Magic the Gathering Q.

[Grimmjow]

is dying destroying and sacrificing the same thing?

My Blood Artist card says "Whenever Blood Artist or another creature dies, target player loses 1 life and you gain 1 life"

Does that power activate every time a creature is killed and destroyed and sacrificed or are there differences between the three?

 

[GSHamster]

Dying means that a creature goes from the battlefield to the graveyard. A creature can die from damage, being destroyed, or being sacrificed.

Destroyed means the creature goes from the battlefield to the graveyard. But if the creature has regeneration, you can regenerate that creature, and thus save it.

Sacrifice means that the controller of the creature sends it to the graveyard. A sacrifice generally cannot be prevented. Sacrifice usually happens when the controller gets to choose which creature dies.

Destroy and Sacrifice are similar, but not identical. Both cause the creature to die, but they are separate mechanisms.

So for Blood Artist, the power will trigger everytime a creature goes from the battlefield to the graveyard, regardless if it's from damage, being destroyed, or being sacrificed.

 

[frankthedm]

Magic: The Gathering Rules : Wizards of the Coast

701.14. Sacrifice
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.

Sacrifice means that the controller of the creature sends it to the graveyard. A sacrifice generally cannot be prevented.

IIRC a Sacrifice is often a cost paid, like spending mana from your mana pool. The sacrifice happens in those instances when the effect is being put on the stack, rather than when the effect resolves.

 

[GSHamster]

IIRC a Sacrifice is often a cost paid, like spending mana from your mana pool. The sacrifice happens in those instances when the effect is being put on the stack, rather than when the effect resolves.

That's often true. But not always. The classic example is Diabolic Edict: "Target player sacrifices a creature." Here the sacrifice is the effect, not the cost.