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Published on 07/27/2015

Fin de siècle

or, Thanks for Ten Years of Fish

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

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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.

Hello everyone, and welcome back! Let's start off this week with a bit of shake-up:

This is my final article for Cranial Insertion. :/

It's sad, but it's because my job's starting to get awesome in ways that make continuing here difficult. It's been an awesome run, and even though I'm stepping out, I'm proud that we've got a team here that'll keep on rolling and helping the players out there.

Moko, Carsten, James, Callum, and a new writer (who I think I know but we're not positive as I write this) will continue shoving fluffy bunnies into your head, so make sure to send them questions! Email to moko@cranialinsertion.com , or send quick and simple questions to @CranialTweet on Twitter, and you'll get an answer plus a chance for fame and glory in our future columns.

For now, I'm signing off with an ever-popular quiz article! See how many you can get right - this one's particularly tricky in a few places, so if anyone can get all of them, let us know.

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Q: A renowned Consul's Lieutenant and not-renown Topan Freeblade attack. In response to the trigger, I Turn to Frog the Lieutenant. How much damage is dealt to me?

A: The infamous answer is...

A: 3
B: 4
C: 5
D: 6
E: 8.5

The consul says

C, 5 damage!

When Turn to Frog resolves, the Lieutenant becomes a 1/1 with a +1/+1 counter on it, so it's a 2/2 creature. Its trigger resolves, and gives the Freeblade +1/+1 - it doesn't matter that it's lost all abilities. Being renown is a fact, like being monstrous or paired, not an ability. 2+3=5, so 5 damage it is, unless Emrakul's got her wiggly tentacles into the basics of math lately.

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Q: I have two cards left in my library, and my opponent has five. We've both delved away our graveyards so they're empty. So now who wins when I cast Day's Undoing?

A: Today's answer is...

A: You draw your cards first, so you lose.
B: Your opponent draws first so your opponent loses.
C: You ran out of cards first, so you lose.
D: You ran out of cards during the same spell, so the game's a draw.
E: The day's over, so everyone goes to sleep.

The... zzz

D, game's a draw!

You do draw all seven of your cards first, but state-based actions are not checked until you're in the cleanup step after resolving Day's Undoing. At that point, the game sees two players who tried to draw a card from an empty library since the last time state-based actions were checked, and boom, you both lose.

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Q: I control an Ampryn Tactician equipped with Brawler's Plate and enchanted with Murder Investigation. I control another artifact, creature, and enchantment, so my opponent chooses those for Tragic Arrogance and I have to sacrifice the Tactician, Plate, and Investigation. How many Soldiers do I get?

A: The tragic answer is...

A: Zero
B: Three
C: Five
D: You choose zero, three, or five
E: Over nine thousand!

After careful investigation, the answer is

C, five Soldiers!

The whole shebang here is about last known information. Immediately before it left the battlefield, your Tactician was a 5/5. All three permanents are sacrificed simultaneously, and since Murder Investigation has a "dies" trigger, it looks back to immediately before the event to see whether or not it should trigger. Lo, it does! And it uses that last known information to determine how many Soldiers to send to investigate.

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Q: How does Starfield of Nyx interact with Heliod, God of the Sun? Does it matter which entered first or how much devotion you have?

A: The enchanting answers are...

A1: If Heliod entered first and you have enough devotion, he's 4/4.
A2: If Heliod entered first and you have enough devotion, he's 5/6.

B1: If Heliod entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's 4/4.
B2: If Heliod entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's 5/6.
B3: If Heliod entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's not a creature.

C1: If Starfield entered first and you have enough devotion, he's 4/4.
C2: If Starfield entered first and you have enough devotion, he's 5/6.

D1: If Starfield entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's 4/4.
D2: If Starfield entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's 5/6.
D3: If Starfield entered first and you don't have enough devotion, he's not a creature

The four magical answer are

A1, B1, C1, D3! 4/4 or bust!

The string of 1s is easy: Starfield of Nyx overwrites Heliod's power and toughness all of the time. It will always set it to 4/4 on top of its normal power and toughness.

When you look at devotion, you get into a question of timestamps and dependency. Neither ability depends on the other; both will do what they say (even if one does less) whether or not the other applies first. So then it's just down to timestamps. Whichever entered last wins. If you have sufficient devotion, Heliod's ability doesn't even apply. If you don't, you either apply it Heliod-Starfield and become a noncreature and then a creature again, or Starfield-Heliod and say "yup, I'm a creature" then "Nope, nevermind!"

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Q: I control Gideon with one ability activated, Jace with none, and activate The Chain Veil. Then I cast Liliana. How many times may I activate their abilities now? [Note: For ease of following along, we've replaced the specific walker cards with generic walker names. Their exact abilities aren't relevant to the question.]

A: The veiled answer is (ordered as Gideon, Jace, and Liliana)...

A: 0, 1, and 1.
B: 1, 1, and 1.
C: 1, 2, and 1.
D: 1, 2, and 2.
E: Wait, is Gideon doing the dance of the seven veils?
F: I mean, Jace would also make a funny mental image.
G: But Gideon is so fuzzy.
H: Those sideburns.
I: It's my last article, I shun your letter conventions.
J: Actually, I shun letters in most of my quiz articles.
K: ANYWAY, answers.

Thank you. The answer is

D, two activations for everyone!

The Chain Veil's ability doesn't modify characteristics, so it applies to each planeswalker you control at any point in the turn, whether or not that planeswalker had an ability activated and whether or not you even controlled him or her at the time The Chain Veil's ability resolved. You can therefore activate Gideon one more time, and activate Jace and Liliana twice each. Do you just win yet?

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Q: I cast Talent of the Telepath and turn up Negate and Titan's Strength, so my Ringwarden Owl could become bigger and swing for a lot if I cast both. Can I do that?

A: The owlish answer is...

A: Yes, but you'll have to Negate the Titan's Strength.
B: Yes, you can Negate Talent of the Telepath.
C: Yes, you can cast Negate without a target.
D: No, there is no way to cast Negate here.
E: This Owl is already bigger than a bear and you want to make it bigger? FOR SCIENCE!

The telepath says

B, Negate me all you want!

A is also a legal play, but you don't have to do it, which makes the answer wrong. C is right out; you need a target. Luckily, if you don't want to counter your pump spell, you can target Talent of the Telepath! A spell isn't put into its owner's graveyard until the very last step of resolution, after you're done doing everything written on the card. Among those instructions in this case is casting two of the revealed cards, which means that Talent of the Telepath is still there on the stack waiting for you to do its things so it can go already. Negate will be countered since its target is gone long before it resolves, but oh well - you got your prowless trigger.

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Q: In a four-player game, Maelstrom Wanderer has dealt 7 commander damage to two other players, then I steal it. What happens if I keep attacking people with it?

A: The stormy answer is...

A: You need to deal 14 damage to the other players, and 21 to its owner.
B: You need to deal 21 damage to each other player.
C: You need to deal 14 damage to the other players, but its owner is safe.
D: You need to deal 21 damage to the other players, but its owner is safe.
E: Ignore all the players and burninate the countryside.

The burn-happy answer is

A, keep counting damage!

Commander damage counts to 21 combat damage without regard for who controlled that commander at the time the damage was dealt. And, delightfully, you can in fact borrow someone's commander and beat him or her to death with that player's own creature. It's beautiful when that happens.

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Q: I cast Infernal Tutor, and I want to crack Lion's Eye Diamond, but I don't want to waste it if my opponent's going to just counter my Tutor. Can I do that?

A: The lion's eye answer is...

A: Yes, if you don't pass priority after casting Infernal Tutor, your opponent can't respond until after it's resolved because you activate a mana ability.
B: Yes, if you pass and your opponent passes, you can activate Lion's Eye Diamond after that before Infernal Tutor resolves.
C: No, you can't activate Lion's Eye Diamond in response to Infernal Tutor.
D: No, you can't activate Lion's Eye Diamond without your opponent being able to counter Infernal Tutor.
E: Wait, you're seriously doing this without Cabal Therapy backup?

Our hellbent tutor says

D, there's no way to do this!

After you cast Infernal Tutor, you get priority. You can activate LED there, and then your opponent can counter your spell. Or you can pass. If you do, your opponent can counter your spell or pass. If your opponent does pass, then Infernal Tutor immediately resolves - both players passed in succession. The only way to reliably combo off like this is to hit your opponent with Cabal Therapy so you can peek and know it's safe.

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Q: Which of these does Painter's Servant paint?

A: I see a red answer and I want it painted...

A: Runeclaw Bear in your sideboard.
B: A token copy of Runeclaw Bear.
C: An exiled Mudhole.
D: A manifested Mudhole.
E: The Mudhole you're casting in that other game over there.

No Scarecrows anymore I want them to turn

B, C, and D are all colorful!

Painter's Servant won't affect objects that aren't in the game, such as cards in your sideboard and... well... cards in another game. Exiled cards are still in the game, and tokens are very much permanents, so those are both covered. A manifested card has no color naturally, but it can gain one just fine.

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Q: What will survive Ratchet Bomb with no counters on it?

A: The explosive answers are...

A: Jace, Telepath Unbound.
B: Hangarback Walker cast with X=1.
C: A token copy of Runeclaw Bear.
D: Mudhole hey wait you get back in that last question.
E: Chandra, Roaring Flame's emblem.

Kaboooooom

C and E are still standing!

The back face of double-faced cards has no mana cost printed, so its converted mana cost is 0. Bit of a liability there, Jace. While on the battlefield, X in a mana cost is 0, no matter what was spent to cast it, and I'm pretty sure that 0+0 still equals 0. Emblems aren't permanents, so they're safe.

Tokens normally have no mana cost, which gives them a converted mana cost of 0, but by being a copy of something, that Bear token has that object's mana cost, and so its converted mana cost is based on that. The token's got a CMC of 2, so it'll live.

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Q: What's the converted mana cost of Nourishing Shoal if I exile Runeclaw Bear to cast it and splice on Desperate Ritual?

A: The delicious answer is...

A: 2
B: 4
C: 6
D: 8
E: Who do we appreciate?

Rah! Rah! Rah!

B, it's just 4!

While on the stack, the value of X is evaluated to whatever was chosen for X. You might think that you didn't choose X, since you exiled a card that set it - but that's the joy of Magic's rules that it's so invisible! You have to choose a value of X, such as 2, and then exile a card with a matching converted mana cost, such as Runeclaw Bear there. That brings the converted mana cost up to 4.

You also splice on Desperate Ritual. That has no effect at all on the mana cost or converted mana cost. It does affect the total cost, which is yet another related but separate value. All in all, you'll pay and exile a Bear, and get a spell with a converted mana cost of 4.

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Q: Which of these cards have characteristic-defining abilities?

A: The answers are...

A: Woodland Changeling
B: Pact of Negation
C: Possessed Aven
D: Heliod, God of the Sun
E: Mudhole

The definitive answers are

A and only A!

Changeling is a fun CDA that's a keyword. It applies unconditionally in every zone.

Pact of Negation used to have a CDA to make it blue, but the color indicator technology that came with Innistrad chopped off the ability and gave it a cool blue bubble instead.

Possessed Aven and Heliod both fail the CDA test in a big way: their abilities are conditional. A CDA may be conditionally plus or minus, or conditionally foo or bar, but it cannot be conditionally on or off.

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Q: Which of these questions do I have to honestly answer?

A: The answers are...

A: (While resolving Infinite Obliteration) Are these three Runeclaw Bears the only ones in your deck?
B: (The turn after resolving Cabal Therapy) Did you have a Runeclaw Bear in hand when I looked?
C: Do you like Mudhole?
D: What was it you killed me with last game, Runeclaw Bear or Forest Bear?
E: (After you scry, put it on top, and then put the top two cards into your graveyard) Which one was on top?
F: How many cards did you sideboard in?
G: Have the judges given you Warnings for anything today?
H: What is your record today?
I: What is your name?
J: What is your quest?
K: What is your favorite color?
L: Where oh where has my little dog gone?
M: Where does the sun go at night?
N: Question Elemental?

The (honest) answers are

NOTHING.

Everything is a lie. Especially the cake.

None of the questions pertain to free or derived information - the cards in a hidden zone, even one that's currently revealed, are still private. Past information that you saw is private. Tournament meta-information like record, sideboarding, and penalties are all private. Lying about your name to your opponent might be slightly awkward, but as long as you're not lying to the judges about it or trying to cause undue shenanigans, you're more or less okay. Your quest is your business alone - perhaps you just want to find your dog.

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And with that, I put down my pen after a good ten-year run.

But I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough.

Until next time, may all of your changes be awesome!

- Eli Shiffrin

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About the Author:
Eli Shiffrin is currently in Lowell, Massachusetts and discovering how dense the east coast MTG community is. Legend has it that the Comprehensive Rules are inscribed on the folds of his brain.

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