This came up on #mtgrules yesterday:

A Volrath's Shapeshifter is given persist with Cauldron of Souls. The top creature card of the graveyard is a Melira's Keepers. Volrath's Shapeshifter dies and persist triggers.

Will the Shapeshifter enter the battlefield with a -1/-1 counter or without one? In the graveyard, the card is a Volrath's Shapeshifter but on the battlefield it will be a Melira's Keepers. Rule 112.6h is what makes Melira's Keepers work, will it also apply in this case? At least when considering replacement effects, you check how the card would exist on the battlefield (rule 614.12) when determining what effects apply.

112.6h. An object’s ability that states counters can’t be placed on that object functions as that object is entering the battlefield in addition to functioning while that object is on the battlefield.

614.12. Some replacement effects modify how a permanent enters the battlefield. (See rules 614.1c-d.) Such effects may come from the permanent itself if they affect only that permanent (as opposed to a general subset of permanents that includes it). They may also come from other sources. To determine which replacement effects apply and how they apply, check the characteristics of the permanent as it would exist on the battlefield, taking into account replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield (see rule 616.1), continuous effects generated by the resolution of spells or abilities that changed the permanent's characteristics on the stack (see rule 400.7a), and continuous effects from the permanent's own static abilities, but ignoring continuous effects from any other source that would affect it.

Edited Arttu Kaipiainen (Oct. 10, 2013 11:25:07 AM)

It will have a -1/-1 counter.

At the moment you apply replacement effects that modify how Volrath's Shapeshiter enters the battlefield, you look at how it would look on the battlefield, but the information you get about the rest of the game is still as of before it enters the battlefield. At that moment, Vesuvan Shapeshifter is still the topmost card of the graveyard, so it will not see the card underneath it. It therefore doesn't have any ability preventing it from getting the -1/-1 counter from persist.

Sorry for the very late answer!

Daniel Kitachewsky
L3, Paris, France
Rules NetRep