What are state-based actions in Magic: The Gathering?

State-based actions are game actions that happen automatically when certain conditions are met (CR 704.1). They include creatures with lethal damage being destroyed, creatures with 0 toughness and planeswalkers with 0 loyalty going to the graveyard, the legend rule, a player at 0 life losing, and +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters cancelling out. They don't use the stack and can't be responded to.

When do state-based actions happen?

Whenever a player would receive priority (CR 704.3). That includes the start of most steps and phases and right after a spell or ability resolves. The game performs every applicable state-based action at once as a single event, then checks again, until none apply. Then triggered abilities go on the stack and a player gets priority.

Can you respond to state-based actions?

No. State-based actions don't use the stack, and they're performed before anyone gets priority. That's why you can't sacrifice a legendary creature in response to the legend rule: there's no window between the second copy entering and the legend rule being applied.

Why are state-based actions important to understand?

They decide exactly when creatures die, when planeswalkers leave, when the legend rule applies and when players lose. Several well-known combos, like Murderous Redcap with Melira, Sylvok Outcast, work because of what state-based actions and death triggers do and don't see.

What is the difference between state-based actions and triggered abilities?

Triggered abilities use the stack and can be responded to. State-based actions don't use the stack and can't be responded to. When a player would receive priority, state-based actions are performed first, then any waiting triggered abilities go on the stack (CR 117.5). Abilities that watch for a game state, like 'when you have no cards in hand', are triggered abilities, not state-based actions (CR 704.1a).

How does the +1/+1 and -1/-1 counter cancellation work?

CR 704.5q says that if a permanent has both +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it, N of each are removed, where N is the smaller of the two numbers. It's a state-based action, so it happens automatically and can't be responded to. It matters a lot for persist and undying creatures, which check for those counters when they die.

Does drawing from an empty library make you lose?

Yes, at the next state-based action check. CR 704.5b says that if a player attempted to draw a card from a library with no cards in it since the last time state-based actions were checked, that player loses the game. Having an empty library on its own doesn't make you lose; trying to draw from it does.

How do state-based actions interact with combat damage?

Combat damage is dealt simultaneously (CR 510.2). The next time a player would receive priority, which is right after damage, state-based actions destroy every creature with lethal damage or deathtouch damage at the same time. Nobody gets a window between damage being dealt and those creatures dying. That's why two creatures that deal lethal damage to each other both die.

What is the order of state-based actions when multiple apply at once?

There is no order. All applicable state-based actions are performed simultaneously as a single event (CR 704.3). If your creature has lethal damage and you also control two legendary permanents with the same name, the creature is destroyed and the legend rule is applied at the same time. Then the game checks again.

How do state-based actions interact with replacement effects?

Replacement effects can change what a state-based action does. Regeneration can replace destruction from lethal damage or deathtouch, but not 0 toughness (CR 704.5f-h). Indestructible isn't a replacement effect; it's a static ability that means the permanent can't be destroyed, so it ignores the lethal-damage check (CR 702.12b). Commanders are different again: a commander that goes to the graveyard or exile can be moved to the command zone by a separate state-based action (CR 704.6d and 903.9a).

MTG State-Based Actions: Complete Rules Guide (2026)

The Invisible Engine

State-based actions are the rules that clean up the game automatically. Nobody casts them and nobody can respond to them. They're why a creature with lethal damage dies right after combat damage, why a planeswalker with 0 loyalty goes to the graveyard, why the legend rule applies, and why a creature with both a +1/+1 and a -1/-1 counter ends up with neither.

If you've ever asked "why didn't I get a chance to save my creature?", the answer is usually state-based actions. They're performed before any player gets priority, so there's no window to act.

This guide lists every state-based action in the Comprehensive Rules (CR), explains when the game checks them, and covers how they interact with the stack, combat, replacement effects and combos. All rule numbers are from the Comprehensive Rules effective 25 September 2026.

The short version: state-based actions are automatic checks the game performs whenever a player would receive priority. They can't be responded to.

What State-Based Actions Are (CR 704)

Section 704 of the Comprehensive Rules covers state-based actions. The framework rules:

CR 704.1: State-based actions are game actions that happen automatically whenever certain conditions are met. They don't use the stack.

CR 704.1a: Abilities that watch for a specified game state are triggered abilities, not state-based actions.

CR 704.3: Whenever a player would get priority, the game checks for all the listed conditions, then performs all applicable state-based actions simultaneously as a single event. If any were performed, the check is repeated. Otherwise, waiting triggered abilities go on the stack and the check is repeated again. Once no state-based actions are performed and no triggers are waiting, the appropriate player gets priority.

CR 704.4: Unlike triggered abilities, state-based actions pay no attention to what happens during the resolution of a spell or ability. A creature that briefly has 0 toughness in the middle of a resolving spell survives if its toughness is back above 0 when the spell finishes.

The checks happen at set moments, not continuously: every time a player would receive priority. That covers the start of most steps and phases and the moment after each spell or ability resolves (CR 117.3a and 117.3b). The cleanup step uses the same process, with a twist covered below.

Several of the checks below concern planeswalkers and their loyalty.

The Complete List of State-Based Actions

CR 704.5 lists every state-based action in a normal game. The rules skip the letters l and o, so the list runs 704.5a to 704.5k, then 704.5m, n, p and onward. The current list ends at 704.5aa.

CR 704.5a: 0 life. A player with 0 or less life loses the game.

CR 704.5b: Drawing from an empty library. A player who attempted to draw a card from a library with no cards in it since the last check loses the game.

CR 704.5c: Poison. A player with ten or more poison counters loses the game. (Two-Headed Giant uses 704.6b instead.)

CR 704.5d: Tokens outside the battlefield. A token in a zone other than the battlefield ceases to exist. A token bounced to a hand briefly goes there, then disappears at the next check.

CR 704.5e: Copies outside the stack. A copy of a spell in any zone other than the stack ceases to exist. A copy of a card in any zone other than the stack or the battlefield ceases to exist.

CR 704.5f: 0 toughness. A creature with toughness 0 or less is put into its owner's graveyard. Regeneration can't replace this, and indestructible doesn't help, because the creature isn't destroyed.

CR 704.5g: Lethal damage. A creature with toughness greater than 0 and damage marked on it greater than or equal to its toughness is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this.

CR 704.5h: Deathtouch damage. A creature with toughness greater than 0 that's been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last check is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this.

CR 704.5i: 0 loyalty. A planeswalker with loyalty 0 is put into its owner's graveyard.

CR 704.5j: The legend rule. If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, they choose one, and the rest are put into their owners' graveyards.

CR 704.5k: The world rule. If two or more permanents have the world supertype, all except the one that has had the world supertype for the shortest time are put into their owners' graveyards. If there's a tie, all of them go.

CR 704.5m: Illegal Auras. An Aura attached to an illegal object or player, or not attached to anything, is put into its owner's graveyard. That's why an Aura goes to the graveyard when the creature it enchants leaves the battlefield.

CR 704.5n: Illegal Equipment and Fortifications. Equipment or a Fortification attached to an illegal permanent or to a player becomes unattached and stays on the battlefield. Equipment falls off a creature that stops being a creature, for example.

CR 704.5p: Attached battles, creatures and other permanents. A battle or creature attached to an object or player becomes unattached and stays on the battlefield. So does any other attached permanent that isn't an Aura, Equipment or Fortification.

CR 704.5q: +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters cancel. If a permanent has both, N of each are removed, where N is the smaller number.

CR 704.5r: Counter limits. If a permanent has an ability saying it can't have more than N counters of a kind, and it has more, all but N are removed.

CR 704.5s: Finished Sagas. A Saga whose lore counters are at or above its final chapter number is sacrificed, as long as it isn't the source of a chapter ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack.

CR 704.5t: Completed dungeons. If a player's venture marker is on the bottom room of a dungeon, and no room ability from it is waiting on the stack, the dungeon is removed from the game.

CR 704.5u: Space sculptor. If a permanent with space sculptor is on the battlefield and any creatures have no sector designation, their controllers choose sectors for them.

CR 704.5v: Defeated Sieges. A Siege battle with defense 0 is put into its owner's graveyard, as long as it isn't the source of an ability that has triggered but not yet left the stack. (This gives the Siege's "exile it, then you may cast it transformed" trigger time to resolve.)

CR 704.5w: Other defeated battles. A non-Siege battle with defense 0 is put into its owner's graveyard. Battles aren't sacrificed.

CR 704.5x: Battles without a protector. If a battle has no protector and isn't being attacked, its controller chooses an appropriate protector. If no player can be chosen, it goes to the graveyard.

CR 704.5y: Battles with an illegal protector. If a battle's protector is a player who can't be its protector, its controller chooses a new one. If no player can be chosen, it goes to the graveyard.

CR 704.5z: Extra Roles. If a permanent has more than one Role controlled by the same player attached to it, all but the newest are put into their owners' graveyards.

CR 704.5aa: Speed. If a player controls a permanent with start your engines! and has no speed, their speed becomes 1.

Variant state-based actions (CR 704.6)

CR 704.6 adds checks that only apply in certain variants:

704.6a: In Two-Headed Giant, a team with 0 or less life loses.
704.6b: In Two-Headed Giant, a team with fifteen or more poison counters loses.
704.6c: In Commander, a player who's been dealt 21 or more combat damage by the same commander over the game loses.
704.6d: In Commander, if a commander was put into a graveyard or exile since the last check, its owner may put it into the command zone.
704.6e: In Archenemy, a face-up non-ongoing scheme with no triggers pending is turned face down and put on the bottom of its owner's scheme deck.
704.6f: In Planechase, if a phenomenon is face up and its trigger isn't pending, the planar controller planeswalks.

When State-Based Actions Happen

Knowing when the check happens matters as much as knowing what each check does.

Whenever a player would receive priority (CR 117.5 and 704.3). That includes:

The start of most steps and phases, after turn-based actions and before the active player gets priority (CR 117.3a).
Right after a spell or ability resolves (CR 117.3b).
Right after a player casts a spell or activates an ability, before they get priority back (CR 117.3c).

Before triggered abilities go on the stack. State-based actions are performed first. Then waiting triggers, including any caused by the state-based actions, go on the stack (CR 117.5).

Repeatedly until nothing changes. If one round of state-based actions creates a new condition, the game checks again. If a lord that gives your creatures +1/+1 dies in one check, a damaged creature that was only surviving because of that bonus dies in the next check.

In the cleanup step. Normally no one gets priority in cleanup. But if state-based actions are performed or triggers are waiting there, they're dealt with, the active player gets priority, and another cleanup step follows (CR 514.3a).

How State-Based Actions Interact with the Stack

State-based actions don't use the stack. They aren't spells or abilities, so Counterspell and Stifle can't touch them.

Triggers caused by state-based actions do use the stack. When a creature dies to a state-based action, its "when this creature dies" abilities trigger. They go on the stack normally and can be responded to.

The order is fixed. State-based actions, then triggered abilities onto the stack, then repeat until nothing happens, then priority.

They ignore what happens mid-resolution (CR 704.4). A spell can make a creature's toughness drop to 0 partway through resolving. If the toughness is back above 0 when the spell finishes, the creature survives, because the game only checks when a player would get priority.

For how the stack itself works and where priority windows open, see our MTG stack explained guide.

State-Based Actions and Combat

Combat is where most players meet state-based actions.

What happens in the combat damage step:

Players assign combat damage, then all of it is dealt at the same time (CR 510.1 and 510.2). Nobody can cast spells or activate abilities between assignment and damage.
The active player would get priority, so state-based actions are checked first. Creatures with lethal damage are destroyed, creatures dealt deathtouch damage are destroyed, and creatures with 0 toughness go to the graveyard, all at once.
Abilities that triggered on damage being dealt, or during those state-based actions, go on the stack (CR 510.3a).
The active player gets priority.

So creatures with lethal damage die right after combat damage, not at the end of combat. And nobody gets a chance to act between the damage and the deaths. Two creatures that deal lethal damage to each other both die in the same check.

With first strike or double strike there are two combat damage steps (CR 510.4), and state-based actions are checked after each one. A creature killed by first-strike damage is gone before the regular damage step, so it deals no regular damage.

For more on combat steps, see our Magic: The Gathering phases guide.

State-Based Actions in Combos

Some well-known combos depend on how state-based actions and death triggers interact.

Murderous Redcap + Melira, Sylvok Outcast + a sacrifice outlet. Murderous Redcap has persist: when it dies, if it had no -1/-1 counters on it, it returns with a -1/-1 counter. Melira says creatures you control can't have -1/-1 counters put on them, so Redcap comes back with no counter. That means it can persist again every time. With a free sacrifice outlet like Viscera Seer, each return deals damage with Redcap's enters ability, as many times as you like. Melira's ability is a "can't" effect, not a replacement effect.

Devoted Druid + Vizier of Remedies (Modern). Devoted Druid has "Put a -1/-1 counter on this creature: Untap this creature." Normally two activations make its toughness 0, and it dies to CR 704.5f. Vizier of Remedies is a replacement effect: if one or more -1/-1 counters would be put on your creature, that many minus one are put on it instead. Druid never gets a counter, never reaches 0 toughness, and can untap for green mana as often as you want.

The counter cancel (CR 704.5q) and persist or undying. A persist creature that returned with a -1/-1 counter can't persist again. But if it gets a +1/+1 counter, both counters are removed as a state-based action, and it has no -1/-1 counter the next time it dies. The reverse works for undying. Timing matters, though. CR 704.8 uses Young Wolf (undying) as an example: if it has a +1/+1 counter and is given three -1/-1 counters, it dies in the same check that would cancel the counters, and the game uses its last known information, which still includes the +1/+1 counter. So undying doesn't trigger.

For more on how persist and undying work, see our MTG Persist vs Undying guide.

Replacement Effects and State-Based Actions

Replacement effects can change the result of a state-based action. Some other abilities stop the state-based action from applying at all.

Regeneration (a replacement effect). A regeneration shield replaces the next destruction this turn: instead, the creature's damage is removed, it's tapped and it's removed from combat (CR 701.19a). It works against lethal damage and deathtouch (CR 704.5g and 704.5h) but not against 0 toughness (CR 704.5f).

Indestructible (a static ability). Indestructible isn't a replacement effect. It's a static ability (CR 702.12a): the permanent can't be destroyed, so it's not destroyed by lethal damage and ignores the lethal-damage check (CR 702.12b). It doesn't help against 0 toughness, 0 loyalty or the legend rule, because those put the permanent into the graveyard without destroying it.

Commanders. A commander that dies goes to the graveyard first. Then, at the next state-based action check, its owner may move it to the command zone (CR 903.9a, listed as CR 704.6d). That's a state-based action, not a replacement effect. The only replacement is for a commander that would go to its owner's hand or library: the owner may put it into the command zone instead (CR 903.9b). Because the commander does reach the graveyard, "dies" triggers see it.

Phasing. A phased-out permanent is treated as though it doesn't exist (CR 702.26b), so state-based actions ignore it until it phases back in.

Stopping -1/-1 counters. Melira's "can't" effect and Vizier of Remedies' replacement effect both keep -1/-1 counters off creatures, so the related state-based actions never have anything to act on.

Common State-Based Action Misconceptions

Misconception 1: "I can regenerate my creature after combat damage." Only if the shield is already up. There's no priority window between combat damage being dealt and the state-based action that destroys the creature. A regeneration shield created before damage still replaces the destruction.

Misconception 2: "Creatures with lethal damage die at end of combat." They die at the first state-based action check after the damage, which happens right after damage is dealt, before anyone gets priority in the combat damage step. Damage stays marked on surviving creatures until the cleanup step (CR 514.2).

Misconception 3: "I can sacrifice my legend in response to the legend rule." You can't. The legend rule is a state-based action, and it's applied before anyone gets priority after the second copy enters. You choose which copy to keep, and the other goes to the graveyard.

Misconception 4: "Counterspell or Stifle can stop a state-based action." No. State-based actions aren't spells or abilities. Counterspell counters spells; Stifle counters activated or triggered abilities. Neither can stop a state-based action, though Stifle can counter a trigger that a state-based action caused.

For when each priority window opens during the turn, see our Magic: The Gathering phases guide.

Strategic Applications

Sequencing. Know which checks will happen before you act. If a creature is pumped "until end of turn" and has damage on it, it survives the turn, because the damage is removed at the same time the pump ends in the cleanup step (CR 514.2). If you kill a lord that gives +1/+1, creatures that were relying on it may die to the lethal-damage or 0-toughness check right away.

Combo construction. Many combos are loops that would normally end because of a state-based action or a death trigger's condition. Building one means finding what stops the loop, such as a -1/-1 counter, and finding a card that removes that limit.

Defensive timing. To stop a combo built around death triggers, target the triggered ability, which uses the stack, or remove a key piece before the loop starts. You can't interact with the state-based action itself.

For deck-building basics, see our how to build a Magic: The Gathering deck guide.

Format-Specific Considerations

Standard. State-based actions come up most in combat: knowing exactly when a creature dies is a core skill. Sagas and battles also rely on them.

Modern. Combos like Devoted Druid with Vizier of Remedies, and persist loops with Murderous Redcap, depend on how counters and state-based actions interact.

Commander. The legend rule (CR 704.5j), commander damage (CR 704.6c) and the commander's return to the command zone (CR 704.6d) all come up regularly. With more players, more triggers wait on each check.

Legacy and Vintage. Fast combo and cheap interaction make exact timing important, including what's on the battlefield when each check happens.

For how state-based actions relate to keywords across the game, see our ultimate MTG keywords glossary.

The Bottom Line

State-based actions are automatic, don't use the stack and can't be responded to. They're checked every time a player would receive priority, all applicable ones happen at once, and the check repeats until nothing changes. They cover lethal damage, 0 toughness, 0 loyalty, the legend rule, losing the game, the counter cancel, finished Sagas, defeated battles and more, all listed in CR 704.5 and 704.6.

If you remember one thing: by the time you get priority, state-based actions have already happened. Plan around them before you act, not after.

Related:

Indestructible, Regenerate and Exile - how creatures survive, and how they die anyway