Published on 08/22/2016
Back in Black
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Our head judge for GP Portland.
Except he didn't have that many feathers.
Except he didn't have that many feathers.
I ran into a few rules questions at the event that piqued my curiosity, and I've included some of those questions here, along with a smattering of other questions that I've encountered on the internet. Let's dive right in.
Remember: you don't have to be at an event to have your questions answered by a judge. We're also available to help answer your questions. 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: I've run out of cards in my library, but I want to activate my Sinister Concoction. Can I do that?
A: Nope. Part of the cost of activating the Concoction's ability is putting the top card of your library into your graveyard. If you don't have any cards in your library, you can't pay that part of the cost, and you won't be able to activate the ability at all.
Q: I managed to Spell Queller my opponent's Lightning Axe. Then my Spell Queller dies. Do they have to pay
or discard a card again? What if they don't want to?A: Yep, they'll have to pay again if they want to cast it. When the Queller's leave the battlefield trigger resolves, they can cast the Axe without paying its mana cost. But they'll still have to pay any additional costs. If they want to cast the Axe again, they'll either need to pay
or discard another card from their hand. If they choose not to cast the Axe, then the Axe remains in exile, and they won't get another chance to recast the Axe (since they only get that chance once: when the Queller's triggered ability resolves).Q: My opponent is currently controlling me with Emrakul, the Promised End's triggered ability. They made me cast Collected Company, and claim that I don't see to see the six cards from the Company. Are they right?
A: Nope, they are wrong. It's still your turn, and you still get to see everything you normally get to see. Your opponent is making you cast the Company and is the one making the choices when it resolves, but it's still your Company that's resolving. While your opponent will get to choose what creatures (if any) enter the battlefield from the Company, you get to see what cards are being looked at by the resolving Company.
Q: I have Ishkanah, Grafwidow on the battlefield, and an instant, sorcery, and land in my graveyard. I cast a second Ishkanah. Will Ishkanah make it to the graveyard in time for it to trigger its delirium ability?
A: No it will not. Right after Ishkanah enters the battlefield, we check to see if anything should trigger from Ishkanah entering. We haven't checked state-based actions yet, so we still have both Ishkanahs on the battlefield. Since you don't have delirium, Ishkanah's ability will not trigger. Then we check state-based actions and one of the Ishkanahs ends up in the graveyard, but too late for it to count for Ishkanah's trigger.
Q: I have a Emrakul's Evangel and some random creatures on the battlefield. My opponent casts Languish. Is there a way to activate the Evangel's ability and have the tokens survive Languish?
A: No, there is not. If you activate the Evangel's ability before Languish resolves, then the Evangel's ability will resolve first, giving you the Eldrazi Horror tokens, then Languish resolves and kills those tokens. And if you let Languish resolve, then the Evangel and your other creatures will die to Languish before you get another chance to activate the Evangel's ability.
It doesn't look that familiar to me.
Q: I was watching coverage of the Pro Tour a few weeks ago, and a player cast Emrakul, the Promised End. When they took control of the opponent's turn, they make their opponent cast Reflector Mage and bounce their Emrakul. Then when they got their turn back, they recast Emrakul. I thought the Mage prevented them from recasting it for a turn?
A: Well, kind of. The Mage's effect lasts until their next turn. But after Emrakul is done controlling the opponent for a turn, she's nice enough to give them an extra turn. When they started that extra turn, that count as their next turn (there's no requirement that an opponent has to get a turn in-between), so the Mage's effect ends. When we get back to the Emrakul player's turn, the Mage's effect is no longer in effect, and they're free to recast Emrakul.
Q: Can I cast Behold the Beyond even if I have an empty hand?
A: Sure, that's probably the best time to cast Behold the Beyond. You always have a hand, even if it's empty. When Behold the Beyond resolves, you'll discard all of the cards in your hand (which is zero cards), and you'll still get to search for three cards of your choice to put into your hand.
Q: My opponent controls a Spell Queller, which has exiled my Gnarlwood Dryad. On their previous turn, they bounced another one of my Dryads with Reflector Mage. On my turn, I kill the Queller with Murder. Can I cast the exiled Dryad?
A: Nope, you're out of luck. Reflector Mage prevents you from casting spells with the same name as the bounced creature. When the Queller's leave the battlefield trigger resolves, you can cast the exiled spell without paying its mana cost. But you are casting the spell, and the Mage's effect will prevent you from casting the Dryad.
Q: Can I counter my opponent's World Breaker with Turn Aside?
A: Nope. Turn Aside can only target a spell that targets a permanent you control. World Breaker has a triggered ability that targets a permanent you control, but the trigger is doing the targeting, not the World Breaker. You can't target World Breaker with Turn Aside, since it's not targeting anything, and you can't target the trigger, since the trigger is an ability, not a spell. The net result is that Turn Aside won't do anything to help you against World Breaker or its trigger.
Q: I enchant my opponent's Drownyard Behemoth with Imprisoned in the Moon. Then I cast Crumble to Dust on the Behemoth. What happens?
A: Since the Moon turned the Behemoth into a land, and since it's not a basic land, it's a legal target for Crumble to Dust. And Crumble to Dust only cares that the target is a nonbasic land. When you're searching through their hand, graveyard, and library, you're just looking for cards with the same name as the exiled cards: it doesn't matter if they're land cards or not. You'll be able to search your opponent's hand, graveyard, and library for all cards with the name "Drownyard Behemoth" and exile them.
Q: What if I enchanted their Forest with Imprisoned in the Moon? Could I exile all of their Forests with Crumble to Dust?
A: That one doesn't work. Imprisoned in the Moon doesn't get rid of supertypes, so the Forest is still a basic land. Since it's still a basic land, it's not a legal target for Crumble to Dust.
Q: I have a Willbreaker on the battlefield. I cast Sleep, targeting my opponent. Did I just gain control of all of my opponent's creatures?
A: No you didn't. Sleep targets a player, but doesn't target any of the creatures. Just because the creatures are being affected by Sleep doesn't mean they're being targeted by Sleep. Since Sleep doesn't target the creatures, Willbreaker will not trigger and you will not gain control of their creatures.
Don't worry. Not all judges are like him.
Q: I attack with a creature, then I cast Arrow Storm. Does the Storm make it so all damage can't be prevented this turn?
A: No it does not. The Storm only applies to the damage it would deal, not all damage. "The damage" is the damage that Arrow Storm will deal. Damage dealt by other sources is not affected, and can be prevented like normal.
Q: I control a Desecration Demon, while my opponent controls Sigarda, Host of Herons with plenty of tokens on the battlefield. Can my opponent sacrifice creatures to tap my Demon?
A: Surprisingly, they can't! Sigarda says that spells and abilities your opponents control can't cause you to sacrifice permanents. You control the Demon, so you control its trigger, even if it's offering another player a choice. When the Demon's trigger resolves, your opponent cannot choose to do something impossible - and because of their Sigarda, it's impossible to choose to sacrifice a creature to your Demon's trigger. Your opponent will be unable to sacrifice a creature, and they won't be able to tap your Demon.
Q: I control a Mausoleum Wanderer. My opponent tries to ping it using Frostwielder's ability. Can I sac my Wanderer without a target so it doesn't end up exiled?
A: Nope. The Wanderer's activated ability requires a target instant or sorcery spell on the stack. If there are no instants or sorceries on the stack, you cannot activate the ability. Barring anything else happening, your Wanderer is going to be dealt one damage and will end up exiled.
Q: I have four lands and a Stonybrook Schoolmaster on the battlefield. Can I cast Obelisk of Urd by tapping my four lands, the Schoolmaster, and the token I get from the Schoolmaster's trigger?
A: Nope, the timing doesn't quite work out there. You tap the Schoolmaster as part of helping to pay the cost of the Obelisk, and that would cause the Schoolmaster's ability to trigger. However, that trigger can't go on the stack until we're done announcing the Obelisk (including paying all of the costs). You don't have that merfolk token yet, so you won't be able to tap it to help pay the cost. In this case, you don't have enough lands and untapped creatures, so you won't be able to cast the Obelisk at all.
Q: My opponent controls a Ward of Bones and a Gate to the Aether, and I control more creatures than them. During my upkeep, I reveal a creature card. Can I put it onto the battlefield?
A: Yes you can. Ward of Bones only prevents other players from playing spells. It doesn't prevent them from putting cards onto the battlefield. While you can't cast creature spells since you have more creatures than your opponent, you can still put creatures onto the battlefield, so you can put the revealed creature onto the battlefield.
Q: I have a face down Ugin's Nexus, thanks to my Wildcall. Then my opponent kills the face down Nexus with a Terminate. Where does my Nexus end up? Do I get an extra turn?
A: Your Nexus ends up in the graveyard, but you don't get an extra turn. The Nexus has a replacement effect, and it needs to have that replacement effect when it would go to the graveyard from the battlefield. But since it's face down, it has no abilities. The Nexus goes from being a manifested face down creature on the battlefield to being a face up Ugin's Nexus in the graveyard. And since it wasn't exiled to its replacement effect, you will not get an extra turn, just the Nexus in the graveyard.
Q: My opponent has a Gravity Sphere on the battlefield. Can I still use Cromat's activated ability to give him flying?
A: Yes, you can. Gravity Sphere removes flying from all creatures on the battlefield, but it doesn't stop creatures from gaining flying in other ways. As long as Cromat's ability resolves after the Sphere has entered the battlefield, Cromat's ability will have a later timestamp and Cromat will have flying for the turn.
Q: I imprint Reset on my Isochron Scepter. Can I use the Scepter to cast Reset on my turn?
A: No you cannot. You're free to activate the Scepter on your turn, and you'll make a copy of Reset. However, you still need to obey Reset's timing restriction, which means you can still only cast it on your opponent's turn after their upkeep step. Since it's your turn, you won't be able to cast the copy of Reset, and you won't get to untap your lands.
Well, that's it for this week. Join us next week, when we dive head first into Conspiracy: Take the Crown!
Thrawcheld
Re Arrow Storm: It's also a sorcery, so you can't cast it during combat.
#1
• Date: 2016-08-22 • Time: 04:29:45 •
