The Battlefield
AI DraftFeb 26, 2026
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician + Emiel the Blessed + Gaea's Cradle
Overview
If you activate Emiel the Blessed's 
ability to exile and return Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, the return causes two triggered abilities: Derevi's "When Derevi enters..." and Emiel's "Whenever another creature you control enters...". You (the controller) put those triggers on the stack in the order you choose. By putting Derevi's enter-the-battlefield trigger on top and resolving it first to untap Gaea's Cradle, you can then tap Gaea's Cradle to produce green mana (counting Derevi among your creatures) and use that mana to pay Emiel's triggered ability when it later resolves — note the payment timing for Emiel's trigger: you choose whether to pay while it is resolving and if you do, no player may take other actions between paying and the creature getting counters [2020-06-23].
ability to exile and return Derevi, Empyrial Tactician, the return causes two triggered abilities: Derevi's "When Derevi enters..." and Emiel's "Whenever another creature you control enters...". You (the controller) put those triggers on the stack in the order you choose. By putting Derevi's enter-the-battlefield trigger on top and resolving it first to untap Gaea's Cradle, you can then tap Gaea's Cradle to produce green mana (counting Derevi among your creatures) and use that mana to pay Emiel's triggered ability when it later resolves — note the payment timing for Emiel's trigger: you choose whether to pay while it is resolving and if you do, no player may take other actions between paying and the creature getting counters [2020-06-23].Step 1
Activate Emiel the Blessed's ability, targeting Derevi; Emiel's ability exiles Derevi and then returns it to the battlefield.
ability, targeting Derevi; Emiel's ability exiles Derevi and then returns it to the battlefield.Step 2
When Derevi returns to the battlefield, the event creates two triggers controlled by you: Derevi's "When Derevi enters..." trigger and Emiel's "Whenever another creature you control enters..." trigger.
Step 3
As the controller of both triggers, you choose the order to place them on the stack; put Derevi's ETB trigger on top if you want to untap Gaea's Cradle first.
Step 4
Resolve Derevi's ETB trigger. Choose Gaea's Cradle as the target and untap it (or tap/untap as appropriate).
Step 5
After Derevi's ETB has resolved and Gaea's Cradle is untapped, you may activate Gaea's Cradle by tapping it to add 
for each creature you control (Derevi is already on the battlefield and counts).
for each creature you control (Derevi is already on the battlefield and counts).Step 6
When Emiel's triggered ability resolves, choose whether to pay 
while it is resolving; if you paid (using mana including that produced from Gaea's Cradle), Emiel's ability places the appropriate +1/+1 counter(s) on the entering creature per its oracle text and the payment timing restriction in the ruling applies [2020-06-23].
while it is resolving; if you paid (using mana including that produced from Gaea's Cradle), Emiel's ability places the appropriate +1/+1 counter(s) on the entering creature per its oracle text and the payment timing restriction in the ruling applies [2020-06-23].Resolution
You can reliably use Derevi's ETB to untap Gaea's Cradle before resolving Emiel's triggered ability so that tapping Gaea's Cradle produces the extra green needed to pay Emiel's cost; when you pay Emiel's triggered ability do so while it is resolving, and that payment and the placement of counters will happen without players taking actions between them [2020-06-23].
cost; when you pay Emiel's triggered ability do so while it is resolving, and that payment and the placement of counters will happen without players taking actions between them [2020-06-23].Feedback