Is Sacrificing the Same as Discarding in Magic The Gathering?
No, sacrificing and discarding are distinctly different actions in Magic The Gathering (MTG), each with its own set of rules and implications. While both ultimately result in a card ending up in the graveyard, the key difference lies in where the card originates. Discarding involves moving a card from your hand to your graveyard, while sacrificing moves a permanent you control from the battlefield to your graveyard. Understanding this fundamental distinction is crucial for mastering the intricacies of MTG.
The Nuances of Discarding
What is Discarding?
In MTG, discarding is a specific action that moves a card from your hand to your graveyard. The formal rule, 701.8a, states: “To discard a card, move it from its owner’s hand to that player’s graveyard.” This action typically occurs due to various effects, such as spells, abilities, or the game’s cleanup step. For example, if a card forces you to “discard two cards,” you must choose two cards from your hand and put them into your graveyard. This is a deliberate action and is always from your hand.
Common Scenarios that Involve Discarding
- Card Effects: Many spells and abilities, especially in black and red mana, instruct players to discard cards. These effects are often used as a cost or as a way to disrupt an opponent’s hand.
- Hand Size Limit: At the end of each turn, during the cleanup step, if you have more than seven cards in your hand, you must discard cards until you have only seven left. This is a core mechanic of the game to prevent players from hoarding cards indefinitely.
- Cycling: Some cards have a cycling ability, which allows you to discard the card to draw a new one. The formal rule is: “When you cycle [this card]” means “When you discard [this card] to pay an activation cost of a cycling ability.”
- Specific Triggers: Abilities can trigger when a player discards, providing benefits or effects.
The Mechanics of Sacrificing
What is Sacrificing?
Sacrificing is a keyword action that involves moving a permanent you control from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard. It’s essential to understand that sacrificing is an action done on permanents in play as opposed to cards from your hand. Permanents are cards that remain on the battlefield after being cast, such as creatures, lands, artifacts, enchantments, and planeswalkers.
When Can You Sacrifice?
You can’t sacrifice a permanent at any time you choose. Instead, you can only sacrifice when instructed by a cost or effect of a spell or an ability. This means that a card has to tell you to sacrifice something, or a game state that requires it. The rules themselves do not offer a window to just sacrifice permanents whenever you want.
Examples of Sacrificing
- Activated Abilities: Many cards have activated abilities that require you to sacrifice a permanent as part of the cost. This could be to gain some benefit like drawing extra cards or other powerful effects.
- Spell Costs: Certain spells require you to sacrifice permanents as additional costs to cast them.
- Forced Sacrifices: Some effects force you to sacrifice permanents, sometimes without a choice.
Key Differences Between Sacrificing and Discarding
| Feature | Discarding | Sacrificing |
|---|---|---|
| —————— | ———————————— | ———————————— |
| Source | From the hand | From the battlefield |
| Control | Your cards are discarded | Only things you control are sacrificed |
| Timing | Can be triggered by cards and at the end of turn | Only happens as part of the cost or effect of a spell or ability. |
| Game State | Affects your hand size | Affects what you have in play. |
| Purpose | To reduce hand size, trigger abilities, or as a cost | To pay costs, trigger abilities, or to remove a permanent from play |
The Graveyard and “Dies”
Both discarded and sacrificed cards end up in the graveyard. It’s important to note the distinction between cards entering the graveyard through discarding versus from the battlefield. A card that “dies” has a different game state trigger. A card that “dies” is specifically defined as “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield”. So the graveyard is just the end zone, and the origin of the card is vital to determine what can trigger, or what has happened to the card. Cards that are discarded do not count as having “died.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions to further clarify the distinctions between sacrificing and discarding, and other related topics:
1. Does sacrificing count as discarding?
No, sacrificing does not count as discarding. Discarding specifically involves moving a card from your hand to your graveyard, while sacrificing is from the battlefield.
2. Can you discard a card at any time in Magic?
You always discard down to your hand limit at the end of your turn if you have more than seven cards. You can also discard through various card effects, but not just anytime.
3. Is cycling considered discarding?
Yes, cycling is considered a form of discarding. When you cycle a card, you are discarding it to pay the activation cost of the cycling ability.
4. What does “dies” mean in MTG?
The term “dies” means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.” A card that is discarded does not “die” in the MTG context.
5. Can you sacrifice twice in MTG?
No, you cannot sacrifice the same permanent twice for two different costs or abilities at the same time. Once a permanent is sacrificed, it’s gone.
6. Is destroying a creature the same as sacrificing it?
No. Destroying a creature means the creature moves to the graveyard through destruction, not by sacrificing it. It may be destroyed by spell or ability, or as the result of combat.
7. What is the purpose of sacrificing?
The purpose of sacrificing is to pay a cost for an ability or spell, to trigger abilities that rely on sacrifice or to move a permanent to the graveyard to make room for something else.
8. What is the purpose of discarding?
The purpose of discarding is to reduce your hand to seven cards during cleanup, to pay costs or for a card’s effects or to trigger an ability when a player discards.
9. Can you discard your hand in MTG?
Yes, some effects can force you to discard your hand. Certain effects may instruct you to discard all the cards you have in hand, and in that case, yes, you can.
10. Can you discard a card on the field?
No, you cannot discard a card from the battlefield. If a card on the battlefield needs to be removed, it would typically be sacrificed, destroyed, exiled, or bounced back to your hand instead.
11. What happens when you discard a creature?
When you discard a creature from your hand, it goes to the graveyard. This does not trigger “when a creature dies” effects.
12. Is discard the same as graveyard MTG?
No, discarding is a specific mechanic to send cards to the graveyard, but it is not the only way for cards to reach the graveyard.
13. What are some synonyms for discard?
Some synonyms for discard include cast, junk, scrap, shed, and slough, meaning to get rid of something.
14. When should I discard to 7 in MTG?
You discard down to seven cards at the end of your turn, during the cleanup step.
15. Is sourdough discard related to MTG discard?
No, the term “sourdough discard” is completely unrelated to discarding in MTG. Sourdough discard refers to part of a sourdough starter that is removed before feeding.