Published on 07/15/2024
Midsummer Cleaning
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Nathan Long
Cranial Translation
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If I miss this jump, I can just do it again.
But just because this is my last deep dive into those sets doesn't mean we won't keep answering questions from them. You can still send in questions from those sets (or any Magic set), and we'll send you an answer back. We may even use your questions in another article. If you have a short question, you can find us at @CranialTweet, but if you have a longer question, you can send us an e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: Will Arbaaz Mir trigger when I create a Treasure token?
A: He will not. Arbaaz only triggers when a nontoken historic permanent enters the battlefield under your control. A Treasure token is historic, since it's an artifact, but since it's a token, it won't trigger Arbaaz's ability.
Q: If I attack with Senu, Keen-Eyed Protector and it isn't blocked, can I respond to its triggered ability by activating its ability to exile it, then put it back onto the battlefield attacking?
A: No, that won't work. Senu's triggered ability will only trigger if it's in exile when your legendary creature attacks and isn't blocked. Since Senu isn't in exile when it attacks and isn't blocked, its ability won't trigger at all. If you had one in play and one in exile, you could attack with one, respond to the trigger by exiling the one on the battlefield, then put the other one onto the battlefield attacking when the trigger resolves.
Q: I control a Rooftop Bypass. If I deal combat damage to multiple opponents, can I get multiple triggers?
A: Sure. The Bypass will trigger if you deal combat damage with one or more nontoken creatures to a player. If you can deal combat damage to multiple opponents, the Bypass can trigger multiple times. For example, if you deal combat damage to three different opponents with nontoken creatures, the Bypass will trigger three times and you'll make three tokens.
Q: I have a creature equipped with The Spear of Leonidas and an empty hand. If I attack with my creature, can I choose the last mode?
A: Sure. When the trigger resolves, you do as much as possible. Since your hand is empty, you won't discard any cards, but you'll still draw two cards.
Q: I control a Royal Assassin. If my opponent attacks me with a creature, can I destroy it with the Assassin's ability before it can deal damage?
A: Sure. Assuming their creature doesn't have vigilance, it's a tapped creature once they attack with it, and you'll get chances during the declare attackers and declare blockers step to use the Assassin's ability to destroy their creature. Since their creature is no longer on the battlefield, it's no longer in combat and won't deal any combat damage.
Q: I cast Faithless Looting, drawing two cards and then discarding two Sneaky Snackers. Will they both trigger and return to the battlefield?
A: No, they won't return. The Snacker has to be in the graveyard when you draw your third card for the turn to trigger. When you drew your third card (while resolving Faithless Looting), the Snackers were still in your hand, not in the graveyard, so their abilities will not trigger and they will not return to the battlefield that turn.
Not quite the Storm we were looking for.
Q: If I have a Reliquary Tower and a Necrodominance in play, what is my maximum hand size?
A: That comes down to which card entered the battlefield last. The one with the later timestamp will win and determine what your maximum hand size is. If you play the Tower, then Necrodominance, your maximum hand size is 5. But if you play Necrodominance first, then the Tower, then you have no maximum hand size.
Q: I cast Bloodbraid Challenger, and the card I cascade into is Rakdos, Lord of Riots. My opponent has not lost any life yet this turn. Can I cast Rakdos?
A: No, you won't be able to. Rakdos can only be cast if an opponent has lost life this turn. This is true even if you're casting Rakdos via an alternate cost. Since your opponent hasn't lost life yet this turn, you won't be able to cast Rakdos off of the cascade trigger and he'll go on the bottom of your library.
Q: I control a Shadowspear. My opponent just cast Final Showdown, choosing all three modes. Can I activate my Shadowspear after they've chosen a creature to give indestructible to, before Final Showdown destroys all creatures, so their creature will die as well?
A: No, you won't be able to do that. No one gets priority in the middle of a spell resolving. Even if the spell has multiple modes chosen, no one can do anything until that spell is completely done resolving. You don't get priority after they choose which creature will gain indestructible, but before Final Showdown destroys all creatures, so you can't remove indestructible from their creature in time to make sure their chosen creature also dies.
Q: The only cards in my graveyard are Sevinne's Reclamation and a Phlage, Titan of Fire's Fury. Can I target and return the same Phlage twice when casting Sevinne's Reclamation for its flashback cost?
A: No you cannot. When the Reclamation resolves, you return Phlage to the battlefield, and then the Reclamation will let you make a copy of it. Phlage is on the battlefield at this point - it's sacrifice trigger hasn't even gone on the stack yet since the Reclamation is still resolving. Since Phlage is still on the battlefield, you can't target it with the copy of Sevinne's Reclamation.
Q: I cast Eldrazi Confluence, choosing the second mode three times, all three modes targeting the same Etali, Primal Conqueror. Will I get three instances of Etali's enter the battlefield trigger?
A: No, you only get one trigger. The first mode resolves like normal, and you exile and return Etali to the battlefield, and its ability triggers. But since Etali left the battlefield and returned, it's a new object that's no longer being targeted by the Confluence, so the second and third modes won't do anything and you won't blink Etali a second or third time. You'll only get one Etali trigger this way, not three triggers.
Q: I control Prosper, Tome-Bound and exiled Flare of Malice to its end step trigger. If I cast Flare of Malice from exile by sacrificing Prosper, will Prosper still trigger and give me a Treasure?
A: No, Prosper won't trigger. You sacrifice Prosper when you're paying costs to cast the spell. After that, the Flare becomes cast, but since Prosper isn't on the battlefield at that point, Prosper will not trigger and you won't get a Treasure token.
Q: I attack with Swooping Pteranodon and Satya, Aetherflux Genius, targeting the Pteranodon with Satya's trigger. With the two Pteranodon triggers, I gain control of two of my opponent's creatures. Can I also attack with those two creatures?
A: Not that combat, no. Even though the creatures you stole have haste, we're past the point of declaring attackers - you choose all of the creatures you want to attack with as the declare attackers step begins. Gaining control of a creature later on during the declare attackers step won't let you back up and declare that creature as an attacker as well. You'll be able to use the Pteranodon's trigger in this case to clear some blockers, but you won't be able to attack with the stolen creatures during that same combat phase.
Why rely on skill when you can rely on luck?
Q: I cast Stolen Identity, encoding it onto my Tormented Soul when it resolves, then I cast Roaming Throne naming "Spirit". When I attack and deal combat damage with Tormented Soul, how many copies of Stolen Identity do I get to cast?
A: You get to cast two copies. Cipher, in part, gives the creature a triggered ability - "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, you may copy the encoded card and you may cast the copy without paying its mana cost". Since that's a triggered ability of the creature, Roaming Throne will cause the ability to trigger twice, and you'll be able to cast two copies of Stolen Identity.
Q: Can I steal an opponent's Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with my Memnarch?
A: Yep, you can. Emrakul has protection from colored spells, but not abilities. In addition, while Memnarch requires blue mana to activate its abilities, Memnarch itself is colorless. There's nothing stopping you from making Emrakul into an artifact with Memnarch, then gaining control of Emrakul with Memnarch's other ability.
Q: I control a Spawnbed Protector, but I have no Eldrazis in my graveyard. Can I still make the two Scion tokens during my end step?
A: Sure. The trigger says to return "up to" one target Eldrazi creature card, so you can choose zero targets if you want. If you choose zero targets, when the trigger resolves, you won't return anything to your hand, but you'll still make the two Scion tokens.
Q: My opponent controls an Angel's Trumpet. If I cast some creatures after the combat phase on my turn, will the Trumpet tap them at the end of my turn?
A: Yep, they'll become tapped and you'll take damage. The Trumpet doesn't care why the creatures didn't attack that turn, even if they're affected by "summoning sickness" and couldn't have attacked. When the trigger resolves during the end step, those creatures that entered the battlefield this turn will become tapped and you'll take damage from the Trumpet's trigger.
Q: I have a board full of creatures and a Leyline of Singularity in play. If my opponent casts Ezuri's Predation, will my opponent lose their tokens to the legend rule before or after the tokens fight?
A: Unfortunately for you, those Beast tokens are going to fight first. We don't check state-based actions in the middle of a spell resolving, so while your opponent will make a bunch of 4/4 legendary Beast tokens, we won't check state-based actions until after the Predation is completely done resolving. Those 4/4 Beast tokens will fight your creatures, and then we'll start checking state-based actions. They'll lose all but one of those tokens since they're legendary, but you'll also lose any creatures that took lethal damage during their fights.
Q: Will Illusion of Choice let me vote for all players even if the vote is secret, like the vote on Elrond of the White Council's triggered ability?
A: Sure. A vote is a vote, even if the voting is secret. The player who resolved Illusion of Choice will make all of the votes for Elrond's secret vote since Elrond's trigger is still making players vote.
Q: In a multiplayer game, if a player loses on their turn, does the turn just immediately end, or does the rest of the turn still happen?
A: We don't immediately end the turn. We continue with the rest of the turn like normal, just without an active player. So if you're hoping to do something during the active player's end step, you'll still get that chance to interact during their end step, even if the active player lost the game earlier in their turn.
That's all I have for you this week. See you again next week!
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