The Battlefield

Altar of Dementia
Luminous Broodmoth
AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Altar of Dementia + Luminous Broodmoth

Overview
When you activate Altar of Dementia you sacrifice the creature as a cost (it’s moved from the battlefield to the graveyard) ; that causes Luminous Broodmoth’s triggered ability to trigger if the sacrificed creature didn’t have flying. The Sacrifice happens before the activated ability is placed on the stack, so Broodmoth’s trigger will be waiting to go on the stack and will normally be put on the stack above the Altar ability and resolve first; Altar mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature’s power as it last existed on the battlefield and per ruling uses that last-known power [Ruling [2019-06-14]].
Step 1
You announce you are activating Altar of Dementia’s ability and (as part of activation) sacrifice a creature you control; sacrificing moves that permanent from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard .
Step 2
Because the creature moved from the battlefield to the graveyard, Luminous Broodmoth’s triggered ability triggers (provided the creature didn’t have flying).
Step 3
After paying activation costs the activated ability is put on the stack; state-based actions are checked and then waiting triggered abilities (including Broodmoth’s) are put on the stack .
Step 4
Broodmoth’s triggered ability will resolve (in APNAP order among triggers) before the Altar ability resolves in normal situations. When it resolves it returns the creature card from the graveyard to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a flying counter (if it’s a non-token card).
Step 5
When the Altar ability later resolves it mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature’s power as it last existed on the battlefield (use last-known information) [Ruling [2019-06-14]]; the creature’s new existence on the battlefield after being returned is a different object.
Resolution
Activate Altar of Dementia: you sacrifice the creature as part of the activation (it’s moved from battlefield to graveyard) . If that creature didn’t have flying, Luminous Broodmoth’s triggered ability triggers. After the activation completes the Altar ability is put on the stack and then waiting triggered abilities are put on the stack , so Broodmoth’s trigger will resolve before the Altar ability resolves in normal APNAP ordering. Broodmoth’s trigger will return the creature card to the battlefield under its owner’s control with a flying counter (if it’s a valid non-token card). When the Altar ability resolves it mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature’s power as it last existed on the battlefield (use last-known information) [Ruling [2019-06-14]]; if the sacrificed permanent was a token it ceases to exist after leaving the battlefield and cannot be returned . If Broodmoth itself died at the same time, it still triggers for other creatures that died that way [Ruling [2020-04-17]].
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