Two Questions, Path and Oath

[rocketrae21]

Sorry I Couldn't figure out how to do card tags

First Question
Player A plays an Ondu Cleric (Whenever Ondu Cleric or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain life equal to the number of Allies you control.) and controls one other Ally. Player B puts Ondu Cleric's ability on the stack and plays Path to Exile on the Cleric. Does player A still gain life?

Second Question
This is a Vintage question but I feel the Mana Drain forums are in shambles
Is Oath of Druid's ability a triggered ability that you can respond to by putting a creature into play? Like on your upkeep can you tap a Forbidden Orchard and still have Oath go off?

Thanks in advanced

[Nonex]

First Answer

The player still gains life because the ability is already on the stack and removing the source doesn't counter it. However, the number of Allies is checked on resolution, so the player would gain only 1 life.


Second Answer

The ability is triggered and you can respond to it by putting a creature into play. However, said ability has a pretty specific target (an opponent who controls more creatures than you), so if none of your opponents is a valid target when the ability triggers, it's automatically removed from the stack with no effect. Putting a creature into play during your upkeep is useless this turn because the exact moment for the ability to trigger (the transition between untap and upkeep steps) has already taken place.

[ScatmanX]

dude after me got it wright!

[Ecoris]

1st answer: wrong. The ability triggers when the Ally enters the battlefield, but it only counts the number of Allys when it resolves. So, if there are no Allys in the battlefield when it resolves, you gain 0 life.

Player A plays an Ondu Cleric (Whenever Ondu Cleric or another Ally enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain life equal to the number of Allies you control.) and controls one other Ally.


2nd answer: 1/2 wrong: Oath triggers at the beginning of the upkeep(not in any transition), so there's nothing you can do before that. You chose your opponent when the ability triggers. After that, it does not matter if your opponent puts a creature into the battlefield, because it is not something the ability checks on it's resolution.
And things don't "automatically removed from the stack with no effect". They can fizzle (if it does not have a legal target), but it is not the case.


603.3d The remainder of the process for putting a triggered ability on the stack is identical to the process for casting a spell listed in rules 601.2c–d. If a choice is required when the triggered ability goes on the stack but no legal choices can be made for it, or if a rule or a continuous effect otherwise makes the ability illegal, the ability is simply removed from the stack. You must choose a legal target when the ability is put on the stack. A legal target is a "player who controls more creatures than he or she does and is his or her opponent." When the ability resolves the legality of its target is (re)checked.