Published on 11/29/2021
Holidazed and Confused
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, Justin Hovdenes, and Andrew Villarrubia
This Article from: Carsten Haese
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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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Cooking up a holiday feast
of rules questions
of rules questions
If you want to give us gifts, we love getting rules questions from you! Please email your questions to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions to @CranialTweet. One of our authors will respond to you, and your question might appear in a future article.
And now, let's dig in and enjoy today's holiday feast of rules questions!
Q: I control Vivien, Monsters' Advocate and Parallel Lives. If I activate Vivien's +1 ability to create two Beast tokens, do I get to choose a different ability for each of them?
A: No, both tokens get the same ability counter. Parallel Lives changes the number of tokens you create as Vivien's +1 ability resolves, and that's the only thing it changes. You choose one kind of ability counter, and both tokens get that kind of counter.
Q: If I control two Hollowhenge Overlords and no other creatures, how many Wolf tokens will I make at the beginning of my upkeep?
A: You'll make six tokens in total. Hollowhenge Overlord's ability only counts when it resolves how many creatures you control that are Wolves and/or Werewolves, and the abilities resolve one at a time. The first one to resolve counts two existing Wolves and gives you two tokens, so the second one to resolve counts four Wolves and gives you four more tokens.
Q: How does Doubling Season interact with Manaform Hellkite? If I cast a noncreature spell and Manaform Hellkite's ability makes two creature tokens, do I have to exile both of them at the beginning of the next end step?
A: Yup. Similar to what we saw above with Vivien and Parallel Lives, Doubling Season simply changes what happens as Manaform Hellkite's ability resolves, by changing the number of tokens that are created. Manaform Hellkite's ability still creates the delayed triggered ability that exiles "that token" at the beginning of the next end step, and "that token" refers to both tokens that were created this way.
Q: If Opposition Agent leaves the battlefield, can I still play the cards it exiled?
A: Yup. Opposition Agent's replacement effect that exiled the cards also creates a continuous effect that allows you to play those cards, and that effect has a duration of "as long as (those cards) remain exiled". Since the duration of the effect is not contingent on Opposition Agent remaining on the battlefield, the effect goes on even if Opposition Agent leaves the battlefield.
Q: I control Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait and already played an initial land and an additional land this turn. If I blink Aesi, do I get another additional land drop this turn?
A: No. Once upon a time this would have worked, but the rules for additional lands are much simpler these days. Similarly to how the game tracks your hand size, it keeps track of how many lands you're allowed to play, and effects can change this number. Any time you try to play a land, the game checks whether the number of lands you've played this turn is less than this maximum number. While you control Aesi, this number is two, and blinking Aesi causes this number to drop to one and then go back up to two, so you won't be allowed to play a third land.
Q: If a token copy of Undead Butler dies, can I exile it to return a creaure card from my graveyard to my hand?
A: No, that doesn't work. The token goes to the graveyard and triggers its ability, but before that ability even goes on the stack, state-based actions see the token in the graveyard and it ceases to exist. When the ability resolves, the token is not around to be exiled, so the "when you do" part of the ability never happens.
You know what sucks?
Vampires.
Vampires.
A: Nope. Bloodcrazed Socialite doesn't have an activated ability. It has a triggered ability that triggers when it attacks. When the ability resolves, it asks you whether you want to sacrifice a Blood token or not, and based on your decision Bloodcrazed Socialite either gets a +2/+2 buff or not.
Q: I control Eruth, Tormented Prophet and cast Faithless Looting. Do I still have to discard two cards even though the draws are replaced?
A: If you can, yes. You're perhaps thinking of the rule that handles additional actions on a card after it's drawn, and that those actions don't happen if the draw is replaced. That rule doesn't apply here because the discard from Faithless Looting is not an action on the cards that were drawn, so the discard still happens after you exile the top four cards of your library.
Q: I control Concealing Curtains and activate its ability. In response, my opponent destroys it. Do I still get Revealing Eye's reveal-and-discard effect?
A: I'm afraid not. While it's true that destroying the source of an ability doesn't stop the ability, the ability in question in this situation is merely "transform Concealing Curtains." After Concealing Curtains has been destroyed, the ability tries to resolve and does absolutely nothing, since the creature that's supposed to be transformed has left the battlefield. Since the transformation doesn't happen, the Revealing Eye ability doesn't trigger, and your opponent's hand is safe from its effect.
Q: I control Desecrated Tomb and Grolnok, the Omnivore. If I mill three cards with Grolnok's ability and two of them are creature cards, how many Bat tokens do I get from Desecrated Tomb?
A: You'll get two Bat tokens. Grolnok mills the three cards at the same time, but its middle ability triggers and resolves separately for each permanent card you mill. This means that the cards get exiled from your graveyard one at a time, so Desecrated Tomb's ability triggers twice.
Q: My opponent attacks me with a 4/4 and I block it with two 1/1 creatures. After my opponent declares the damage assignment order, I cast Adamant Will on the 1/1 that's first line. Does this save both of my creatures?
A: Probably not, unless your opponent makes a choice that is not in their best interest. When they assign damage, they only have to assign "lethal" damage to the blocker that's first in line, which is now a 3/3 with indestructible. I put lethal in quotation marks because there is no requirement that the damage is actually sufficient to destroy the creature. Lethal damage is simply an amount of damage equal to the creature's toughness, minus any damage already marked on it, minus any damage being assigned to it at the same time by other attackers. In this case, lethal damage works out to be 3. The remaining 1 damage can be assigned to the first blocker or to the second blocker. Assuming your opponent doesn't have a reason to spare the second blocker, they'll assign 3 damage to the first blocker (which it survives because it has indestructible) and 1 damage to the second blocker (which kills it).
Q: Can I cast Undying Malice on a creature and then sacrifice it repeatedly to Phyrexian Altar to make a huge amount of mana?
A: Nope. After you sacrifice the creature the first time, it comes back as an entirely new creature. This new creature doesn't have the triggered ability from Undying Malice, so if you sacrifice it to Phyrexian Altar for mana, it won't come back again.
Q: I cast Alchemist's Gambit for it's normal cost. Can I use Overcharged Amalgam's exploit ability to counter the "you lose the game" part?
A: Yes, as long as you do it at the right time. Alchemist's Gambit creates a delayed triggered ability that triggers at the beginning of the end step of the extra turn. You can't counter a triggered ability before it has triggered, so you have to wait until the end step of the extra turn for the ability to actually trigger. Once that happens, you can use Overcharged Amalgam — or anything else that can counter a triggered ability — to stop the "you lose the game" ability.
Q: Can I look at the cards that get exiled by Demonic Bargain?
A: Absolutely. Demonic Bargain doesn't say that the cards are exiled face-down, so they're exiled face-up by default, so everybody can see what those cards are.
Wake up and smell the coffin
A: I'm afraid so. Edgar is a creature card in the graveyard, so Grafdigger's Cage forbids it from entering the battlefield. The fact that it would arrive on the battlefield as an artifact doesn't change the fact that Grafdigger's Cage's effect stops it from being returned to the battlefield at all.
Q: I cast Sea Gate Stormcaller, let it resolve, and then I cast Wizard's Lightning for
. Does Sea Gate Stormcaller's ability copy it? A: No. Sea Gate Stormcaller copies the next instant or sorcery spell with mana value 2 or less. Even though you only spent
to cast it, Wizard's Lightning's mana value is 3, since the mana value is based on the mana cost that's printed on the card, and not on what you have spent on casting it. Q: Can Lithoform Engine first ability copy storm and cascade abilities?
A: Certainly. It can copy any activated or triggered ability that uses the stack, which really just excludes mana abilities. Storm and cascade are indeed triggered abilities, and they are not mana abilities, so they use the stack and can be copied with Lithoform Engine's first ability.
Q: If Volo, Guide to Monsters copies a kicked creature, does the copy get the kicker effect, too?
A: Yup! Volo copies the creature spell that's on the stack, and the copiable values of a spell include choices that were made when the spell was cast. Those choices include whether the spell was kicked, so if the original spell was kicked, then the copy will be kicked as well.
Q: Can Mercy Killing get rid of a creature that's protected by Heroic Intervention?
A: No. Mercy Killing can be an answer to an indestructible creature since it demands a sacrifice, but Heroic Intervention also gives the creature hexproof. Mercy Killing still has to target the creature to do its thing, and you can't target a creature that has hexproof.
Q: Can I activate Tortured Existence's ability without any cards in my graveyard just to discard a card?
A: Nice try, but that doesn't work. Tortured Existence's ability targets a creature card in your graveyard, and you have to be able to choose a legal target in order to activate the ability in the first place.
And that's it for today. Thanks for reading and please come back next week for more Magic rules Q&A. Happy Holidays!
- Carsten Haese
About the Author:
Carsten Haese is a former Level 2 judge based in Toledo, OH. He is retired from active judging, but he still writes for Cranial Insertion and helps organize an annual charity Magic tournament that benefits the National MS Society.
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