Published on 06/21/2021
Modern (Horizons) Rules Problems
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
This card will be giving us question for
months at this rate.
months at this rate.
Hiya everyone, and welcome back to Cranial Insertion! We're still continuing examining all the fun and weird cards that Modern Horizons 2 has brought us (Urza's Saga is the card that just keeps on giving). Not only has Modern Horizons 2 brought a shakeup to the Modern metagame, but also to our in-box metagame, as you've all been asking us a lot of questions about Modern Horizons 2.
So let's dive right in to the article. If you have a question, but don't see it answered here (or in a previous article), feel free to send it to us. We'll send you an answer back, and we may even feature your question in a future article. If you have a short question, you can send it to us via our Twitter account at @CranialTweet, and you can send us longer questions at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: How does Thespian's Stage work with Urza's Saga?
A: It interacts rather favorably. You can use the Stage to copy the Saga, and initially, nothing will happen. The Stage will be a copy of Urza's Saga, but without any lore counters. But over the next few turns, it will get lore counters and will gain the abilities from the Saga's chapter I and II abilities. Once you get to chapter III, you can then respond to the chapter III trigger by activating the Stage's ability to copy another land. The Stage will stop being a Saga, so once the chapter III ability resolves, you won't have to sacrifice the Stage.
And, as an extra bonus, if the Stage copies another land, it will keep the abilities gained from the chapter I and II abilities of Urza's Saga. The copy effect from the Stage is applied in an earlier layer than the effect that adds the abilities to the land, so the Stage will be able to tap for colorless mana and to produce a token, even if the Stage copies another land.
Q: When do I choose a target for Calibrated Blast?
A: You choose the target once you know how much damage you'll be dealing. Calibrated Blast (the spell) has no targets. When it resolves and you reveal a nonland card from your library, a reflexive trigger will go on the stack, and the trigger will target what will receive the damage. So you'll have full knowledge of how much damage the Blast is dealing when you're choosing what will be dealt the damage.
Q: I control an Etherium Spinner. If I cast Sojourner's Companion, but I only end up paying two mana to cast it, will the Spinner trigger?
A: Yep, you'll still get a Spinner trigger. Mana value cares about the mana cost of the card, not what you actually paid to cast the spell. While you only paid two mana to cast the Companion, its mana value is still seven, and since seven is four or more, you'll get a Thopter token from the Spinner's trigger.
Q: If the last card in my hand is Fast and I cast it, will I still get to draw?
A: Yep (and that's probably the best time to cast it)! When Fast resolves, you discard a card and then draw two cards. But drawing the cards isn't reliant upon being able to discard a card. If you don't have a card in your hand, you won't discard anything, but you'll still draw two cards.
Q: I activate Viashino Lashclaw's ability, discarding a Blazing Rootwalla. Assuming I cast the Rootwalla, will it also get haste from the Lashclaw's ability?
A: Yes it will! You discard the Rootwalla as part of the cost of activating the ability, so the madness trigger will go on the stack above the Lashclaw's activated ability. The madness trigger will resolve first, so you'll cast and resolve the Rootwalla first. When the Lashclaw's ability resolves, the Rootwalla is under your control, so it will gain haste from the Lashclaw's ability.
Q: I control four Treasure tokens, which are currently my only source of mana and my only tokens in play. Can I cast Junk Winder?
A: Yep, you can cast the Winder. When we're announcing the Winder spell, we determine the cost to cast the spell before we get a chance to activate mana abilities and pay costs. When we're figuring out the cost to cast the Winder, you control four token, so the cost to cast the spell is reduced by four, and you'll need to pay
to cast it. Now you can sacrifice three of your treasures to generate mana and actually pay for and cast the spell.Q: If I exile some of my opponent's cards with Dauthi Voidwalker, it dies, but then I play a second one, can the new Voidwalker play a card that was exiled by my previous Voidwalker?
A: It sure can! The Voidwalker's ability lets you play any card owned by an opponent that has a void counter on it in exile. It doesn't care if that Voidwalker exiled the card or if a different Voidwalker exiled the card. So your next Voidwalker will have access to cards that were exiled by your previous Voidwalker.
Crime does not pay...The Shadow knows!
Q: If I cast Lightning Bolt on my opponent's Dauthi Voidwalker, where does my Bolt end up?
A: It's going to end up in exile with a void counter on it. When Lightning Bolt resolves, it deals three damage to the Voidwalker. But the Voidwalker isn't going to die yet - it won't die until we check state-based actions after the Bolt is done resolving. So when the Bolt finishes resolving and wants to go to the graveyard, the Voidwalker is still on the battlefield, so it will end up exiling Lightning Bolt, and then the Voidwalker will die
Q: But something like Fatal Push would work differently, right?
A: Yep, Fatal Push works differently. The Push destroys the permanent while Fatal Push is resolving. When Fatal Push resolves, the Voidwalker will be destroyed, and when the Push goes to the graveyard, there's no Voidwalker in play anymore, so Fatal Push ends up in the graveyard instead of exile.
Q: I cast Grief for its evoke cost. Do I get a chance to cast Ephemerate targeting it to prevent it from being sacrificed (and get a second trigger}?
A: Yep, that works. The evoke trigger is a normal triggered ability, so you get a chance to respond to it before it resolves. So before Grief is sacrificed to its evoke trigger, you can cast Ephemerate to exile it and return it to the battlefield. Not only will Grief not be sacrificed (since it's a different object once it returns to the battlefield, and thus no longer has a link to the evoke trigger), but since it entered the battlefield again, its enter the battlefield ability will trigger again and you'll be able to make your opponent discard a second card.
Q: If I cast Moderation, once it resolves, can I cast another spell so I can draw a card?
A: Sorry, but that doesn't work. Moderation will know about spells cast before it entered and thus will know if you've already cast a spell this turn or not when it enters. Since you cast Moderation, once it resolves, it knows that you've cast a spell this turn (the Moderation itself), and you won't be able to cast another spell that turn.
Q: I control a Geyadrone Dihada, while my opponent controls a Questing Beast with a corruption counter on it. What happens if my opponent attacks Geyadrone with Questing Beast?
A: Normally, having protection from a permanent with a corruption counter would mean that the damage the creature would deal to Geyadrone is prevented. However, Questing Beast has many abilities, including one relevant ability - "Combat damage that would be dealt by creatures you control can't be prevented". That means that protection won't prevent the damage from Questing Beast and Geyadrone will take damage like normal.
However, there is one small upside - they do have to attack Geyadrone itself. They can't attack you and rely on the Beast's triggered ability to damage Geyadrone since the triggered ability targets, so Geyadrone still can't be targeted by the Beast's triggered ability thanks to protection.
Q: If I cast Suspend on my opponent's animated Mishra's Factory, what happens?
A: Probably not as devastating for your opponent, but it might be a bit annoying. When Suspend resolves, the Factory is exiled with two time counters and it gains suspend. Eventually, that last time counter will be removed and the opponent plays the Factory if able. Suspend doesn't use the word "cast" here, it uses "play", so your opponent will get the opportunity to play the Factory when the last time counter is removed.
However, this does count as their land drop for the turn, so they won't be able to play a land during their main phase since they have to play this when the last time counter is removed. In addition, if the last time counter is removed and they've already played their land for the turn (maybe you Suspended two Mishra's Factories on the same turn) or the last time counter is removed when it's not their turn (through a card like Fury Charm), they won't be able to play it and the Factory will be stuck in exile.
This is why you don't just leave your spare
equipment lying around for the Phyrexians to find.
equipment lying around for the Phyrexians to find.
Q: I'm attacking with a Germ token equipped with Kaldra Compleat. My opponent blocks with two 3/3 creatures. Because of Kaldra's triggered ability, can I just assign 1 damage to each blocker and assign 3 damage to my opponent?
A: Nope, you can't do that. That trick works with deathtouch, since one damage from a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage. But we can't take triggered abilities that will trigger off of combat damage being dealt, like Kaldra's triggered ability, into account when we're assigning damage. So Kaldra will have to assign damage like normal to the blockers, and then any surviving blockers will end up exiled. You won't be able to assign any damage to the defending player.
Q: Wait, "surviving blockers"? So if Kaldra kills a blocker, it won't be exiled?
A: It will not. It will only exile the damaged creature if the damaged creature is on the battlefield when Kaldra's triggered ability resolves. If the creature leaves play before the trigger resolves (most like because it took lethal damage in combat), since it's not on the battlefield when the trigger resolves, the damaged creature won't be exiled.
Q: Can I imprint Grist, the Hunger Tide onto my Dermotaxi as it enters? If so, what happens if I activate Dermotaxi's ability?
A: Sure, you can imprint Grist onto Dermotaxi, but this won't work out for you. Since Grist isn't on the battlefield, it's a creature card, so it can be imprinted on Dermotaxi. But if you activate Dermotaxi's ability, Dermotaxi will become a copy of Grist, so it's now a planeswalker, but with one small downside - it doesn't have any loyalty counters on it. It's not entering the battlefield when it becomes a copy of the imprinted creature, and since Dermotaxi is now a planeswalker without any loyalty counters on it, it goes to the graveyard, before you can activate any of the loyalty abilities of Grist.
Q: I control a Necrotic Ooze and I have a Grist, the Hunger Tide in my graveyard. Will my Ooze get Grist's loyalty abilities?
A: It will! Since Grist is not on the battlefield, it's a creature, and since it's a creature card in your graveyard, the Ooze will get all of Grist's loyalty abilities. However, the restriction of "one loyalty ability per turn" and "you can only activate a loyalty ability during one of your main phases when the stack is empty" is built into the rules for loyalty abilities, not the rules for planeswalkers. So while Necrotic Ooze can get Grist's loyalty abilities, it can still only activate one per turn, and only during your main phase when the stack is empty. And while it may take a few turns for the Ooze to build up loyalty (since it starts with zero loyalty counters), you don't have to worry about the Ooze losing loyalty counters if it's dealt damage (since it's not a planeswalker).
Q: If I have an Ivy Lane Denizen in play, and then I cast Herd Baloth, does that let me make as many tokens as I want?
A: Effectively, yes. When the Baloth enters the battlefield, the Denizen's ability triggers, and you can target the Baloth to put the counter on. When the trigger resolves and the Baloth gets the counter, that triggers the Baloth's ability and you create a 4/4 Beast token. And since a green creature enters the battlefield, the Denizen's ability will trigger again. You can repeat this as much as you want to make an extremely large Baloth and an extremely large number of 4/4 Beast tokens.
Q: I cast the most important creature spell in my deck - Phantasmal Dreadmaw. My opponent responds by casting Subtlety. Can I cast Veil of Summer to protect my Dreadmaw?
A: You can cast it, but it won't protect your Dreadmaw spell. Subtlety doesn't counter the spell, it just puts the spell on top or bottom of its owner's library. So your spells being uncounterable won't be very relevant, since Subtlety's ability won't be trying to counter the Dreadmaw, and your Dreadmaw spell will end up in your library.
Q: I control a single land - an Island - and a Sol Ring. I tap them for mana and cast Sea Drake. What happens with the Drake's triggered ability?
A: The Drake's trigger targets two lands you control. But in this case, you only control one land - the Island. Since you cannot choose legal targets for the triggered ability, the trigger is removed from the stack and won't resolve, and you won't have to return any lands to your hand when the Drake enters the battlefield.
That's all we have for this week. See you again next week!
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