Published on 07/22/2024
Baltimore Here I Come
Flying to Baltimore for a Prerelease Seems Extreme
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes
Cranial Translation
Deutsch
Français
Grist wants your 
mana.
mana.As for the article today, all questions were gathered from the IRC #MagicJudge-Rules channel. If you have Magic rules questions you need answered almost immediately, this is a great resource for players or judges. If you would like to see a question of yours answered in one of our upcoming articles, chances for that go way up if you send them directly to us. 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 . Most questions sent to us get answered in less than 24 hours.
Q: If I Reanimate Grist, Voracious Larva, do I pay the
for Grist's trigger as I put the trigger on the stack or when the trigger resolves?A: You pay the cost as the trigger resolves.
Q: I control both Master Biomancer and Elemental Bond. If I create a 1/1 Squirrel token can I stack it so it gets the counters in time to trigger the Elemental Bond?
A: There is no "stacking". Master Biomancer modifies (or replaces) how the Squirrel enters the battlefield. It will enter the battlefield as a 3/3, so you will draw a card off the Elemental Bond trigger.
Q: Earlier this game I had a Expert-Level Safe, but it got Shattered. I now have a different one on the battlefield. If I activate it and the opponent and I choose the same number, can I grab both the cards exiled by this Expert-Level Safe and those exiled by the destroyed Expert-Level Safe?
A: You can't. You only get those cards exiled by the new Expert-Level Safe. Although they both have the same name, the game treats them as completely separate objects.
Q: Earlier this game my Karn, Scion of Urza exiled Brainstorm with a silver counter on it. Then that Karn died to combat damage. I drew and cast another Karn, Scion of Urza. Can I use this Karn's -1 ability to put the Brainstorm into my hand?
A: You can. This may seem at odds with the previous answer. The previous question had a linked ability that references cards "exiled with it", meaning exiled by that permanent. However, Karn's abilities are not linked. The -1 ability is not looking for cards "exiled by this permanent", but is instead looking for any card you own in exile that has a silver counter. There is currently no other way to get a card in exile with a silver counter, but if they happen to make a new card that did, Karn's -1 ability could grab cards you own that are placed in exile with a silver counter with this new card.
I've studied this Imp, he stinks.
A: You can. Dredge is a replacement effect. It replaces drawing a card with milling X cards and then placing the card with Dredge into your hand. (This may only be done if at least X cards are currently in your library.) When you draw two or more cards, each draw is done one at a time, so before you draw what should be the second draw, the Life from the Loam will be in the graveyard and it can replace this second draw.
Q: I control six lands, Scute Swarm, and Colossal Dreadmaw. If I play a land and in response to Scute Swarm's trigger Cytoshape Scute Swarm into a copy of Colossal Dreadmaw, do I create a Dreadmaw token or a Scute Swarm token?
A: You get a Dreadmaw token. When you create a copy token of a creature you don't copy any modifications the original creature has (such as bonuses from Equipment, spells, or enchantments), but it will see any copy effects that are already affecting it. As the trigger resolves, it sees only a Dreadmaw, so the created token will be a Dreadmaw.
Q: In a multiplayer game, my Stigma Lasher dealt combat damage to my opponent Shane. I later lost the game for having 0 or less life. Can Shane now gain life again, since I'm no longer in the game?
A: Shane can't gain life. Lasher's ability says for the rest of the game and doesn't require it or you to still be around.
Q: During my main phase, I exiled my opponent's Keeper of the Accord with Disorder in the Court. When it the Keeper returns, will its ability still trigger this turn?
A: It will not. As your end step begins, only permanents currently on the battlefield will trigger their "beginning of the end step" triggers. The Keeper is not back yet, because it's waiting for the trigger that returns it to resolve. It has missed its chance to trigger this turn.
Q: I control Vilis, Broker of Blood and my opponent controls Alms Collector. If I cast K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth paying 2 life for each of the three
in his mana cost, how many cards do my opponent and I draw?A: You each draw only one card. K'rrik's cost is paid all at once, in one lump sum, so Vilis sees you lose 6 life in one go and tries to draw you six cards. Alms Collector replaces that draw six with you each drawing only one card.
Q: I watched a stream of someone playing Magic the Gathering Online, and in that stream they evoked Grief from the graveyard by retracing it (because they had Six). The game only made them exile a black card from their hand and they didn't have to discard a land. Is that the way its supposed to work? Is that a bug?
A: Assuming the story you relayed here is accurate (maybe you missed or misinterpreted something), this is not how it should work. You can evoke Grief from the graveyard using retrace. Evoke is an alternative cost and can be used from any zone you are allowed to cast the creature that has it. Retrace allows you to cast a card from your graveyard with the additional cost of discarding a card. Therefore you can combine retrace with evoke, but you have to pay both costs (exile a black card and discard a land). If MTGO didn't require a land to be discarded, then it's a bug that's hopefully been reported and will eventually be fixed.
Q: I control four 1/1 Soldier tokens and Delney, Streetwise Lookout. Sidisi's Faithful just entered the battlefield and if I only sacrifice tokens, what's the most creatures I can "bounce" and how many tokens would I have to sacrifice to do so?
A: You can "bounce" up to four creatures, but you only need to sacrifice one token for 1 or 2 bounces, or two tokens for 3 or 4 bounces.
Delney sees two triggers on Sidisi's Faithful. It automatically doubles the exploit trigger. Then, for each exploit trigger for which you sacrifice a creature, Delney will make an additional bounce trigger.
Q: I control Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor and a Clever Impersonator which is currently copying Curse of Bloodletting and is attached to my opponent. If my opponent Disenchants the Impersonator, can Lynde return it with her first triggered ability?
A: Usually yes, but sometimes no. If you have the Impersonator return as a non-Aura, it can return without a problem even though it can't be attached to you. If you have it return as an Aura that can't be attached to you (such as Giant Strength), then it will stay in the graveyard. If you have it return as a Curse that can enchant you or as a non-Curse that can enchant you, then it must enchant you and can enter the battlefield.
Q: I control Hardened Scales and Branching Evolution. If I cast Bloatfly Swarm, how many +1/+1 counters does it enter the battlefield with?
A: Your choice of 11 or 12 +1/+1 counters. This is because you control the Bloatfly and therefore you choose the order these two replacement effects get to affect the Bloatfly.
If you do Branching Evolution first, you double 5 to 10 and then apply Scales last, increasing 10 to 11.
If you do Scales first, you increase 5 to 6 and then apply Branching Evolution last, doubling 6 to 12.
So apparently, Kefnet can't betray you.
A: You can't. Inevitable Betrayal and other cards with no mana cost can't be cast normally. To cast them you need something that casts them without paying their mana cost (such as suspend, no wonder it has that ability). Kefnet casts things with a reduced cost, not without paying their costs.
Q: If my The Foretold Soldier is blocked by a Pharika's Chosen, does the Soldier end up in my graveyard or does it end up foretold?
A: It will end up in the graveyard. The Foretold Soldier's ability reads "Whenever The Foretold Soldier deals damage, exile it face down. It becomes foretold." This is a trigger that goes on the stack and waits to resolve. By the time it resolves, the Soldier will be in the graveyard from deathtouch and will be a new object that the ability can't find. For it to end up foretold, it must survive taking combat damage.
Q: My opponent used Magnetic Theft to attach my Helm of the Host to their Bear Cub. When I move to combat on my turn, what happens?
A: You get a token copy of Bear Cub with haste. Although the Helm is attached to an opponent's creature, you still control the Helm, so you are the player that gets the token and the tokens are only made during your combat phase. Additionally, you can still pay its equip cost to move it to a creature you control.
Q: The wording of Flare of Malice confuses me. If I cast it and my opponent controls Jace Beleren, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker, Dark Confidant, and Abyssal Persecutor, do they have to sacrifice Nicol Bolas because he has the highest mana value of any creature or planeswalker? Or can they choose to sacrifice either the highest mana value creature or the highest mana value planeswalker?
A: In the case above, they must sacrifice Nicol Bolas. They only time they can choose is if multiple creatures and/or planeswalkers are tied for the highest mana value. In that case they must choose one of those tied for highest.
Q: My opponent cast The One Ring and followed it up by casting Damnation, killing my two 2/2 Zombie tokens and my Zulaport Cutthroat. Does Zulaport Cutthroat still make them lose 3 life or does the protection from everything save them?
A: They still lose 3 life. Protection from (X) is four abilities in one. They can be remembered with the acronym D.E.B.T.
Damage - prevent damage from (X)
Enchanted - can't be enchanted or equipped by (X)
Blocked - can't be blocked by (X)
Targeted - can't by targeted by (X)
Zulaport Cutthroat doesn't deal damage (it's life loss), it doesn't enchant or attach in any way, it's not trying to block something, and it doesn't target anything, so Zulaport Cutthroat gets around protection from Everything.
Q: Can I use Monument to Perfection to find Planar Nexus?
A: You can! Planar Nexus has what's called a characteristic-defining ability (CDA for short). CDA's work in all zones and even while deck building, so Planar Nexus is both a Sphere and a Locus while in the library.
Q: If I control Sigarda's Aid and cast Excalibur, Sword of Eden, can I get it attached to a nonlegendary creature using Sigarda's Aid's trigger?
A: Yes, you can. Excalibur has no built in way to get attached to nonlegendary creatures, but it also doesn't have an ability that says it can only be attached to legendary creatures.
Maybe I'll see you in Baltimore, and either way, good luck at the Bloomburrow prerelease.
- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD
taiman
In my opinion，when Sidisi's Faithful's second trigger resolve，you must bouce one creatrue，so you can only sacrifice one token for 2 bounces, or two tokens for 4 bounces，is that right？
#1
• Date: 2024-09-13 • Time: 11:25:56 •
