack, the same two cards will end up being revealed, but we still want both players to have priority before it resolves.