Spells and the graveyard?

[Burr]

I was recently playing with a friend and this came up:
My friend has a tarmogoyf (3/4 because of land creature instant). It is now my turn and I have 4 swamps in play and a mutilate. I play the mutilate to kill the goyf but my friend tells me that some how the mutilate goes to the graveyard before it actually resolves so that the goyf becomes a 4/5 then my mutilate resolves giving all creatures -4/-4. Is this correct? When exactly do cards go to the graveyard after being put on the stack?

On a side note does combat damage get removed from creatures at the end of the combat step or does it last until the end of the turn?

Thanks in advance

[Tosh]

Part of the resolution of the spell is putting it into the graveyard. By the time the game state gets checked, the Tarmogoyf becomes a 4/5 and gets -4/-4 from the mutilate.

Combat damage stays until the end of the turn.

[Anusien]

The last part of a spell resolving is it being put into the graveyard (so for something like Brainstorm, don't put it into the graveyard until you've drawn 3 and put 2 back!). However, it isn't the spell that kills Tarmogoyf. Whenever a player would get priority, state-based effects would be checked. These won't be checked until after the spell resolves; and once the spell goes to the graveyard Goyf instantly has a different P/T.

So Goyf won't die.

[quicksilver]

Your friend plays the mutilate during the mutilates resolution tarmogoyf becomes a -1/0. Then Mutilate goes into the graveyard upon completion of resolution. Tarmogoyf now is a 0/1. State base effects are now checked to see if any creatures have toughness 0 or less. Tarmogoyf has toughness 1 at this point so it survives.

An interesting related note is that a creature dieing form damage (and even players) is also a statebased effect. For example if you have an animated factory out and a sacred ground. Now if your opponent blocks your factory doing lethal damage to it or lightning bolts it, or gives it -3 toughness, you will not get your factory back since it is state based effects that destroy the factory, not your opponent. Cards like terminate which directly destroy would trigger sacred ground.

To further clarify a card that says target creature gets -100/-100 then gets +100/+100 would not kill anything because state based effects are not checked until after resolution.


Also combat damage is removed at the end of the turn.

[Magician]

what happens if i have a nimble mongoose with threshold out and a psychatog. i have 7 cards on gy and remove 2 so tog gets +1 +1 and wont die to a tradewind rider. will the mongoose die to a troll ascetic because there in no more thresh or will it live.

wat happens if i have a 3/4 goyf and it blocked by a tradewing rider. i use tog to discard enchantment to give +1 +1 to goyf. will it kill rider?

[Nihil Credo]

what happens if i have a nimble mongoose with threshold out and a psychatog. i have 7 cards on gy and remove 2 so tog gets +1 +1 and wont die to a tradewind rider. will the mongoose die to a troll ascetic because there in no more thresh or will it live.

First of all, Tradewind Rider is a 1/4, so it won't kill Psychatog anyway.

As for the question, if you don't gain Threshold again before combat damage resolves, then a 1/1 Nimble Mongoose will eat 3 damage and die as a state-based effect.


wat happens if i have a 3/4 goyf and it blocked by a tradewing rider. i use tog to discard enchantment to give +1 +1 to goyf. will it kill rider?
You have to discard the enchantment before combat damage is assigned. After that, changing Tarmogoyf's power will not change the damage the Rider takes.

[Lego]

Just to clarify, Mongoose dies to Troll Ascetic whether it's Threshed or not. It just changes whether or not Mongoose does lethal damage to the Troll.