Published on 05/09/2016
Mamma Mia!
By Carsten Haese, James Bennett, Callum Milne, and Nathan Long
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Your mother is always there
to protect you.
to protect you.
If you have questions you'd like us to answer, please email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions to @CranialTweet. One of our writers will answer your question directly, and your question might appear in a future article to educate readers like yourself.
Q: My opponent controls an Archangel Avacyn that's going to transform in my upkeep, and I control Demonic Pact. Do I get to choose the order of those triggers so I can kill Avacyn with Demonic Pact's first mode before she transforms?
A: No, you don't get that choice. It's your upkeep, but you don't control both triggers, since the Avacyn trigger is controlled by your opponent. When triggers that are controlled by different players need to go on the stack at the same time, the game uses the APNAP rule: First, the active player puts his or her triggers on the stack, in an order of his or her choice. Then, the nonactive player does the same. Since you're the active player, your trigger goes on the stack first, so it'll resolve last.
Q: I control Oath of Chandra and Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh. If Chandra uses her ability and transforms into Chandra, Roaring Flame, does the Oath deal damage to my opponent in the end step?
A: Yes, it does. Unlike most creatures that transform in place while on the battlefield, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh exiles herself and reenters the battlefield as a planeswalker. Since a planeswalker entered the battlefield under your control this turn, the condition for Oath of Chandra's ability is met.
Q: My opponent casts Act of Treason to take my Purphoros, God of the Forge until end of turn. This makes my Norin the Wary go into hiding in exile. When Norin comes back at the end of the turn, do I get to deal damage to my opponent with Purphoros?
A: No. The ending phase of the turn has two steps, the end step and the cleanup step. Norin returns to the battlefield in the end step, but Act of Treason's effect doesn't wear off until the cleanup step. This means that you don't control Purphoros yet when Norin comes back, so Purphoros's ability doesn't trigger.
Q: If I draw my eighth card in my end step, do I have to discard it?
A: Well, you don't necessarily have to discard that card, but yes, you'll have to discard a card. Discarding down to your maximum hand size happens in the cleanup step of your turn, which as we've just seen happens after the end step.
Q: Can I use Word of Seizing to gain control of a Reliquary Tower to avoid having to discard at the end of my turn?
A: Yes, you can do that. In the cleanup step, discarding down to your hand size happens before "until end of turn" effects wear off. This means that at the time you discard down to your hand size, you still control Reliquary Tower, so you don't have to discard any cards. By the time you lose Reliquary Tower, the game is no longer interested in how many cards are in your hand, for this turn anyway.
Q: There are four Golgari Grave-Trolls in my graveyard and I control two creatures when Living End goes off. What happens?
A: You exile your Trolls from the graveyard, and then you sacrifice your two creatures. Finally, you put your Trolls onto the battlefield from the exile zone. The Trolls check immediately before they move to the battlefield how many creature cards are in your graveyard. At that moment, there are two creature cards in your graveyard, so they're entering the battlefield with two +1/+1 counters each.
Q: My opponent targets his creature with Confront the Unknown. In response, I return the creature to his hand with Just the Wind. Does he get a Clue?
A: No, he'll be clueless. Confront the Unknown is a spell with a single target. You've rendered that target illegal by returning it to your opponent's hand, so all of Confront the Unknown's targets are illegal now. Confront the Unknown is countered on resolution and none of its effects happen.
Q: What if "Investigate" were a sentence of its own, would he get a Clue in that case?
A: Still no. It doesn't matter whether separate instructions are separated by commas, periods, "and," or "then." The rules look at the spell as a whole and how many targets it has. If the spell has no legal targets, as in this case, it's countered on resolution.
Grandmothers are mothers, too.
A: Yes, that works. Declaration in Stone only has one target. Since that target is illegal now, Declaration in Stone is countered on resolution and does nothing.
Q: Does Torpor Orb stop the choice of opponent, as seen in Nyxathid, and skipping turns, as seen in Eater of Days?
A: The type of effect has no bearing on whether Torpor Orb stops it. Torpor Orb stops enter-the-battlefield triggers, which you can identify by using the words "whenever" or "when." Eater of Days has an enter-the-battlefield trigger, so Torpor Orb stops it. Nyxathid on the other hand has a replacement effect that changes how it enters the battlefield, so Torpor Orb leaves it alone.
Q: If a creature survives Annihilating Fire, can I still sacrifice it to pay for something like Nantuko Husk's ability?
A: Absolutely. To pay a cost, you simply commit to performing the actions that the cost calls for. The replacement effect from Annihilating Fire changes where the card ends up, but it ended up in exile because you sacrificed it. In other words, as the rule states:
Quote:
|
117.11. The actions performed when paying a cost may be modified by effects. Even if they are, meaning the actions that are performed don't match the actions that are called for, the cost has still been paid. |
Q: Let's say I control Brain in a Jar with three counters on it. If I activate its first ability, and in response I untap it and activate its first ability again, do I get to cast two spells with converted mana cost five?
A: No. Putting a counter on Brain in a Jar is not part of the cost to activate its ability. It's part of the resolution of the ability because it's after the colon that separates the effect from the cost. When the ability resolves the first time, you put on the fourth counter and you get to cast a spell with converted mana cost four. Then the ability resolves again, you put the fifth counter on the Brain and you get to cast a spell with converted mana cost five.
Q: If I activate Brain in a Jar's first ability and respond by removing its counters with Vampire Hexmage, can I cast Living End?
A: Nope. Vampire Hexmage removes the counters before the Brain's ability resolves. When the Brain's ability resolves, you put a counter on the Brain, and now there is one counter on it, so you get to cast a spell with converted mana cost one. If you're hoping to remove the counters between putting on the counter and casting a spell for free, that doesn't work either because you don't have priority while Brain in a Jar's ability is resolving.
Q: Suppose I begin my turn with Zedruu the Greathearted and Illusions of Grandeur under my control. The cumulative upkeep trigger goes on the stack and, in response, I give control of the Illusions to an opponent. What happens from there? Does the enchantment still get the age counter and does the opponent then somehow have to pay the upkeep cost during my turn?
A: Since you controlled Illusions of Grandeur at the moment its cumulative upkeep ability triggered, you control that ability even if you no longer control Illusions of Grandeur at the time the ability resolves. This has some amusing consequences. When the ability resolves, the game tells you to put an age counter on the Illusions, so you do that. Then the game asks you whether you would like to pay the cumulative upkeep cost. If you don't, the game tells you to sacrifice Illusions of Grandeur, but that's impossible because you can't sacrifice something you don't control, so you simply ignore the impossible instruction.
Q: Can I use Geralf's Masterpiece's reanimate ability with fewer than three cards in my hand by just discarding my entire hand?
A: No, you can't do that. Ignoring impossible instructions, or "do as much as possible", only applies when you're resolving a spell or ability. When you're paying a cost, you have to be able to pay the entire cost. If paying the whole cost is not possible, you can't pay any of it, and you can't activate the ability.
Sakiko is sad because
Summer didn't even call her
on Mother's Day.
Summer didn't even call her
on Mother's Day.
A: It sure does! When you're casting a spell for its madness cost, you're casting it from an unusual zone for an unusual cost, but you're still casting it, and that's all that Thing in the Ice cares about. Thing in the Ice doesn't require that the spell be cast from your hand.
Q: I cast Angelic Purge, sacrificing one of my creatures, and in response my opponent returns my creature to my hand with Just the Wind. What happens?
A: Your opponent can't do that. Sacrificing a permanent is part of the cost to cast Angelic Purge, and players can't respond to costs. By the time your opponent gets priority to respond, Angelic Purge is already on the stack and your creature is in the graveyard, so your opponent can't target it with Just the Wind.
Q: Can a planeswalker be countered by something like Counterspell?
A: Absolutely. When a planeswalker is cast as a spell, which is the normal method for getting a planeswalker out, it is in fact a spell. As such, it can be countered by appropriate countermagic such as Counterspell or Negate.
Q: Does Pay No Heed stop all the damage from Grapeshot or just 1?
A: I'm afraid it's just 1. Each copy of Grapeshot is a separate source, and you can only choose one source with Pay No Heed.
Q: Ada has used Mindslaver on Bob and it's Bob's turn. If I use Word of Command on Ada and make her cast Innocent Blood, who chooses which player's creature to sacrifice?
A: You choose for all of them. You choose your own creature because that's your job, and you choose Ada's creature because you control Ada during Innocent Blood's resolution. Finally, since Ada controls Bob and you control Ada, you choose which creature Ada chooses on behalf of Bob.
Q: In a tournament, am I allowed to shuffle my opponent's deck in any way I want, such as overhand shuffle or riffle shuffle?
A: Yes, as long as you're careful. The tournament rules don't require a particular method for shuffling. They only require that your opponent's cards and sleeves not be in danger of being damaged while you're shuffling your opponent's deck.
Q: Are the cards from Duel Decks: Blessed vs. Cursed legal in Standard tournaments?
A: No, most of them aren't. A card is legal in Standard if it has been printed in a core set or expansion set in one of the three most recent blocks. Supplemental products such as Duel Decks are not expansion sets, so they don't contribute to the Standard card pool. You could use a Blessed vs. Cursed printing of a Standard legal card such as Screeching Skaab in a Standard tournament, but Screeching Skaab is Standard legal because it was printed in Magic Origins, not because it was printed in Blessed vs. Cursed.
And that's all the time we have for this week. Thanks for reading, and please be sure to come back next week!
- Carsten Haese
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.
Seawee
Sakiko's comment flavor fail. Not a haiku.
#1
• Date: 2016-05-09 • Time: 06:46:41 •
It's close, though. Sakiko is sad/because Summer didn't call/her on Mother's Day.
#2
• Date: 2016-05-10 • Time: 05:31:52 •
