If I had Mordekaiser, Twice Slain and played it with the Ekko legend ability, can Mordekaiser, Twice Slain save itself?

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FAQ #12946·asked by getmooched·October 17, 2026·Rules v1.5
Answer

It depends — Mordekaiser can save itself from that end-of-turn kill, but only if you control another friendly unit on the board to kill as the cost; it can't pay by killing itself.

Boy Who Shattered Time's ability gives the next unit you play "Kill me at end of turn," which is just a delayed kill instruction. Morde's ability is a replacement effect ("if I would die... instead"), so it applies normally here: you kill a friendly unit, and Morde is healed, exhausted, and recalled instead of dying.

What you can't do is name Morde himself as the unit to kill. His own death is the event being replaced, and a replacement effect can only be applied once to an event "or to any Game Actions or events that replace that event" () — so killing itself would just leave Morde sitting in the trash with nothing to heal or recall. The kill is a cost, not a target (), so the only requirements are that the chosen unit is a friendly permanent on the board () and that the once-per-turn limit hasn't already been used this turn.

References

Suggested answer — derived from the references below

Rules

Core Rules 2026-10-09 > Section 300: Playing the Game > Rule 370.1

Core Rules 2026-10-09 > Section 300: Playing the Game > Rule 373

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