Copying opponent's Grothama
So I have a basic question and I couldn't find an answer online anywhere. So let's say my opponent has Grothama, All-Devouring. I play a Clone (or something similar) and I make it a copy of Grothama. It now has the text "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring." because my opponent still has their copy of it on the battlefield. If I attack with my copy of Grothama, can it fight itself because it has the name Grothama, All-Devouring?
Accepted Answer
No.Mr_Webman wrote: ↑3 years agoSo I have a basic question and I couldn't find an answer online anywhere. So let's say my opponent has Grothama, All-Devouring. I play a Clone (or something similar) and I make it a copy of Grothama. It now has the text "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring." because my opponent still has their copy of it on the battlefield. If I attack with my copy of Grothama, can it fight itself because it has the name Grothama, All-Devouring?
This is specifically a case of 201.4a.201.4. Text that refers to the object it's on by name means just that particular object and not any other
objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.
201.4a If an ability's effect grants another ability to an object, and that second ability refers to that
first ability's source by name, the name refers only to the specific object that is that first
ability's source, not to any other object with the same name. This is also true if the second
ability is copied onto a new object.
Example: Gutter Grime has an ability that reads "Whenever a nontoken creature you
control dies, put a slime counter on Gutter Grime, then create a green Ooze creature
token with 'This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of slime
counters on Gutter Grime.'" The ability granted to the token only looks at the Gutter
Grime that created the token, not at any other Gutter Grime on the battlefield. A copy of
that token would also have an ability that referred only to the Gutter Grime that created
the original token.
First ability: Other creatures have "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring."
Second ability: Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring.
Or, another way to look at this is to label the original and your copy as Grot1 and Grot2, respectively. Grot1 now has "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grot2." Grot2 now has "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grot1." Every other creature has both abilities.
Known as TheGodOfWar91 on MTGSalvation
No.Mr_Webman wrote: ↑3 years agoSo I have a basic question and I couldn't find an answer online anywhere. So let's say my opponent has Grothama, All-Devouring. I play a Clone (or something similar) and I make it a copy of Grothama. It now has the text "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring." because my opponent still has their copy of it on the battlefield. If I attack with my copy of Grothama, can it fight itself because it has the name Grothama, All-Devouring?
This is specifically a case of 201.4a.201.4. Text that refers to the object it's on by name means just that particular object and not any other
objects with that name, regardless of any name changes caused by game effects.
201.4a If an ability's effect grants another ability to an object, and that second ability refers to that
first ability's source by name, the name refers only to the specific object that is that first
ability's source, not to any other object with the same name. This is also true if the second
ability is copied onto a new object.
Example: Gutter Grime has an ability that reads "Whenever a nontoken creature you
control dies, put a slime counter on Gutter Grime, then create a green Ooze creature
token with 'This creature's power and toughness are each equal to the number of slime
counters on Gutter Grime.'" The ability granted to the token only looks at the Gutter
Grime that created the token, not at any other Gutter Grime on the battlefield. A copy of
that token would also have an ability that referred only to the Gutter Grime that created
the original token.
First ability: Other creatures have "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring."
Second ability: Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grothama, All-Devouring.
Or, another way to look at this is to label the original and your copy as Grot1 and Grot2, respectively. Grot1 now has "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grot2." Grot2 now has "Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it fight Grot1." Every other creature has both abilities.
Why bother with mere rulings when so many answers can be found in the Rules?
