The Battlefield

Forsaken Miner

$0.84

Phyrexian Altar

$51.12

Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

$20.77

AI DraftFeb 26, 2026

Forsaken Miner + Phyrexian Altar + Sephiroth, Fabled SOLDIER // Sephiroth, One-Winged Angel

Overview

If you sacrifice Forsaken Miner to Phyrexian Altar, the sacrifice is a sacrifice (moves it from the battlefield to your graveyard) under the Sacrifice rule , which is a “dies” event and will trigger Sephiroth’s "Whenever another creature dies" ability . If you then cast or activate something that targets an opponent (a "crime") while Forsaken Miner is already in your graveyard, Forsaken Miner’s graveyard trigger will trigger and can return it when you pay {B}

(per the ruling) [Ruling [2024-04-12]]; the Miner’s return ability functions from the graveyard as an ability that moves the card out of that zone .

Step 1

Activate Phyrexian Altar’s activated ability and pay its cost by sacrificing Forsaken Miner; sacrificing a permanent moves it from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard under the Sacrifice rule .

Step 2

As Forsaken Miner is moved from the battlefield to the graveyard, that is a "dies" event and will cause Sephiroth’s "Whenever another creature dies" triggered ability to trigger if Sephiroth is on the battlefield .

Step 3

Let the Altar ability resolve; it adds mana to your mana pool. The Miner is now in your graveyard.

Step 4

Cast or activate the spell/ability that targets an opponent or their things (a crime) while Forsaken Miner is in your graveyard; because the Miner was in your graveyard at the moment you put that spell/ability on the stack, Forsaken Miner’s "Whenever you commit a crime" ability will trigger [Ruling [2024-04-12]].

Step 5

When Forsaken Miner's triggered ability resolves, you may pay {B}

; that ability functions from the graveyard as an ability that moves the object out of that zone , and if you pay {B}

you return Forsaken Miner from your graveyard to the battlefield.

Step 6

When Forsaken Miner returns to the battlefield, it does not "die" by entering the battlefield, so Sephiroth’s "another creature dies" ability does not trigger from that return. If you later sacrifice Forsaken Miner again (for example by activating Phyrexian Altar again), that sacrifice will be another "dies" event and will again trigger Sephiroth .

Step 7

Each resolution of Sephiroth’s "Whenever another creature dies" ability causes the life-loss/gain effect and counts as a resolution toward the "fourth time this ability has resolved this turn" condition that would transform Sephiroth as written on the card.

Resolution

Common, practical sequence: Activate Phyrexian Altar and sacrifice Forsaken Miner as the cost (this is a sacrifice under ). Because Miner moved from the battlefield to the graveyard, it "dies" and Sephiroth's "Whenever another creature dies" ability triggers . After the Altar ability resolves and produces mana, cast or activate something that targets an opponent (a crime) while Forsaken Miner is in your graveyard; because it was in your graveyard at the moment you put that spell/ability on the stack, Forsaken Miner’s triggered ability will trigger and, when that triggered ability resolves, you may pay {B}

to return it to the battlefield [Ruling [2024-04-12]] and the ability functions from the graveyard . Returning it to the battlefield does not itself count as "dies," so it does not trigger Sephiroth until it later is put into a graveyard again; each time a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield it will trigger Sephiroth again .

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