Community

Provoke // Appease - //
Instant // Instant
Target creature attacks or blocks this turn if able. You may trigger or activate one of its abilities without paying any of its costs. // Target creature can't attack or block this turn. You may counter one of its triggered or activated abilities.

I'll probably restrict the first effect once you helped me understand (for some reason, I didn't find anything yet!) how dangerous that effect might be..

Needs a bit of reworking.

Target creature attacks or blocks this turn if able. You may activate or trigger one of its abilities once without paying any of its costs or meeting any of its conditions.
//
Target creature can't attack or block this turn. The next time an ability of that creature is activated or triggered this turn, you may counter it. If not, copy this spell targetting that creature again.

Notes:
1. Lack of trigger effects: well, the first one is kind of confusing with trigger effects, since triggers have conditions or requirements, not costs. The second one I just changed for symmetry purposes, though it actually still works.
2. "once": Llanowar Augur and Cephalid Looter says I win.
3. The next time: Probably the best wording for this, as it allows you to pick and choose which ability to counter.

I hate things that try to trigger or activate abilities out of nowhere.

quell anger
appease provocation
temper temper (someone else posted this one, will give source if found)

Dec 3, 2012 -- 3:45AM, cats_and_me wrote:

I'll probably restrict the first effect once you helped me understand (for some reason, I didn't find anything yet!) how dangerous that effect might be..

Okay.

Unfortunately, the name doesn't make a well-known phrase when you read it as "X and Y".  Maybe Sound \\ Fury?

Apparently, that ability causes lots of problems! I'm afraid that it's too many different problems..

Woo! Make Door to Nothingness a creature! Or Darksteel Reactor ! Yeah, the first one is crazy broken.

I'd be willing to Moonlace it so I could still trigger the extra turn after cheating Emeria into play.

Better yet, I'd cast it in response to Jeska's "I lose the game ability" after cheating *her* into play, by triggering her "my opponent loses the game" ability and putting that at the top of the stack.

What do you think of this version that can only target your opponent's creatures? Unfair combos might still occur, but it's definitely less unfair than casting Reroute on a planeswalker's ultimate or Door To Nothingness ..

Provoke // Appease - //
Instant // Instant
Target creature you don't control attacks or blocks this turn if able. You may trigger or activate one of its abilities once without paying any of its costs. // Target creature you don't control can't attack or block this turn. You may counter one of its triggered or activated abilities.

I think it's much more fair.

I assume the White side is typically intended to be used reactively?  It can only counter one of those abilities if the ability is already on the stack.  That's what you were intending, yes?

 
Edit: I'll point out that I made a rules assumption with my Phage example.  She's a good example of the fact that many abilities often reference a player or an object in the effect that is determined by the cost or condition.  "Sacrifice a creature: Gain life equal to the sacrificed creature's toughness."

What happens when I cause this activated ability to be activated when I don't complete the cost first?

That's a numerical example, and the game actually can handle that.  It will look for a number that doesn't exist, so it becomes 0 by default for the effect that cares about the number.

But for Phage, her effects are asking for a creature or player that was damaged.  Neither of those were previously determined during the condition if either of those triggers are triggered without the condition being met.  How does your spell determine the dependent reference?

Many abilities (including your example!) would probably do nothing if you didn't pay some costs, but I'm fine with that.. And yeah, it's only supposed to counter abilities that are on the stack, just like Squelch + Reroute ..