how does sacred shears work?

Sacred Shears is a Gear card that functions by granting a triggered ability to the unit it is equipped to. Here is how it works:

Core Mechanics

• Equipping: You pay the cost and exhaust, attaching Sacred Shears to a unit you control.
• Effect Transfer: Sacred Shears features an "Effect Text" section (the bottom box). When equipped, this Effect Text is appended to the rules text of the unit holding it.
• Deathknell: Because the Deathknell ability is in the Effect Text, the unit gains the Deathknell ability, not the gear itself.

Key Interactions

• When the unit dies: When the equipped unit dies, its Deathknell triggers, and you draw 1 card.
• When the gear dies: If the Sacred Shears itself is destroyed in isolation (e.g., by a card effect like Salvage), it is no longer attached to a unit. Because the Effect Text is only active while attached, the Deathknell does not trigger. You only draw a card when the unit equipped with the shears dies.
• Multiple triggers: According to RiftJudge FAQ #765, if a unit like Karthus is equipped with Sacred Shears and dies, it will see itself die, causing the Deathknell to trigger twice, resulting in 2 cards drawn total.

Source: RiftJudge FAQ #8441, #8952, and #765.