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To sacrifice a creature in Magic: The Gathering, you must control it on the battlefield, and a spell or ability must instruct you to sacrifice it or include sacrifice as a cost. The creature is put into its owner’s graveyard. Sacrifice is not destruction, and opponents cannot respond in the middle of paying a sacrifice cost.
What does it mean to sacrifice a creature?
“Sacrifice” means to move a permanent you control from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard when a game instruction tells you to do so. A creature is a permanent while it is on the battlefield, so it can be sacrificed under that instruction. You cannot sacrifice a creature an opponent controls.
Sacrifice is not a free action you may take whenever you want. A spell or ability must tell you to sacrifice a creature, or sacrificing one must be part of a cost you are allowed to pay. Wizards’ official rules hub links to the current rules; its September 2026 update bulletin says the Comprehensive Rules take precedence over the bulletin’s summary.
When can you sacrifice a creature?
When paying a cost
Some spells and abilities require a sacrifice as part of their cost. For example, a spell might say to sacrifice a creature as an additional cost to cast it. You choose a legal creature you control and sacrifice it while paying the costs for that spell. The sacrifice is not a separate action you can pause or take back.
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Opponents get a chance to respond only after you finish casting the spell and paying all its costs. Wizards’ Strixhaven and Commander (2021 Edition) release notes state this timing for Natural Order: players can respond after the spell has been cast and its costs have been paid. If an opponent removes the creature you sacrificed after that point, it does not undo the payment.
When an effect instructs you to sacrifice
An effect may tell you to sacrifice a creature as it resolves. Follow that instruction during resolution; players do not interrupt a resolving effect between its steps. This differs from paying a cost to cast a spell or activate an ability. For unusual wording, check the card’s current Oracle text and ruling.
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Can indestructible creatures be sacrificed?
Yes. Sacrifice and destruction are different game actions. Indestructible prevents destruction, but it does not by itself prevent a creature from being sacrificed. A creature with an effect saying it “can’t be sacrificed,” however, cannot be chosen to pay a sacrifice cost, and an effect that tries to make you sacrifice it does not sacrifice it. In a 2025 Arena developer diary, Alex Werner puts the rule this way: “If an effect would cause the object to be sacrificed, it is not sacrificed.”
What happens to triggers and tokens?
“Dies” triggers and “you sacrifice” triggers
A creature sacrificed from the battlefield to its owner’s graveyard dies, so an ability that triggers when it dies can trigger. That is distinct from an ability that triggers when you sacrifice a creature: the latter looks for the sacrifice event itself. The Phyrexia: All Will Be One release notes clarify the distinction with Drivnod: its effect can make a dies-trigger ability trigger an additional time, but a “whenever you sacrifice a creature” ability triggers only once under that effect.
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Sacrificing a token
You can sacrifice a token because tokens are permanents and follow the rules that affect permanents. A sacrificed token reaches the graveyard, counts as sacrificed, and can trigger relevant sacrifice or death abilities. It then ceases to exist.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does combat change the sacrifice rules?
The basic rule is the same in combat: sacrifice requires an instruction or a cost, and the creature must be one you control. Be careful with older examples that discuss sacrificing a blocker after combat damage has been put on the stack. Magic no longer uses combat damage on the stack, so that timing advice is obsolete. The 2007 Wizards article “Tactical Protocol: Your Opponent’s Turn” is historical, not a guide to current combat timing. For a specific combat interaction, consult the current Comprehensive Rules or the relevant card ruling.
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