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  1. Does Graft's triggered ability use the stack?
  2. What happens to the +1/+1 counter if the creature that graft was offloading to gets removed? Does it stay on the Graft permanent?

Example:

Llanowar Reborn is on the board. A player summons a Nyx-Fleece Ram, Llanowar Reborn Graft ability gets triggered and the player decides to move the +1/+1 counter to the Nyx-Fleece Ram. A rival player Dismembers the Nyx-Fleece Ram.

  1. Can the rival player dismember in this case? (I assume so)
  2. What happens to Llanowar Reborn's +1/+1 counter?
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    Yes, triggered abilities use the stack. /// As for the second question, you can't move counters to a non-existent object, so you would be forced to decline to choose to move counters. This choice is made in resolution. (On phone, can't write proper answer.)
    – ikegami
    May 19, 2020 at 14:18
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    Most triggered abilities use the stack. Triggered mana abilities don't.
    – Hackworth
    May 19, 2020 at 14:19
  • Worth noting that the rival player has to dismember the Ram before its controler decides to move the counter - the decision is made while Graft is resolving, and at that point it is too late to dismember the Ram. Which makes the second half of this question somewhat redundant.
    – Swimmer F
    May 20, 2020 at 2:54
  • @ikegami, I think you can still chose to move, the rules is just going to see that choice is impossible and not move anything... Nitpick I know
    – Neil Meyer
    May 22, 2020 at 11:27
  • @Neil Meyer, 608.2d [...] The player can’t choose an option that’s illegal or impossible, with the exception that having a library with no cards in it doesn’t make drawing a card an impossible action [...] /// 122.5. If an effect says to “move” a counter, it means to remove that counter from the object it’s currently on and put it onto a second object. If either of these actions isn’t possible, it’s not possible to move a counter [...]
    – ikegami
    May 22, 2020 at 12:29

2 Answers 2

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Yes, Graft is a regular triggered ability and can be responded to, for example by destroying the receiving creature before it gets the counter. If that happens, or the creature becomes unable to receive the counter for any other reason, the +1/+1 counter stays on the Graft permanent.

Graft is a triggered ability:

702.57a Graft represents both a static ability and a triggered ability. “Graft N” means “This permanent enters the battlefield with N +1/+1 counters on it” and “Whenever another creature enters the battlefield, if this permanent has a +1/+1 counter on it, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this permanent onto that creature.”

603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as “[When/Whenever/At] [trigger condition or event], [effect]. [Instructions (if any).]”

All triggered abilities (except triggered mana abilities) use the stack.

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. [..]

If the creature that is about to receive the counter dies or otherwise becomes unable to receive the counter, the counter stays where it is, on Llanowar Reborn in your case:

122.5. If an effect says to “move” a counter, it means to remove that counter from the object it’s currently on and put it onto a second object. If either of these actions isn’t possible, it’s not possible to move a counter, and no counter is removed from or put onto anything. This may occur if the first and second objects are the same object; if the first object doesn’t have the appropriate kind of counter on it; if the second object can’t have counters put onto it; or if either object is no longer in the correct zone.

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  • This was how I thought it worked, thanks so much for the rules to prove it!
    – Milkman Matty
    May 19, 2020 at 23:41
  • @MilkmanMatty Note that if Graft had said "remove a +1/+1 counter from this creature and add a +1/+1 counter to the other creature", then that would be two separate actions, and as effects always do as much as possible, you would lose the counter. However, moving a counter is a single, impossible action and it just won't happen at all.
    – Arthur
    May 20, 2020 at 5:41
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Example:

Llanowar Reborn is on the board. A player summons a Nyx-Fleece Ram, Llanowar Reborn Graft ability gets triggered and the player decides to move the +1/+1 counter to the Nyx-Fleece Ram. A rival player Dismembers the Nyx-Fleece Ram.

Can the rival player dismember in this case? (I assume so)
What happens to Llanowar Reborn's +1/+1 counter?

Graft uses the stack, but it does not target.

It is just a triggered ability that gives you the option to move a counter when it resolves. You can always choose not to move a counter. There is no way with the current wording of graft that a counter can disappear, even if the creature is destroyed in response to the trigger, you can always just chose not to move the +1/+1 counter, when graft resolves. When you choose not to move the counter, nothing happens.

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