So I cast Faerie Impostor, with no creatures on the battlefield. It enters the battlefield and with its trigger on the stack I cast Stonecloaker. It enters the battlefield and its triggers go on top of the stack. Stonecloaker's triggers resolve and I return Faerie Impostor to hand.
Now, when Faerie Impostor's trigger resolves, do I get to choose to sacrifice it, even though it's not on the battlefield anymore, or am I forced to choose to return a creature to hand, in this case, Stonecloaker?
No, you don't have to return a creature to your hand for the Impostor's ability. It should be read as "You may return another creature to your hand. If you don't, sacrifice Faerie Impostor if you still control it".
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It should be read as "You may return another creature to your hand. If you don't, sacrifice Faerie Impostor if you still control it".
You can lose control of Faerie Impostor and regain control of it, and may be forced to sacrifice. Faerie Impostor has to be "still" the same permanent, only. Equivalent text can only be "You may return another creature to your hand. If you don't, sacrifice Faerie Impostor if it still exists.", with "if it still exists" being implicitly required whether it's written or not. (Magic can have things that don't exist do stuff, as with the sources of abilities; but you can't do anything to or with something that doesn't exist.)
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So I cast Faerie Impostor, with no creatures on the battlefield. It enters the battlefield and with its trigger on the stack I cast Stonecloaker. It enters the battlefield and its triggers go on top of the stack. Stonecloaker's triggers resolve and I return Faerie Impostor to hand.
Now, when Faerie Impostor's trigger resolves, do I get to choose to sacrifice it, even though it's not on the battlefield anymore, or am I forced to choose to return a creature to hand, in this case, Stonecloaker?
Thanks!
You can lose control of Faerie Impostor and regain control of it, and may be forced to sacrifice. Faerie Impostor has to be "still" the same permanent, only. Equivalent text can only be "You may return another creature to your hand. If you don't, sacrifice Faerie Impostor if it still exists.", with "if it still exists" being implicitly required whether it's written or not. (Magic can have things that don't exist do stuff, as with the sources of abilities; but you can't do anything to or with something that doesn't exist.)
Awesome avatar provided by Krashbot @ [Epic Graphics].