Published on 12/19/2022
Having a Ball
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
Cranial Translation
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We've got shiny balls...
As always, if you have questions for us, please feel free to email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions to @CranialTweet. One of our authors will reply to you, and your question might appear in a future article.
Q: I control God-Eternal Kefnet and my draw for the turn is Entreat the Angels. Do I get the Kefnet copy effect, the miracle effect, or both?
A: You can choose either, neither, or both. As you draw the card, both Kefnet's ability and the miracle ability offer you the option of revealing the card, and you choose for each effect whether to use it. Revealing the card for one effect does not stop you from revealing it to the other effect as well, since there's no requirement that revealing the card makes new information available. Note that if you use both effects, each spell is cast separately for its own cost with its own choice of X. You choose one X for the miracle spell and pay
, and you choose another X for the Kefnet copy and pay minus 
for that. Q: I control a Thespian's Stage whose ability to copy Dark Depths just resolved. I also control an Arbor Elf, and my lands are Forests thanks to Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. My opponent is responding to the "make Marit Lage" trigger by attempting to destroy Thespian's Stage with Boseiju, Who Endures. I respond by untapping the Stage with Arbor Elf and activating it to copy itself. Does the "make Marit Lage" ability trigger again?
A: Yes, that works. By copying itself, it gains a different instance of the "When Dark Depths has no ice counters on it" state trigger. Even though an instance of a very similar ability is already on the stack, this new ability is not on the stack yet, so the ability triggers and goes on the stack on top of your opponent's Boseiju ability. Note that the same is true if you simply re-copy Dark Depths instead of the Stage copying itself. In both situations, the Stage is gaining a new instance of Dark Depth's ability.
Q: I've taken control of player B's Bear Cub with Act of Treason, and now I'm using Fateful Handoff to give it to player C. What happens at the end of the turn when Act of Treason wears off?
A: Nothing much. Act of Treason doesn't actively return the creature where it came from when its effect ends. In simple situations where you have just Act of Treason's effect, it appears that way because after the effect ends, there is no other control-changing effect in place, so the creature goes home to its default controller. However, in this case Fateful Handoff's effect is still around after Act of Treason's effect ends, so the Bear Cub remains under player C's control.
Q: I control Prowl, Pursuit Vehicle and create three Soldier tokens with Captain's Call. Does Prowl get three +1/+1 counters?
A: Yup! Each token triggers a separate instance of Prowl's triggered ability, so you get three instances of this triggered ability on the stack. Even though the second resolution converts Prowl to its front face, the third ability still resolves and gives Prowl a third counter because despite having converted into a creature, it's still the same permanent it was before.
Q: I control a Bear Cub and copy it with Twinflame. Then I copy the copy with Cackling Counterpart. Does the second copy have haste, and do I have to exile it at the beginning of the next end step?
A: The answers are yes and no, in that order. Twinflame makes a token copy of Bear Cub, except it has haste. This exception becomes part of the token's copiable values, so the copy from Cackling Counterpart also has haste. Twinflame's resolution also creates a delayed triggered ability that instructs you to exile the token later, but that trigger only affects the token that Twinflame made and is not an ability of the token itself, let alone part of its copiable values, so the second token is safe from being exiled.
Q: My opponent controls a Bear Cub and a Serra Angel, and the Angel is becoming a bit of a nuisance to me, so I play Ixidron to turn both of them face-down. Later on, I draw a Magma Jet, and I want to cast it on the face-down creature that used to be Serra Angel. Does my opponent have to tell me which one it is?
A: Kind of, but not directly. Your opponent only has to ensure that their face-down permanents can be easily differentiated from each other. For example, at the time the creatures get turned face-down, they could put a die showing "1" on the Bear Cub and a die showing "2" on the Angel. If you suspect that this distinction will be useful to you later, it is up to you to remember which die corresponds to which creature, perhaps by employing the magic of writing it down.
Q: I control a Serra Angel that's equipped with Blazing Torch. I attack with it, and then I tap it and sacrifice the Torch to deal 2 damage to get a would-be blocker out of the way. Does the Angel still attack and deal combat damage?
A: Absolutely. Some players believe that tapping or untapping an attacker will remove it from combat and/or prevent its combat damage, which I suspect is a misconception that came about during The Dark ages of Magic. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Maze of Ith.) In a sea of rules that describe things that do happen, rule 506.4b exists to dispel this misconception and describes something that doesn't happen: "Tapping or untapping a creature that's already been declared as an attacker or blocker doesn't remove it from combat and doesn't prevent its combat damage."
...fragile balls...
A: No. To be a reflexive trigger, it would have to be written as "When you do, ..." Since it's written as "If you do, ...", you immediately create the tokens during the resolution of Promise of Bunrei's "when a creature you control dies" ability if the condition is true.
Q: My Rodolf Duskbringer attacks and gets blocked by Serra Angel. Does it gain indestructible in time to survive combat damage?
A: I'm afraid not. During combat damage, Rodolf and the Angel deal 4 damage to each other. Rodolf's damage also causes you to gain life, which triggers its second ability, but before that ability can even go on the stack, state-based actions are checked. State-based actions see that both Rodolf and the Angel have received lethal damage and both creatures get destroyed. Afterwards, Rodolf's ability still goes on the stack, but it's too late to do anything to save Rodolf.
Q: I activate Sisay, Weatherlight Captain's ability, and in response my opponent destroys her. What do I use as Sisay's power when the ability resolves?
A: The game uses Sisay's last-known information from when Sisay was last seen on the battlefield, so it's 2 plus whatever power bonuses she had at the time.
Q: I sacrifice some creature with a death trigger to cast Fling. Can I put the ability and Fling on the stack in any order I want because I control both of them?
A: No, it doesn't work like that. To cast Fling, you perform several steps in order, and the first step is to put the card on the stack. Some time later, you pay the cost, which involves sacrificing the creature, which triggers its ability. That ability will necessarily go on top of the Fling that's already there.
Q: If I control both Leyline of the Void and Dauthi Voidwalker, which effect wins when a card gets milled into my opponent's graveyard?
A: That's up to your opponent. There are two replacement effects in place that want to modify how your opponent's card is affected by the mill effect that's moving it to the graveyard. The choice of which replacement effect to apply first goes to the controller of the object, or its owner in this case because the card in the library doesn't have a controller. Once your opponent applies one of the effects, the card is no longer destined for the graveyard, so the other effect is no longer applicable. Chances are that your opponent will choose to apply the Leyline effect.
Q: Which color or colors of devotion does Burning-Tree Emissary count towards?
A: Burning-Tree Emissary has two mana symbols that are simultaneously red and green. Therefore, it adds two to your devotion to red, two to your devotion to green, and two do your devotion to red and green.
Q: My opponent is targeting me with Angel of Finality's ability. Can I use Spellskite to dodge the ability?
A: No. Activating Spellskite's ability is legal, but nothing happens when it resolves because Spellskite is not a legal target for Angel of Finality's ability, so changing its target to Spellskite is impossible.
...and angry balls.
A: Just one. The Knight's enter-the-battlefield ability triggers twice, but the ability contains an "intervening if" clause that is checked both when the ability triggers and when it resolves. At the time the second instance of the ability would resolve, the condition is no longer true thanks to the land you got with the first ability, so the second ability doesn't resolve.
Q: Can I enchant my opponent with Dragon Appeasement?
A: I admire your effort to think outside the box, but that doesn't work. Dragon Appeasement is not an Aura that enchants a player. It's an enchantment that just sits on the battlefield and creates an effect for its controller. Since you cast it, you control it, so it affects you, for better or worse. In order to stick your opponent with the effect, you'd have to give control of it to them with something like Zedruu the Greathearted.
Q: Can I cast Slip Through Space if there are no creatures on the battlefield?
A: I'm afraid not. Slip Through Space targets a creature, and the target is not optional. If you can't choose a legal target for it, you can't cast Slip Through Space.
Q: If I control Sliver Hivelord and it gets exiled, do my other Sliver creatures still have indestructible until end of turn?
A: No. The effect that gives Sliver Hivelord and your other Sliver creatures indestructible only lasts while Sliver Hivelord is on the battlefield, so the effect ends as soon as Sliver Hivelord is removed from the battlefield.
Q: My opponent casts a spell and I counter it with Lose Focus. If my opponent pays
, can I still pay 
to replicate Lose Focus? A: No, that won't work. Your opponent's decision whether to pay
is made when Lose Focus resolves, while you have to announce whether and how often to replicate it at the moment you cast it. And that's all the time we have for today. Thanks for reading, and please come back next week for more Magic rules Q&A!
- 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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