Published on 07/25/2016
Do You Want to Build a Scarecrow?
By Carsten Haese, James Bennett, Callum Milne, and Nathan Long
This Article from: Nathan Long
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
We'll make our scarecrow look
a little prettier than this one.
a little prettier than this one.
So I kinda snagged the CI credit card and bought hay. A lot of hay. Like all the hay in Texas. It got delivered in the middle of a rainstorm last night, but I figure if I answer some of your questions, it'll dry off enough to let me start building the scarecrow.
We're covering a whole bunch of stuff from Eldritch Moon this week, but if you have a rules question about Eldritch Moon or any other Magic card, you can send them to us. You can tweet short questions at @CranialTweet, or you can e-mail us longer questions at moko@cranialinsertion.com . You might even see your question used in a future article!
Q: Can I discard two cards to Furyblade Vampire and give it +6/+0 until end of turn?
A: Nope. The Vampire has a triggered ability, not an activated ability. The triggered ability gives you a choice of discarding a card (to give it +3/+0) or discarding nothing. You can choose to discard at most one card. You can't choose to discard more.
Q: My opponent has a whole bunch of Eldrazi on the battlefield. I equip a creature with Slayer's Cleaver and attack with it. Do all of my opponent's Eldrazi have to block my creature?
A: They could block with them all, but they only have to block with one. The Cleaver says the creature has to be blocked by an Eldrazi if able, not that all Eldrazi have to block it. If your opponent has multiple Eldrazi that could block, they need to assign at least one to block the creature equipped with the Cleaver, but the rest of their Eldrazi can block how they want (including not blocking at all).
Q: I attack with six 2/2s. My opponent decides to block them all with Watcher in the Web. Then I cast Ride Down, destroying the Watcher in the Web. What happens with my attackers?
A: Your opponent is in for a world of hurt. The Watcher is destroyed, and every creature that was blocked by it will gain trample. That means all six of your 2/2s will have trample. When it comes time to assign damage, since nothing is currently blocking your 2/2s and they all have trample they will assign all of their damage to the defending player.
Q: I cast Bedlam Reveler and when its enter the battlefield trigger resolves, one of the cards I discard is Bloodhall Priest. Will my Priest enter the battlefield before I draw 3 cards, letting me deal 2 damage with the Priest's triggered ability?
A: Nope, the timing doesn't quite work out there. The madness trigger can't go on the stack while the Reveler's trigger is resolving - you have to finish resolving the trigger before we can put the trigger on the stack. By the time we get around to dealing with the Priest's madness trigger you've already drawn the three cards from resolving the rest of the Reveler's triggered ability. Unless you can find a way to get rid of those three cards before the Priest enters the battlefield, you won't get the trigger from the Priest.
Q: I have two Lunar Force on the battlefield, and my opponent casts a spell. What happens?
A: You're not going to be happy with this outcome. Both Forces will trigger when your opponent casts a spell. The first trigger to resolve will cause that Force to be sacrificed and their spell is countered. Then the second trigger resolves, and that Force is also sacrificed, even though your opponent's spell is no longer on the stack. The Force's trigger does not target, and is not reliant upon the spell still being on the stack, so you'll lose both of your Forces to your opponent's single spell.
Q: I want to cast Distended Mindbender via emerge by sacrificing Geist-Fueled Scarecrow. What will the total cost be?
A: You'll need to pay
. You choose what to sacrifice before determining the cost of the spell, but you don't actually sacrifice the creature until later, when you're actually paying the costs. When you're determining the cost of the spell, the Scarecrow is still on the battlefield, and you'll have to pay one more to cast the Mindbender.Q: I have a Mercurial Geists on the battlefield. I cast Drag Under, but my opponent counters it with Turn Aside. Will my Geists still get +3/+0?
A: Yes they will. All that matters is that you cast an instant or sorcery spell. It doesn't need to resolve in order to be considered cast. Even though your opponent countered your Drag Under, you still cast it, and that trigger will still resolve, giving your Geists +3/+0.
Hail to the King, baby.
Q: Is there a way to stack Spell Queller's trigger to permanently exile the spell without giving them a chance to recast it?
A: There is! This is shades of the old Oblivion Ring trick. Spell Queller has two triggers abilities: one ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield to exile the targeted spell, and a second ability that triggers when the Queller leaves the battlefield that lets the player cast the exiled spell. If we can get that leave the battlefield trigger to resolve before the enter the battlefield trigger, the spell will be permanently exiled.
For instance, let's say your opponent casts Thraben Inspector. You respond by casting Spell Queller, and the Queller resolves. With the enter the battlefield trigger, you target the Inspector spell on the stack. Now (this is the important part) before that trigger resolves, we bounce Spell Queller with something like Disperse. Disperse resolves first, and the Queller returns to your hand, and the leave the battlefield trigger goes on the stack. The leave the battlefield trigger resolves first, but does nothing since nothing has been exiled yet. Then the Queller's enter the battlefield trigger resolves and the Inspector is permanently exiled.
Q: Can Emrakul, the Promised End be countered by Broken Concentration?
A: Yes it can! Protection from instants only works while Emrakul is on the battlefield, not while it's on the stack or in any other zone. While it's on the stack, Emrakul can be countered (but you'll still get the cast trigger, since countering Emrakul won't stop that trigger from resolving.
Q: I cast Distended Mindbender, sacrificing my Thought-Knot Seer. Can I have them draw from the Seer's trigger, then resolve the Mindbender's trigger?
A: Yep, you can do that. After you're done casting the Mindbender, there are two triggers waiting to go on the stack: the Mindbender's cast trigger, and the Seer's leave the battlefield trigger. Since you control both triggers you get to choose the order they're put on the stack. If you put the Seer's trigger on the stack last, it will resolve first, and they'll draw from the Seer trigger before you deal with the Mindbender trigger.
Q: I have a Harness the Storm on the battlefield, and a single copy of Galvanic Bombardment in my graveyard. I cast a second Galvanic Bombardment from my hand. Assuming I choose to cast the other Bombardment with my Harness the Storm trigger, what happens when each Bombardment resolves?
A: The key thing to keep in mind here is that the Bombardment will count the number of Galvanic Bombardments in your graveyard when it resolves, not when it's put on the stack. When you cast the first Bombardment, the Storm's trigger goes on the stack above it, and that trigger will resolve first. You'll cast the Bombardment from your graveyard, and that will go on the stack above the original Bombardment and that one will resolve first. The first Bombardment to resolve will see that you don't have any other copies of the Bombardment in your graveyard, so it will only deal two damage. The second Bombardment to resolve will see you have one copy of the Bombardment in your graveyard, so that one will deal three damage.
Q: I have Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Emrakul, the Promised End on the battlefield. Do I have to get rid of one of them?
A: No you don't. The legendary rule only applies if they have exactly the same name. While in the storyline, they represent the same character in different points in their timeline, according to the game, they're different creatures since they have different names. You can control both versions of Emrakul at the same time.
Q: I have six instants in my graveyard, meaning that my Bedlam Reveler will only cost
. Can my opponent counter it with Spell Snare?A: Nope. A spell's converted mana cost is derived from the mana cost of the spell. Just because you're paying two mana to cast the Reveler doesn't mean its converted mana cost is two. Its converted mana cost is still eight, and cannot be targeted by the Snare.
Q: I have Mind's Dilation on the battlefield. On my opponent's turn, my opponent casts a spell, and with the Dilation's trigger, I exile Prying Questions. Do I have to wait until my next turn before I can cast it?
A: Nope, you get to cast it on your opponent's turn. Normally, you can only cast a sorcery during one of your main phases when the stack is empty. But since Mind's Dilation's trigger is giving you a new permission to cast it (while the trigger is resolving), if you exile a sorcery on your opponent's turn, you'll be able to cast it. In fact, if you choose not to cast it, then you've lost your chance and it will remain exiled, without you having another chance to cast the exiled card.
Q: I have Gisa and Geralf on the battlefield, and I cast a zombie creature from my graveyard. Then I cast Essence Flux targeting Gisa and Geralf. Can I cast another zombie creature card after they return?
A: Yep, you can! Gisa and Geralf's ability is not like playing lands. It doesn't matter if you've already cast a zombie creature from your graveyard this turn, you have an effect that lets you cast a zombie creature from your graveyard that you haven't used yet, so you can cast a second Zombie.
Does anyone else smell smoke?
Q: My opponent cast a face down creature. I really hate face down creatures, so I cast Spell Queller and exile my opponent's morph. Later on, my Queller dies. What happens to the exiled card?
A: When the face down creature went from the stack to exile, it was turned face up. The Queller's ability knows what card it exiled, even though it's face up in exile now, so when the Queller leaves the battlefield, your opponent can cast the creature face up. Hopefully, their face down creature was a Willbender and not a Krosan Cloudscraper!
Q: I have a Tarmogoyf in my graveyard, which is currently a 3/4, due to the creature, artifact, and instant in graveyards. I target it with Soul Separator's ability. What do I end up with?
A: You have a 1/1 flying spirit Tarmogoyf, and you have a 3/4 Zombie token. The spirit token is a copy of the exiled creature card, except it's a 1/1 spirit with flying. Since the effect that made the token defined its power and toughness, it won't copy Tarmogoyf's ability that sets its power and toughness equal to the number of card types in graveyards.
Meanwhile, the power and toughness of the zombie token are set when the token is made, and based on the power and toughness of the creature card when it was last in the graveyard, including Tarmogoyf (even if Tarmogoyf was the only creature in graveyard before it was exiled. Even if the number of types in graveyards change, that won't affect the zombie token: it will stay a 3/4 as long as it's on the battlefield.
Q: I have a Breaker of Armies, who has been turned into a land due to the Imprisoned in the Moon attached to it. I play Vesuva and copy it. What do I end up with?
A: This one is a little weird. When you copy a card, you copy the card as printed (and as modified by other copy effects). You don't copy the effect of any auras attached to it. When Vesuva would enter the battlefield, you can choose a land to copy, and since the Breaker is a land due to the effect from Imprisoned in the Moon, you can copy it. But your Vesuva isn't going to copy the effect from Imprisoned in the Moon, just the card as printed. The net result is that your Vesuva has become the creature Breaker of Armies, with the Armies' normal abilities.
Q: Can I have Brisela, Voice of Nightmares as my commander?
A: Well, kind of. Your commander has to be a single legendary creature, so you could not run Brisla as your commander, since it's technically two cards. However, since Bruna, the Fading Light and Gisela, the Broken Blade are legendary creatures, you could run one as your commander, and the other can be in your deck. If you managed to get both of them on the battlefield, they'll meld into Brisela. And since part of Brisla is your commander, the combat damage Brisela deals will count towards the 21 or more points of combat damage from a commander that would cause them to lose the game.
Jus be careful: if Brisela would be exiled, you can choose to put the half that's actually your commander in your command zone, but the other half will end up in the exiled zone. So make sure you take care of Brisela!
Q: My opponent has a Noose Constrictor on the battlefield, and activated its ability three times. Since they didn't say otherwise, can I assume that all three activations are on the stack at once, and I can kill the Constrictor with my Shock?
A: Nope, we have tournament shortcuts in place to prevent that kind of shenanigans. If a player activates an ability multiple times and doesn't say otherwise, they are assumed to be activating the ability once, letting that ability resolve, activating it a second time, letting that ability resolve, etc. Unless your opponent says otherwise, all three activations from the Constrictor will not be on the stack at the same time. You can ask them to back up so you can respond at a certain point, but if you do cast the Shock, they can just activate the Constrictor's ability in response to save it from the Shock.
So, it turns out that if you leave a big pile of moist hay sitting long enough, in the right conditions, it'll catch fire. The net result is that I have large hay fire going on just behind CI headquarters. So I'm going to go put out that fire, and you guys promise to not to tell any of the CI staff, ok? And we'll see you all next week.
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