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Published on 12/12/2016

Twelve Days of Magic

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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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

Hi everyone, and welcome back to another exciting week here at Cranial Insertion. It's December, so it's time to get ready for the holidays! Usually, I'm not into the Christmas song spirit, but I think I managed to dodge enough of the Christmas songs this year until it was actually the Christmas season, so I get to enjoy them at the proper time. So let's grab our coats and hot mugs of cocoa, and go caroling down the streets (and answer some rules questions too)!

Do you have a rules question you'd like us to answer? Or you want to talk about your favorite holiday carol with us? Feel free to contact us! You can send us short questions at @CranialTweet, while longer questions should be e-mailed to us at moko@cranialinsertion.com . We might even use your question in a future article (although carols will probably not be used in future articles).

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Q: My opponent has Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in play, while I have Thalia, Heretic Cathar in play. My opponent kills Thalia with Murder. Does their token enters the battlefield tapped or untapped?

A: Surprisingly, it enters the battlefield tapped! Once Murder resolves, the event becomes "move Thalia from the battlefield to the graveyard". Before we move her, we check to see if there are any replacement effects that need to apply, and there is: Kalitas' effect. So now the event is "move Thalia from the battlefield to exile and your opponent creates a 2/2". Before we do anything else, we once again check to see if any replacement effects apply, and they do: since a creature would be entering the battlefield under your opponent's control, Thalia's ability applies to the token, and the token will enter the battlefield tapped. Now the event is "move Thalia from the battlefield to exile and your opponent creates a tapped 2/2" Then we check one more time for any more replacement effects, and there are none, and now we apply the instruction and Thalia becomes exiled and the 2/2 zombie token your opponent gets enters the battlefield tapped.

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Q: My opponent is controlling me, due to them casting Emrakul, the Promised End last turn. They make me attack with my Grim Flayer and it deals combat damage to them. Assuming they put all three cards back on top, do I get to see those cards and know the order they were put back in?

A: Yes you do. The opponent is controlling you, but you still get to see everything you normally get to see. You'll get to see the three cards that the Flayer's trigger lets you see, and you'll also know in what order those three cards are put back in. Your opponent is making the choice while the Flayer's trigger is resolving, but you still get to look on.

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Q: I have a Decoction Module in play, and I cast Fleetwheel Cruiser. Will the Cruiser become a creature in time for the Module's ability to trigger?

A: Sorry, but no. The Cruiser doesn't enter the battlefield as a creature, it enters the battlefield as an artifact, then due to its trigger, it will become a creature. Since it does not enter the battlefield as a creature, it doesn't match the Module's trigger condition, and the Module will not trigger, even if it becomes a creature later in the turn.

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Q: My opponent just activated Ob Nixilis Reignited's -8 ability. I respond by casting Summary Dismissal. What happens to Ob Nixilis' ability?

A: When the Dismissal resolves, it exiles all other spells on the stack and counters all abilities. Ob Nixilis' -8 ability is an activated ability, and is countered by the Dismissal. They don't get a refund if their ability is countered, so the eight loyalty counters they removed to activate the ability don't return, and your opponent is either left with a dead Ob Nixilis or one who isn't as loyal anymore.

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Q: My opponent cast Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, intending to exile two of my creatures with its trigger. Can I use Insidious Will to change the targets to two of their creatures?

A: Nope, that doesn't work. Ulamog (the spell) has no targets, but it has a triggered ability that targets. However, the Will can only target a spell: it cannot target an ability. You could use the first mode to counter Ulamog, but you cannot use the second mode to change the targets of Ulamog's triggered ability.

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Q: I control Myth Realized, which is currently a creature. I activate Sorin, Solemn Visitor's +1 ability. If I animate Myth Realized on my opponent's turn, will it have +1/+0 and lifelink?

A: Yes it will. Sorin locks in what creatures it will affect when the ability resolves. Since Myth Realized is a creature at that point, it's affected by the ability, and will continue to be affected by the ability until your next turn (even if Myth Realized stops being a creature for a short time). In this case, if you animate Myth Realized on your opponent's turn, it will still have +1/+0 and lifelink from Sorin's ability.

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Q: I cast Bloodbraid Elf, and the card I cascade into is Shardless Agent. Do I get the cascade trigger from the Agent as well?

A: You do! Cascade doesn't care where you're casting it from, it just cares that you're casting the card. With cascade, you're casting the card you cascade in to, so casting the Agent from the Elf's cascade trigger will cause the Agent's cascade ability to trigger and you'll cascade into another spell to cast.

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Q: I have Cream of the Crop in play, and I cast Cultivator of Blades. Assuming I want to make my Cultivator a 3/3, how many cards do I get to look at with my Crop trigger, one or three?

A: Well, that depends a lot on how you stack the triggers. When the Cultivator enters, there's two triggers waiting to go on the stack: the fabricate trigger from the Cultivator and the Cream of the Crop trigger. Since you control both triggers, you get to choose the order they're put on the stack.

If you choose to put the Cream trigger on the stack last, it will resolve first, so you'll deal with the Cream's trigger (looking at the top card of your library and putting it back), then you'll resolve the fabricate trigger, making the Cultivator into a 3/3 creature.

If you put the fabricate trigger on the stack last, it will resolve first, meaning your Cultivator becomes a 3/3. When the Cream of the Crop trigger resolves, since the Cultivator is a 3/3 creature, you'll look at the top three cards of your library and put one back on top, and the other two will go on the bottom of your library.

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Q: I have a Pithing Needle in play, naming Chalice of Life. Will that also prevent my opponent from activating Chalice of Death's ability?

A: No it will not. The front and back side of a double faced card have different names. If you name "Chalice of Life", your opponent cannot activate Chalice of Life's ability (meaning that it cannot transform, since you need to activate its ability for it to transform into Chalice of Death), but if the Chalice is already transformed into Chalice of Death, the Needle won't stop them from activating the Chalice of Death's ability. Note that if you want to prevent them from activating the back side, you're free to name "Chalice of Death" with your Pithing Needle, since that is a name of a Magic card.

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Q: Is zero considered an even or an odd number?

A: Long has this been debated. Some people think it's an even number. Some think it's odd. While others think that zero is special and is not even nor odd. But no matter what you believe, in Magic, we consider zero to be an even number (and cards like Ashling's Prerogative and Void Winnower remind you on the card as reminder text if you forget).

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Q: I have a Bloodbond Vampire in play, and my opponent is attacking me with five creatures. I cast Blessed Reversal. How many counters does my Vampire get?

A: Just one, I'm afraid. While you're counting up the number of attacking creatures to determine how much life you gain, you'll still only gaining life once. Since you're only gaining life once, the Vampire's ability will only trigger once and it will only get one +1/+1 counter.

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Q: I have seven cards in my graveyard, and I cast Cleansing Meditation, destroying an aura of mine. When the Meditation returns the aura to the battlefield, do I have to return it attached to the same creature?

A: You can, if you want to. Or you can attach it to another creature. When the Meditation returns the aura to the battlefield, since it doesn't specify what to attach it to, you get to choose something legal to which to attach the aura. If you want to return the aura attached to the same creature, you can do that. But if you decide that it would work better if it was attached to another creature, you can choose to return the aura attached to that other creature.

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Q: I cast Keldon Champion, hoping to deal the last three points of damage to them. But they respond by casting Hallow, claiming the damage from the Champion's trigger is still prevented. Are they right?

A: Yep, your opponent is correct. We have a rule (specifically, 400.7b) that says a prevention effect that would apply to damage from a permanent spell will also apply to damage from that permanent the spell becomes. While the Champion is on the stack, it's a spell, and Hallow just requires a target spell. By targeting your Champion on the stack with their Hallow, Hallow will continue to prevent the damage that would be dealt from Keldon Champion the permanent. Even if you attack with the Champion that turn, Hallow will prevent that damage and they'll gain life.

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Q: I control a Gilded Lotus and a Teferi, Temporal Archmage. Can I use Teferi's -1 ability, targeting the Lotus all four times, tap it for mana between each untap, and end up with 12 mana?

A: Nope, that doesn't work for a couple of reasons. First off, Teferi's -1 ability has up to 4 targets. Since it's only using the word 'target' once, that means you cannot target the same permanent multiple times. Secondly, no one gets priority while the ability is resolving, so you cannot tap the Lotus for mana while Teferi's ability is resolving.

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Q: My opponent and I each control Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts. I attack them with my Teysa, and it goes unblocked and deals combat damage to them. Will my Teysa die?

A: Yep, your Teysa is going to die. Teysa's triggered ability does not target, attach to, block, or damage anything, so having protection from creatures will not help. Your Teysa is going to die to your opponent's Teysa, and there's nothing protection can to do save your Teysa.

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Q: I have Gaddock Teeg in play as my only nonland permanent. Can I cast Karametra, God of Harvests?

A: Sure! Gaddock Teeg only prevents players from casting noncreature spells with a converted mana cost of four or more. Everywhere but the battlefield, gods are always creatures, no matter what your devotion actually is. While on the stack, Karametra is an enchantment creature spell, so Gaddock Teeg will not prevent you from casting Karametra (even if Karametra won't be a creature once it's on the battlefield).

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Q: Can I use Deepglow Skate to double the number of experience counters I have? Or how many poison counters my opponent has?

A: Not with Deepglow Skate. The Skate's triggered ability can only target a permanent, and no matter how much you want it to be true, a player is not a permanent. You won't be able to use the Skate's trigger to double the number of counters on you or your opponent.

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Q: I have Saskia the Unyielding in play, with my opponent as the chosen player, and a 2/2 with double strike. If my 2/2 with double strike attacks my opponent and isn't blocked, how much total damage will they take?

A: Eight damage. Saskia's ability triggers each time a creature you control deals combat damage to a player. A creature with double strike that attacks and goes unblocked will deal damage twice, meaning that Saskia's ability will trigger twice. They'll take a total of four damage in combat damage from the 2/2, and they'll take a total of four damage from Saskia's triggers, for a total of eight damage.

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Q: I have a Varchild's War-Riders in play, and my opponent has gotten quite a few tokens from paying its cumulative upkeep cost. If I cast Brand, will I gain control of all of those tokens?

A: Negative. The owner of a token is the player that the token enters the battlefield under. It used to be long ago that the player that controlled the spell or ability owned the token, but that hasn't been true in a long time. Since the Survivor tokens are entering the battlefield under your opponent's control, they are the owner of those tokens, and you can't use Brand to gain control of them.

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Q: I have Elspeth, Knight-Errant's emblem, and then my opponent plays Humility. Are my creatures still indestructible?

A: In this situation, they are not indestructible. Both effects are applied in timestamp order. Since the emblem was created before Humility entered the battlefield, Humility has a later timestamp, so it wins over the emblem and your creatures won't be indestructible. On the other hand, had you created the emblem after Humility entered the battlefield, the emblem would have a later timestamp and your creatures would be indestructible.

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That's all the carol- err, questions I have for this week. We'll see you next Monday!

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