Three guys with Champion

[Roman Candle]

So if I have a Nova Chaser championing another Nova Chaser, and I play a third Nova Chaser championing that Nova Chaser, what happens? We hit an endless loop, right?

EDIT: Assuming there are no other Elementals in play.

EDIT2: Nevermind, that was dumb. I forgot there was an "or" clause on Champion. I would eventually decide when the loop would have to break, right?

[Valtrix]

Hey, thanks for trying to card idea. The command is actually "cards" and not "card".

As for the rules, you kind of have an endless loop. There definitely have the potential to repeat it indefinitely, but the champion ability is a choice when the creature comes into play. As such I found the following rules regarding loops:


714.1b Occasionally the game gets into a state in which a set of actions could be repeated indefinitely (thus creating a "loop"). In that case, the shortcut rules can be used to determine how many times those actions are repeated without having to actually perform them, and how the loop is broken.

714.4. If a loop contains only mandatory actions, the game is a draw. (See rules 104.4b and 104.4f.)

Now, I have question. I would have thought that optional infinite loops must eventually end, but I couldn't find it in the comprehensive rules. I did see a post on mtgsalvation with the rule,


421.2. If the loop contains one or more optional actions and one player controls them all, that player chooses a number. The loop is treated as repeating that many times or until another player intervenes, whichever comes first.

but this rule no longer seems to exist in the comprehensive rules. Instead I see the rules,


714.6. If a loop contains an effect that says "[A] unless [B]," where [A] and [B] are each actions, no player can be forced to perform [B] to break the loop. If no player chooses to perform [B], the loop will continue as though [A] were mandatory.

702.69a Champion represents two triggered abilities. "Champion an [object]" means "When this permanent enters the battlefield, sacrifice it unless you exile another [object] you control" and "When this permanent leaves the battlefield, return the exiled card to the battlefield under its owner's control."

which actually leads me to believe that the player controlling the champion triggers can create a draw. Did the rules change for optional actions in an infinite loop, or am I just interpreting the rules wrong (or missing the rule that handles this)?

[luma]

The old rule 421.2 that you quoted is now part of rule 714.2a:

714.2a. At any point in the game, the player with priority may suggest a shortcut by describing a sequence of game choices, for all players, that may be legally taken based on the current game state and the predictable results of the sequence of choices. This sequence may be a non-repetitive series of choices, a loop that repeats a specified number of times, multiple loops, or nested loops, and may even cross multiple turns. It can't include conditional actions, where the outcome of a game event determines the next action a player takes. The ending point of this sequence must be a place where a player has priority, though it need not be the player proposing the shortcut.

Three Nova Chasers and no other Elementals is not an infinite loop. The rule 714.6 (714.6. If a loop contains an effect that says "[A] unless [B]," where [A] and [B] are each actions, no player can be forced to perform [B] to break the loop. If no player chooses to perform [B], the loop will continue as though [A] were mandatory.) doesn't apply here, because in this case [A] is "Sacrifice Nova Chaser" and [B] is "Exile another Elemental you control." Choosing [B] (that continues the loop) is optional, so at some point you must choose not to do it and just sacrifice your Nova Chaser, ending the loop.