Reflection

If I conquer a battlefield with Zilean, Time Mage, can I copy him with my Deceiver legend? Will I make infinite Zileans?

Yes, you can copy Zilean, but you will not make an infinite number. The Deceiver reflexive trigger effect for turning the tokens into copies of Zilean takes place after they are already resolved.

Let's walk through this step by step. Remember, we are first going to add to the chain and then we will work in reverse order to resolve these things.

- You trigger Deceiver when you score the battlefield, discarding a card and exhausting her as the cost to finalize the trigger. - When the effect resolves, you play a 0 [M] Reflection token to the chain. - Zilean's replacement effect sees you playing a token and it replaces that event with you playing the token and a copy of that token. Now there are two 0 [M] Reflection tokens waiting on the chain. - The Deceiver trigger puts the reflexive trigger on the chain that copies a unit (chosen on finalization) and gives the tokens Temporary.Remember, you finalize all of these items in the order that they were added to the chain, starting with the two tokens that are placed on the chain in the order of their controller's choosing.

So now we work through the above ordering in reverse:

- As soon as either token is finalized, it resolves immediately. - Both tokens enter ready when they resolve this way, because the copy that is generated by Zilean's replacement effect inherits any modifications (rule 375). - Next you finalize the reflexive trigger, choosing a unit to copy. You target Zilean. - When it resolves, it will cause the two Reflection tokens to become a copy of Zilean, as well as granting them Temporary-both Reflections receive this modification for the same reason that they are both ready, because of rule 375.By this point, even if the two tokens become copies of Zilean, there is no subsequent play game action involving tokens to apply their replacement effects to, so they will not be able to cause any further tokens to be produced.

375.If an event that a Replacement Effect applies to would be modified by a Game Effect, or the results of that event would be modified by a Game Action, the Replacement Effect will inherit those modifications.

185.3.a.2. Tokens can have costs appended to them via applied Layer effects. Example: Deceiver's conquer effect creates a 0 [M] Reflection unit token and applies a copy effect to that token. The copy effect will append all copyable traits, including the cost of the unit to be copied. This appends a cost to the Reflection token.

187.6. A 0 [M] Reflection token is a domainless unit token with 0 Might.

206. Effects that need to determine a card's cost for any purpose always use its printed or copied cost, even if that cost is increased, decreased, or ignored as the card is played. Example: Sky Splitter is a spell that costs [8] and says in part "This spell's Energy cost is reduced by the highest Might among units you control." Lux, Illuminated is a unit that says "When you play a spell that costs 5 or more, give me +3 [M] this turn." If a player who controls Lux plays Sky Splitter, Lux's ability will trigger, regardless of how much was actually paid for Sky Splitter. Example: Defy is a spell which reads "Counter a spell that costs no more than [4] and no more than [A]." Rocket Barrage is a spell that costs [4][C] and has a Repeat cost of [4][C]. Rocket Barrage is a legal target for Defy even if Rocket Barrage's Repeat cost is paid, because Defy only checks the printed or copied cost of its target. Example: Atakhan is a unit that reads in part "You may kill a friendly unit as an additional cost to play me. If you do, I cost [1] less for each Energy it costs and [Y] less for each Power it costs." If a player plays Atakhan and chooses to kill a Reflection token that is currently a copy of Noxus Hopeful, Atakhan will cost [4] less.

477.1.b.1.b. Copy effects will copy the copyable traits of a Game Object. By default, those are the printed traits of the Game Object . When a Game Object becomes a copy of something, its copyable traits are updated to the new traits it has received. Example: A player triggers Leblanc, Deceiver's hold effect and plays a Reflection token, making it a copy of Honest Broker. That player then plays Mirror Image, targeting the Reflection token. When the Mirror Image Reflection token is played, it copies all of the copyable traits of the original Reflection token - which are currently those of Honest Broker which it is a copy of. That player will have three units named Honest Broker in play, two of which are token Copies with Temporary.