Descent into Avernus + Strionic Resonator

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Overview

When Descent into Avernus’s beginning-of-upkeep triggered ability triggers it’s put on the stack, and Strionic Resonator can target that triggered ability on the stack to make a second instance of it (Ruling [2018-03-16]). Triggered abilities and their copies each resolve separately; each resolution will put two descent counters on the same Descent into Avernus and then create X Treasures and deal X damage where X is the number of descent counters on the enchantment at the moment that particular ability resolves [704.3].

The StackRules & CitationsDetails & Edge Cases

Step 1

At the beginning of your upkeep Descent into Avernus’s triggered ability triggers and is put on the stack as a triggered ability waiting to resolve [704.3].

Step 2

After the trigger is on the stack players receive priority; you may activate Strionic Resonator’s activated ability (pay and tap it) targeting that triggered ability on the stack because Strionic Resonator copies a triggered ability you control (Ruling [2018-03-16]).

Step 3

When Strionic Resonator’s activated ability resolves it creates a copy of the targeted triggered ability and puts that copy on the stack as another instance of the same triggered ability; you may choose new targets for the copy if relevant (Ruling [2018-03-16]).

Step 4

Because the stack is last-in, first-out, the copy normally resolves before the original triggered ability; when the copy resolves it does the full sequence in its text: put two descent counters on the enchantment, then each player creates X Treasure tokens and that enchantment deals X damage to each player, where X is the number of descent counters on the enchantment at that moment (this is how the copied triggered ability executes).

Step 5

After the copy resolves the original triggered ability then resolves and performs the same sequence; the value of X for the original is recalculated at the time the original resolves based on the current number of descent counters on the enchantment (which may be larger because the copy already put counters on it).

Resolution

You may activate Strionic Resonator to copy Descent into Avernus’s upkeep trigger while that trigger is on the stack (Ruling [2018-03-16]). The copy is another instance of the same triggered ability on the stack and will resolve independently of the original; each resolves by first putting two descent counters on the same enchantment and then creating X Treasures and dealing X damage where X is the current number of descent counters on the enchantment at that resolution [704.3].