I'm goldfishing myself on a deck I'm building and it's lead to a few questions regarding Naban, Dean of Iteration and when exactly he will trigger.
At first I was reading it just that wizards entering the battlefield would trigger twice but then I reread that it was any permanent.
I understand the obvious points like if a merchant of secrets comes into play I get to draw twice. After rereading it it seems obvious that, likewise, if I caste merchant of secrets when soul warden was in play I'd gain life twice as long as Naban, dean of iteration is in play - or conversely - I'm pretty sure that if I were dumb enough to have an Aether Flash my poor wizard would get zapped twice.
Here's where I get confused, pretty sure the answer to questions below are NO across the board, but they are interactions I currently have in my deck and I'm not 100% on - and because of my playgroup I can see these questions arising - parsing card text often seems like some dark art at our group gaming-table.
I'm thinking NO Naban, dean of iteration will not make it trigger twice. I'm pretty sure mana Breach triggers when the spell is cast and even if said spell is countered. So it just see's "spell cast" and it has nothing to do with anything entering the battlefield. Correct?
Even though a wizard entering the battlefield set off the chain of events that causes the permanent -Warped Devotion to trigger - the wizard is, in effect, one step removed from the trigger and so won't count. Is that correct? I can see this becoming a lengthy philosophical debate around my hobbyist table already...
Thanks for the answers and links to relevant rules, I appreciate it and so will my playgroup next time we can have a gathering
You are correct in both points; Naban's effect applies neither to Mana Breach's ability nor to Warped Devotion's ability.
Naban's effect applies only to certain enters-the-battlefield abilities (which generally have the form "When [something] enters the battlefield" or "Whenever [something] enters the battlefield", as found in Merchant of Secrets, Soul Warden, and Aether Flash) (see also C.R. 603.1, 603.6a). It doesn't apply to an ability of the form "Whenever [a player] cast(s) [a spell], ..." (as found in Mana Breach) or an ability of the form "Whenever [something] is returned to a player's hand, ..." (as found in Warped Devotion), so Naban doesn't affect how often either kind of ability triggers. See also this thread.
At first I was reading it just that wizards entering the battlefield would trigger twice but then I reread that it was any permanent.
I understand the obvious points like if a merchant of secrets comes into play I get to draw twice. After rereading it it seems obvious that, likewise, if I caste merchant of secrets when soul warden was in play I'd gain life twice as long as Naban, dean of iteration is in play - or conversely - I'm pretty sure that if I were dumb enough to have an Aether Flash my poor wizard would get zapped twice.
Here's where I get confused, pretty sure the answer to questions below are NO across the board, but they are interactions I currently have in my deck and I'm not 100% on - and because of my playgroup I can see these questions arising - parsing card text often seems like some dark art at our group gaming-table.
So, what about Mana Breach?
I'm thinking NO Naban, dean of iteration will not make it trigger twice. I'm pretty sure mana Breach triggers when the spell is cast and even if said spell is countered. So it just see's "spell cast" and it has nothing to do with anything entering the battlefield. Correct?
And Warped Devotion? If I have Naban, dean of iteration in play, and cast Sedraxis Alchemist, I bounce two permanents back to hands - it's these two permanents which will trigger Warped devotion. It will NOT trigger the warped devotion four times.
Even though a wizard entering the battlefield set off the chain of events that causes the permanent -Warped Devotion to trigger - the wizard is, in effect, one step removed from the trigger and so won't count. Is that correct? I can see this becoming a lengthy philosophical debate around my hobbyist table already...
Thanks for the answers and links to relevant rules, I appreciate it and so will my playgroup next time we can have a gathering
Naban's effect applies only to certain enters-the-battlefield abilities (which generally have the form "When [something] enters the battlefield" or "Whenever [something] enters the battlefield", as found in Merchant of Secrets, Soul Warden, and Aether Flash) (see also C.R. 603.1, 603.6a). It doesn't apply to an ability of the form "Whenever [a player] cast(s) [a spell], ..." (as found in Mana Breach) or an ability of the form "Whenever [something] is returned to a player's hand, ..." (as found in Warped Devotion), so Naban doesn't affect how often either kind of ability triggers. See also this thread.