K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth + Sheoldred, the Apocalypse + Vilis, Broker of Blood

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Overview

If you control K'rrik, Sheoldred, and Vilis and you activate Vilis’s activated ability using K'rrik to pay the Phyrexian and also paying Vilis’s explicit “Pay 2 life” cost, you will lose a total of 4 life from those payments (each payment is a loss of life) [118.4] [2019-07-12]. Each loss of life causes Vilis’s triggered ability (“Whenever you lose life, draw that many cards”) to trigger for the amount lost in that instance, producing draws that then cause Sheoldred’s “Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life” trigger for each card drawn [118.4] [119.3] [118.9]. K'rrik’s cast-a-black-spell trigger is relevant only when you cast a black spell (it triggers when you cast it and resolves before that spell resolves) and does not trigger for paying costs of an activated ability [2019-08-23].

The StackRules & CitationsDetails & Edge Cases

Step 1

You activate Vilis’s ability: you announce target and activate the ability (it goes on the stack).

Step 2

As part of paying the activation’s costs you must pay and also pay 2 life. You choose to pay the by paying 2 life instead of black mana using K'rrik’s replacement option; you also pay Vilis’s explicit Pay 2 life cost. Paying life is losing life [118.4] [2019-07-12].

Step 3

Those life payments cause life loss events (two instances of losing 2 life each, unless some replacement effect combines them). Each instance of losing life is an event that can cause triggers that care about losing life [118.4].

Step 4

Vilis’s triggered ability(s) (“Whenever you lose life, draw that many cards”) trigger for each life-loss event and are put on the stack.

Step 5

When each Vilis trigger resolves it instructs you to draw the indicated number of cards (draws from each trigger occur when that trigger resolves). Each time you draw a card Sheoldred’s “Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life” trigger triggers for that draw [118.9].

Step 6

As each draw resolves you gain 2 life (per draw) from Sheoldred, and each opponent loses 2 life for each card they draw (Sheoldred’s other triggered ability). The gains and losses from Sheoldred’s triggers are separate events and will resolve in whatever order the triggers were put on the stack and chosen to resolve.

Step 7

Net result in the typical case where both life payments are 2 and treated as two separate losses: you lose 4 life total when paying costs, then draw 4 cards from Vilis’s triggers, then gain 8 life from Sheoldred’s draw triggers, and each opponent loses 8 life from Sheoldred’s other trigger.

Resolution

Activation case (all three on battlefield, you control them): Activate Vilis’s , Pay 2 life: target creature gets -1/-1. Use K'rrik to pay the by paying 2 life instead of black mana and also pay the explicit Pay 2 life cost. Paying life is losing life [118.4] [2019-07-12], so you lose 2 life for the Phyrexian payment and 2 life for the explicit cost (total 4 life). Each instance of life loss causes Vilis to trigger for that instance’s amount lost, so you get triggers that will make you draw a total of 4 cards (2 cards for each 2-life loss) unless the life payments were combined into a single loss event by some other effect. Each card you draw causes Sheoldred’s “Whenever you draw a card, you gain 2 life” to trigger, so you will gain 2 life per card drawn (total +8 life if you draw 4 cards) [118.9]. Sheoldred’s other triggered ability also causes each opponent to lose 2 life whenever they draw a card. K'rrik does not get a +1/+1 counter from activating Vilis (K'rrik’s ability triggers only when you cast a black spell) and if you had instead cast a black spell K'rrik’s cast trigger would resolve before that spell resolves [2019-08-23].