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Revel without a cause
Greetings and welcome back to another issue of Cranial Insertion. Are you ready for Kaldheim? Well, we're not talking about Kaldheim just yet — that's coming next week — but with the cold weather here in Ohio, I feel like I'm already there. In order to tide your over until next week and to distract myself from the urge to talk about snow-covered lands, I've decided to give you a quiz. Go grab a coffee, hot chocolate, or soup, and then dive into the quiz to test your knowledge!
As always, if you have Magic rules questions for us, please feel free to email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions to @CranialTweet. One of our writers will reply with an answer, and your question might appear in a future article, possibly alongside an obscure pop culture reference or a tortured pun.
Q: I control Viridian Revel and my opponent is enchanted with Wheel of Sun and Moon. If one of my opponent's artifacts gets destroyed, does Viridian Revel's ability trigger?
A: The choices are...
A: Yes
B: No
C: It depends on choices you make.
D: It depends on choices your opponent makes.
E: It depends on the phase of the moon.
The answer is
B.
Destroying your opponent's artifact should send it to their graveyard, but Wheel of Sun and Moon creates a replacement effect that changes where the card goes. Instead of going to their graveyard, the card is pointlessly revealed because it's coming from a public zone, and then it goes to the bottom of their library. Since it isn't actually going to their graveyard, Viridian Revel's ability doesn't trigger at all.
To calculate the total cost of Everflowing Chalice, you start with the mana cost, add any cost increasing effects and additional costs, and then you subtract any cost-reducing effects. Etherium Sculptor's effect doesn't reduce the kicker cost itself, but it reduces the impact of the kicker on the total cost. You start with , add for the multikicker, and then you subtract for the two Etherium Sculptors, for a total cost of .
Q: I control a 2/2 Fungus Sliver and a Crypt Sliver. My opponent casts Shock on Fungus Sliver, and in response I tap Crypt Sliver to regenerate Fungus Sliver. When everything is done resolving, what statements are true about Fungus Sliver?
A: The choices are...
A: It has a +1/+1 counter on it.
B: If has no +1/+1 counter on it.
C: It is tapped.
D: It is untapped.
E: It puts the "fun" in fungus.
The answer is
A and C.
Shock deals 2 damage to Fungus Sliver, which triggers its "put a +1/+1 counter on me" ability. However, before that ability can go on the stack, the game has to deal with state-based actions. Fungus Sliver is a 2/2 creature with 2 damage marked on it, so it must be destroyed, but wait! There is a regeneration shield on Fungus Sliver, which replaces Fungus Sliver's destruction with removing the damage that's marked on it and tapping it. Now the "put a counter on me" ability can go on the stack. Since Fungus Sliver actually stayed on the battlefield — as opposed to dying and coming back from the graveyard — the triggered ability recognizes the Fungus Sliver and gives it its hard-earned +1/+1 counter.
It's important to have good manors.
Q: I control a Manor Gargoyle that's equipped with Peregrine Mask. I activate its ability, and in response my opponent Frogifies it. When everything has resolves, what abilities does Manor Gargoyle have?
A: The choices are...
A: Indestructible
B: Defender
C: Flying
D: First strike
E: It has good manors.
The answer is
C.
Frogify resolves first and creates an effect that removes all of the Gargoyle's abilities until end of turn. However, this doesn't stop the activated ability that's already on the stack. That ability resolves next and creates an effect that removes defender from it and gives it flying. After all this, we have the following effects in layer 6, in timestamp order: "gain defender, flying, and first strike" from the Mask, "lose all abilities" from Frogify, and "lose defender and gain flying" from its own ability. After those effects are applied in that order, the Gargoyle only has flying.
Note that the effect from Manor Gargoyle's static ability, which would give it indestructible, is also applicable in layer 6. However, this effect is dependent on Frogify's effect (since applying Frogify's effect alters its existence) and has to wait until after Frogify's effect is applied. After Frogify's effect is applied, the ability no longer exists, so the effect doesn't get created, so Manor Gargoyle does not have indestructible.
Constellation triggers when an enchantment enters the battlefield under your control. Despite its odd wording, aura swap causes an enchantment to enter the battlefield, since after its resolution there's a new object on the battlefield that wasn't there before, and that object is an enchantment. Transforming Soul Seizer also causes there to be an enchantment on the battlefield that wasn't there before, but it's not a new object, so nothing actually entered the battlefield. Similarly, moving an Aura from one creature to another doesn't cause a new enchantment to enter the battlefield, so Simic Guildmage doesn't trigger constellation either.
Finally, even though you're playing a land, playing Enchanted Prairie causes a new object to enter the battlefield, and that object is an enchantment (among other things), so an enchantment did enter the battlefield under your control, which makes Eutropia happy.
Splendid Reclamation puts eight lands onto the battlefield at the same time, and each one triggers Omnath's ability, for a total of eight triggers. Each of those triggers checks at the time it resolves how many lands you control at that time, which is thirteen. Since that falls in the "eight or more" range, you get a card draw from each of the eight triggers.
Q: I control a Rambunctious Mutt that has a Vulpikeet mutated under it, and it has a +1/+1 counter from that mutation. It also has +3/+3 from a Giant Growth. If I Clone the Mutt, what are its characteristics?
A: The choices are...
A: It's 3/4.
B: It's 4/5.
C: It's 7/8.
D: It has flying.
E: It's a GOOD BOY!
The answer is
A and D.
The Clone copies the Mutt as printed, as modified by copiable effects. Copiable effects are other copy effects, mutate effects, and face-down-ness. Of those, only the mutation from Vulpikeet applies here, so the cloned Mutt has flying. Neither the +1/+1 counter nor the +3/+3 from Giant Growth are copiable, so the Clone is only a 3/4.
The eyes have it.
Q: If I control Leyline of Anticipation, which of the following am I allowed to do on my opponent's turn?
Even though Dryad Arbor is also a creature card, the fact that it's a land card means that you can't cast it as a spell, so Leyline of Anticipation does nothing to it. Also, even if it had flash, the rules forbid you from playing lands on your opponent's turn, and "can't" still beats "can" any day of the week. Activated abilities aren't spells, so options C and D are out, too.
Suspending a card isn't the same as casting a spell, either, but this is where things get weird. The rules allow you to suspend a card if you could begin the process of casting it. In order to check this, the game has to pretend that you start to cast it and then check if you run into any problems. In that hypothetical scenario, Errant Ephemeron may be cast as though it had flash, so you could indeed begin the process of casting it, which means that you're allowed to suspend it.
A: Yes
B: No
E: Answers C and D are taking a snow day.
The answer is
A.
When the Top's ability resolves, Hullbreacher's effect replaces your card draw with your opponent creating a Treasure token instead. However, the rest of the Top's ability does not depend on you having drawn a card, nor does it try to do anything to the card you drew. Therefore, the rest of the ability still resolves and you still put the Top on top.
A: Kozilek only gets exiled if it's your turn.
B: Kozilek only gets exiled if it's your opponent's turn.
C: Kozilek gets exiled regardless of whose turn it is.
D: Kozilek only gets shuffled into your library if it's your turn.
E: Kozilek only gets shuffled into your library if it's your opponent's turn.
F: Kozilek gets shuffled into your library regardless of those turn it is.
G: Your graveyard only gets shuffled into your library if it's your turn.
H: Your graveyard only gets shuffled into your library if it's your opponent's turn.
I: Your graveyard gets shuffled into your library regardless of those turn it is.
J: Let's stop here before we also wonder whether your opponent creates a Zombie token.
The answer is
All the vowels, A, E, and I.
Milling Kozilek triggers both its own ability and Undead Alchemist's ability at the same time, and they want to go on the stack at the same time. The game rules prevent an ugly collision by invoking the APNAP rule, which is short for "active player, nonactive player": The active player's ability goes on the stack first, followed by the non-active player's ability. The abilities resolve in the reverse order, so the non-active player's ability resolves first.
If it's your turn, your opponent's ability resolves first, so Kozilek gets exiled, and your opponent creates a Zombie, but we don't care about that bit. Exiling Kozilek doesn't stop its ability, so Kozilek's ability resolves next and shuffles your Kozilek-less graveyard into your library.
If it's your opponent's turn, Kozilek's ability resolves first and shuffles your graveyard, including Kozilek, into your library. Then your opponent's ability resolves and utterly fails to exile Kozilek because the ability can't find it. Your opponent still creates a Zombie, but we still don't care about that bit.
In the end, Kozilek only gets exiled if it's your turn, it only gets shuffled into your library if it's your opponent's turn, and your graveyard gets shuffled into your library regardless of whose turn it is. Phew!
And that's it for today's quiz. If you got all ten questions right, go ahead and give yourself a high-five! If not, go ahead and give yourself a high-five anyway!
See you next week in Kaldheim!
-Carsten
About the Author: Carsten Haese is a former Level 2 judge based in Toledo, OH. He is retired from active judging, but he still writes for Cranial Insertion and helps organize an annual charity Magic tournament that benefits the National MS Society.
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for the two Etherium Sculptors, for a total cost of ability
