Published on 09/13/2021
Flashback to Innistrad
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Don't be afraid. It's just Innistrad.
Hiya everyone, and welcome back to Cranial Insertion! As I write this article, we're still in the middle of Innistrad: Midnight Hunt previews, and we're not quite ready to talk about them yet (we'll start discussing them next week), so this week, I'd thought we'd take a look back at the previous Innistrad sets and answer questions from cards featured in those sets. So sit and and watch as we flashback some questions from Innistrad past!
And remember, if you have a question about an interaction that you'd like us to answer, feel free to send it in. We might even use you question in a future article! If you have a short question, you can send it to us via Twitter at @CranialTweet, and you can send us longer questions via e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: What is the mana value of Ludevic's Abomination?
A: When we first visited Innistrad, the answer would have been zero. However, in the time since Innistrad was released, the rules for transforming double-faced cards changed slightly. Now, the back side of a transforming double-faced card has the same mana value as the front face. That means that while the back face doesn't have a mana cost, it will look at the mana value of the front face and it will have the same mana value. Since Ludevic's Test Subject has a mana value of two, the back side will also have a mana value of two (although it just gets the mana value, not the entire cost, so the back side won't contribute to devotion).
Note that the answer is slightly different if you make a copy of the back face of a transforming double-faced card. For example, if you make a copy of the Abomination with Evil Twin, since the Twin Abomination has no other face to reference, the mana value of the Twin Abomination would be zero, not two.
Q: Can I play Curse of the Bloody Tome on myself?
A: Sure! The Curses have "enchant player", not "enchant opponent", so you're free to enchant yourself with your own curses if that's what you want. While most may be detrimental to your normal game play, filling up your graveyard at no other cost might be something that some decks want, so feel free to Curse yourself.
Q: Can I activate Ghost Quarter's ability targeting itself if I want to find a basic land?
A: You can target the Quarter itself - it just won't have the effect that you want. Targets are chosen before costs are paid, so you can technically sacrifice the Quarter targeting itself. However, when the Quarter's ability goes to resolve, it sees that its only target is no longer legal (since the Quarter is no longer on the battlefield), so the entire ability does nothing and you will not get to search for a land.
Q: I control an Angelic Overseer and a Doomed Traveler. My opponent casts Blasphemous Act. Will my Overseer survive?
A: It will survive slightly longer than the Traveler, but it will ultimately die as well. Since you control a human, the Overseer has hexproof and indestructible. Once the Act resolves and we check state-based actions, the Overseer is indestructible, but Doomed Traveler is not, so the Traveler dies. Then we check state-based actions again, and since you no longer control a human, the Overseer no longer has indestructible, and now the Overseer will die due to the damage from the Act.
Q: Me and my opponent each control a Huntmaster of the Fells. It's my upkeep, and no one cast a spell last turn. Assuming we want to kill the opposing Huntmaster, whose Huntmaster will die?
A: Since it is your turn, your Huntmaster will die before it can transform. During your upkeep, your Huntmaster transform trigger goes on the stack first (since you're the active player), followed by your opponent's Huntmaster trigger. Your opponent's Huntmaster trigger will resolve first, and their Huntmaster will transform into Ravager of the Fells and its transform ability will trigger. That trigger then resolves, and they can kill your Huntmaster with the damage. Then we resolve your Huntmaster trigger, but since it's no longer on the battlefield, it won't transform.
In short - if there are dueling Huntmasters in play, you want to make sure that no spells were cast on your turn so your Huntmaster transforms first during your opponent's upkeep.
Q: If I cast Ray of Revelation from my graveyard for its flashback cost, am I casting a green spell or a white spell?
A: You're casting a white spell. A spell's color is derived from its mana cost, not what color of mana you spend to cast the spell. Even though the flashback cost of Ray of Revelation is a single green mana, you're still casting a white spell and not a green spell.
Q: My opponent is enchanted with Curse of Echoes. That opponent casts Increasing Devotion from their graveyard. Will my copy of the Devotion generate five tokens or 10 tokens?
A: Only five tokens. "Where you cast a spell from" is not part of the spell's copiable characteristics. While your opponent's Devotion was cast from the graveyard, your copy was not cast from the graveyard (it wasn't even cast - it was put on the stack). Since your copy wasn't cast from the graveyard, you don't get the bonus effect, and your copy will only generate five tokens, while their original will make 10 tokens.
Ok, which one of you set the past on fire?
Q: I cast Twilight's Call, returning a bunch of creatures fromy my graveyard to the battlefield, including a Flayer of the Hatebound. Will the Flayer trigger for everything that I returned with the Call?
A: It will! Once we're checking for enter the battlefield triggers after everything has entered, the Flayer sees that the Flayer entered the battlefield, and it saw that everything else that returned under your control also entered the battlefield from your graveyard. That means that the Flayer will trigger for all of those creatures, and you'll be able to deal a bunch of damage.
Q: It's my opponent's turn, and I activate Alchemist's Apprentice and the card that I draw is Terminus. Can I cast it for its miracle cost on my opponent's turn?
A: As long as that was the first card you drew on your opponent's turn, yes. Miracle will trigger when you draw it as your first card of the turn, and the miracle trigger will give you permission to cast it when the trigger resolves. Since the trigger is giving you permission to cast the card, it gets around normal timing restrictions, and you'll be able to cast the sorcery Terminus on your opponent's turn using miracle.
Q: My opponent targets my creature with Bone Splinters. Can I save my creature by casting Cloudshift targeting my creature?
A: You can! Cloudshift will exile and return your creature to the battlefield when it resolves. Since it left the battlefield and returned, it's a different object when it returns (one that's not being targeted by Bone Splinters). When Bone Splinters resolves, its target is illegal and the spell does nothing. Cloudshift will be able to save your creature from your opponent's targeted removal spells.
Q: I control a Lightning Mauler that's currently paired with Kruin Striker. I play a Hound of Griselbrand. Can I choose to break the pair with the Striker so the Mauler can be paired with the Hound instead?
A: No you cannot. You cannot break a pair just because you want to. A pair is only broken if one of the paired creatures leaves play, changes controllers, or stops being a creature. If you wanted to pair your Mauler with your Hound, you'd either need to break the pair another way, or just not pair it with the Striker in the first place (so it's unpaired when the Hound enters the battlefield).
Q: I control a Cathars' Crusade. If I cast Thatcher Revolt, how big are my tokens?
A: They end up as 4/4 creatures, thanks to the three +1/+1 counters they'll get from the Crusade. Three creatures entered the battlefield, so the Crusade triggers three times. Your new creature tokens are on the battlefield when each of the Crusade triggers resolves, so they'll each get a total of three +1/+1 counters (along with the rest of your creatures), and your Revolt tokens are 4/4 creatures.
Q: It's my opponent's turn, and I activate Reckless Scholar and discard a Murderous Compulsion. Will I be able to use madness to cast the Compulsion on my opponent's turn, even though it's a sorcery?
A: Yep, you can cast it just fine. This is similiar to the miracle question we had a few questions ago. The madness trigger is giving you permission to cast it for its madness cost when its trigger resolves, so you can ignore normal timing restrictions. Even though the Compulsion is a sorcery, since the madness trigger lets you cast it for its madness cost, you'll be able to cast it on your opponent's turn.
Q: Earlier in my turn, I returned Ghoulsteed from my graveyard to the battlefield using its activated ability. Then, later in combat, my Prized Amalgam died. Since I returned the Ghoulsteed earlier in the turn, will the Amalgam return to the battlefield at the end of turn?
A: No it will not. In order for the Amalgam's ability to trigger, it has to be in the graveyard when the Ghoulsteed enters the battlefield from the graveyard. Since the Amalgam was on the battlefield when the Ghoulsteed entered, its ability won't trigger, and its delayed trigger wouldn't trigger since it wasn't set up in the first place. If you wanted the Amalgam to return, you need to return the Ghoulsteed with the Amalgam in the graveyard.
When you're done with the article,
please return it to your hand.
please return it to your hand.
Q: If I have an Ancient Den and an Eidolon of Rhetoric in my graveyard, and I cast Descend Upon the Sinful, will I get the delirium bonus?
A: Yep, you get your Angel token. Ancient Den has two types - "artifact" and "land - and the Eidolon has two more types - "enchantment" and "creature". There's no requirement that you have to have four different cards in your graveyard to have delirium, just have at least four types among the cards in your graveyard. So you can achieve delirium with as few as two cards in your graveyard, as long as they have multiple and different types.
Q: Can I use Westvale Abbey as my commander, since the back face is Ormendahl, Profane Prince, a legendary creature?
A: Nope, the Abbey can't be your commander. In order for a card to be your commander, it has to be a legendary creature on its front face, not its back face. Since the front face is a land, not a creature, and since it doesn't have an ability that says it can be your commander, you cannot choose for the Abbey to be your commander.
Q: What happens if I use Unsubstantiate on my opponent's Altered Ego when they cast it?
A: The Ego will be returned to your opponent's hand. The Ego can't be countered, but Unsubstantiate isn't trying to counter their spell - it's just returning it to their hand. Since the spell isn't being countered, the fact that the Ego can't be countered isn't relevant, and you'll be able to return the Ego spell to your opponent's hand with Unsubstantiate.
Q: I cast Emrakul, the Promised End, and I target my opponent with its trigger. I cast Drag Under targeting Emrakul, and then I cast it again, targeting my opponent again. How many turns am I controlling my opponent for? How many extra turns do the end up taking?
A: This plan isn't going to work out as well as you hoped. Both of the Emrakul triggers tell you to control your opponent's next turn, and controlling another player's turn effects will all apply to their next turn - you don't apply one to the first turn, then the second to the next turn they would have taken(if the change of control effects are from different players, the last one created would "win" and that player would control their next turn). So by playing Emrakul twice targeting your opponent, you'll just really control their next turn.
But since both Emrakul triggers resolved, they'll still get two extra turns. There's no requirement that you have to control their turn with that effect for them to get the extra turn. So not only are you only controlling them for one turn, they're going to get two extra turn after that turn that they'll control like normal.
Q: If my opponent is attacking me with three creatures, can I cast Blessed Alliance and pay the escalate cost twice, then pick the last mode three times to make them sacrifice three attacking creatures?
A: You cannot. While escalate will let you pick multiple modes for your spell, it doesn't let you pick the same mode more than once. While you can escalate the Alliance twice so you can pick three modes, you still have to pick three different modes, and can't make your opponent sacrifice three creatures with the same Blessed Alliance.
Q: I control a Mind's Dilation. On my opponent's turn, they cast a spell, and the card they exile is Field Creeper. Am I able to cast the artifact on my opponent's turn?
A: Yes, you can cast it. The Dilation's trigger gives you permission to cast it while the trigger is resolving. So even though you're resolving the trigger on the opponent's turn and the card that was exiled is an artifact, since the Dilation's trigger is giving you permission to cast it, you'll be able to cast it, despite it being your opponent's turn.
This article has finished resolving, and since it was cast via flashback, this article is now exiled. We'll see you all again next week!
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