Does Lonely Poro's 'died alone' trigger work correctly with its current wording, and does it trigger if Poro dies while other friendly units are present at the battlefield?

Question

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lonely Poro's wording works: its Deathknell will trigger when it is killed and sent to the Trash, but the effect will only actually draw a card if it died with no other friendly units at the same location at the moment of death.

When Lonely Poro is killed and sent to the Trash, its Deathknell trigger is added to the chain [808.1.d.2]. Before it is moved to the Trash, note its location and whether any other friendly units were at that location [808.1.d.3] and the trigger will later resolve. The Deathknell effect reads “If I died alone, draw 1.” “Alone” means there were no other friendly units at that same location when it died [741.1]. If other friendly units were present at that location when Lonely Poro died, the condition is false and you do not draw. If the permanent is not actually sent to the Trash (e.g., the kill is replaced by a recall), the Deathknell does not occur [808.1.d.1].

A Kill (or Cleanup) causes Lonely Poro to be killed. A Deathknell trigger for Lonely Poro is added to the chain as a Pending Item before the card is moved to the Trash [808.1.d.2]. Before moving Lonely Poro to the Trash, note its location and any relevant attributes (including whether other friendly units were at that location) to use when resolving the Deathknell later [808.1.d.3]. Move Lonely Poro to the Trash (finalize the death). When the Deathknell trigger resolves, its effect is evaluated. The effect contains the conditional “If I died alone, draw 1.” The game uses the noted information about what the board looked like at the moment of death to decide whether the condition is true [383.2.c] [741.1]. If the noted information shows there were no other friendly units at that location when Lonely Poro died, you draw 1. Otherwise, nothing happens.

If the Kill is replaced (for example by a recall) so Lonely Poro is not sent to the Trash, the Deathknell will not occur [808.1.d.1]. If multiple Deathknells trigger at once, each triggers separately and their controller orders them [808.2]. If other friendly units are being killed simultaneously at the same location, they are still present at the moment the triggers are added and noted, so the most defensible interpretation is that Lonely Poro was not "alone" and will not satisfy the condition (see assumptions and [808.1.d.3]).

The card Lonely Poro is a Permanent with Deathknell that reads: "If I died alone, draw 1." Per the Deathknell rules, Deathknell is functionally short for "When I die, [Effect]" so the trigger condition is the unit dying and the effect is the text after that phrase [808.1.c]. When Lonely Poro is killed, a Deathknell trigger is added to the chain as a Pending Item before the card is moved to the Trash [808.1.d.2]. The rules require that, before moving the card to the Trash, you note its location and any other details relevant to the Deathknell so the trigger can be processed correctly after the card is finalized [808.1.d.3]. "Alone" is defined as having no other friendly units at the same location [741.1]. Putting that together: the trigger will always be created when Lonely Poro is killed and sent to the Trash, but when that trigger later resolves the effect will only draw a card if the noted information from the moment of death shows there were no other friendly units at that same location [383.2.c] [741.1] [808.1.d.3]. If Lonely Poro is not actually sent to the Trash (for example the kill is replaced by a recall), the Deathknell does not occur at all [808.1.d.1]. For simultaneous deaths at the same location, the most defensible application of the rules is that other friendly units that are also being killed are still "here" when the Deathknell trigger is added and noted, so Lonely Poro would not be considered alone in that case (see assumptions). In short: the card wording is correct for a Deathknell conditional; the trigger happens on death, but you only draw if no other friendly units were at that location when it died.