Published on 08/02/2021
I Am the Adventurer That Will Pierce the Dungeons!
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, Justin Hovdenes, and Andrew Villarrubia
This Article from: Andrew Villarrubia
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Today, we're going to play a game. It's not Dungeons & Dragons, though - it's a text-based adventure. How novel and exciting! I am dating myself by making this reference!
You are in a house. There is a door West of you.
> Go West
You are outside. There is a mailbox next to you. There is a forest to the North.
> Open mailbox
The mailbox contains a Cranial Insertion article.
> Read article
Q: My opponent controls Leyline of Sanctity. When my Flumph is dealt damage, do I still get to draw?
A: Unfortunately not. Flumph's triggered ability requires a target opponent to go on the stack. If you can't target any opponent, the whole trigger won't do anything.
Q: I control Lorcan, Warlock Collector. When my opponent's commander dies, can I pay life and steal it?
A: Probably not - your opponent would have to allow you to, basically.
When their commander dies, before Lorcan's trigger can even go on the stack, they get the chance to move it to the command zone. If they decide to move it, Lorcan's trigger can't find it anymore. You can still pay the life if you really want to, but it won't actually do anything.
If for some reason they decide to leave their commander in the graveyard, Lorcan's trigger can return it to the battlefield under your control.
Q: While we're talking about Lorcan, how does that work with commanders with
in their costs? Something like Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, for instance?A: The value of
only does anything while you're casting the spell - no matter how much mana is spent to cast Grenzo, the mana value of the card itself is still 2.Q: I cast and resolve Baleful Beholder. Can I choose Antimagic Cone even if one of my opponents doesn't control any enchantments?
A: You can! Baleful Beholder doesn't have any target requirements. Its Antimagic Cone ability just wants all of your opponents to sacrifice an enchantment if they can.
Since the ability has no targets, it will just have your opponents do as much as they can. If they control enchantments, they have to sacrifice one; if they don't control an enchantment, they don't have to do anything since they can't.
What's cooler than being cool?
A: Yes and yes! Once a triggered ability is on the stack, it generally doesn't care what happens to its source. Your Dragon can be destroyed or exiled or returned to your hand, but that poor Grizzly Bears is still getting frozen.
Q: If I exile Asmodeus the Archfiend with Mairsil, the Pretender and then activate the
ability, do I return all cards exiled with Mairsil to my hand?A: You don't. Asmodeus has linked abilities - the
activated ability is linked to Binding Contract, so it will only return cards exiled by that replacement effect.Since Mairsil only gets activated abilities, he doesn't get Binding Contract from Asmodeus. This means that activating the
ability on Mairsil won't ever do anything.On the other hand, you can pay
and draw seven as much as you want, which seems pretty good!Q: I control Death-Priest of Myrkul. No creatures have died this turn. Can I sacrifice a creature in response to the trigger to make a Skeleton?
A: Not quite. If a creature hasn't died at the beginning of your end step, the trigger doesn't go on the stack at all.
You can sacrifice a creature as late as your second main phase to ensure Death-Priest triggers.
Q: How does Vampire Spawn work in Two-Headed Giant?
A: Even though you're playing against one team, that team has two opponents on it. Vampire Spawn will make each of them lose 2 life, so their team loses a total of 4 life. You gain 2 life, so your team gains a total of 2 life.
Q: I don't really understand what's up with Battle Cry Goblin's Pack Tactics ability. Can you explain?
A: Sure! The Goblin's ability has an intervening if clause. This means the creatures' total power has to be 6 or greater when you declare attackers in order to create a Goblin token. Something like an Exalted trigger won't help.
Q: My opponent's Grizzly Bears is indestructible. If I target it with Eyes of the Beholder, does the creature die?
A: It does! Being indestructible prevents something from being destroyed by things like combat damage or by spells like Doom Blade.
However, having 0 or less toughness doesn't destroy a creature. The game just says, "Hey, you aren't tough enough to be here anymore!" and sends it to the graveyard.
Q: I cast Dragon's Fire. I have no Dragon cards in my hand, and the only Dragon I control is a Shivan Dragon equipped with Lightning Greaves. Can I still choose my Shivan Dragon to get the bonus damage?
A: You absolutely can. Dragon's Fire only has you "choose" something. Since you don't "target" the Dragon you control, shroud won't do anything.
Q: I exiled a card with Prosper, Tome-Bound, and then my opponent destroyed Prosper. Can I still cast the exiled card until the end of my next turn?
A: You can. You have permission to cast the spell because of the triggered ability resolving. It's not a separate static ability on Prosper itself.
Note that you have to follow the normal timing allowances on casting the spell. You normally couldn't cast a creature spell on your opponent's turn, for instance.
Q: I control Kalain, Reclusive Painter. If I cast Herald of Anguish and use five Treasure tokens to Improvise, does the Herald enter with five +1/+1 counters?
A: It does not. Kalain cares about Treasures actually making mana. Tapping an artifact with Improvise doesn't make any mana at all. Improvise lets you tap an artifact instead of paying
.Barely beat out
"Tyrant of IRC"
in the design file
"Tyrant of IRC"
in the design file
A: No, that won't work. They can respond to the Tyrant's ability targeting them, but once they choose a random permanent the ability is resolving. Neither player will get priority to do anything in the middle of the ability resolving.
Q: I'm playing commander with Keruga, the Macrosage as my companion. Can my deck have Ancestral Vision in it?
A: Unfortunately not. Ancestral Vision doesn't have a mana cost, but it still has a mana value of 0. It won't meet Keruga's restriction.
> Go north
The forest is very dark.
> Light torch
You don't have a torch.
> Grab branch
You have been eaten by a grue
- Andrew
About the Author:
Andrew is a Level 2 judge from Dallas, TX who spends too much time on his computer.
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