How does Scuttle Crab work when it's dead? | Runesight
Aug 26, 2026
How does Scuttle Crab work when it's dead?
Asked as: “How does Scuttle Crab work when its dead”
Answered under Unleashed Rules FAQ and Clarifications
When is killed and sent to the Trash, its Deathknell triggers. That trigger is added to the chain before the card is moved to the Trash, then the card is moved to the Trash, and the Deathknell trigger will be finalized/resolved from the chain. When the Deathknell resolves you choose an opponent; they reveal their hand, you may look at their facedown cards for the rest of the turn, and you gain 1 XP. If the is not actually sent to the Trash (for example, its “killed” event was replaced by a recall), the Deathknell will not occur.
Final Ruling
When dies, its Deathknell is triggered and added to the chain before is moved to the Trash; after it's moved, the Deathknell trigger will be finalized and resolved, performing its effects (choose an opponent → they reveal their hand; you may look at their facedown cards this turn; gain 1 XP). If the card never goes to the Trash (e.g., a recall replaced the kill), the Deathknell does not trigger.
Citing
01A unit (for example, ) becomes eligible to be killed (e.g., it has lethal damage). This invokes a Cleanup as appropriate (see Cleanup timing triggers).
02During the Cleanup’s outstanding board state handling, Deathknell triggers for qualifying units are created and added to the chain as Pending Items, and the unit's location/attributes are noted for later processing.
03Immediately after those triggers are added, the Cleanup performs the Kill(s) and moves the unit(s) to their owners' Trash. The Deathknell trigger(s) remain on the chain to be finalized and resolved.
04When the Deathknell trigger is finalized/resolved from the chain, you follow its effect: choose an opponent; that opponent reveals their hand; you may look at their facedown cards for the remainder of the turn; you gain 1 XP. The "this turn" portion will expire at the end of turn during the Ending Phase expiration step.
05If the original "killed" event was replaced so the permanent was not sent to the Trash (for example recalled before being moved to Trash), the Deathknell never triggered or will not occur.
06If multiple Deathknell triggers were generated at the same time, the controller chooses the order in which to add them to the chain.
If the "killed" event is replaced by another effect (e.g., a recall) so the card is not sent to the Trash, the Deathknell does not occur.
If multiple units with Deathknell die simultaneously, the controller chooses the ordering to add each Deathknell trigger to the chain.
The Deathknell trigger is added to the chain before the card is moved to Trash, and the game notes the unit's location and attributes before it is moved (so effects that care about the unit's last-known information can use those notes).
The "you can look at their facedown cards this turn" part is a 'this turn' effect and will expire during the Ending Phase Expiration Step when all "this turn" effects expire simultaneously.
When "dies" the game treats that as the permanent being Killed and sent to the Trash, which is the trigger for Deathknell. The core Deathknell rules tell us the trigger is added to the chain as a Pending Item before the card is actually moved to the Trash, and that the game should note the unit’s location and attributes before it is moved so the trigger can be processed correctly after finalization. During the Cleanup that handles outstanding board state, the Deathknell triggers are created in the Cleanup’s "3a" handling and then the units are killed and placed in the Trash in the next Cleanup step "3b".
Because the trigger is a Pending Item on the chain, it will be finalized and resolved normally through the FEPR process after it is added. When that Deathknell resolves it performs the printed effect on : choose an opponent; that opponent reveals their hand; you may look at their facedown cards for the rest of the turn; gain 1 XP. The "this turn" portion is a temporary effect and will expire during the Ending Phase Expiration Step when all "this turn" effects expire simultaneously.
Important interaction notes:
• If the "killed" event is replaced such that the permanent is not actually sent to the Trash (for example, a recall replaces the kill), the Deathknell will not occur.
• If multiple Deathknells are generated at the same time, the controller chooses the order to add those triggers to the chain.
• The rules and FAQ emphasize that triggers are added and noted before the card moves, so other effects that care about the unit's last-known information can reference that note when the trigger resolves.
Put simply: the ’s Deathknell reliably becomes a pending trigger when it is killed; it will resolve after the card is moved to the Trash and will let you pick an opponent, see their revealed hand, look at their facedown cards for the turn, and gain 1 XP — unless the card was not actually sent to the Trash, in which case there is no Deathknell.
