7

So this came up in a game of Commander the other day. Player A has Purphoros, God of the Forge in play without the 5 red devotion to make him a creature. They then cast Tempt with Vengeance, spending 20 for X.

In a bid to turn a losing situation into a win Player B casts Comeuppance to prevent the damage and turn it back on player A. Player A responds in kind with their own Comeuppance while Purphoros' 20 triggers are still on the stack.

As far as I can tell this will cause an infinite loop where the two instances of Comeuppance each prevent and then attempt to re-deal the damage back and forth between A and B, with no exit condition.

What happens in this case? I was led to believe that causing an infinite loop results in a game loss, but if this is the case, which player is considered responsible for the loop since it required them both to cast Comeuppance?

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  • Since the question doesn't have all that much to do with Purphoros or Tempt, it would probably make sense to just replace those with something simple and well-known like a Shock. Sure, there are links, but it still takes effort to follow the part that's not relevant, even if you know the applicable cards. – NotThatGuy May 13 '15 at 23:32
10

Since Purphoros doesn't have enough devotion to make him a creature there is indeed a loop, but it's not a loss for any player, but a draw:

104.4b If a game that’s not using the limited range of influence option (including a two-player game) somehow enters a “loop” of mandatory actions, repeating a sequence of events with no way to stop, the game is a draw. Loops that contain an optional action don’t result in a draw.

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  • 3
    I edited your answer to remove the old wrong answer and the 'EDIT:'. In general you should call out edits in the text, just make them, and feel free to remove parts you find are not correct. – diego May 13 '15 at 12:36
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    to clarify diego's comment since he missed a word: you should NOT call out edits in the text! if you write "the answer's A. edit: whoops, the answer's B." then you should just edit it to say "the answer's B" to begin with. – doppelgreener May 13 '15 at 12:56
  • Yeah, @doppelgreener is right, I forgot a word. That should definitely have a NOT in there. – diego May 13 '15 at 14:23
  • Since it's mentioned in the rule you provided, might I ask what the 'limited range of influence' option is? – Aiken May 14 '15 at 7:47
  • @Aiken, limited range of influence can be applied to multiplayer games. If you play with this option, you can only affect players within some set distance, for example, players only next to you if the range of influence is 1. – Vilmar May 14 '15 at 7:59

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