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Published on 07/08/2024

Summer Time Quiz

It's better than going to Summer School

By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes

Cranial Translation
Deutsch Français

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It's summer and if you are not careful, you may forget much of what you've learned this year. So let's quiz you to make sure you're keeping that knowledge top of mind and useful. This will be done in the traditional form of a Magic Judge Test. To get a specific question right, it's not enough to get one of the correct answers that apply, but you must get all that apply to get that question correct. If the correct answer to a question is A & B, but you only write down A, you get zero credit for that question. Keep track of how many questions you get right and at the end of the quiz we can check how you did. The correct answer to the following questions could be as many as all answers provided or as few as none!

If you have Magic rules questions, we would love to answer them and might even include them in an upcoming article. For short questions, you can send them to our Twitter account at @CranialTweet, and if you have a longer question, you can send it to our e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .

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Q: In which of the following situations could Amy tap her Isolated Chapel for mana?

A: The answer is...

A: While she controls a Chromatic Lantern that's been on the battlefield for three turns, and her opponent Nick controls a Blood Moon that was put onto the battlefield last turn.
B: While she controls a Chromatic Lantern that's been on the battlefield since last turn, and her opponent Nick controls a Blood Moon that's been on the battlefield for three turns.
C: While her Isolated Chapel has been enchanted with Spreading Seas since last turn, and her opponent Nick has controlled a Blood Moon that's been on the battlefield for three turns.
D: While her Isolated Chapel has been enchanted with Spreading Seas for the last three turns, and her opponent Nick has controlled a Blood Moon that was put onto the battlefield last turn.
E: After your opponent spills their water, soaking the Isolated Chapel.

The answer is

A, B, & C.
This is a layers question. Blood Moon & Spreading Seas both happen in Layer 4 (Type changing). When two effects happen in the same layer (so long as there is no dependencies) the one applied more recently wins. So only if Spreading Seas came down after Blood Moon could you tap the Chapel for .

However, Blood Moon and Chromatic Lantern happen in different layers (layer 4 for Moon and layer 6 for Lantern). Blood Moon turns Isolated Chapel into a Mountain that loses all other abilities in layer 4, then in layer 6 Lantern gives the Chapel ": to add one mana of any color". It doesn't matter which card has been around longer.

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Q: Amber controls a Phenax, God of Deception, a Pack Rat, a Pack Rat token, a Nightveil Specter, and a 2/2 Zombie token created by Reap the Seagraf. How much devotion to blue/black does Amber have?

A: The answer is...

A: 4
B: 5
C: 6
D: 7
E: 8
F: 9
G: 10

The answer is

D: 7
Phenax adds 2 to U/B devotion.
The card Pack Rat adds 1 to U/B devotion.
The token copy of Pack Rat also adds 1 to U/B devotion.
Nightveil only adds 3 devotion to U/B.
The Zombie token adds zero devotion to U/B.
Reap the Seagraf adds zero devotion as devotion only checks permanents on the battlefield and won't look at cards in graveyards.

Tokens only add to devotion if they copy a permanent that has the appropriate mana symbols in its mana cost. Most tokens add zero to devotion as they usually have no defined mana cost.

Many people want to double count hybrid symbols when looking for two different colors of devotion at once. This is wrong. When looking for two different colors at once, devotion looks at each mana symbol in costs of permanents and asks "Is this symbol either color I'm looking for?" If the answer is yes, then that symbol counts. It doesn't count twice if it contains both colors as is still only one mana symbol.

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Q: Albert controls a Melek, Izzet Paragon. In which of the following situations would Albert get to use Melek to copy one or more of the spells cast?

A: The answer is...

A: Albert casts Ardent Plea from his hand, and cascades into a Brainstorm.
B: Albert casts Thunderous Wrath for its miracle cost.
C: Albert uses Sunforger's ability to cast Shock.
D: Albert casts Lightning Helix from the top of his library.
E: Albert casts Lightning Bolt from his hand.

The answer is

C & D.
Cards cast from hand won't trigger Melek, so no benefit for Ardent Plea or the Lightning Bolt. Cards cast for their miracle cost are cast from your hand, not the library, so no benefit for Thunderous Wrath.

When you cascade, you exile cards from your library and then you may cast the last card found from exile, not your library, no benefit to the Brainstorm.

Sunforger does cast Shock directly from the library, Melek will see this and copy it.

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Q: Adrian casts Enlisted Wurm and he begins revealing cards from his library for the cascade ability. Which of the following are legal options to do with the card cascaded into?

A: The answer is...

A: Cascade reveals Goblin Bushwhacker and Adrian pays its kicker cost.
B: Cascade reveals Cyclonic Rift and Adrian pays 7 mana to overload it.
C: Cascade reveals Fling and Adrian sacrifices a 2/2 Zombie token to it.
D: Cascade reveals Whispers of the Muse and Adrian pays 5 mana to buyback the Whispers.
E: Cascade reveals Mulldrifter and Adrian casts it paying no additional mana and choosing to evoke it.

The answer is

A, C, & D
Additional costs that are optional like kicker and buyback can be paid if Adrian both wants to pay them and can pay them.
Additional costs that are mandatory, like Fling, must be paid if Adrian wants to cast it with cascade. If he can't pay or doesn't want to pay it, the cascade will get stuck on Fling and Fling and all other cards will get shuffled to the bottom of his library, no free spell from this cascade.
Alternative costs like evoke and overload can't be paid when cascading into them. Cascade casts the spell it finds for free, which is an alternative cost, and two alternative costs can't be used to cast the same spell at the same time.

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Q: Alfred control's Agent of the Fates. Which of the following cards would allow Alfred to trigger its heroic ability more than once with a single spell?

A: The answer is...

A: Hidden Strings
B: Coordinated Assault
C: Common Bond
D: Reap What Is Sown
E: Bioshift

The answer is

None.
Hidden Strings, Coordinated Assault, Reap What is Sown, and Bioshift can't target Agent of Fates more than once.

Common Bond may target Agent of Fates twice, once for each instance of the word "target." However, there is only one spell being cast, so Agent of Fates will only trigger once.

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Q: In which of the following ways can Adina cause Nigel's Tajic, Blade of the Legion to end up in the graveyard?

A: The answer is...

A: Deal 1 damage to Tajic with Izzet Staticaster, then enchant Tajic with Viper's Kiss.
B: Enchant Tajic with Viper's Kiss and then deal 1 damage to Tajic with Izzet Staticaster.
C: Cast Drown in Sorrow.
D: Cast Devour Flesh targeting Nigel, when Tajic is his only creature.
E: Cast Supreme Verdict.

The answer is

C & D.
Creatures with indestructible can't be destroyed by lethal damage or destroy effects. However, the game will still put them into the graveyard if they have 0 toughness, and they can still be sacrificed.

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Q: April casts Fanatic of Xenagos and it is still on the stack. Norbert wants to use Lightning Strike in his hand to kill it this turn. Which of the following ways would allow him to do that?

A: The answer is...

A: Norbert pays tribute and then hits it with the Lightning Strike before it gets the counter.
B: Norbert hits it with Lightning Strike before deciding whether or not to pay tribute.
C: Norbert doesn't pay tribute, and Lightning Strikes in response to the +1/+1 and haste trigger.
D: Norbert doesn't pay tribute, waits until after the +1/+1 and haste trigger has resolved, and then Lightning Strikes it.
E: It is not possible for Norbert to kill the fanatic this turn with only one Lightning Strike.

The answer is

C.
Tribute is a replacement effect that modifies how the Fanatic enters the battlefield, so you can't target it before the decision is made. If Norbert pays tribute, then it will enter the battlefield with the +1/+1 counter, making it too big to be killed by just one Lightning Strike. The +1/+1 and haste trigger can be responded to if Norbert doesn't pay tribute, and allows Norbert to kill the Fanatic with his Lightning Strike.

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Q: Alex casts Bile Blight targeting Nathan's 1/1 white Soldier token that was created by Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Which of the following creatures will also die to Bile Blight?

A: The answer is...

A: Two 1/1 white Human Soldier tokens created by Elspeth, Sun's Nemesis
B: Four other 1/1 white Soldier tokens created by Elspeth, Sun's Champion
C: A 1/1 red Soldier token with haste created by Akroan Crusader.
D: Five 1/1 red and white Soldier tokens with haste created by Assemble the Legion.
E: Five 2/2 white Soldier tokens with vigilance created by Finale of Glory.

The answer is

B, C, D, & E.
Bile Blight only cares that the creatures share a name with the original target. They can be a different color, have more abilities, have different power and/or toughness, or be created by a different source. The name of a token is its creature types plus the word "Token" unless the ability that makes it specifies a name or it's copying something with a normal name. That means Sun's Nemesis created tokens that are named "Human Soldier Token" while Sun's Champion created tokens that are named "Soldier Token".

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Q: In which of the following situations would Alice still be able to play the Forest currently revealed on the top of her library with Courser of Kruphix?

A: The answer is...

A: Alice has played only one land this turn and it was from her hand.
B: Alice has played only one land this turn and it was from the top of her library.
C: Alice has yet to play a land this turn.
D: Alice got a land earlier this turn from Into the Wilds but has played no other lands.
E: Alice has a second Courser of Kruphix and has already played one land from the top of her library

The answer is

C & D.
Courser of Kruphix doesn't increase the number of lands you can play each turn.

Playing a land from the top of your library with Courser or from hand counts toward the number of lands you can play each turn, which is normally a maximum of 1.

Cards that just put a land onto the battlefield like Into the Wilds do not count as playing a land, so Alice may still play the Forest off the top of her library.

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Q: Nole used Mindslaver on Aaron and is currently controlling his turn. Which of the following things can Nole do or make Aaron do?

A: The answer is...

A: Nole can look at Aaron's sideboard.
B: Nole can decide to make Aaron concede the game.
C: Nole can use Aaron's lands to help cast a spell from Nole's hand.
D: Nole can make Aaron's creatures attack Nole.
E: Nole can look at Aaron's face down morph creature's hidden face.

The answer is

D & E

Nole can't look at Aaron's Cards that are outside the game (i.e. no looking at sideboards) (rule 720.4).
Nole can't make Aaron concede (rule 720.6).
Nole can't use Aaron's resources to cast Nole's spells (rule 720.5a).
Nole gets to make in game decisions for Aaron this turn, such as what to attack with and who to attack (rule 720.5).
If information in the game is visible to Aaron, it's also visible to Nole (rule 720.4).

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I hope you did well on the test, and aren't letting your summer go to waste. Until next time.

- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD

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