Published on 10/07/2024
Fear of Questions and Answers
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Nathan Long
Cranial Translation
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But what if I get this question wrong?
But if there's one thing we don't have to be afraid of, it's running out of rules questions. And you can help, by sending us any questions you have. We can send you an answer back, and it may be used in a future 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: I cast Monstrous Emergence, revealing Flesh Burrower from my hand, and I target my opponent's Shroudstomper. Will my opponent's Shroudstomper be destroyed by the deathtouch damage?
A: No it won't, since there's no deathtouch damage being dealt here. While you revealed a deathtouch creature from your hand to cast the Emergence, the creature with deathtouch isn't dealing the damage - Monstrous Emergence is. The Emergence is going to deal 2 damage to the 5/5 Shourdstomper, and that damage isn't going to be enough to destroy the Shroudstomper.
Q: My opponent cast Trial of Agony targeting two of my creatures. In response, I return one of them to my hand with Unsummon. What happens when the Trial resolves?
A: The remaining legal target is dealt 5 damage. When the Agony resolves, you have to choose one of the legal targets to receive the damage. Since there's only one legal target remaining, you must choose the remaining creature to receive the damage. You can't choose to have that creature unable to block for the turn instead of taking the damage.
Q: I control Niko, Light of Hope and two Shard tokens. I activate Niko's ability, exiling my Oblivious Bookworm. Will my Shard token copy of the Bookworm trigger during my end step?
A: No, they won't trigger. Unlike most effects, Niko's effect lasts until the beginning of the end step, not until the end of the turn. Since the tokens are no longer a copy of Oblivious Bookworm when the end step begins, you don't get their end step triggers.
Q: And I guess that means that my original Oblivious Bookworm won't trigger either.
A: Negative. The original Bookworm will not be on the battlefield as the end step begins - it doesn't return until Niko's delayed trigger resolves during the end step. So the original Bookworm will also not trigger.
Q: What happens if I cast Come Back Wrong targeting my opponent's Enduring Innocence? Will I get the Innocence or will it return as an enchantment under my opponent's control?
A: You'll control it for the turn and it'll be a creature - but your opponent will still end up with a noncreature Innocence in the end. Come Back Wrong destroys and returns the creature while the spell is resolving. While the Innocence's dies trigger will trigger, that trigger can't go on the stack until after Come Back Wrong is done resolving, and since the Innocence isn't in the graveyard when the trigger resolves, that trigger does nothing when it resolves.
However, at the end of turn, you will end up sacrificing the Innocence, and that will cause its dies trigger to trigger again. And when that trigger resolves, it will return as an enchantment under its owner's control, so your opponent will ultimately end up with the Innocence under their control, but only as an enchantment.
Q: I have a Leyline of the Void in play. If I cast Come Back Wrong and destroy an opponent's creature, will I still put it onto the battlefield under my control?
A: No you will not. Come Back Wrong checks to see if a creature card was put into the graveyard this way. But because of your Leyline, the creature didn't go to the graveyard - it went to exile. Since the destroyed creature didn't end up in the graveyard, the second part of Come Back Wrong's effect won't do anything and you won't put it onto the battlefield under your control.
Q: I have Victor, Valgavoth's Seneschal in play under my control. If I have four enchantments enter under my control on the same turn, what happens when Victor's trigger resolves for the fourth time?
A: Nothing. No, really, the trigger does nothing. Victor's trigger will only do something the first, second, and third times it resolves each turn. If the ability triggers for a fourth time, when that fourth trigger resolves, the trigger does nothing.
Q: I control a Hedge Shredder. I cast Manifest Dread, and I manifest one card and put a Forest into my graveyard. Will Hedge Shredder trigger and put that Forest onto the battlefield?
A: It will! Manifest dread doesn't say to move the cards to another zone, so they're still a part of your library until you choose which one you want to manifest. The Forest is put into your graveyard from the library, so Hedge Shredder will trigger and you'll put that Forest onto the battlefield tapped.
After seeing that thing, I'm pretty sure I
know where the lost teeth ended up.
know where the lost teeth ended up.
Q: If I have a Leyline of Resonance in play, if I cast Skulduggery targeting my creature and my opponent's creature, will the Leyline trigger and give me a copy?
A: No, you don't get a copy. The Leyline only triggers if the spell targets only a single creature you control. But Skulduggery has two targets - a target creature you control and a target creature an opponent controls. Since it's not only targeting a creature you control, the Leyline won't care about Skulduggery and it won't trigger.
Q: I have a Leyline of Sanctity in play. If my opponent casts Meathook Massacre II with X=3, do I have to sacrifice as well?
A: Yep, you'll still need to sacrifice. The Massacre's ability does not target a player, so you having hexproof doesn't help, and you'll still have to sacrifice when the Meathook Massacre II's trigger resolves.
Q: I have a Leyline of Mutation in play. If I want to cast my commander from the command zone for the second time, can I use the Mutation's effect and only pay
to cast it?A: You can use the Leyline, but you'll still have to pay the commander tax on top of
. The commander tax is an additional cost to cast the spell, and even if you're casting your commander for an alternative cost, you still have to pay the additional cost. Since this is the second time you're casting your commander from the command zone, you'll end up spending 
to cast your commander.Q: I'm in a game of Two-Headed Giant, and I have Defaced Gallery unlocked. If my teammate attacks, will the Gallery trigger?
A: That depends - did you also attack? In order for the Gallery to trigger, you have to attack with at least one creature. It doesn't matter if your teammate attacks. If you attack with at least one creature, the Gallery will trigger and it will give attacking creatures you control +1/+0, but it won't give the bonus to your teammate's attackers. So just make sure that you're the aggressive deck if you're planning on playing with Defaced Gallery.
Q: Can I use Deflecting Swat to change the target of my Cursed Recording trigger and deal 20 damage to my opponent?
A: No you cannot, for a very simple reason - because the trigger doesn't target anything. Since the trigger isn't targeting you, there's nothing for the Swat to change, so you can't make your opponent take 20 damage instead of you.
Q: Does Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker interact with Room cards like Meat Locker // Drowned Diner? If I unlock a Room, will I get two of that Room's triggers?
A: You will not. Hama Pashar only cares about room abilities of dungeons, not the Room abilities from an enchantment. Since Meat Locker and Drowned Diner aren't a dungeon, Hama Pashar won't care about their unlock triggers.
Q: My opponent controls a Ghostly Prison. I have a Barbflare Gremlin that I want to attack them with, but only a single Mountain. Can I attack them with my Gremlin?
A: You can! There are steps we follow when we declare attackers. In the middle of the process, we tap any creatures we're attacking with. After that, if there's a cost that we need to pay to attack, we determine that cost, get a chance to activate mana abilities, and pay that cost. At the point when we're producing mana to pay for the Prison tax, the Gremlin is tapped, which means that we'll get an extra mana when we tap the Mountain for mana and we'll be able to pay for the Prison tax to let our Gremlin attack.
They have eyes everywhere.
Q: I have my commander Bello, Bard of the Brambles in play, along with a Greater Good. If I cast Enduring Courage, can I keep sacrificing it to Greater Good, since Bello will keep making the Courage into a 4/4 creature again each time it dies and returns?
A: No, that doesn't work. Once the Courage dies and returns, we have two effects that are affecting its types: Bello is trying to make it into a creature, while the Courage's own effect is saying it's only an enchantment. We apply these effects in timestamp order, so the one that entered the battlefield last will win. Since Bello was already on the battlefield, then the Courage returned to the battlefield via its own trigger, the Courage has a later timestamp and the Courage will only be an enchantment, not an enchantment creature.
Q: I have Secret Arcade under my control and unlocked. If I cast Ondu Spiritdancer, can I make as many tokens as I want?
A: Yep, you can do that. The Spiritdancer will enter as an enchantment because of Secret Arcade, so the Spiritdancer's ability will trigger and you can make a copy of the Spiritdancer. That new token is also an enchantment, and while the original Spiritdancer won't trigger a second time (since you can only use its ability once each turn), the new token has a triggered ability that you haven't used yet that turn, so the token will trigger off of itself entering and you can make another tokens. You can repeat this, making as many Ondu Spiritdancer token as you want, until you're done and you choose not to make a copy.
Q: I have Invasion of Zendikar in play as a manifested creature. I play a second land for the turn, triggering my Zimone, Mystery Unraveler and turning the manifested Invasion of Zendikar face up. What happens? Do I get to exile it and cast it transformed?
A: You don't - you actually lose the Invasion. The Invasion is already on the battlefield when you turn it face up, so it doesn't have any defense counters on it. But in order to cast it transformed, you have to remove the last defense counter from a battle - just having a battle in play with zero counters doesn't cause the ability to trigger. After your turn it face up, it's a battle with no defense counters on it and there's no trigger on the stack that will let you cast it transformed, so the Invasion goes to the graveyard as a state-based action. You effectively lost your manifested creature by turning it face up.
Q: If my opponent casts Come Back Wrong targeting my commander, does my opponent get my commander, or do I get to move it to the command zone first?
A: They'll get your commander for the turn. Come Back Wrong destroys your commander, then puts your commander onto the battlefield under their control. This is before state-based actions are checked, and before you get a chance to move your commander to the command zone.
However, at the end of turn, your opponent will end up sacrificing your commander, which means that you can them move it out of the graveyard to the command zone after it's sacrificed.
Q: Can Kaito, Bane of Nightmares be my commander?
A: No he cannot. Kaito is not a legendary creature, nor does it have an ability that says it can be your commander. It has a static ability that makes it a creature during your turn, but that ability only works while it's on the battlefield and not during deck construction. So even though Kaito can become a creature, since it's only a creature on the battlefield during your turn, it cannot be your commander.
That's it for this week. We'll see you again next week!
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