Published on 08/30/2021
An Article For Me
The Enigma of Cranial Insertion
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
We've sent our best experts down to investigate. They include Moko and Louis Sachar. We gave them hard hats, so they're probably safe.
But as I look closer... This... this is my question...
As a friendly reminder, if you'd like the CI team to answer your question, please send it to us via email at moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet it to us @CranialTweet. We answer every question we get, and your question could show up in a future article.
Q: I play Mosswort Bridge and exile a card with its hideaway land. Then I return the Bridge to my hand with Simic Growth Chamber. Later, I play Mosswort Bridge again and exile another card. When I activate the Bridge's ability, can I play both cards?
A: No. That first card will stay hidden away forever.
Even though this is the same Mosswort Bridge card, it becomes a different game object each time it changes zones. This means that the first Bridge exiled its own card, and the second Bridge exiled its own, and neither knows anything about the other.
Q: I cast Murktide Regent, exiling five instant and sorcery cards to help pay for it. Before it resolves, my opponent flashes in a Dress Down. Does my Regent still get counters?
A: No, it does not. When we're figuring out which replacement effects apply to your Regent, we have to look ahead and what it'll look like on the battlefield. Since it won't have any abilities there because of Dress Down, it won't enter with any counters.
Q: I control a Thassa, Deep-Dwelling and have 5 devotion, so she's a creature. I copy Thassa with Moritte of the Frost. Later, my devotion drops below 5, so my Moritte-Thassa is no longer a creature. Does it still have Changeling?
A: Well, it does, but not in a terribly meaningful way. Since Moritte isn't a creature (or a tribal card), it can't have any creature types. Changeling is just sort of... there, doing nothing.
Q: I cast Quarantine Field with
=2. Before its enters-the-battlefield trigger resolves, can I proliferate the isolation counters on it to exile more stuff?A: No, this won't work.
Before you get priority to do anything, you have to choose targets for the Quarantine Field's ability. Once you've done that, the number of targets is locked in. Adding more isolation counters after that won't let you target more things to exile.
A: No, you have to render unto Bolas what is Bolas's.
Bolas's Citadel requires you to pay life equal to the card's mana value. Even though the cost of the spell would be
if you were casting it normally, its mana value is always 
, so that's how much life you have to pay.Q: I exiled my opponent's Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft with Gonti, Lord of Luxury, then later cast Petty Theft. When the card goes on an adventure, who can cast Brazen Borrower later?
A: You can! Since you cast the Adventure part of the card, you're given the permission to cast the creature part from exile later.
Q: I control Recycle and Reliquary Tower. What's my maximum hand size?
A: It depends which one entered most recently. If Reliquary Tower is newer, you don't have a maximum hand size. If Recycle is newer, your maximum hand size is 2.
Q: I made some token copies of Impulsive Pilferer with its encore ability. If I phase them out with Teferi's Protection, do I still have to sacrifice them?
A: Good news: you'll get to keep your tokens! If they're phased out when the encore "sacrifice those tokens" trigger resolves, you can't sacrifice them.
Q: I control Tempting Contract. If I cast Brand, do I gain control of all the Treasures that have been created by its triggered ability?
A: No. The player who created a token is its owner, so even though you controlled the triggered ability, the opponent that creates a Treasure token is that token's owner.
Q: I attack with my Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow while my opponent controls an Azorius Skyguard. Yuriko is unblocked. Does her ability trigger?
A: It does not. The Skyguard makes her a shadow of her former self, reducing her power to 0. Since Yuriko has 0 power, she deals no combat damage, so she won't trigger.
Q: I control Horobi, Death's Wail and target my opponent's Sedgemoor Witch with a Lightning Bolt. If I don't pay for Ward, will Horobi still destroy it?
A: Yes, it will. Horobi doesn't care if the spell or ability actually resolves. Since the Witch was targeted by your spell, Horobi's trigger will destroy it. Since Horobi's trigger doesn't target, Ward won't trigger to protect the Witch from it.
Q: I bring back a Bloodline Keeper with Whip of Erebos, then transformed the Keeper into Lord of Lineage. Do I still have to exile it at the end of turn?
A: Yes, you do. Transforming something doesn't make it a new object except the rare cases where the instruction to transform says to exile it then return it transformed, like Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. Since Bloodline Keeper doesn't do that, it's the same object even after it transforms, so the Whip still says "Hey, I know you!" and exiles it at the next end step.
Q: I control Kalamax, the Stormsire which is currently untapped. If I cast Chord of Calling and tap Kalamax to convoke Chord, will I get a copy of it?
A: You will!
Tapping Kalamax to help pay for the spell happens right before the spell actually "becomes cast," which is the time anything "when you cast ____" triggers happen. Kalamax was tapped just in time, so you'll get a copy of Chord.
wise from yow gwave
A: You sure can! State-based actions happen before any triggers go on the stack, so by the time it's time to put the copy-Bladewing's trigger on the stack the original Bladewing is in the graveyard, ready to rise again.
(I may or may not have this as a goofy win condition in my Judith, the Scourge Diva deck. Don't tell anybody.)
Q: If I exile a Deadeye Navigator with Mairsil, the Pretender, can I blink Mairsil? Or do I need another creature to pair it with?
A: This won't work, unfortunately.
The Navigator card in exile doesn't have any activated abilities at all - it has a triggered ability and a static ability. Mairsil doesn't get either of those from exiled cards, so your Navigator is stuck sailing the exile seas for nothing.
Q: We're in game 2. I just drew my card on turn 3, and realized I shuffled my companion into my deck! What do we do?
A: Well... nothing, really. Your main deck is 61 cards and your sideboard is 14 cards, which is a legal deck configuration. You just have to play your companion as a regular card in your deck.
Looks like most of the questions got through just fine. It was probably nothing.
I'm gonna go do some hurricane preparations! We actually have some real life natural disasters heading our way.
- 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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