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Published on 09/16/2013

Motown Magic

By Eli Shiffrin, Carsten Haese, James Bennett, and Callum Milne
This Article from: Carsten Haese

Cranial Translation
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Note: This article is over two years old. Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes. Proceed with caution.

Welcome back to another episode of Cranial Insertion! By the time you're reading this, I've just come back from a Grand Prix that's practically in my backyard, Grand Prix Detroit, where a bunch of mages gathered to play Modern in the Motor City. I would like to present some interesting card interactions from that Grand Prix, but as I'm writing this, the Grand Prix is still in the future, and Moko's time travelling privileges have been suspended following our recent quiz article, due to an unfortunate mishap involving a dinosaur and a blender. Don't ask.

So, instead of presenting you with Modern questions from the future, let's take a look at a selection of questions from our inbox. Speaking of which, if you have questions you'd like us to answer, please email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet at @CranialTweet. You'll receive an answer from one of our writers and your question might appear in a future episode.

We'll start off this week with a bit of a correction to one of last week's questions.

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Q: So, last week you said that I can't pay more than to scavenge Vastwood Hydra with Varolz, the Scar-Striped. However, Vastwood Hydra's mana cost is , which then becomes the scavenge cost, so can't I choose a nonzero X for the scavenge cost?

A: Yes, you can pay more than if you really want to, that much is true. However, even if you invest mana into X, Vastwood Hydra's power in the graveyard is still only 0, so you're not getting anything out of paying more than .

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Q: What does Chains of Mephistopheles do to Dark Confidant's trigger?

A: Nothing at all! Chains of Mephistopheles' effect only applies to instructions that tell a player to "draw" a card. Dark Confidant's trigger tells you to put the revealed card into your hand, which is not the same as drawing the card even though the end result looks indistinguishable in reality.

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Q: So how does Chains of Mephistopheles interact with Sylvan Library?

A: Chains of Mephistopheles makes the Library pretty useless. After you draw your card for the turn, which isn't affected by Chains of Mephistopheles, the Library trigger offers you to draw two more cards. If you choose to do so, the resulting draws will be replaced by Chains. Instead of drawing two cards, you have to discard a card, draw a card, discard a card, and draw a card. Then you continue to resolve the Library ability by choosing two cards from your hand that you drew that turn, and then you have to choose for each of those cards whether to put it back on top of your library or pay 4 life for it. Either way, you're either losing a lot of cards out of your hand or losing lots of life, neither of which is exactly awesome. The only good news is that the draw from Sylvan Library is optional, and you're probably better off not using it while Chains of Mephistopheles is on the table.

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Q: If I sacrifice Young Pyromancer for Infernal Plunge, do I get a token?

A: Nope. The game checks "whenever you cast" triggers after the cost for the spell has been paid. Since you just sacrificed Young Pyromancer to pay the cost for Infernal Plunge, it's not on the battlefield anymore when the game checks the trigger, so the ability doesn't trigger.

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Q: If I control Young Pyromancer and no tokens, do I get a token in time to populate it if I cast Wake the Reflections?

A: Sure, that works. Young Pyromancer's ability goes on the stack above Wake the Reflections, so the trigger resolves first and gives you a token. Also, populate doesn't target, so you only choose a token to copy when Wake the Reflections resolves. At that time, you control a freshly made Elemental token that you can populate.

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Q: Can I kill Fiendslayer Paladin with a fused Turn // Burn?

A: No, that's not possible. A fused Turn // Burn is both a blue spell and a red spell. Since it's a red spell, it can't target Fiendslayer Paladin while it has its abilities. If you happen to have two Turn//Burn in your hand, you could Turn the Paladin first, let that resolve, and then Burn it, but that'll cost you two cards out of your hand instead of just one.

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Q: Suppose I have Goblin War Drums on the battlefield and enchant a creature with Alpha Authority. Is it unblockable now?

A: Absolutely. Both Goblin War Drums and Alpha Authority create blocking restrictions. Unlike requirements, which only have to be met as much as possible, a declaration of blockers is only legal if it obeys all restrictions. The only way to obey both restrictions is by not blocking your attacker at all, so your attacker can't be blocked.

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Q: I'm confused by what Strionic Resonator can and can't do. Can it copy the triggered ability from Burning Earth so my opponent takes 2 damage each time he taps a nonbasic land? And if so, how long does Strionic Resonator keep Burning Earth's ability?

A: Let's start with the second question: Strionic Resonator doesn't keep the ability at all, because it doesn't gain an ability in the first place. The word "ability" has two meanings: One is a piece of rules text on a card, and the other is a vaguely spell-like object on the stack. Strionic Resonator copies the second kind, an ability that has triggered and that is waiting on the stack to resolve. In other words, Strionic Resonator is to triggered abilities what Izzet Guildmage is to instant and sorcery spells. You can copy one Burning Earth trigger after it has triggered, but that will only lead to 1 extra damage to your opponent.

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Q: If I use Strionic Resonator to copy Cradle of Vitality's triggered ability, will I have to pay a second for the second ability and will I be able to choose a different target?

A: Yes to both. Strionic Resonator explicitly allows you to change the target of the copied ability, so you can put the counters on a different creature. Choosing whether to pay is done on resolution of the ability, so if you want to have the effect happen twice, you must pay for it each time.

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Q: Can I copy Animate Dead's enter-the-battlefield trigger and reanimate a second creature card?

A: You can copy the trigger, but that won't accomplish what you're hoping to accomplish. The triggered ability doesn't have a target you can change. It simply refers to the creature card that Animate Dead is enchanting. This means that the second time the ability resolves, it makes Animate Dead lose an ability it already lost, makes it gain a redundant enchant ability, then it tries to move a card it already moved, and then it gives Animate Dead a redundant instance of the delayed sacrifice trigger.

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Q: Can I use the mana from Radha, Heir to Keld's attack trigger to help summon a flashy hasty creature like Raging Kavu and attack with that one, too?

A: You can summon the Kavu, but you won't be able to attack with it. All attackers are declared at once, and then any abilities that triggered by the declaration of attackers go on the stack. This means that you are quite done with declaring attackers when Radha gives you that extra infusion of red mana. You might want to look into things like bloodrush and Firebreathing effects for more useful outlets of that mana.

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Q: I attack with a 4/4 and my opponent blocks with a 2/2. He says, "Before damage, Giant Growth my blocker." Can I let the Giant Growth resolve and then use Selesnya Charm to exile his 5/5, or does the game go right to combat damage after the Giant Growth?

A: You can still Charm the 5/5. The game only moves on from the declare blockers step to the combat damage step once both players pass priority in succession on an empty stack, which hasn't happened yet because your opponent cast Giant Growth. After Giant Growth resolves, you get priority back, and that gives you the chance to exile your opponent's 5/5.

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Q: I'm wondering what kinds of special costs are applicable when I cast a card with Chandra, Pyromaster's second ability. Can I overload Mizzium Mortars? Can I kick Orim's Chant? Can I pitch a card for Force of Will?

A: The answer is yes to all of those. Unlike Chandra's third ability which copies a card and lets you cast the copies without paying their mana cost, the second ability allows you to cast the card from exile but doesn't attach any specific alternative cost to that effect. This means that except for where the card is coming from, casting the exiled card is exactly like casting it from your hand, which means you can apply any alternative cost you normally could and pay any additional cost you normally could. Of course, the card is not actually coming from your hand, so you couldn't fuse it.

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Q: Let's say I'm in a four-player free-for-all, two of my opponents are at 10 life each, and my third opponent is at 1 life. If I cast Blood Tithe, how much life will I gain?

A: Even though your third opponent is at 1 life, he can still lose 3 life, end up at the decidedly unhealthy life total of -2, and he will be out of the game shortly thereafter. Each of your three opponents lost 3 life each, so you gain 9 life.

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Q: I just cast Lingering Souls from my hand and I want to flash it back right away. Can I do that without giving my opponent the chance to feed the card to his Scavenging Ooze?

A: Certainly. After Lingering Souls resolves, it goes from the stack to the graveyard, and then you get priority first because you are the active player. Since you have priority and the stack is empty, you can now flash back Lingering Souls, which moves it from the graveyard back to the stack right away. By the time your opponent gets priority to act, you've already flashed back Lingering Souls and it is no longer in the graveyard.

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Q: In a game of Commander, one player had a Quicksilver Fountain, we made a bunch of lands into Islands, and then he was knocked out of the game. Do the lands turn back now or do they stay as Islands?

A: They'll continue to be Islands. Quicksilver Fountain's ability creates a continuous effect with a duration of "as long as that land has a flood counter on it." Neither Quicksilver Fountain's nor its controller's departure from the game has ended that duration, so the effect continues.

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Q: My friends and I are having an argument about what "do the same" means in Guild Feud. They are saying that if my opponent chooses not to put a creature card from the revealed cards onto the battlefield, then I have to make the same choice and not put a creature card onto the battlefield. Is that right?

A: Absolutely not. "Do the same" simply means "follow the same instructions," and part of following those instructions is to make some choices. The effect asks you the same questions it asked your opponent — Do you want to put a creature card onto the battlefield, and if so, which one? — but you don't have to give the same answers.

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Q: Does Heartstone reduce bloodrush costs?

A: Nope. Heartstone only reduces the costs for activated abilities of creatures, which are permanents on the battlefield. Bloodrush functions from your hand, so it's an activated ability of a creature card in your hand, so it's not affected by Heartstone's cost reduction effect.

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Q: Why doesn't Pyromancer's Gauntlet just say "If a red instant, sorcery, or planeswalker you control would deal damage ...", wouldn't that be more concise and do the same thing?

A: It would be more concise, but it wouldn't do the same thing. When an ability refers to a card type (like planeswalker or instant) without saying "card", "spell", or "source", it refers to a permanent of that type. Instant and sorcery cards can never be permanents, and they do their work while they're on the stack, so they need the "spell" qualifier to describe what they are at the time they deal their damage, and that's why the Gauntlet has to be worded the way it is.

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Q: So, does this mean that I can bloodrush onto Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts since she only has protection from creatures and bloodrush is an ability on a creature card?

A: Sadly, no. Normally, "creature" without the word "card," "spell," or "source" does refer to a creature permanent on the battlefield, but protection is an exception to that rule. Protection from creatures means, among other things, that Teysa can't be targeted by abilities from creature sources. It doesn't matter whether that creature source is a creature permanent or a creature card in some other zone.

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And that's all the time we have for today. Please come back next week for Eli's Theros prerelease special!

- Carsten Haese

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About the Author:
Carsten Haese is a former Level 2 judge based in Toledo, OH. He is retired from active judging, but he still writes for Cranial Insertion and helps organize an annual charity Magic tournament that benefits the National MS Society.

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