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Rules Q&A » Post: Existence of dependency if no objects are affected

Existence of dependency if no objects are affected

Oct. 2, 2014 10:10:03 AM

Petr Hudeček
Judge (Uncertified)

Europe - Central

Existence of dependency if no objects are affected

I have on the battlefield two Mycosynth Lattices (All permanents are artifacts in addition to their other types.) and a March of the Machines (Noncreature artifacts are artifact creatures.).

I know that everything will become an artifact creature, but my question is whether there exists a dependency of the March of the Machines on the second Mycosynth Lattice.

By my understanding, at first, the March depends on each Mycosynth Lattice because the number of affected objects by March's ability will change (namely, March of the Machines itself will become an artifact). So, I apply the first Mycosynth Lattice in timestamp order and all permanents are now artifacts. Therefore, applying the second Mycosynth Lattice now does not really change what the March applies to (it will apply to everything anyway), and so, I will apply either the March of the Machines or the second Mycosynth Lattice in timestamp order.

I realize in this case it doesn't matter but I'm interested in the principle here.

613.7a An effect is said to “depend on” another if 
(a) it’s applied in the same layer (and, if applicable, sublayer) as the other effect (see rules 613.1 and 613.3);
(b) applying the other would change the text or the existence of the first effect, what it applies to, or what it does to
any of the things it applies to; and
(c) neither effect is from a characteristic-defining ability or both effects are from characteristic-defining abilities.
Otherwise, the effect is considered to be independent of the other effect.

Oct. 2, 2014 04:02:48 PM

Callum Milne
Forum Moderator
Judge (Uncertified)

Canada - Western Provinces

Existence of dependency if no objects are affected

Remember that posts to this forum get directly emailed to potentially thousands of judges worldwide. While exploring hypothetical corner-case scenarios in the interests of understanding their underlying principles may be interesting to some judges (myself generally included) it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, so it's not something we should be filling people's inboxes with.

As such, if it's not something a judge might realistically encounter and need to care about in a tournament setting, it's better suited for another venue, such as the Rules Theory and Templating board on the Wizards Community forums.