Published on 10/07/2019
Watch the Throne
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, Charlotte Sable, and Andrew Villarrubia
This Article from: Andrew Villarrubia
Cranial Translation
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
I kept a shop in Eldraine Town
of fancy clients and good renown
of fancy clients and good renown
But let's worry about the spooky things later on. Right now, we have a new set that's been out for a little while, and wow has it brought up a lot of questions in our mailbag, IRC, and other forums. Apparently a lot of people want to play with these cards, and they need to know how they work.
As a friendly reminder, if you'd like the CI team to answer your question, please send it to us via email at moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet it to us @CranialTweet. We answer every question we get, and your question could show up in a future article.
Q: I control Torbran, Thane of Red Fell and Outpost Siege, choosing Dragons. If Torbran and a few other creatures of mine die to a Wrath of God, how much damage do the Outpost Siege triggers do?
A: They'll just do 1 damage each.
While Torbran was around when the Siege triggered, he and his replacement effect won't be around for when the triggers resolve.
Q: How does Torbran work with Chandra, Awakened Inferno's emblem?
A: He doesn't. There are a few things here.
First, emblems are colorless, so Torbran wouldn't work them them usually anyway.
Second, If you use your Chandra to give your opponent an emblem, they own and control that emblem, so even if you somehow manage to make the emblem red (which isn't possible right now), Torbran still wouldn't interact with it.
Q: I control Vernal Bloom and Caged Sun, for which I chose green. If I tap Breeding Pool for
, does that trigger Caged Sun?A: No, it doesn't.
Caged Sun cares if a land's ability added
to your mana pool. In this case, Vernal Bloom's trigger is the thing that added , so Caged Sun won't do anything.Q: I control Pramikon, Sky Rampart, and I chose left. If my opponent flashes in Portal Mage in the declare attackers step, can my opponent change who I'm attacking?
A: Yes, they can.
Pramikon's restriction only applies when you're actually declaring attackers. Things that can get around that, like Portal Mage reselecting who you're attacking or something that enters "tapped and attacking," don't have to follow that restriction.
I foresee many decks hinging on this card.
A: Yes, you do.
The Great Henge triggers when the Guardian enters the battlefield under your control. You can hold priority and activate the Guardian's Adapt ability, which will put two counters on it and let you search for another card named Growth-Chamber Guardian.
Then, the Henge trigger will resolve and put another counter on your Guardian, and you'll draw a card. Then you can search for another card named Growth-Chamber Guardian!
Q: If I make Frostwalk Bastion an Elemental creature with Nissa, Who Shakes the World's +1 ability, then activate the Bastion's own ability, what are the Bastion's characteristics?
A: It's a 5/6 Snow Artifact Creature Land - Construct with vigilance, haste, and all its other abilities.
We just got a rule change for this, actually. Before, if an effect made something a "(Creature Type) artifact creature" like the Bastion's ability, it would keep all its previous creature types. So, in this example, with the old rules, it would have been a Snow Artifact Creature Land - Construct Elemental.
With the Throne of Eldraine rules update, however, if an effect makes something a "(Creature Type) artifact creature," it loses any other creature types.
Q: If I attack with Bomber Corps and Skyknight Vanguard, will the Corps' battalion ability trigger?
A: No, it won't.
The Corps' trigger wants to know if you "attacked" with it and at least two other creatures, which means they all had to be declared as attackers. Something entering the battlefield already attacking won't count.
Q: If I control Syr Konrad, the Grim and my opponent counters my Swift End, will Syr Konrad trigger?
A: Yes, he will.
An adventure card is only an instant or sorcery while it's on the stack. Once it goes to the graveyard, it's immediately a creature card, and Syr Konrad sees that and says "Wait! A creature card just went to my graveyard from anywhere other than the battlefield!" and deals 1 damage to each opponent.
This works because Syr Konrad's trigger doesn't look back in time to what the object was, like leaves-the-battlefield triggers do. He sees the card as it currently exists in the graveyard, so he definitely see that it's a creature.
Q: My opponent controls Blood Moon, so when I played Cavern of Souls I couldn't name a creature type. Later, after Blood Moon left play, I cast Nameless Race. Can I use the colored mana from Cavern of Souls to pay for it?
A: No, you can't, but that's a clever idea.
Cavern of Souls requires that you spend its colored mana on a creature of the chosen type. Since you weren't able to choose a creature type, you won't be able to spend that colored mana on anything ever — even in this weird case where you didn't choose a type and Nameless Race, in fact, has no types.
Q: My opponent has Glass Casket exiling one of my creatures. If I use Oko, Thief of Crowns's +1 to make the Casket a 3/3 Elk creature, what happened to my exiled creature?
A: It stays exiled for now. It will still return to the battlefield when Glass Casket leaves the battlefield.
Q: I cast Fires of Invention for my first spell this turn. Then I cast Irencrag Feat. Can I cast another spell?
A: No, you can't.
Fires of Invention says you absolutely can't cast more than two spells a turn. Since Irencrag Feat was your second spell, it doesn't matter that it really, really wants you to cast another spell. Fires of Invention says no.
Q: My opponent controls Harmonious Archon. I play Beanstalk Giant. What is the Giant's power and toughness?
A: The Giant is a 3/3, no matter what order the Archon and Giant entered the battlefield.
The Giant's power and toughness are set by a characteristic defining ability. Those always apply in an earlier layer than effects that set power and toughness to specific values, so your Giant won't be as giant as you hoped.
Q: I attack with my Grizzly Bears equipped with Giant's Skewer. My opponent blocks with two Cloudkin Seers. How many Food tokens do I make?
A: You'll make two Food tokens, assuming you damage both Seers.
Giant's Skewer makes a Food token for each creature the equipped creature deals combat damage to, even if the equipped creature deals all that damage at the same time.
Our lawyers were very afraid of
this card because Disney might sue
this card because Disney might sue
=6, and bring back Humility and some other things. What power and toughness do my new, animated artifacts and enchantments have?A: The active player — the player whose turn it is — chooses which effect applies.
Two effects are trying to apply in the same layer at the same time — the one from Manse that says "these returned creatures have power and toughness equal to their CMC," and the one from Humility that says "these creatures are 1/1." Since they're trying to apply simultaneously, the active player chooses their relative time stamp order.
Q: I control a Rakdos, Lord of Riots, and my opponents have lost a total of 10 life this turn. Can I cast Emblazoned Golem, pay
=8 for its kicker, and cast it for free?A: You can!
While it's true that the Golem wants you to only pay colored mana for
, Rakdos's ability doesn't pay anything. It reduces the total cost you would have to pay for the spell, and in this case, what you would pay for X is entirely reduced. Yay free spells!Q: My opponent controls Skullbriar, the Walking Grave with three +1/+1 counters on it. I exile their Skullbriar with my Duplicant's enters-the-battlefield ability. What is my Duplicant's power and toughness?
A: Duplicant is a 1/1.
Effects that set power and toughness apply before anything that modify power and toughness, so when it's time to apply Duplicant's effect, Skullbriar is only a 1/1 because its counters aren't applicable yet.
Q: My opponent stole my creature with Control Magic. If I Steal Enchantment the Control Magic, can I make it enchant something else?
A: Well, no, you can't. However, when you gain control of Control Magic, the "you" on it now means you, so you'll gain control of the Aura and your creature!
Q: I cast Covetous Urge and exile my opponent's Bonecrusher Giant. What can I cast? What happens after I cast it?
A: You can cast either the creature or the adventure.
If you cast the adventure, it'll go to exile and you can cast the creature later. However, if you do this, you can't spend mana as though it were any color to cast the creature.
Q: I hear they changed something about how you draft cards? What's that about?
A: It used to be that if a set had a slot in each booster that was only ever a basic land, we'd take the basic land out and then you'd draft what was left. But then, you didn't do that for sets like Modern Horizons.
So now, instead of having to remember if you do or don't take the basic land out, the rule is just "you never take it out." That simplifies things!
That's all for this week! Have fun with all your Food and your faerie tales!
- Andrew
About the Author:
Andrew is a Level 2 judge from Dallas, TX who spends too much time on his computer.
No comments yet.
