Hey everybody, I'm new to these forums but I've been playing EDH for a year or two; into MTG since the 90's. I have seen the new rules update about commander death triggers. Since commanders now touch the graveyard when they die, can The Scarab God reanimate a commander before it would go to the command zone?
No. Once the commander dies, its owner may move it to the command zone as a state-based action, but the owner will get that choice only before any player gets priority to activate abilities, including The Scarab God's second ability (C.R. 117.5, 903.9a, 117.1b). In general, if the owner wants to target their commander in their graveyard with The Scarab God's second ability (assuming that commander is a creature card), that player has to choose not to move the commander to the command zone (but then won't get the opportunity to move it there later).
Thanks for the quick reply! So when a commander dies, it does enter the graveyard, holds priority and then is moved to the command zone. You are suggesting that there isn't a viable window between a commander entering the graveyard and subsequently moving to the command zone in which to place any spell or ability. Is that correct?
No window.
As Peteroupc said, a dying commander is moved from graveyard to command zone as a state-based action, which happens BEFORE you get the option to activate The Scarab God.
To activate Scarab God, you need to hold PRIORITY.
Sadly, priority is handled to players only after state-based actions have been performed.
704.3. Whenever a player would get priority (...), the game (...) performs all applicable state-based actions [then] the appropriate player gets priority.
903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard (...), its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.
Thanks in advance!
As Peteroupc said, a dying commander is moved from graveyard to command zone as a state-based action, which happens BEFORE you get the option to activate The Scarab God.
To activate Scarab God, you need to hold PRIORITY.
Sadly, priority is handled to players only after state-based actions have been performed.
903.9a If a commander is in a graveyard (...), its owner may put it into the command zone. This is a state-based action. See rule 704.
RULES OF MAGIC :
http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/rules