Rest in Peace Eats "Dies" Triggers
Judge Level 1The Traveler dies … or does it? Exile instead of graveyard — and no Spirit.
Cards involved
The setup
Your opponent controls Rest in Peace ("If a card or token would be put into a graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead"). You control Doomed Traveler ("When this creature dies, create a 1/1 Spirit").
Here comes the Shock
Your opponent casts Shock at the Traveler.
What happens?
Do you get your Spirit?
The Traveler is about to be destroyed. Does its trigger fire?
Pick an answer to continue.
A replaced event never happens (614.6). The Traveler never reaches the graveyard, so in rules terms it never "died" — no Spirit. That's why Rest in Peace is so strong against graveyard and aristocrats strategies.
614.6If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can’t be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.
Exile instead of graveyard
The Traveler is in exile — no token, no trigger. Same principle: persist, undying and "return from the graveyard" all run dry under Rest in Peace.
614.6If an event is replaced, it never happens. A modified event occurs instead, which may in turn trigger abilities. Note that the modified event may contain instructions that can’t be carried out, in which case the impossible instruction is simply ignored.
Stack
Rest in Peace
Cards go to exile instead
Doomed Traveler
When it dies: create a 1/1 Spirit
Shock
Target: the Doomed Traveler
The stack is empty.
Battlefield
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