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I found this unofficial ruling on Searing Blood, but it doesn't make sense to me. To sum up the question and the answer (in case of link rot):

Q: Does the damage dealt by Searing Blood's delayed trigger cause Satyr Firedancer to trigger?

A: No. The damage is dealt by a delayed trigger, which is not an instant or sorcery.*

The delayed trigger clearly says that Searing Blood deals 3 damage. Searing Blood is an instant. Therefore, I think Satyr Firedancer should trigger. Can someone explain why Satyr Firedancer would or would not trigger?

This question was prompted by a related one.

* The judge reversed the ruling, but was kind enough to leave notes about it. Keep in mind that the paraphrased quote above reflects the original ruling.

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  • 3
    It seems to me that the answer to your previous question should provide an answer to this question, one way or another.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Commented Apr 9, 2015 at 17:01
  • Judges are not infallible....
    – John
    Commented Apr 9, 2015 at 17:03
  • @John I didn't claim judges were infallible. I just asked if the ruling is correct.
    – Rainbolt
    Commented Apr 9, 2015 at 18:28
  • 2
    I would hope that the existence of this question/answer pair would have already made the Internet a better place by clarifying the situation.
    – murgatroid99 ♦
    Commented Apr 9, 2015 at 18:48
  • 1
    It looks like she has updated her answer, good job.
    – diego
    Commented Apr 10, 2015 at 12:40

2 Answers 2

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The ruling is incorrect. The source of the damage is the Searing Blood spell. When Searing Blood resolves, it creates a delayed triggered ability

When that creature dies this turn, Searing Blood deals 3 damage to the creature's controller.

The "Searing Blood" in the triggered ability refers to the spell Searing Blood, so when the triggered ability resolves, the spell is the source of the damage. Since the spell no longer exists, its last known information is used.

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If the source of the damage is a delayed triggered ability, then the ruling is right.

But the source of the damage is not a triggered ability; it's Searing Blood ("Searing Blood deals ..."), and Searing Blood is an instant. (Triggered abilities don't even have names.)

Or at least it was an instant when it last existed. Having since been moved to the graveyard, the object no longer exists (which is perfectly fine), so Last Known Information is used. When it last existed, it was an instant, so the damage was dealt by an instant.

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  • Is it even possible for a triggered ability (or an ability in general) to be the source of damage?
    – GendoIkari
    Commented Apr 10, 2015 at 17:01
  • 1
    @GendoIkari, In theory, it isn't against the rules (abilities on the stack are objects). In practice, I think it's a concept Wizards wants to avoid. I seem to remember there was an accidental occurrence of this that was fixed.
    – ikegami
    Commented Apr 10, 2015 at 18:09

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