Saga

Game terms · beginner

A Saga is an enchantment subtype that tells a short story: its abilities fire in printed order as lore counters build up on it, and then it sacrifices itself.

How it works

• A Saga card has a striated text box containing chapter symbols, a vertical illustration on the right, and its type line along the bottom. [714.1]
• A chapter symbol is a keyword ability representing a triggered ability, called a chapter ability. The symbol itself is the ability; the text beside it is what happens. [714.2]
• Sagas use lore counters to track their progress. [714.3]
• Once a Saga with one or more chapter abilities has lore counters greater than or equal to its final chapter number, and it isn't the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack, its controller sacrifices it. This is a state-based action and doesn't use the stack. [714.4]

Rules notes

• A chapter ability is a counter-threshold trigger: it fires when lore counters are put on the Saga such that it had fewer than N before and N or more afterwards. [122.7]
• That means a jump of two counters at once triggers both chapters it crossed, each as a separate triggered ability.
• The final sacrifice waits for the last chapter ability to leave the stack, so the Saga is still on the battlefield while its own last chapter resolves.
• Removing lore counters does not take a chapter ability back off the stack; the trigger has already happened.
• A Saga that is also a creature is still sacrificed on its final chapter unless something stops the counters arriving.

Rule reference

[714.1] [714.2] [714.3] [714.4] [122.7]