AI DraftFeb 26, 2026
Basalt Monolith + Mesmeric Orb
Overview
If you control Basalt Monolith and Mesmeric Orb, you can tap Basalt Monolith for 
and pay 
to activate its ": Untap this artifact." ability, which untaps the Monolith and thereby triggers Mesmeric Orb to mill a card. Repeating Tap → Pay to Untap produces a repeated untap each time and therefore a Mesmeric Orb trigger each time. Untaps that occur during the untap step still trigger Mesmeric Orb but those triggers are held until the upkeep and then put on the stack at the beginning of upkeep .
and pay to activate its ": Untap this artifact." ability, which untaps the Monolith and thereby triggers Mesmeric Orb to mill a card. Repeating Tap → Pay to Untap produces a repeated untap each time and therefore a Mesmeric Orb trigger each time. Untaps that occur during the untap step still trigger Mesmeric Orb but those triggers are held until the upkeep and then put on the stack at the beginning of upkeep .Step 1
Ensure Basalt Monolith is tapped (for example, you tap it using its "
: Add ." ability).
: Add ." ability).Step 2
Spend the produced to pay Basalt Monolith's ": Untap this artifact." activated ability; when that ability resolves, Basalt Monolith becomes untapped.
produced to pay Basalt Monolith's ": Untap this artifact." activated ability; when that ability resolves, Basalt Monolith becomes untapped.Step 3
When Basalt Monolith becomes untapped, Mesmeric Orb sees a permanent become untapped and its triggered ability triggers; that trigger will cause the Monolith's controller to mill a card when the trigger resolves.
Step 4
Because Basalt Monolith is now untapped, you can activate its ": Add ." ability again, generating , pay to untap it again, generating another Mesmeric Orb trigger; repeat these steps as long as you can pay the untap cost.
: Add ." ability again, generating , pay to untap it again, generating another Mesmeric Orb trigger; repeat these steps as long as you can pay the untap cost.Step 5
If the untaps occur during the untap step, Mesmeric Orb's triggers are created but held until the upkeep per ; they are then put on the stack at the beginning of upkeep along with any other beginning-of-upkeep triggers per .
Resolution
You may repeatedly tap Basalt Monolith for and pay to untap it; each time it becomes untapped Mesmeric Orb triggers and its controller mills a card. This can be repeated as long as you can pay the untap cost (Basalt Monolith's ability can be used as often as you can pay for it) — effectively allowing unbounded repeated untaps and therefore repeated Mesmeric Orb triggers that mill a card each time. If the untaps happen during the untap step, those Mesmeric Orb triggers are held until the upkeep and are put onto the stack at the beginning of upkeep . Ruling [2020-08-07].
and pay to untap it; each time it becomes untapped Mesmeric Orb triggers and its controller mills a card. This can be repeated as long as you can pay the untap cost (Basalt Monolith's ability can be used as often as you can pay for it) — effectively allowing unbounded repeated untaps and therefore repeated Mesmeric Orb triggers that mill a card each time. If the untaps happen during the untap step, those Mesmeric Orb triggers are held until the upkeep and are put onto the stack at the beginning of upkeep . Ruling [2020-08-07].Feedback