Published on 10/03/2016
Ach-tober
By Carsten Haese, James Bennett, Callum Milne, and Nathan Long
This Article from: James Bennett
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Will break 8 armies, or 10,
or as many as you like.
or as many as you like.
But a little numeric or calendric confusion never stops us here at the Cranial Insertion offices, so if you've got a rules question burning a hole in your brain, feel free to ask us by using the handy "Email Us" button, by sending an email to moko@cranialinsertion.com , or by tweeting at @CranialTweet.
Q: I have a bunch of energy counters and I'm attacking with Aetherstorm Roc. Could I pay, say, 6 energy to get 3 +1/+1 counters and tap 3 creatures?
A: While it's nice to see how energetic you are about this, it doesn't quite work. When a triggered ability allows you to do a thing, you only get to do it once each time the ability triggers (unless, of course, the card says otherwise). So you can only pay 2 energy, get one counter and tap one creature each time the Roc attacks.
Q: My opponent just cast an Eager Construct; do I get to know whether she put her card from scry on the top or the bottom before I decide what to do with mine?
A: You do! When Eager Construct's triggered ability resolves, players scry in turn order. Since it's your opponent's turn (presumably, since she's casting creatures), she'll scry first and then you'll scry. You'll know what decision she made before you have to make your decision.
Q: I have an Chalice of the Void which was cast for X=3. Does it reduce the cost of my Metalwork Colossus by 6?
A: No; the chosen value for X only exists while the Chalice is on the stack as a spell; on the battlefield (and in every other zone), X=0, so that Chalice will reduce Metalwork Colossus' cost by... 0.
Q: My opponent cast a Cataclysmic Gearhulk and said he'd keep the Gearhulk and a Fairgrounds Warden; is that legal?
A: It is! Cataclysmic Gearhulk wants him to choose one permanent he controls for each type, and doesn't care if those permanents have types other than the ones they were chosen for. So he can choose the Gearhulk as his artifact and the Warden as his creature, and keep both.
Q: Since damage gets redirected from me to my planeswalkers, will Commencement of Festivities save my planeswalkers from combat damage?
A: No. Non-combat damage that would be dealt to you by something an opponent controls can be redirected from you to a planeswalker you control (if the opponent chooses to), but in combat planeswalkers get attacked directly. And since Commencement of Festivities only prevents damage to players, it won't prevent damage to your planeswalkers.
Q: I cast Dubious Challenge and find two copies of Phage the Untouchable in my top 10 cards. Is the game a draw?
A: Finding those two copies of Phage was a dubious choice, because you're probably going to lose. Your opponent can simply choose not to get one of the exiled cards, leaving you with both... and with two "you lose the game" triggers as your reward for issuing this challenge!
More like "Ach-topus"
A: Untapped. Spirebluff Canal and friends (including their allied-color pals from way back in Scars of Mirrodin) count the other lands you control, not themselves; so in this case the Canal sees you have two other lands, and will enter untapped.
Q: What if I get a Spirebluff Canal, an Inspiring Vantage and a Botanical Sanctum and multiple other lands from a Scapeshift?
A: Since the lands from Scapeshift all enter simultaneously, they won't affect the land count they all see; you'll still go by how many lands you have just before they all enter. Tragically however, Scapeshift puts the lands onto the battlefield tapped, making the untapped clause on your lands irrelevant.
Q: I have two artifacts and I'm activating Underhanded Designs' ability. My opponent says he'll respond with Naturalize on one of my artifacts to counter it. Is that legal?
A: No; it's never possible to interrupt the process of casting a spell or activating an ability to try to take away a required condition or prevent payment of a cost. The earliest your opponent can respond to the ability is once you've completed activating it, at which point the ability is on the stack and getting rid of one of your artifacts won't undo its activation.
Q: Can Ceremonious Rejection counter an Elder Deep-Fiend?
A: It can. The Deep-Fiend is colorless, since it has only colorless mana symbols in its mana cost (note that color is different from the concept of color identity in Commander games, which takes into account mana symbols in a card's rules text; for Commander purposes, Elder Deep-Fiend's color identity is blue thanks to its emerge cost).
Q: If I just want some energy counters, can I cast Confiscation Coup and not take control of anything?
A: Sure; Confiscation Coup says you may pay energy to take control of the target, not that you must. Just remember that you do still have to choose a legal target to cast Confiscation Coup even if you don't end up paying to steal it.
Q: I've heard there's a trick with Aetherflux Reservoir where I can cast just two spells and get 4 life. How does that work?
A: Very carefully! Cast the first spell, and put the Reservoir trigger on the stack. Respond to that by casting the second spell (it better be an instant, or something with flash). Aetherflux Reservoir doesn't count the number of spells you've cast until its ability is resolving, so each trigger will see two spells cast and give you two life, for a total of 4.
Q: Can I cast Ornamental Courage on an already-untapped creature just to pump it up?
A: Sure. Ornamental Courage just says "target creature", not "target tapped creature", so this is perfectly legal. The untap part of the effect won't do anything, but the creature will still get +1/+3.
Q: I cast an Insidious Will to counter my opponent's spell, and then respond with another Insidious Will to copy the first one. Can I get an infinite chain of Insidious Wills now by having the copy created by the second one copy the first one again?
A: No, because although you can choose new targets for the copy created by Insidious Will you can't choose a new mode for it, so the copy will still be locked into the "counter target spell" mode and you won't be able to change that to the "copy target instant or sorcery" mode.
Hans eventually took up
powerwalking instead.
powerwalking instead.
A: That also won't work because a spell can never target itself. And even if you pulled off some shenanigans to get an infinite chain of Insidious Wills going (it's not impossible, just tricky and requires multiple Insidious Wills all set to copy in order to get started), they wouldn't feed your Nivmagus Elemental since you need them to resolve in order to continue the copy chain, but anything you exile for the Nivmagus won't ever resolve.
Q: Do the tokens created by the second ability of Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter update the power and toughness as I get more creatures?
A: No, the values for the power and toughness are locked in as the ability resolves, and will be derived from the number of creatures you control at that moment.
Q: I've heard that using Snapcaster Mage on Evermind doesn't work; what about trying to cast it off a Torrential Gearhulk?
A: Snapcaster doesn't work here because it sets a flashback cost equal to Evermind's mana cost, and casting it requires you to pay that cost. Since Evermind has an unpayable mana cost it also gets an unpayable flashback cost. Torrential Gearhulk, on the other hand, just instructs you to cast without paying the mana cost, which is perfectly fine (and in fact is the only way you can ever cast an Evermind, since anything requiring you to pay the mana cost is impossible).
Q: Can I play a Sol Ring in my Standard deck since it's in Kaladesh?
A: No, because that card isn't in Kaladesh — it's in a set called Kaladesh Inventions, which doesn't add any cards to Standard.
Q: What about Chandra, Pyrogenius or Nissa, Nature's Artisan?
A: Those you can play; although they don't appear in Kaladesh booster packs, they do appear in the Kaladesh Planeswalker Decks (preconstructed decks built around planeswalker characters featured in the set), and are considered part of Kaladesh. So they're legal in Standard and Modern just the same as if they appeared in booster packs.
Q: I heard that in a tournament you can't announce that you want to go to combat and then crew a Vehicle. Is that true?
A: In tournament play, any statement about moving to combat (and this is very broadly interpreted, so anything which mentions "combat" or "attack" or "attackers" will do this) is taken as meaning you'll pass priority until your opponent has priority in your beginning of combat step. If your opponent doesn't want to do anything, the very next thing that happens is you declaring attackers, and you don't get a chance to activate any further abilities before doing so. This exists to avoid certain types of word-game shenanigans which would trick an opponent into using removal spells in the main phase and allow you to cast a hasty creature or animate something once the coast is clear.
If for some reason you really want to crew your Vehicle and go straight to combat in one smooth motion, just say so. For example, "Tap my Fraigrounds Warden to crew my Smuggler's Copter and go to combat".
That's all for this week, but be sure to check in again next week when we'll be back with another issue of Cranial Insertion!
- James Bennett
About the Author:
James Bennett is a Level 3 judge based out of Lawrence, Kansas. He pops up at events around Kansas City and all over the midwest, and has a car he can talk to.
You can, however, do so using Goblin Dark-Dwellers, for example.