Published on 09/16/2024
Halloween Creep
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Nathan Long
Cranial Translation
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It's closer than you think.
Magic is even experiencing a little Halloween creep - if you haven't noticed from all of the recent spoilers, Magic's next spooky set Duskmourn - House of Horror is almost upon us. Stay tuned next week for that, but for now, we'll look back at happier times, like Bloomburrow. And if you have questions of your own on any Magic topic, feel free to send them in and we'll send you an answer back. 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: I have a Keen-Eyed Curator in play, which has exiled a land, a creature, and a sorcery card. My opponent casts Into the Flood Maw to return the Curator to my hand. If I replay the Curator and exile Into the Flood Maw from their graveyard, does my Curator get +4/+4?
A: Not yet. When the Curator leaves the battlefield and returns, it becomes a new object with no memory of its previous life on the battlefield. When you recast the Curator, it hasn't exiled anything yet, so after exiling Into the Flood Maw means there's one card type among cards exiled by that Curator. You need to exile three more card types with the returned Curator to get the bonus.
Q: I control Eluge, the Shoreless Sea. I cast Ghostly Flicker, targeting my Eluge and an Island to exile and return. After Ghostly Flicker resolves, if I try to cast Opportunity, will Eluge discount it?
A: No, you won't get a discount. Eluge will only discount the first instant or sorcery spell you cast each turn, not the first instant or sorcery it sees you cast each turn. The Eluge that's on the battlefield now is a different object, but it knows that you've already cast an instant or sorcery spell this turn (Ghostly Flicker), so it won't reduce what you pay to cast Opportunity.
Q: I control Sanctuary Warden with a shield counter on it as my highest power creature. My opponent casts Consumed by Greed. Will I sacrifice Sanctuary Warden, or will the shield counter save it from being sacrificed?
A: The shield counter won't do anything here. A shield counter only works if the creature would be dealt damage or would be destroyed. It won't help if the creature will be sacrificed. The shield counter won't protect your Warden and you'll have to sacrifice the Warden.
Q: I have a Vengevine in my graveyard. I cast Llanowar Elves, then play Dryad Arbor as my land for the turn. Will Vengevine trigger and return to the battlefield?
A: No it will not. Vengevine will only trigger when you cast your second creature spell of the turn. Dryad Arbor is never cast, it can only be played, so playing Dryad Arbor won't trigger Vengevine's ability.
Q: My opponent has a Blood Moon and a Burning Earth in play. If I tap my Blood Crypt for mana, will I still take 1 damage?
A: Yep, Burning Earth will still trigger. Blood Moon will make all nonbasic lands into Mountains, but it doesn't give them the Basic supertype. The lands are still nonbasic lands. And that means that Burning Earth will still trigger when you tap a nonbasic land for mana, even with Blood Moon in play.
Q: If I have Kozilek, the Great Distortion in play, can I just discard cards without countering a spell?
A: No you cannot. The ability requires a target spell on the stack with mana value X. If there are no spells on the stack (or any spells on the stack with mana value equal to the card you want to discard) you won't be able to activate Kozilek's ability since you can't choose a legal target.
Q: If I have Hum of the Radix and Mycosynth Lattice in play, will that make almost impossible for players to cast permanent spells, since all of their spells are artifacts and taxed by the Hum?
A: No. Mycosnyth Lattice only makes permanents on the battlefield into artifacts. It doesn't make a spell on the stack into an artifact. Hum of the Radix plus Mycosynth Lattice will likely make it impossible to cast a normal artifact spell, but nonartifact spells won't be taxed by Hum of the Radix since they're not artifacts while they're on the stack.
Watch as the next holiday slowly overtakes
the neighborhood.
the neighborhood.
Q: I cast Plunge into Darkness entwined with a 3/3 and five 0/1s in play. In response, my opponent casts Volcanic Fallout, killing all of my creatures except for my 3/3. When the Plunge resolves, do I have to sacrifice my 3/3?
A: Not if you don't want to. You don't decide how many creatures you're going to sacrifice until Plunge into Darkness is resolving, and "any number of creatures" includes zero creatures. You can choose to sacrifice nothing when the Plunge resolves, even if you had intended to sacrifice creatures when you put the spell on the stack - you won't gain any life, but you'll keep your 3/3 in play.
Q: Can I play Chandra's Flame Wave even if I don't have Chandra, Flame's Fury in my deck?
A: Sure. You don't have to play the planeswalker Chandra if you just want to put the Flame Wave in your deck. When you're instructed to search your library and/or graveyard, you won't find anything, but you still deal damage to the targeted player and all of their creatures.
Q: I have Shortcut to Mushrooms in play. If I sacrifice three Food tokens during my turn, can I put three +1/+1 counters on one of my creatures at the end of turn?
A: You cannot. Shortcut to Mushrooms just checks to see if a permanent you control left the battlefield that turn. It doesn't care how many permanents left the battlefield that turn. Even though you had three Food tokens leave play, Shortcut to Mushrooms only triggers once and you can only put a single +1/+1 counter on a creature you control, not three counters.
Q: I control Vren, the Relentless and my opponent's commander (which is a creature) is in play. Their commander would die, but is exiled instead, and then my opponent moves their commander to the command zone. Will Vren still count it for its end step trigger?
A: Yes it will. Vren just looks for creatures that went to the exile this turn. It doesn't need the creature to stay in exile. Your opponent's commander went from the battlefield to exile, and then from exile to the command zone. Since it did go to exile from the battlefield, Vren will count it, even if it moved out of exile later on.
Q: I have Zinnia, Valley's Voice in play. If I want to cast a creature that already has offspring, like Steelburr Champion, can I pay for both offspring costs and get two tokens?
A: Yep, you can do that. The Champion has two instances of offspring - one that costs
and one that costs 
. You can pay for each instance of offspring that the spell has, so if you have seven mana, you could cast the Champion and pay for both offspring costs and get two 1/1 offspring tokens, along with the original creature.Q: If I have Zinnia, Valley's Voice in play, can I cast Aether Channeler with the offspring additional cost and bounce the original Aether Channeler with the trigger from the offspring token?
A: Sure, you can do that. The original Channeler is on the battlefield when the offspring token enters, and while Aether Channeler can't bounce itself, it can bounce a different permanent, including another Aether Channeler. You'll be able to use the offspring Channeler to bounce the original Channeler, and as long as you have five mana, you can repeat that as much as you want (as well as being able to use the trigger from the original Channeler).
They've already started showing up on porches.
Q: I cast Shield Broker and gained control of the opponent's Consecrated Sphinx, putting a shield counter on the Sphinx. Then my opponent cast Doom Blade targeting Shield Broker. Do I also lose control of the stolen Sphinx?
A: No, you still control it. Shield Broker gives you control of the creature for as long as it has a shield counter on it, not for as long as you control Shield Broker. If your Broker leaves play, but the Sphinx still has a shield counter on it, you still control the Sphinx. A better play for your opponent would have been to cast Doom Blade on their Sphinx instead - that would get rid of the shield counter, and because the Sphinx no longer has a shield counter on it, your opponent would get the Sphinx back.
Q: If I have an Aether Vial with two counters on it, can I activate it and put my commander Jhoira, Ageless Innovator onto the battlefield from the command zone?
A: No you cannot. Aether Vial only lets you put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. Your commander is in the command zone, not in your hand, so it can't be put onto the battlefield with the Vial's ability. If you put your commander into your hand, then you could use the Vial's ability to put it onto the battlefield, but Aether Vial won't let you put it from the command zone onto the battlefield.
Q: I cast Infernal Grasp targeting my opponent's commander. In response, they cast Guardian Augmenter and give their commander hexproof. Do I have a chance to Murder the Augmenter or is my Grasp immediately countered when their commander gains hexproof?
A: You still have a chance for your Grasp to kill their commander. The Grasp won't check its target again until it goes to resolve. After the Augmenter resolves, before your Grasp resolves, you'll get priority again, so you'll get a chance to remove the Augmenter (and the hexproof given to their commander) before your Grasp resolves.
Q: What happens if I give Jaya's Phoenix double strike and it deals combat damage to my opponent twice? Do I get two copies of the next loyalty ability I activate?
A: You do! Since the Phoenix dealt combat damage to the opponent twice, you get two instances of the trigger. The next time you activate a loyalty ability that turn, both delayed abilities will trigger and you'll get two additional copies of that loyalty ability.
Q: Can I cast Bane of the Living face down from my graveyard if I have Zask, Skittering Swarmlord in play?
A: Nope, you can't cast it face down. Zask only lets you cast Insect spells from your graveyard. If you cast Bane of the Living face up, you're casting an Insect spell, so you'll be able to cast it because of Zask's ability. But if you try casting it face down, you're casting a creature spell with no types. Since it's not an Insect spell, you won't be able to cast Bane of the Living face down with the ability.
Q: I attack with Paladin Elizabeth Taggerdy and two 1/1 Soldier creature tokens, and with Taggerdy's triggered ability, I put Elder Arthur Maxson onto the battlefield tapped and attacking. Will my Soldier tokens get a +1/+1 counter since they now have training?
A: No, training won't trigger here. The tokens need to have training when they're declared as attackers in order for training to trigger. While the tokens do gain training once Arthur Maxson is put onto the battlefield, it's too late for training to trigger that combat and your 1/1 Soldiers won't get a +1/+1 counter.
Q: If I attach Helm of the Host to my Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos, do I get to make an Alexios during each player's combat phase?
A: No, only during your own combat phase. You control the Helm, even if it's attached to an opponent's creature, so you'll be making the token. But the Helm's ability only triggers during the beginning of combat step on your turn. Even if the Helm ends up attached to a creature an opponent controls, the Helm won't trigger on an opponent's turn, so you still only make a token copy of Alexios during the combat phase on your own turn.
That's it for this week. See you again next week!
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