Aftermath Analyst + Shifting Woodland + Spelunking + Sylvan Safekeeper

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Overview

Aftermath Analyst mills cards on ETB and can be sacrificed to return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped; whether those returned lands actually end up tapped or untapped depends on whether Spelunking’s static “Lands you control enter untapped” effect is already in effect when the lands would enter the battlefield, and on replacement-effect timing rules [614.13] and continuous-effect layering [613.5]. If Spelunking enters at the same time as a land that would enter tapped, that land still enters tapped [2023-11-10]. Shifting Woodland keeps any effects or counters it had before it becomes a copy of another permanent card [2024-06-07]. Sylvan Safekeeper’s shroud-granting ability (sacrificing a land as a cost) does not stop Aftermath Analyst’s sacrifice ability, because Aftermath Analyst’s return ability does not target the Analyst or other permanents.

The StackRules & CitationsDetails & Edge Cases

Step 1

You cast or otherwise have Aftermath Analyst on the battlefield; when it enters the battlefield it mills three cards (its ETB trigger resolves separately from other events).

Step 2

Among the milled cards may be land cards such as Shifting Woodland; those lands are now in your graveyard.

Step 3

You activate Aftermath Analyst’s activated ability by paying and sacrificing it as part of the cost; that ability resolves and returns all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped (the ability’s text is an effect that moves those cards to the battlefield tapped).

Step 4

If Spelunking is already on the battlefield when that ability would put lands onto the battlefield, its static effect “Lands you control enter untapped” is a continuous effect that is applicable as those lands enter and so can alter how they enter — continuous and replacement-effect interaction is governed by [613.5] and [614.13].

Step 5

If Spelunking is entering the battlefield at the same time as any of those lands (for example, Spelunking itself was in the graveyard and something is returning it simultaneously), the specific ruling for Spelunking applies and the lands enter tapped despite Spelunking entering at the same time [2023-11-10].

Step 6

If Shifting Woodland is returned by Aftermath Analyst’s ability, it will enter tapped per the ability; later in the turn you may activate Shifting Woodland’s delirium ability to become a copy of a permanent card in a graveyard, and any effects or counters that applied to it prior to copying (for example, being tapped) remain on it after it becomes the copy [2024-06-07].

Step 7

Sylvan Safekeeper’s ability requires sacrificing a land as a cost to give shroud to a target creature. That ability can be activated normally, but it does not prevent Aftermath Analyst’s sacrifice-to-return resolution because Aftermath Analyst’s return ability doesn’t target the creature (shroud stops targeting, not non-targeting effects).

Resolution

Core outcomes: When you sacrifice Aftermath Analyst to “Return all land cards from your graveyard to the battlefield tapped,” the lands are put onto the battlefield tapped by that ability. Whether Spelunking will cause them to be untapped instead depends on whether Spelunking’s static effect is already applying at the moment the lands would enter; continuous/replacement-effect interactions govern this, see [614.13] and [613.5]. If Spelunking is entering the battlefield at the same time as those lands, it does not make them enter untapped — the lands still enter tapped [2023-11-10]. If a Shifting Woodland is one of the lands returned and later becomes a copy of another permanent, any effects (including being tapped) and counters that applied to it before it became a copy remain on it after it becomes a copy [2024-06-07]. Sylvan Safekeeper’s sacrifice-to-give-shroud ability can be used normally but it won’t stop Aftermath Analyst’s return ability (that ability doesn’t target and shroud only prevents targeting).