Published on 09/09/2024
Fall Color Pie
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
Cranial Translation
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The dog days are over, oh
The dog days are done
The dog days are done
The impending arrival of fall also means that the release of this year's fall set, Duskmourn: House of Horror is looming on the horizon. We won't talk about this set for another couple of weeks, but previews are in full force, and if you have questions about it, you can send them to us by email to moko@cranialinsertion.com or to our X account @CranialTweet. Of course, you can also send in your questions about cards that are already out. One of our authors will send you an answer, and your question might appear in a future article to entertain and educate readers like yourself.
Q: I control a fully leveled Fisher's Talent and a Doubling Season. If I create a Fish token with the upkeep trigger, can I double the Fish, replace the Fishes with Sharks, double the Sharks, replace them with Octopodes, and finally double the Octopodes?
A: No, that doesn't work. Each replacement effect only gets one chance to modify a given event, and applying the replacement effects from Fisher's Talent doesn't make a new event. You get to apply Doubling Season's effect exactly once, either before the "Fish to Shark" effect, before the "Shark to Octopus" effect, or after the "Shark to Octopus" effect, but the end result is two Octopodes either way.
Q: If I attack with Dauntless Avenger and bring back a Hamlet Captain with it, does Hamlet Captain's ability trigger?
A: No. To trigger Hamlet Captain's ability, you have to declare it as an attacker (or blocker). Putting it onto the battlefield attacking results in it being an attacking creature, but it wasn't declared as an attacking creature, so it didn't attack.
Q: I control Riku of Two Reflections and evoke a Mulldrifter. If I make a token copy of Mulldrifter with Riku's ability, does the token have to be sacrificed, too?
A: No. The sacrifice part of evoke only applies if the evoke cost was paid for the spell that became the permanent. The token copy was never a spell and no costs were paid for it, let alone its evoke cost, so it doesn't get sacrificed.
Q: If I control Zinnia, Valley's Voice and cast Mockingbird for its offspring cost, does the offspring cost contribute to the mana value cap of what Mockingbird can copy?
A: Yes, the offspring cost is included when Mockingbird checks how much mana was spent to cast it. For example, if you chose X=0 but paid the offspring cost, the original Mockingbird can enter as a copy of a creature with mana value 3 or less. Note that the choice of what to copy determines the copiable values of Mockingbird, so the token copy you get from having paid the offspring cost will also copy that creature (except that the offspring copy is 1/1).
Q: My opponent controls an Inescapable Brute that's enchanted with Predatory Impetus and a Riveteers Decoy, and attacks me with both creatures. I only control a Grizzly Bears. Do I have to block the Brute or can I block the Decoy?
A: You'll have to block the Brute. You have to block in a way that fulfills as many requirements as possible without disobeying any restrictions. There are no blocking restrictions involved here, so you only have to worry about requirements. There are two separate requirements to block the Brute, and only one requirement to block the Decoy, so blocking the Brute fulfills as many requirements as possible and is therefore what you must do.
Q: I control a Keen-Eyed Curator that has exiled enough cards to get +4/+4 and trample. If I play another Keen-Eyed Curator now, does it immediately get +4/+4 and trample?
A: No. The ability that gives that bonus only tracks cards that have been exiled by the activated ability of the same permanent. The second Keen-Eyed Curator hasn't exiled any cards yet, so it's not eligible for that bonus yet.
Q: My opponent casts Clip Wings, but my only flying creature is Avacyn, Angel of Hope. Do I have to sacrifice her?
A: I'm afraid so. Indestructible does not mean "can't leave the battlefield" or "can't go to the graveyard for any reason." It only stops effects that say "destroy" as well as the destruction that's the result of lethal damage. An indestructible creature can still go to the graveyard for other reasons such as being sacrificed or due to having toughness 0 or less.
Pumpkin spice is in the air
A: No. First off, what you're looking at is reminder text, which is sometimes not 100% accurate for reasons of brevity or simplicity. The actual definition of the crew keyword includes the word "untapped", but it would work the same even if it didn't. Rule 701.21a tells us that tapping a permanent means to turn it sideways from an upright position, and it states explicitly that only untapped permanents can be tapped. The inclusion of the word "untapped" in costs such as Drowner of Secrets is meant to remind you of that rule, but that rule still applies even when that word is omitted.
Q: I control Baylen, the Haymaker and tap two artifact tokens to make mana. Does Roxanne, Starfall Savant trigger to make an additional mana?
A: No. While it's true that you tapped something and the result was mana, you did not tap an artifact token for mana. To tap a permanent for mana means to activate a mana ability of that permanent that includes the
symbol in the activation cost. The mana ability you activated belonged to Baylen, not the tokens you tapped, and the cost didn't include the symbol, so that's two reasons for Roxanne's ability not to trigger. Q: I control Spellskite and cast some spell, and my opponent counters my spell with Counterspell. Can I activate Spellskite's ability to redirect the Counterspell to Spellskite and make it fizzle?
A: You can activate Spellskite's ability, but it won't have the desired outcome. Spellskite's ability can only change the target of a spell or ability if it is a legal target for that spell or ability. The permanent Spellskite is not a legal target for Counterspell, so Spellskite's ability does nothing at all and your opponent's Counterspell still counters your spell.
Q: Is a changeling both Human and non-Human for the sake of Henry Wu, InGen Geneticist? In other words, if I cast a changeling, can it exploit itself for a card draw?
A: No to both. Non-Human does not mean "has a creature type besides Human." A creature is either Human or non-Human based on whether it has the creature type Human or not. A changeling has the creature type Human, so it is Human. The fact that it also has many other creature types is entirely irrelevant to its Human-ness. Since the changeling is Human, it has exploit from Henry Wu's ability, but if you sacrifice it to its own exploit trigger, it didn't exploit a non-Human, so you don't draw a card.
Q: Does the ability of Davros, Dalek Creator trigger at the beginning of the end step even if an opponent hasn't lost 3 or more life yet? For example, if I control Throne of the God-Pharaoh, three tapped creatures and Davros, can I stack the triggers so that Davros does its thing?
A: Yes, that works. Some triggers have an "intervening if" clause that must be true at the time the ability would trigger in order to trigger at all, and it must still (or again) be true when the ability resolves. Davros's ability is not one of those. An intervening if always takes the form "When/Whenever/At trigger event, if condition, awesomeness ensues." Davros's ability, in contrast, has the form "When/Whenever/At trigger event, awesomeness ensues if condition." The difference is subtle, but it means that the ability triggers at the beginning of your end step even if the condition is not true at the time, and the condition is only checked when the ability resolves.
Q: If I destroy a tapped Sunspine Lynx with Sonar Strike while I control a Bat, do I gain life with Sonar Strike?
A: No. Sonar Strike doesn't actually destroy Sunspine Lynx immediately. It deals 4 damage to the Lynx, but it leaves the dirty work of destroying the Lynx to state-based actions, and state-based actions aren't checked until after Sonar Strike has finished resolving. At the time Sonar Strike tries to give you 3 life, Sunspine Lynx is still on the battlefield, so you don't gain life.
All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
And the sky is gray
A: First off, yes, the "Season" spells are modal spells. This is pretty obvious from the fact that they instruct you to choose modes. Riku's ability counts up the total of how often each mode is chosen including repeats, so if you choose the first mode five times, the X for Riku's ability is 5.
Q: If I'm playing Two-Headed Giant and I control Sphere of Safety, do our opponents have to pay for Sphere of Safety to attack my teammate?
A: No. The attacking team declares for each attacker which player (or planeswalker or battle) it's attacking. A creature that attacks your teammate is not attacking you or a planeswalker you control, so its controller won't have to pay for Sphere of Safety.
Q: Does Deflecting Palm work on the poison counters that are dealt by a creature with infect, like Blighted Agent?
A: Yes, although we'll explain in a moment what "work" means, exactly. Infect changes the result of the damage, but it doesn't change the fact that damage is being dealt. When Blighted Agent attempts to deal damage to you, the prevention effect from Deflecting Palm prevents that damage. Deflecting Palm then deals that much damage to Blighted Agent's controller. The source of this damage is Deflecting Palm, not Blighted Agent, so the source of that damage does not have infect and the result is that Blighted Agents's controller loses 1 life.
Q: If my opponent casts their commander, can I flash in Disruptor Flute in response and name their commander to counter it if they can't pay the extra
? A: No, that doesn't work. By the time you get priority to cast the Flute, your opponent's commander has already been cast and paid for, and it's on the stack waiting to resolve. The Flute won't retroactively apply to spells that are already on the stack.
Q: I control Esoteric Duplicator and I've paid
several times to copy artifacts that I had sacrificed over the course of the turn. If Esoteric Duplicator gets destroyed or sacrificed before the end of the turn, do I still get those token copies? A: Absolutely. Each resolution of Esoteric Duplicator's ability for which you paid
created a delayed triggered ability that triggers at the beginning of the next end step. This delayed triggered ability exists independently from Esoteric Duplicator, so it'll trigger even if Esoteric Duplicator is no longer on the battlefield at that time. And that's all the time we have for this week. Thanks for reading and please come back next week for more Magic rules questions and answers.
- 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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