Currently playing a game of commander, considering casting tempt with reflections on my prince of thralls.
What happens?
Are you asking what would happen if you control 2 Prince of Thralls and a permanent an opponent controls goes to to the graveyard?
If so, then they will be two Prince abilities on the stack. If they pay life for the first ability then they can choose whether or not to pay life for the second one. If they allow the first one to resolve, then the second one won't matter since there's no longer a card to return to the battlefield.
When several triggered abilities controlled by different players go off at once they go on the stack starting with the Active Player (the person who's turn it is) then proceeding in turn order. Each trigger then resolves individually in "last in, first out" order. Players can cast instants or active abilities between triggers if they really want to.
An example:
Players A B C and D each have a Prince of Thralls thanks to Tempt with Reflections.
On Player B's turn player C has a creature die. Player B puts a trigger on the stack, then D puts a trigger on the stack, then A puts a trigger on the stack.
The stack now looks like this:
A's trigger
D's trigger
B's trigger
C decides that she wants D to get the creature so she pays 3 life as A's trigger resolves then pays nothing as D's trigger resolves. It doesn't particularly matter what she does when B's trigger would resolve, if she does pay the 3 life she down three life, if she doesn't the trigger doesn't have anything to act on anymore.
It may be easier to do it like this.
When a creature dies check who's turn it is then everybody but the person who's creature died counts off in turn order. The person who's creature died then goes backward through the list and decides if she's going to pay 3 life or give that person the creature. Once someone gets the creature or she tells the active player "I'll pay 3" you stop.
Thanks Vorthosspike, that's precisely what I wanted to know. That's actually how I guessed it to work, but everyone was confused because it's kind of unintuitive.
I apologize for the ambiguous opening post, I was typing on my phone and couldn't be very articulate.
I have a further question.
So, after Tempt with Reflections resolved, my opponent across from me chose to make a reflection. So, I (Say, Player A) had three Princes of Thralls and the opponent across from me (Player C) had one.
Then, on Player B's turn, he cast Endless Cockroaches.
In what situations would Player B's Endless Cockroaches return to it's hand when it dies?
Finally, eventually Player C cast Savage Twister for 7 during his turn. I couldn't recall whether Prince of Thralls triggers from the graveyard or not. Does it? Who gets what?
If turn order was A>B>C>A and player A and player C controlled Prince of Thralls then player B's Endless Cockroach trigger would resolve first only only Player C's turn.
Savage Twister killing the Prince of Thralls would indeed still trigger. The reason being that when a permanent is put into the GY from the battlefield it checks its existence just before death as to what should trigger. So things destroyed in the same even will still trigger. The players will resolve the Thrall triggers like they would with anything else dying the person with the most recent turn that is not the active player will have his resolve first.
Oh noooo! That misunderstanding cost me the game!
Thanks for the explanations everyone. I'm glad to know it now.
I'm still a little confused about when precisely Prince of Thralls triggers. It's as they are entering the graveyard? I hadn't realized players received priority at that point. Or does it trigger once it enters the graveyard? It seems weird to me that the triggers see everything entering the graveyard.
Edit: I should specify, I'm referring to the last question. If triggers only trigger while the permanent is in play, wouldn't the Prince of Thralls be in the graveyard when everything else dies and be unable to trigger?
I'm still a little confused about when precisely Prince of Thralls triggers. It's as they are entering the graveyard?
The "Whenever a permanent an opponent controls is put into a graveyard, put that card onto the battlefield under your control unless that opponent pays 3 life." ability triggers whenever a permanent an opponent controls is put into a graveyard.
603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability's trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn't do anything at this point.
Edit: I should specify, I'm referring to the last question. If triggers only trigger while the permanent is in play, wouldn't the Prince of Thralls be in the graveyard when everything else dies and be unable to trigger?
Was there some reason for Prince of Thralls to enter the graveyard first while everything else remains on the battlefield?
603.6d Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. Continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like. However, some triggered abilities must be treated specially. Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a permanent phases out, abilities that trigger when an object that all players can see is put into a hand or library, abilities that trigger specifically when an object becomes unattached, abilities that trigger when a player loses control of an object, and abilities that trigger when a player planeswalks away from a plane will trigger based on their existence, and the appearance of objects, prior to the event rather than afterward. The game has to "look back in time" to determine if these abilities trigger.
Example: Two creatures are on the battlefield along with an artifact that has the ability "Whenever a creature dies, you gain 1 life." Someone plays a spell that destroys all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact's ability triggers twice, even though the artifact goes to its owner's graveyard at the same time as the creatures.
What happens?
Are you asking what would happen if you control 2 Prince of Thralls and a permanent an opponent controls goes to to the graveyard?
If so, then they will be two Prince abilities on the stack. If they pay life for the first ability then they can choose whether or not to pay life for the second one. If they allow the first one to resolve, then the second one won't matter since there's no longer a card to return to the battlefield.
When several triggered abilities controlled by different players go off at once they go on the stack starting with the Active Player (the person who's turn it is) then proceeding in turn order. Each trigger then resolves individually in "last in, first out" order. Players can cast instants or active abilities between triggers if they really want to.
An example:
Players A B C and D each have a Prince of Thralls thanks to Tempt with Reflections.
On Player B's turn player C has a creature die. Player B puts a trigger on the stack, then D puts a trigger on the stack, then A puts a trigger on the stack.
The stack now looks like this:
A's trigger
D's trigger
B's trigger
C decides that she wants D to get the creature so she pays 3 life as A's trigger resolves then pays nothing as D's trigger resolves. It doesn't particularly matter what she does when B's trigger would resolve, if she does pay the 3 life she down three life, if she doesn't the trigger doesn't have anything to act on anymore.
It may be easier to do it like this.
When a creature dies check who's turn it is then everybody but the person who's creature died counts off in turn order. The person who's creature died then goes backward through the list and decides if she's going to pay 3 life or give that person the creature. Once someone gets the creature or she tells the active player "I'll pay 3" you stop.
I apologize for the ambiguous opening post, I was typing on my phone and couldn't be very articulate.
I have a further question.
So, after Tempt with Reflections resolved, my opponent across from me chose to make a reflection. So, I (Say, Player A) had three Princes of Thralls and the opponent across from me (Player C) had one.
Then, on Player B's turn, he cast Endless Cockroaches.
In what situations would Player B's Endless Cockroaches return to it's hand when it dies?
Finally, eventually Player C cast Savage Twister for 7 during his turn. I couldn't recall whether Prince of Thralls triggers from the graveyard or not. Does it? Who gets what?
Savage Twister killing the Prince of Thralls would indeed still trigger. The reason being that when a permanent is put into the GY from the battlefield it checks its existence just before death as to what should trigger. So things destroyed in the same even will still trigger. The players will resolve the Thrall triggers like they would with anything else dying the person with the most recent turn that is not the active player will have his resolve first.
Thanks for the explanations everyone. I'm glad to know it now.
I'm still a little confused about when precisely Prince of Thralls triggers. It's as they are entering the graveyard? I hadn't realized players received priority at that point. Or does it trigger once it enters the graveyard? It seems weird to me that the triggers see everything entering the graveyard.
Edit: I should specify, I'm referring to the last question. If triggers only trigger while the permanent is in play, wouldn't the Prince of Thralls be in the graveyard when everything else dies and be unable to trigger?
The "Whenever a permanent an opponent controls is put into a graveyard, put that card onto the battlefield under your control unless that opponent pays 3 life." ability triggers whenever a permanent an opponent controls is put into a graveyard.
What?
Was there some reason for Prince of Thralls to enter the graveyard first while everything else remains on the battlefield?
Otherwise, something like Goblin Arsonist couldn't work.