AI DraftFeb 26, 2026
Pawn of Ulamog + Phyrexian Altar + Reassembling Skeleton
Overview
You may sacrifice Reassembling Skeleton to Phyrexian Altar (sacrificing is moving a permanent from the battlefield to a graveyard; see ). That causes Pawn of Ulamog’s triggered ability to trigger (it triggers when a nontoken creature you control is put into a graveyard from the battlefield; see Ruling [2010-06-15]). The Pawn trigger and the Altar ability will both go on the stack; the Pawn trigger will create a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn token when it resolves (tokens are created and exist on the battlefield as described in ). You can then sacrifice that Spawn to the Altar for mana and use the resulting mana(s) to pay Reassembling Skeleton’s activated ability in the graveyard to return it to the battlefield tapped. The loop nets you back to the starting position (no infinite mana generated by these three cards alone).
Step 1
Activate Phyrexian Altar’s ability by announcing it and paying its cost. Part of that cost is sacrificing a creature; you sacrifice Reassembling Skeleton, moving it from the battlefield to the graveyard ().
Step 2
As a result of the Skeleton being put into the graveyard from the battlefield, Pawn of Ulamog’s triggered ability triggers (it triggers when this creature or another nontoken creature you control dies) and is placed among the triggered abilities waiting to be put on the stack; the Altar’s activated ability was already put on the stack when its costs were paid (; Ruling [2010-06-15]).
Step 3
When the Pawn trigger resolves, you may create a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn token. That token enters the battlefield with the defined characteristics (tokens and their characteristics: ).
Step 4
The Phyrexian Altar activated ability (the one you activated by sacrificing the Skeleton) resolves and adds one mana of any color to your mana pool.
Step 5
You may now activate Phyrexian Altar again, sacrificing the newly created Spawn token for one mana (sacrificing the Spawn is legal and does not trigger Pawn because Pawn only triggers on nontoken creatures and the Spawn is a token: ).
Step 6
Use the mana you now have (the mana from the first Altar activation and the mana from sacrificing the Spawn) to pay 
and activate Reassembling Skeleton’s ability from the graveyard to return it to the battlefield tapped.
and activate Reassembling Skeleton’s ability from the graveyard to return it to the battlefield tapped.Step 7
You are back to a position with Reassembling Skeleton on the battlefield and Pawn + Altar still in play; you have not produced net mana or an extra enduring advantage from the three cards alone.
Resolution
Sequence outcome: Sacrifice Reassembling Skeleton to Phyrexian Altar (a sacrifice is moving the permanent directly to its owner’s graveyard; ) → Pawn of Ulamog triggers (the death of a nontoken creature you control triggers Pawn; Ruling [2010-06-15]) → Pawn’s trigger resolves, creating a 0/1 Eldrazi Spawn token (tokens and their characteristics: ) → Phyrexian Altar’s activated ability (already on the stack) resolves and/or you can activate Altar again to sacrifice the Spawn for additional mana → use the mana to pay and activate Reassembling Skeleton’s graveyard ability to return it tapped. This produces no net mana or permanent advantage by itself; it simply lets you sacrifice and return the Skeleton using the Spawn created by Pawn. All of this follows the normal rules for sacrificing, triggered abilities, tokens, and activated abilities (, Ruling [2010-06-15], , ).
and activate Reassembling Skeleton’s graveyard ability to return it tapped. This produces no net mana or permanent advantage by itself; it simply lets you sacrifice and return the Skeleton using the Spawn created by Pawn. All of this follows the normal rules for sacrificing, triggered abilities, tokens, and activated abilities (, Ruling [2010-06-15], , ).Feedback