Published on 08/16/2021
Upgrading Moko
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, Justin Hovdenes, and Andrew Villarrubia
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Let me give you a hand with that.
Hiya everyone, and welcome back to Cranial Insertion! Our loyal mascot Moko is long overdue for an upgrade - I mean, zombie chimpanzee don't normally live this long. So when I was looking through the list of cards in Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, I saw there was a card called Hand of Vecna, that seemed to be the ideal upgrade for Moko, so I ordered one and it just arrived. I mean, this "Vecna" guy wasn't using it, so we might as well put it to good use.
So while I get ready for some minor surgery, let's dive right in to this week's article. If you still have questions after reading the article, you can send those questions to us. We may even use your question in a future article! If you have a short question, you can send it to us via Twitter at @CranialTweet, and longer questions can be sent to us via e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: I'm at a low life total, and I desperately need to gain life, but the only creature in play is my Hill Giant Herdgorger. Can I cast Rally Maneuver and just choose the second option to give my Herdgorger +0/+2 and lifelink?
A: No, you can't do that. The Maneuver has either one or two targets - the first target will always get +2/+0 and first strike, and the second target (if chosen) will get +0/+2 and lifelink. If you're casting the Maneuver with a single target, that target will get +2+0 and first strike. You can't ignore the first part and have the creature gain lifelink instead - you would need a second target for the Maneuver, so the Maneuver could target the other creature to give it first strike, then target your Hergorger to give it lifelink.
Q: I control Volo, Guide to Monsters and cast Apex Devastator. Volo triggers and I get a copy of the Devastator, but do I also get four more cascade triggers?
A: Nope, you won't any more cascade triggers. The copy of the Devastator made by Volo's triggered ability is put on the stack, not cast. Since the copy is not cast, anything that triggers when you cast a spell (like cascade) will not trigger, so the copy Devastator won't have its cascade abilities trigger.
Q: I still control Volo, Guide to Monsters, and this time, I cast Nylea's Emissary for its bestow cost. Do I get a copy of the Emissary?
A: You don't get a Volo trigger at all. If you're casting the Emissary for it's bestow cost, you're casting an aura spell, not a creature spell. Since you're not casting a creature spell, Volo won't care about it and won't trigger, so you won't get a copy of the Emissary.
Q: Ok, one more Volo question - what if I cast a creature via mutate, like Migratory Greathorn? Could I make the copy target a different creature?
A: When you cast a spell via mutate, you're still casting a creature spell, so Volo can trigger when you cast the Greathorn. However, Volo doesn't let you change the target of the copy (that makes sense, since creature spells don't target outside of mutate), so the copy will have the same target as the original Greathorn.
This actually works out to your benefit, since you'll end up with a total of three Greathorn triggers here. The copy Greathorn will resolve first, and it will merge with the creature you targeted, and since that creature mutated, you'll get one Greathorn trigger. Then the original Greathorn resolves, and also merges with that same creature. The trigger from the original Greathorn will trigger, as well as the trigger from the copy Greathorn that was merged with the creature earlier, and you'll get two more Greathorn triggers, for a total of three Greathorn triggers.
Q: My opponent casts Prismari Command, choosing to deal 2 damage to my Siren Stormtamer and create a treasure token for themselves. In response, I sacrifice the Stormtamer to counter the Command. What happens?
A: The Stormtamer's ability will fail to counter your opponent's Command. When the Stormtamer's ability goes to resolve, it checks to see if that spell or ability is currently targeting you or a permanent you control. But since you sacrificed the Stormtamer to activate its ability, that means that the Command is no longer targeting a permanent you control - it's only targeting your opponent. The Stormtamer's ability won't counter the spell and their Command will still resolve, and your opponent will create a treasure token and nothing else happening.
Q: My opponent controls an untapped Magda, Brazen Outlaw. I cast Merfolk Trickster and target my opponent's Magda. Does my opponent still get a treasure?
A: Yep, they'll still get the treasure. When we're resolving the Trickster's ability, we follow the instructions in the order they're listed on the card. First, the Magda becomes tapped. Since Magda became tapped, Magda's ability triggers. Then the Trickster causes Magda to lose its abilities. But that won't do anything to the trigger from Magda that's waiting to go on the stack, so that trigger will still go on the stack and your opponent would still get the treasure token.
Q: I control a Sphinx's Tutelage. I draw a card, and the targeted opponent mills two cards that share a color. Can I choose for a different opponent to mill when we repeat the process, or do I have to target the same opponent?
A: You'll affect the same opponent. The Tutelage isn't putting a copy of the trigger on the stack, you're just repeating the process of the Tutelage's trigger resolving. That means that the trigger is going to affect the same opponent that you originally targeted - you can't make it affect another player.
I had my eye on this for a while,
but it looks like they were out of stock.
but it looks like they were out of stock.
Q: If I control Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage, could I play Urza's Saga on my opponent's turn?
A: You can't for a few reasons. Raff's ability only lets you cast historic spells, and since Urza's Saga is a land, it can only be played as a land, not cast as a spell. In addition, you can only play a land during your own turn - you can't play a land on an opponent's turn, so you'd still be unable to play Urza's Saga on an opponent's turn.
Q: I control a Death's Presence and an Owlbear enchanted with an Unholy Indenture. If my Owlbear dies, can I return it with the Indenture trigger, then put the counters from the Presence trigger onto my returned Owlbear?
A: No you cannot. When the Owlbear dies, both the Presence and the Indenture triggers are waiting to go on the stack. However, the Presence's trigger targets, which means you need to choose a target when the trigger is put on the stack. No matter what order you put the two triggers on the stack, the Owlbear won't return before you're putting the Presence's trigger on the stack, so you can't target the Owlbear with the Presence's triggered ability.
Q: My opponent controls a Greater Gargadon that they cast off of suspend a few turns ago. I cast Gingerbrute and activate its ability so it can only be blocked by a creature with haste. Can my opponent's Gargadon block my Gingerbrute?
A: It can! If a creature is cast via suspend, it will have haste until that player lose control of it. Since the Gargadon has haste, it will be able to catch up to the poor Gingerbrute and will be able to block it.
Q: I cast Shardless Agent, and one of the card I exile to the cascade trigger is Eternal Scourge. Do I get a chance to cast the Scourge from exile before it goes on the bottom of my library?
A: You do not. While the Scourge has the ability to cast it from exile, you still need priority (or some effect that gives you permission) to be able to cast it. You're not getting priority while the cascade trigger is resolving, and the cascade trigger only gives you permission to cast the spell you cascaded in to, not anything else. The Scourge ends up exiled briefly before it's put on the bottom of your library, but you're never given priority to cast it before it goes back on the bottom of your library.
Q: I control a 3/3 Slag Fiend that's enchanted with my opponent's Runner's Bane. The only artifact I have in play is a Food token. If I sacrifice the token, will it cause the Fiend to briefly become a 4/4 creature and cause the Bane to go to the graveyard?
A: Nope, your Fiend will still have the Bane attached to it. The Fiend only counts artifact cards in your graveyard, and tokens are not cards. While the Food token will briefly be in your graveyard, it's not a card, and won't affect the Fiend's power and toughness.
Q: My opponent turns their Brine Elemental face up. In response to the Elemental's trigger, I cast Teferi's Protection. Am I safe from my opponent's Brine Elemental?
A: No... and things will only get worse for you. You're free to cast Teferi's Protection in response to the Elemental's triggered ability. However, the Elemental's trigger doesn't do anything that protection helps against - it's just affecting all of their opponents, not targeting them.
Since the Elemental's ability causes you to skip your untap step, your phased out permanents don't phase back in yet - they'll wait for your next untap step, which will happen on your next turn after that. But the Protection's effect still wears off like normal when your next turn start (it's not tied to your untap step), so not only are all of your permanents phased out, but you no longer have protection from everything and your life total can change, which means you're completely vulnerable to whatever your opponents do.
Q: I control a Scrap Trawler and an Urza's Bauble, and I have a Mishra's Bauble in my graveyard. If I sacrifice Urza's Bauble, can I choose to return Mishra's Bauble to my hand due to the Trawler trigger?
A: No you cannot. The Trawler lets you return an artifact card with a lesser mana value than the one that just went to the graveyard. Both Baubles have a mana value of zero, and zero is not less than zero, so you can't sacrifice one Bauble to return the other Bauble to your hand. The Baubles will work well with other artifacts that have a mana value of one or greater, but don't work well with each other.
The weirdest instruction book I've ever seen.
Q: I cast Mairsil, the Pretender, and with its enter the battlefield trigger, I choose to exile my Tergrid, God of Fright. Will Mairsil also get the activated ability from Tergrid's Lantern?
A: It does not. Unless you are playing or casting the back face of a modal double-faced card, it only has the characteristics of the front face. You ignore the back face. Exiling Tergrid to your Mairsil is a bad idea - not only are you ignoring the back face (and don't get either activated ability of the Lantern), the front face doesn't have any activated abilities, so Mairsil won't get any abilities from Tergrid.
Q: I control a Lurrus of the Dream-Den, Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle, and a Viscera Seer, along with a Lotus Petal in my graveyard. Can I cast the Petal from my graveyard, then sacrificed the Lurrus to the Seer's ability and return Lurrus with Teshar's trigger, to generate infinite mana?
A: This is close to working, but not quite. After you cast the Petal, we need to put Teshar's trigger on the stack. This is before we get priority, and before we get a chance to activate the Seer's ability, and since Lurrus isn't in the graveyard, it's not a legal target for Teshar's trigger. A way to make this would would be to have two Lurrus - one on the battlefield and one in the graveyard - so you could target one to return, then sacrifice the other one before Teshar's trigger resolves (or, if you don't need to scry, just let the legendary rule do the work for you and keep the newest Lurrus each time and get rid of the old Lurrus so you can recast the Petal and repeat your loop).
Q: I control a Chaos Dragon. We roll at the beginning of combat on my turn, and while I roll a 12, all of my opponents rolled a 20! Who can my Dragon attack?
A: Nobody this combat. The Dragon can't attack an opponent who rolled the highest. Since all of your opponents managed to crit on their rolls, your Dragon can't attack anyone at all, and is going to have to sit this combat out (even though it has to attack each combat if able, it's unable to attack any of your opponents here).
Q: There is a Share the Spoils in play. Can I play any number of cards exiled by the Spoils each turn, or am I restricted to one each turn?
A: You can only play or cast one card exiled by the Spoils each turn. The Spoils says you may play "a" land or cast "a" spell from among the exiled cards, and "a" is singular. Once you've played a card exiled by the Spoils, you're not able to play anything else exiled by the Spoils that turn. The loot pool is large, but you can't get greedy here - you get one card from the pile each turn.
Q: There is still a Share the Spoils in play. If I play a land that's owned by one of my opponents from the Spoils, who exiles a card from their library, me or the player who owned the land I played?
A: You exile another card to the Spoils. The player who is playing or casting the card from the Spoils will exile another card to the Spoils. The owner of the card that you're playing is not relevant. You're free to play your opponent's cards, but you'll be the one adding to the loot pool, not the owner of the card you played.
Q: Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury is my commander, and I use mana from Opal Palace to cast it. Since my commander isn't a creature, will it get loyalty counters instead of +1/+1 counters when it enters the battlefield?
A: Nope, your planeswalker commander will enter with some (likely worthless) +1/+1 counters. The Palace doesn't make an exception if your commander happens to be a noncreature permanent. If you use the mana from the Palace to cast your commander, it will enter with extra +1/+1 counters on it, even if your commander is a planeswalker and can't really take advantage of having +1/+1 counters on it.
Well, as it turns out, Moko is still attached to his left hand (in more ways than one), so I guess we'll just have to wait for nature to take its course and for his arm to fall off naturally - and who knows when that will happen. Oh well.
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