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Rules AnswersCounters, Triggers & Replacement

Does a replacement effect apply if the event it modifies is also replaced by another effect?

Short answer
It depends. Multiple replacement effects can apply to the same event, but only if each modifies the event as it currently exists after prior replacements.

Replacement effects work by modifying events before they occur. When multiple replacement effects could apply to the same event, the game uses a layered process described in CR 616.1: the affected player (or controller of the affected permanent) chooses the order in which to apply them, one at a time.

After one replacement effect modifies an event, the game checks whether any other replacement effects still apply to the modified event. A second replacement effect only applies if it can still modify what the event now looks like after the first replacement. This is the key condition — the event must still be one the second effect can legally modify (CR 616.1d).

For example, if a player would draw a card, and both Replacement Effect A ("instead draw two cards") and Replacement Effect B ("if you would draw a card, skip that draw instead") apply: the player may choose to apply Effect A first, changing the event to "draw two cards." Effect B, which applies to drawing "a card," may then be applied to each of those individual draws. Alternatively, applying Effect B first would skip the draw entirely, leaving nothing for Effect A to modify.

It is also possible that after one replacement effect transforms the event, a second effect no longer matches the new event at all and simply does not apply. The continuous checking process (CR 616.1d) ensures that only applicable replacements are used at each step.

In short: yes, a second replacement effect can still apply after a first one has already modified the event — but only if the modified event still qualifies as something the second effect can replace.

HIGH confidence CR 616.1 CR 616.1d CR 616.1c
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