Activated abilities always have the form [cost]:[effect]. Either in the ability's text, or in the rules for a keyword ability. Look for the colon. This template is usually also found in the reminder text of activated keyword abilities.
Triggered abilities always use the words "when", "whenever", or "at". If it doesn't use any of these, it's not a triggered ability. "If" does not denote a triggered ability.
On a sidenote, since extort is a triggered ability, you can only ever pay 1 mana or not for each trigger. That's the only choice the ability's effect offers.
An ability that begins with "whenever" (as found in the expanded text of extort, for example [C.R. 702.100a]) is not an activated ability, even if it contains text like "you may pay .... If you do ..." (compare C.R. 603.1 with C.R. 602.1; see also C.R. 603.5). See also this thread.
Thank you. So would extort trigger Runic Armasaur's ability? Would the owner draw a card?
No, since extort is a triggered ability, not an activated ability (C.R. 702.100a; compare 603.1 with C.R. 602.1). ("Activat[ing] an ability" means activating an activated ability, which extort is not [C.R. 602.1c; compare 603.1 with C.R. 602.1 and review C.R. 702.100a].)
EDIT: Correction after comment 8 was posted, due to a private message.
So, just to clarify, I can only use extort once per turn but I can use it every turn, right?
Extort will trigger each time you cast a spell, not just for the first spell you cast in a turn (C.R. 702.100a, 603.2). Thus, for example, if you cast three spells in the same turn while you control Basilica Guards, that creature's extort ability will trigger three times. And for each such ability, when it resolves, you choose whether to pay (W/B) to have "each opponent los[e] 1 life and [yourself] gain life equal to the total life lost this way" (C.R. 702.100a). Compare extort with the first ability of Vial Smasher the Fierce.
Extort triggers for every spell you cast, and each instance triggers separately and is paid for separately. There is no inherrent limit to how often you can have it trigger. The only limits are from the number of spells you can manage to cast in a turn, and how much black or white mana you have available.
I was wondering how multiple instances of extort work with something like Panharmonicon
Say I have Pontiff of Blight out and I cast another creature, since extort is technically a triggered ability I can pay W or B X2 and trigger it twice.
So Because of Pontiff of blight, creature(B) now also has extort, so say I cast another yet another creature, Creature(C) would trigger both Pontiff of blight and creature(B) meaning I would get four extort triggers, right? (this is assuming I have the mana to pay for all of them)
TLDR:
I have Pontiff of Blight & Panharmonicon out
I cast a creature, trigger extort twice
I cast another creature, trigger extort twice on both(?)
I get 4 triggers of Extort(?)
= Profit(?)
I didn't think it would trigger twice from casting a non-creature spell since there isn't an ETB
But I wasn't sure if that was true for creature spells since they trigger ETB's.
Extort is triggered by a spell, if that spell happens to be a creature/artifact, I reason it would trigger twice from those entering the battlefield.
So Even in that circumstance Extort doesn't interact with Panharmonicon?
Creature spells don't directly trigger ETBs. Casting a spell causes that card to be on the Stack, and resolving from the Stack causes you to put a permanent onto the battlefield. These happen at points in time remote from each other. When you have cast a spell, nothing has entered the battlefield yet.
Panharmonicon is looking for triggered abilities whose written trigger condition is that some kind of permanent enters the battlefield, and extort cannot fit this formula.
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Extort, like every other cast trigger, is put on the stack on top of whatever spell triggers it, and thus resolves before that spell. After extort has resolved, the spell that triggered it can still be countered because that spell has not left the stack yet. Simply put: extort happens before the spell resolves, ETB triggers happen after the spell resolves.
Activated abilities always have the form [cost]:[effect]. Either in the ability's text, or in the rules for a keyword ability. Look for the colon. This template is usually also found in the reminder text of activated keyword abilities.
Triggered abilities always use the words "when", "whenever", or "at". If it doesn't use any of these, it's not a triggered ability. "If" does not denote a triggered ability.
On a sidenote, since extort is a triggered ability, you can only ever pay 1 mana or not for each trigger. That's the only choice the ability's effect offers.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
EDIT: Correction after comment 8 was posted, due to a private message.
So, just to clarify, I can only use extort once per turn but I can use it every turn, right?
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)
Say I have Pontiff of Blight out and I cast another creature, since extort is technically a triggered ability I can pay W or B X2 and trigger it twice.
So Because of Pontiff of blight, creature(B) now also has extort, so say I cast another yet another creature, Creature(C) would trigger both Pontiff of blight and creature(B) meaning I would get four extort triggers, right? (this is assuming I have the mana to pay for all of them)
TLDR:
I have Pontiff of Blight & Panharmonicon out
I cast a creature, trigger extort twice
I cast another creature, trigger extort twice on both(?)
I get 4 triggers of Extort(?)
= Profit(?)
Me: "Okay Great, but like... do you pay for Smothering Tithe? No? WONDERFUL, THE CHURCH APPRECIATES YOUR DONATION! Also, you lose a life because Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted"
-the opponent casts Brainstorm-
Me: "Cool, do you pay for Rhystic Study? No? AWESOME! Also... you take two from Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and then three more from Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted... I also gain two life and ping you for two with Sanguine Bond...Uh, one more thing, did you pay the extra from Grand Arbiter Augustin IV?"
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
But I wasn't sure if that was true for creature spells since they trigger ETB's.
Extort is triggered by a spell, if that spell happens to be a creature/artifact, I reason it would trigger twice from those entering the battlefield.
So Even in that circumstance Extort doesn't interact with Panharmonicon?
Me: "Okay Great, but like... do you pay for Smothering Tithe? No? WONDERFUL, THE CHURCH APPRECIATES YOUR DONATION! Also, you lose a life because Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted"
-the opponent casts Brainstorm-
Me: "Cool, do you pay for Rhystic Study? No? AWESOME! Also... you take two from Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and then three more from Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted... I also gain two life and ping you for two with Sanguine Bond...Uh, one more thing, did you pay the extra from Grand Arbiter Augustin IV?"
Panharmonicon is looking for triggered abilities whose written trigger condition is that some kind of permanent enters the battlefield, and extort cannot fit this formula.
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].
Because Extort isn't dependent on the Creature/artifact resolving it doesn't work with Panharmonicon.
Thanks for clearing this up for me!
Me: "Okay Great, but like... do you pay for Smothering Tithe? No? WONDERFUL, THE CHURCH APPRECIATES YOUR DONATION! Also, you lose a life because Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted"
-the opponent casts Brainstorm-
Me: "Cool, do you pay for Rhystic Study? No? AWESOME! Also... you take two from Kambal, Consul of Allocation, and then three more from Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted... I also gain two life and ping you for two with Sanguine Bond...Uh, one more thing, did you pay the extra from Grand Arbiter Augustin IV?"
Extort, like every other cast trigger, is put on the stack on top of whatever spell triggers it, and thus resolves before that spell. After extort has resolved, the spell that triggered it can still be countered because that spell has not left the stack yet. Simply put: extort happens before the spell resolves, ETB triggers happen after the spell resolves.
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)