(This is the first time I have used this site so excuse me if I format this poorly)
So I was laying sith a new deck yesterday, and one the combos with those two cards confused my opponent, and a conversation about how legitimate that interaction was broke out that still isn't resolved.
This is the situation: I have Alesha on the battlefield along with 5 open mana, and Rubblehulk in my hand. I go to combat, and I declare attackers, swinging with Alesha. This triggers her ability, and that goes on the stack. Before that ability resolves, I cast Rubblehulk's bloodrush ability on Alesha. Rubblehulk is now in the graveyard. Now Alesha's trigger is the only thing on the stack, so I pay the mana and bring Rubblehulk to the battlefield tapped and attacking. I think it should work like this, but I'm really just not sure.
On a side note, does Rubblehulk technically have a power of 2 or less? It says it has power/toughness of 0 on Gatherer, but I'm still not sure. Would it's power be equal to the number of lands I control no matter where it is in the game?
1) Alesha's target has to be chosen when the ability is put on the stack, which is right after attackers have been declared and before you can even attempt to activate the Rubblehulk's bloodrush ability.
603.3 Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. It remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.
[...]
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.
601.2c The player announces their choice of an appropriate object or player for each target the spell requires. A spell may require some targets only if an alternative or additional cost (such as a kicker cost) or a particular mode, was chosen for it; otherwise, the spell is cast as though it did not require those targets. Similarly, a spell may require alternative targets only if an alternative or additional cost was chosen for it. If the spell has a variable number of targets, the player announces how many targets they will choose before they announce those targets. In some cases, the number of targets will be defined by the spell’s text. [...]
2) Rubblehulk's power/toughness is set by a characteristic defining ability, and so it works in every zone (and even outside the game), including the graveyard, making it have more than 2 power (unless you only control two or less lands at that time, but even then, see 1)).
604.3 Some static abilities are characteristic-defining abilities. A characteristic-defining ability conveys information about an object’s characteristics that would normally be found elsewhere on that object (such as in its mana cost, type line, or power/toughness box) or overrides information found elsewhere on that object. Characteristic-defining abilities function in all zones. They also function outside the game.
604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object’s colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met.
Rubblehulk
(This is the first time I have used this site so excuse me if I format this poorly)
So I was laying sith a new deck yesterday, and one the combos with those two cards confused my opponent, and a conversation about how legitimate that interaction was broke out that still isn't resolved.
This is the situation: I have Alesha on the battlefield along with 5 open mana, and Rubblehulk in my hand. I go to combat, and I declare attackers, swinging with Alesha. This triggers her ability, and that goes on the stack. Before that ability resolves, I cast Rubblehulk's bloodrush ability on Alesha. Rubblehulk is now in the graveyard. Now Alesha's trigger is the only thing on the stack, so I pay the mana and bring Rubblehulk to the battlefield tapped and attacking. I think it should work like this, but I'm really just not sure.
On a side note, does Rubblehulk technically have a power of 2 or less? It says it has power/toughness of 0 on Gatherer, but I'm still not sure. Would it's power be equal to the number of lands I control no matter where it is in the game?
1) Alesha's target has to be chosen when the ability is put on the stack, which is right after attackers have been declared and before you can even attempt to activate the Rubblehulk's bloodrush ability.
2) Rubblehulk's power/toughness is set by a characteristic defining ability, and so it works in every zone (and even outside the game), including the graveyard, making it have more than 2 power (unless you only control two or less lands at that time, but even then, see 1)).
Former Rules Advisor
"Everything's better with pirates." - Lodge
(The Gamers: Dorkness Rising)
"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."
(Girl Genius - Fairy Tale Theater Break - Cinderella, end of volume 8)