<p>Your opponent will gain control of Phenax, then at the end of your turn they will sacrifice it and gain zero life.</p>

<p>When Spinal Embrace resolves, it creates two continuous effects:</p>

<ol>
<li>You control that Phenax.</li>
<li>Phenax gains haste until end of turn.</li>
</ol>

<p>and a delayed triggered ability:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice Phenax. If you do, you gain life equal to its toughness.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>So, right after Spinal Embrace resolves, your opponent controls Phenax and it has haste. Then, at the beginning of the next end step, the delayed triggered ability triggers and they sacrifice Phenax. Then they gain life equal to its toughness. However, <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Creature" rel="nofollow">rule 302.4</a> says</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Power and toughness are characteristics only creatures have.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and <a href="http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Numbers_and_symbols" rel="nofollow">rule 107.2</a> says</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>If anything needs to use a number that can't be determined, either as a result or in a calculation, it uses 0 instead.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>When you sacrifice Phenax, it is not a creature, so it doesn't have a toughness. So, they gain zero life.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T18:38:43.490Z
Your opponent will gain control of Phenax, not you.
jwodder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T18:39:53.203Z
Oh, right, I missed who was who in the question.
murgatroid99
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-03T16:39:36.337Z
So Phenax will have haste even when it isn't a creature?
AJM
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-03T16:42:16.800Z
Yes, haste is just an ability like any other, so it can be on any kind of permanent. But non-creatures are not affected by summoning sickness anyway, so haste doesn't do anything for them.
murgatroid99
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T18:12:59.127Z
2014-11-23T18:39:51.043Z
2014-11-23T18:39:51.043Z
murgatroid99
<p><a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=376513" rel="nofollow">Spinal Embrace</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Cast Spinal Embrace only during combat. Untap target creature you
  don't control and gain control of it. It gains haste until end of
  turn. At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice it. If you do,
  you gain life equal to its toughness.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378524" rel="nofollow">Phenax, God of Deception</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>As long as your devotion to blue and black is less than seven, Phenax
  isn't a creature.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If I have Phenax in play, and my opponent plays Spinal Embrace targeting it, and then gains control of it, but does not have enough devotion to make Phenax a creature, what happens? Do they gain control of Phenax permanently?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T21:21:45.680Z
"Sacrifice it" means sacrifice the object you had targeted. There's no check to make sure it's still creature. That's the case even if the ability said "Sacrifice the creature" to resolve some grammar ambiguity.
ikegami
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-11-23T21:25:49.330Z
Maybe you think only creatures can be sacrificed, but that's not the case. *701.14a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.*
ikegami
<magic-the-gathering>
What happens after using Spinal Embrace on a Theros God?
Carl Anderson
# What happens after using Spinal Embrace on a Theros God?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-11-23)

[Spinal Embrace](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=376513):

> Cast Spinal Embrace only during combat. Untap target creature you
> don't control and gain control of it. It gains haste until end of
> turn. At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice it. If you do,
> you gain life equal to its toughness.

[Phenax, God of Deception](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378524)

> As long as your devotion to blue and black is less than seven, Phenax
> isn't a creature.

If I have Phenax in play, and my opponent plays Spinal Embrace targeting it, and then gains control of it, but does not have enough devotion to make Phenax a creature, what happens? Do they gain control of Phenax permanently?

**Tags:** magic-the-gathering

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "Sacrifice it" means sacrifice the object you had targeted. There's no check to make sure it's still creature. That's the case even if the ability said "Sacrifice the creature" to resolve some grammar ambiguity.  
> **username_1**: Maybe you think only creatures can be sacrificed, but that's not the case. *701.14a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect this action.*  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-11-23. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Your opponent will gain control of Phenax, then at the end of your turn they will sacrifice it and gain zero life.

When Spinal Embrace resolves, it creates two continuous effects:

1. You control that Phenax.
2. Phenax gains haste until end of turn.

and a delayed triggered ability:

> At the beginning of the next end step, sacrifice Phenax. If you do, you gain life equal to its toughness.

So, right after Spinal Embrace resolves, your opponent controls Phenax and it has haste. Then, at the beginning of the next end step, the delayed triggered ability triggers and they sacrifice Phenax. Then they gain life equal to its toughness. However, [rule 302.4](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Creature) says

> Power and toughness are characteristics only creatures have.

and [rule 107.2](http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Numbers_and_symbols) says

> If anything needs to use a number that can't be determined, either as a result or in a calculation, it uses 0 instead.

When you sacrifice Phenax, it is not a creature, so it doesn't have a toughness. So, they gain zero life.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Your opponent will gain control of Phenax, not you.  
> **username_2**: Oh, right, I missed who was who in the question.  
> **username_4**: So Phenax will have haste even when it isn't a creature?  
> **username_2**: Yes, haste is just an ability like any other, so it can be on any kind of permanent. But non-creatures are not affected by summoning sickness anyway, so haste doesn't do anything for them.  

---

