0

I have Westvale Abbey, it reads:

{5}, {T}, Sacrifice five creatures: Transform Westvale Abbey, then untap it.

Can I just sacrifice 5 creatures? Or do I need another creature or sacrifice spell to carry out the sacrifice?

doppelgreener
  • 24,520
  • 15
  • 96
  • 170
Hidden
  • 111
  • 4
  • Possible duplicate of Can I pay two different costs with the same payment? – Hackworth Oct 22 '16 at 00:26
  • 3
    @Hackworth I don't think this is exactly a duplicate - the OP doesn't actually want to sacrifice creatures as a cost for two things, they're just unclear on what "sacrifice" as a cost actually means. – Cascabel Oct 22 '16 at 00:57
  • @Jefromi It's close enough I believe. The answer in that old question contains exactly what I would have answered here as well: an activated ability is something else than a triggered ability. "Another creature or sacrifice spell" would constitute sacrificing a creature for a different effect, and Westvale Abbey's cost would not be paid by it. – Hackworth Oct 22 '16 at 01:26
  • 1
    Question is a simpler version of the suggested duplicate, demonstrated a lack of knowledge on how to pay the costs of an activated ability, and the importance of the colon. This is less about buying two things with the same dollar as described in an answer there, and closer to trying to put the dollar into the coin return. – Drunk Cynic Oct 22 '16 at 01:32
  • It is important that Westvale Abbey's ability reads "{5}, {T}, Sacrifice five creatures: ...", not just "Sacrifice five creatures: ..." – David Z Oct 22 '16 at 09:31
  • @DavidZ I have updated the quote. – doppelgreener Oct 22 '16 at 11:59

1 Answers1

4

Sacrificing creatures here is part of the cost, so you can simply sacrifice five creatures (all at once) to pay for the ability.

Costs are always things that, if you're able to spend the resource in question or perform the action in question, you can do so to pay for the ability. If something has mana or energy as a cost, you can pay mana or energy for it. If a permanent has an ability with tapping as a cost, you can tap that permanent to pay it. If it requires you to discard cards, or exile cards from your graveyard, or sacrifice creatures as a cost, you can do so to pay it.

So no, you don't need anything separate, and in fact, you can't sacrifice the creatures for anything separate. They're the cost for this ability, and that cost has to be paid here, just like a mana cost would be - see Can I pay two different costs with the same payment?

Community
  • 1
Cascabel
  • 26,893
  • 3
  • 86
  • 133
  • Recommend clarifying the second clause of the first sentence: they can just sacrifice 5 creatures, together at a time of their choosing, to activate the ability. – Drunk Cynic Oct 22 '16 at 01:34
  • These are examples of the other thing - i.e., the cards I just linked to do not grant their controller the right to sacrificer to trigger them. ​ ​ ​ ​ –  Oct 23 '16 at 09:21