Published on 12/20/2021
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... Wait, what, it's December?
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 Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes.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.
Do you think Keleth is
Magic's Rudolph?
Magic's Rudolph?
He brought us a brand new mail bag, which was very kind of him. Our old one was getting a bit worn out. For some reason it already had some questions in it. Do the elves at the North Pole play Magic, you think?
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 control Hofri Ghostforge. I cast Coercive Recruiter, and when it enters the battlefield I gain control of my opponent's Grizzly Bears. If I sacrifice the Bears, will the token I create with Hofri's ability still be a Pirate?
A: No, it won't.
This is one of those pesky layers questions. Coercive Recruiter's effect makes the creature a Pirate as a type-changing effect (in layer 4). Copy effects can only "see" other copyable effects (in layer 1), The token Bears will just be a Creature - Bear Spirit, no matter how persuasive the Recruiter was.
Q: My opponent casts Force of Vigor targeting my Ensnaring Bridge and Spellskite. Can I active Spellskite and change the target from Ensnaring Bridge to Spellskite?
A: That won't work, unfortunately. Force of Vigor only uses the word "target" once, so the two things it targets have to be different objects.
If your opponent cast something like, say, Decimate targeting your Ensnaring Bridge as the artifact and Spellskite as the creature, you could change the Bridge target to Spellskite.
Q: I control Veyran, Voice of Duality and Quintorius, Field Historian. If I cast a spell from my graveyard, will Quintorius trigger twice?
A: Unfortunately not. Quintorius doesn't care about you casting or copying an instant or sorcery spell, it cares about a card leaving your graveyard. Even though casting a spell from the graveyard might involve a card leaving your graveyard, they are different trigger conditions.
Q: My opponent casts Blood Sun, and in response I activate Inkmoth Nexus. What does my Inkmoth Nexus look like? What happens at the end of the turn?
A: Your Inkmoth Nexus will be a 1/1 Artifact Creature Land. Since its ability resolved first and then Blood Sun removed all abilities that aren't mana abilities, it will not have flying or infect. At the end of your turn, it turns back into a land with no abilities except "
: Add 
."It's a snow globe!
A: Just two. Improvising something doesn't pay mana; it just lets you tap an artifact instead of paying that mana. Tapping your Astrolabes this way generates no mana at all.
Q: Can I kill my opponent's Brash Taunter with Last Gasp?
A: You absolutely can! Indestructible only prevents things from being destroyed, which is the result of something that says "destroy" like Vindicate or from having lethal damage. Something with 0 or less toughness isn't "destroyed." Instead, state-based actions step in and say "hey, that can't be on the battlefield" and moves it to the graveyard.
Q: Can I spend mana created by Thran Turbine to pay the entwine cost on Tooth and Nail?
A: No, you cannot. Any alternate or additional costs - entwine or kicker or overload or anything else - are all part of casting a spell, so the Turbine's mana will unfortunately not be usable.
The mana also can't pay for cost-increasing effects like Thalia, Guardian of Thraben's. It can pay for a Ward cost like the one on Adrix and Nev, Twincasters. Ward costs aren't attached to casting the spell; they're attached to a triggered ability.
Q: I attack with Zara, Renegade Recruiter and put my opponent's Clever Impersonator into play, choosing for it to copy my Sol Ring. We can't really figure out what else happens. Help?
A: First things first, your Impersonator-Sol Ring enters tapped. It isn't a creature, so it isn't attacking. At the beginning of the next end step, it will still return to its owner's hand.
The delayed trigger says "Return that creature" because the thing you put into play will usually be a creature. What it really means, though, is "that thing I put into play." The trigger is clever enough to know what object it put into play, even if it happens to not be a creature at the moment.
Q: Let's say I have my Clone enter the battlefield as a copy of a manifested permanent. Is my Clone considered "face down"?
A: No, it isn't. While it has all the characteristics of a face down thing, it isn't itself a face down permanent.
Q: I control Eruth, Tormented Prophet, and an opponent controls Omen Machine. When I would draw for turn, what happens?
A: This is a case of a "can't" effect being more important. Since you can't draw cards to begin with, you never have the opportunity to try to draw cards. Eruth's replacement effect doesn't get the chance to apply, so you won't exile any cards.
Q: Let's say I copy my opponent's Ravager of the Fells with my Mirrorhall Mimic. I cast two spells on my turn, so at the beginning of the next upkeep my Ravager should transform. How does this work?
A: You're about to have a pretty good time.
Since your Mirrorhall Mimic is a transforming double-faced card, it can, in fact, transform. However, since it's copying something else, "transforming" in this case just means you turn the physical piece of cardboard over. You still have a Ravager of the Fells. It doesn't become a Ghastly Mimicry or a Huntmaster of the Fells.
But wait! There's more! When your Mimic-Ravager transforms, it will trigger the "Whenever this creature transforms into Ravager of the Fells" ability. The rules only care that 1. the object transformed and 2. it has the required characteristics after the transformation.
Q: My commander is Rowan, Scholar of Sparks / Will, Scholar of Frost. I want to put Visions of Ruin in my deck but I'm having trouble figuring out what its flashback cost is.
A: It depends!
If your commander isn't on the battlefield, the game can only see Rowan's mana value since she's the front face of the card. In this case, Visions of Ruin's flashback cost will be reduced by
. If your commander is on the battlefield, then it depends which face is face up. If it's Rowan, Visions' flashback cost is reduced by
; if Will, it's reduced by 
.Q: My opponent casts Abrupt Decay. If I target it with Test of Talents, I know the spell isn't countered. Can I still exile their other copies of Abrupt Decay?
A: You sure can. Test of Talents' searching and exiling isn't dependent on it actually countering its target. If it were, it would say something like "Counter target instant or sorcery spell. If you do, [... do the other stuff]."
What do you think is on Purphoros'
wishlist? Gold blood?
wishlist? Gold blood?
A: Afraid not, friend. Purphoros' ability that makes him sometimes not a creature is constantly checking your devotion. The moment the Double-Purphoros leaves the battlefield, your devotion to red drops to four and Purphoros stops being a creature. Spark Double will have to copy something else.
Q: If I cycle Shark Typhoon and choose
= 
, does it make a 0/0 Shark or not?A: Yes, it does. You won't really get a chance to do anything with the Shark token since it enters and immediately dies to state-based actions. However, it does enter and die for effects that might care, like Essence Warden or Blood Artist.
That's it for this article. I hope that you and yours have the happiest of holidays. Join us next week for the thrilling conclusion to 2021!
- 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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