Ashnod's Altar + Thran Vigil

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Overview

Sacrificing a creature to Ashnod's Altar moves that creature from the battlefield to your graveyard (sacrifice action) per [701.14]; Thran Vigil only triggers when one or more artifact and/or creature cards leave your graveyard during your turn, so sacrificing a creature to Ashnod's Altar does not cause Thran Vigil to trigger (nothing is leaving the graveyard). [701.14]

The StackRules & CitationsDetails & Edge Cases

Step 1

You activate Ashnod's Altar's ability (Sacrifice a creature: Add ).

Step 2

As part of that activation/resolution you sacrifice the creature; sacrificing moves that permanent from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard as described by [701.14].

Step 3

Ashnod's Altar's ability then adds as written on the artifact's oracle text.

Step 4

Thran Vigil looks for artifact and/or creature cards leaving your graveyard during your turn. Nothing left your graveyard as a result of sacrificing a creature from the battlefield, so Thran Vigil does not trigger.

Resolution

Activating Ashnod's Altar's sacrifice ability to sacrifice a creature will not cause Thran Vigil to trigger, because the Altar's ability causes a permanent to move from the battlefield to the graveyard (a sacrifice), not a card to leave your graveyard. You must have an artifact and/or creature card actually leave your graveyard during your turn (for example, being exiled from the graveyard or returned from the graveyard to hand or battlefield) for Thran Vigil to trigger.