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Don't worry, you got this!
Greetings and welcome to another issue of Cranial Insertion. Strixhaven: School of Mages has been out for a bit now, so I think it's time for a pop quiz. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, since I foreshadowed in our first Strixhaven article four weeks ago that there would be a quiz at some point. That point is now, and I hope you are prepared. Of course, unlike most exams at real schools, our quizzes are open book, you can ask your friends for help, you have all the time you need, and you grade yourself in the end, so the stakes are as low as you need them to be.
As always, if you have questions for us, please email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions to @CranialTweet. One of our authors will get back to you with an answer, and your question might show up in a future episode.
And now, without further ado, let's begin our quiz. Good luck!
Q: Which of these statements are true about Access Tunnel?
A: The choices are...
A: Its mana cost is 0.
B: It has no mana cost.
C: Its mana value is 0.
D: It has no mana value.
E: Its dollar value is $0.25.
The answer is
B and C.
Access Tunnel is a land, and lands don't have a mana cost. However, every object has a mana value, which is a number that represents the amount of mana in its mana cost. Since Access Tunnel doesn't have a mana cost, its mana value is 0.
Q: I control a Crackling Drake that's equipped with Team Pennant, and I control Octavia, Living Thesis. Crackling Drake is currently 3/5. I cast Make your Mark on the Drake and I use Octavia's magecraft ability on the Drake. What is the Drake's power and toughness?
A: The choices are...
A: 5/8
B: 8/8
C: 9/9
D: 10/9
E: Math is hard!
The answer is
D.
You might have guessed that this is a question about layers, and you'd be absolutely right. Fortunately all the important stuff happens in the sublayers of layer 7 here, so let's focus on those. We start in layer 7a with the Drake's characteristic-defining ability, where the Drake starts out as a 3/4 because there are now three cards that its ability counts. In layer 7b, we have the effect from Octavia's ability, which sets the Drake to 8/8. In layer 7c we get Team Pennant's +1/+1 and Make your Mark's +1/+0, for a total of 10/9. There's nothing in layer 7d, so the end result is 10/9.
A: Baby Shark (2/2)
B: Mommy Shark (7/7)
E: Daddy Shark ate answers C and D.
The answer is
A.
Shark Typhoon looks at the mana value of Cyclonic Rift, and the mana value of an object is derived purely from the string of mana symbols in that object's mana cost. It has very little to do with how much mana you have spent, will spend, or might spend, on a spell. Cyclonic Rift's mana cost is , so its mana value is 2 even if you cast it for its alternative cost.
Quintorius's ability triggers whenever one or more cards leave your graveyard, regardless of which zone they go to, so it's clear that you'll create at least one token. To find out if it's more than one, we have to determine how many distinct trigger events Quintorius sees. The process of casting a spell consists of several distinct steps. The first of these steps is to move the card to the stack from wherever it is. The last step is to pay the total cost of the spell. In between is a number of steps that don't matter to us. What matters is that in the first step, one card goes from your graveyard to the stack, and in the last step two cards go from your graveyard into exile, and those are two distinct actions. This means that Quintorius sees two instances of one or more cards leaving your graveyard, so its ability triggers twice.
A: Hofri makes a token of Cavern Whisperer only.
B: Hofri makes a token of Vulpikeet only.
C: Hofri makes two separate tokens of Cavern Whisperer and Vulpikeet.
D: Hofri makes a token of Cavern Whisperer with Vulpikeet's abilities added to it.
E: The universe crashes.
The answer is
D.
When the mutated Cavern Whisperer dies, one creature dies, put two cards end up in your graveyard. Hofri's ability exiles both cards, but then you create a token that's a copy of the creature that died. The creature that died is a mutated Cavern Whisperer, and its copiable values are those of Cavern Whisperer as modified by Vulpikeet being under it.
Q: Which of these cards can I have in my deck if Zirda, the Dawnwaker is my companion?
Activated abilities are written in the form "[cost]:[effect]", although sometimes this form is hidden in the rules of a keyword ability. Equip is such a keyword ability. It represents an activated ability, so the Collar is allowed. Professor Onyx's loyalty abilities are activated abilities, and if you look carefully, you can even see the colon that separates the cost from the effect, so Professor Onyx is allowed, too.
Birgi has a triggered ability and a static ability on the front face, and the activated ability on the back face doesn't count, since in the library only the characteristics of the front face are visible to the game, so Birgi is out. The Gauntlets give an activated ability to a creature, but they don't have an activated ability themselves, so they're out, too.
Q: I am at -10 life, but I'm still in the game because I control a Platinum Angel. What happens to my life total if I activate Murderous Betrayal's ability?
A: The choices are...
A: You can't activate the ability when your life total is negative.
B: You lose 5 life.
C: Your life total stays the same.
D: You gain 5 life.
E: The universe crashes, again. Good job.
The answer is
C.
The game calculates the life cost by taking half your life total, rounded up to the nearest whole number. Half of -10 is -5, which is already a whole number, so no rounding needs to happen. In some situations the game uses negative numbers that come out of a calculation, but this isn't one of them. The game uses zero instead, so the life payment portion of the activation cost is "pay 0 life."
Roger, Roger!
Q: I cast Bloodbraid Elf and then use Double Major to copy Bloodbraid Elf. How many additional cascade triggers do I get?
A: The choices are...
A: None
B: One based on a mana value of 2
C: One based on a mana value of 4
D: One based on a mana value of 2 and one based on a mana value of 4.
E: Don't forget to put a funny fifth answer here.
The answer is
A.
Double Major itself does not have cascade, so casting it doesn't cause a cascade trigger. When it resolves, you put a copy of a Bloodbraid Elf spell on the stack. This copy has cascade, but it simply appears on the stack without being cast, so it doesn't cause a cascade trigger, either.
Q: I'm in a Commander game, and one of my opponents controls No Mercy. They're at 20 life. I control twenty-five 1/1 tokens that my opponent can't block, and I attack them with all twenty-five tokens. How many tokens die to No Mercy's triggers?
A: The choices are...
A: All of them.
B: None of them.
C: Twenty of them, you choose which ones.
D: Twenty of them, your opponent chooses which ones.
E: I'd love to see how you got twenty-five unblockable tokens.
The answer is
B.
Assuming there's no first strike or double strike involved, all twenty-five tokens deal their combat damage at the same time, so each of them deals 1 damage to your opponent. This triggers No Mercy's ability twenty-five times, but before any of those triggers go on the stack, the game has to check state-based actions. The game sees that your opponent is at -5 life, which is a very unhealthy number, and your opponent leaves the game. Now that state-based actions are done, those twenty-five No Mercy triggers want to go on the stack, but they would be controlled by a player who has left the game, so they're not put on the stack, and your tokens are fine.
Q: In a four-player Commander game, the players are Arya, Bran, Catelyn, and Daenerys, in turn order. During Catelyn's turn, she uses Reflector Mage to return Arya's Dire Wolves to her hand. During Arya's turn, she eliminates Catelyn from the game. When does Reflector Mage's effect that prevents Arya from recasting Dire Wolves end?
A: The choices are...
A: Immediately.
B: Never.
C: At the beginning of Bran's turn.
D: At the beginning of Daenerys's turn.
E: Hodor.
The answer is
D.
When a player leaves the game, a continuous effect with a duration until that player's next turn will last until that turn would have begun. Catelyn's turn would have begun between Bran's turn and Daenerys's turn, so the effect ends when Daenerys's turn begins.
And that's it for this quiz. Congratulations, you passed! See you again next week!
-Carsten Haese
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.
Alfy
Wait, I got a pass with less than 50% right? These pop quizzes are easier than playing Magic!
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, so its mana value is 2 even if you cast it for its alternative cost.
