VerifiedFeb 26, 2026
Aftermath Analyst + Lotus Cobra + Shifting Woodland + Zuran Orb
Overview
If you activate Aftermath Analyst’s sacrifice ability to return lands from your graveyard to the battlefield, all those lands enter the battlefield (subject to any replacement effects, e.g. Shifting Woodland’s “enters tapped” replacement) and Lotus Cobra will trigger once for each land that enters under your control; those landfall triggers are triggered abilities that go on the stack and are not mana abilities so players may respond to them before they resolve [Ruling 2024-11-08] [Ruling 2020-09-25]. Zuran Orb can be activated (sacrificing a land) in response to those triggers, including sacrificing lands that just entered, and that will not prevent the already-triggered Lotus Cobra triggers from resolving (they remain on the stack) .
Step 1
You activate Aftermath Analyst’s activated ability (
, Sacrifice this creature) while it’s on the battlefield and it resolves; as part of the resolution, return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped (Shifting Woodland’s replacement effect that it “enters tapped unless you control a Forest” applies to it) .
, Sacrifice this creature) while it’s on the battlefield and it resolves; as part of the resolution, return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped (Shifting Woodland’s replacement effect that it “enters tapped unless you control a Forest” applies to it) .Step 2
All those lands enter the battlefield simultaneously as the result of that single ability’s resolution; for each land that enters under your control, Lotus Cobra’s Landfall ability triggers once (a trigger is generated for each entering land) [Ruling 2024-11-08].
Step 3
Those Lotus Cobra triggers are placed on the stack after the resolution finishes and state-based actions are checked; they are triggered abilities that use the stack and are not mana abilities, so players get priority and may respond before they resolve [Ruling 2020-09-25].
Step 4
While the Lotus Cobra triggers are on the stack, you (or any player with an appropriate activation window) may activate Zuran Orb’s activated ability by paying its cost (sacrificing a land). You may sacrifice one of the lands that just entered. Sacrificing a land as a cost removes that land from the battlefield immediately; it does not remove Lotus Cobra’s already-triggered landfall triggers from the stack .
Step 5
When each Lotus Cobra trigger resolves, it adds one mana of any color to your mana pool; because the ability is not a mana ability, that addition happens on resolution of the triggered ability and can be responded to before it resolves [Ruling 2020-09-25] [Ruling 2017-11-17].
Step 6
If Shifting Woodland is returned, it enters tapped unless you control a Forest as a replacement effect, and its ETB state (tapped) does not prevent Lotus Cobra from triggering on its entry [Ruling 2024-11-08].
Step 7
If you later have Shifting Woodland on the battlefield and activate its Delirium copy ability (requires it to be a land on the battlefield and the Delirium condition), remember copy and continuous-effect layering rules apply and effects/counters that were on Shifting Woodland before it became a copy remain after it becomes a copy [Ruling 2024-06-07].
Resolution
When Aftermath Analyst’s activated ability resolves, return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped (Shifting Woodland’s replacement effect “enters tapped unless you control a Forest” applies to it) . For each land that enters, Lotus Cobra’s Landfall ability triggers; those triggers are not mana abilities and go on the stack (you can respond before they resolve) [Ruling 2020-09-25] [Ruling 2017-11-17] [Ruling 2024-11-08]. You may activate Zuran Orb (sacrifice a land: you gain 2 life) in response to those triggers, sacrificing any land that is on the battlefield (including lands that just entered); sacrificing those lands does not remove the triggers from the stack or prevent them from resolving — it only changes what permanents remain on the battlefield when the triggers resolve [Ruling 2024-11-08]. If Shifting Woodland later activates its Delirium copy ability, remember that the copy effect and layering rules apply and that “effects that applied to Shifting Woodland before it becomes a copy ... will continue to apply after it becomes a copy” [Ruling 2024-06-07] .
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