Published on 11/04/2024
Vote Vote Vote!
Voting may be on Justin's mind, but there is always time to answer rules questions.
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes
Cranial Translation
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The choice seems obvious to me.
As you read this on Monday, there will be less than 48 hours left for the US election. I myself did phone banking for the presidential candidate I like, and for a handful of House candidates I like as well. I won't politicize this article by indicating a side, but if you can legally vote in the US election, I hope you already have voted or have plans to do so.
And as usual, if you have any questions about Magic cards, don't hesitate to send us a tweet @CranialTweet, or for the more in-depth questions, an email to moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: If I target my Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy with Energy Tap will I make
or mana?A: You will only make
. Kinnan's ability only triggers off of abilities that have both the 
symbol in their cost and make mana.Q: Earlier in the game I solved Case of the Filched Falcon and activated its ability targeting my Guild Globe. My opponent is currently attacking me with an animated Treetop Village, a Bear Cub, and a Knight Errant enchanted with Holy Strength. Before blocks I cast Mirrorweave targeting my Guild Globe. What do my opponent's creatures look like after Mirrorweave resolves?
A: Both the Bear Cub and Knight Errant are removed from combat as they are now only Guild Globes that are not creatures. The Holy Strength gets placed into the graveyard as it's no longer attached to a creature. The Treetop Village is still attacking, but it is now a 3/3 Ape artifact creature with trample, it's named Guild Globe, and it has Guild Globe's abilities but not Treetop Village's abilities.
Q: With the last question, why didn't they become 0/0 Bird creatures?
A: So, turning a creature into a copy of another creature is a layers question. Layer 1 is copy effects. Copy effects only copy what's printed on the card and copy effects that have already taken effect on the card. (For tokens, you look at the characteristics given to the token by the effect that made it and other copy effects that have already taken effect.)
This means you don't copy effects that animate a non-creature into a creature. These happen in layer 4, the type-changing layer. You also don't override existing animating effects like the one animating Treetop Village.
So in layer 1, all three attacking creatures become copies of un-animated Guild Globes, then in layer 4, the Treetop Village still gets turned into an Ape creature in addition to its other types. After all layers are applied, nothing is making Bear Cub or Knight Errant into creatures, so they can't be attacking and are removed from combat.
Q: I'm resolving the third chapter of my Urza's Saga. Can I find Lotus Bloom with it?
A: You can't. Urza's Saga's ability is looking for an artifact that has a mana cost of
or 
, not a mana value of 1 or less. Lotus Bloom has no mana cost.Unity is tougher then is sounds.
A: It does! Lifelink is not a triggered ability. It modifies how damage is dealt. Your lifelink creatures simultaneously gain you life as they deal damage. When all combat damage is done, you will have gained 4 life and lost 3 life, leaving you at 4 life after combat is done.
Q: I'm currently at 3 life. My opponent is attacking me with Jedit Ojanen and Hill Giant. If I block the Jedit with Exalted Angel, does the life gain from the Angel save me from dying?
A: It does not! Exalted Angel's life gain ability is not lifelink. It is a triggered ability that goes on the stack and waits to resolve. In this case, you will lose the game for being at 0 life before the trigger can resolve.
Q: I have Bludgeon Brawl on the battlefield, can I now use Steelshaper's Gift to tutor up Sol Ring?
A: You may not. Bludgeon Brawl only affects artifacts that are on the battlefield.
Q: I control Convergence of Dominion and Embalmer's Tools, how much mana will it cost me to unearth Reconstructed Thopter?
A: Your choice of
or . Convergence and Embalmer's Tools are both cost reducers. When multiple cost reducers affect the same cost, you as the player paying the cost choose the order they are applied in. (Rule 601.2f) Q: If I pay the offspring cost of Agate Instigator will the token copy count towards my devotion to red for Purphoros, God of the Forge?
A: Although most tokens don't have a mana cost, tokens that are copies of normal cards will have the same mana cost as what they copied. So yes, the cute little Agate Instigator token will help with your devotion to red.
Q: The only creature I control is a 1/1 Cat token, the only creature card I have in my graveyard is a Guide of Souls, and I currently have six
. I cast Chthonian Nightmare, and as soon as I can, I activate it by sacrificing my Cat to reanimate the Guide of Souls. My opponent says "Wait stop, after you target the Guide, I Surgical the Guide". Can my opponent do this? I thought people can't respond to Nightmare once it's on the battlefield.A: Your opponent can Surgical your Guide of Souls in response to you activating Nightmare, because it won't be returned until the ability resolves. By the time your opponent responds to the activation, the Nightmare is already back in your hand and the Cat token is already dead, so this does limit the type of responses they can do. They can't kill the Cat token in response, nor can they destroy the Nightmare in response to you choosing your target.
The following is a list of just a few relevant ways they could respond after the target has been chosen:
exile the target from your graveyard,
Counter the activated ability,
play a creature with flash.
An important note here, your opponent specifically waited to respond to you choosing targets. They didn't have to. They could have responded to the casting of Nightmare with exiling your Guide of Souls or killing the token.
Chthonian Nightmare also has an enters trigger, and its activated ability is restricted to sorcery speed. This means even if you already have six
, you can't activate its ability until the trigger resolves first. This gives your opponent the chance to respond to the trigger with destroying the Nightmare or the token or exiling the Guide.Q: I'm currently cursed by my opponent's Overwhelming Splendor. While being attacked for fatal damage, I cast Teferi's Protection before damage. Does the Overwhelming Splendor fall off because of the protection or does it phase out with me?
A: This question, like many, comes down to carefully reading the cards involved. Teferi's Protection only phases out your permanents, not you. You still exist in the game, you still have cards in hand, you still have a graveyard, you can still be attacked, etc. So the curse will be lifted, and Overwhelming Splendor will go the opponent's graveyard because you have protection from everything.
Q: My opponent casts Sauron, Lord of the Rings, causing her to mill five cards. One of those five cards is Kozilek, Butcher of Truth. Will Kozilek's trigger prevent her from reanimating any creature in her graveyard with Sauron's trigger? Can she reanimate Kozilek?
A: Kozilek's trigger will not prevent the reanimation. Your opponent can choose Kozilek to be reanimated this way. Once you begin resolving an ability (or spell), you complete all of it before moving on to any other spells or abilities on the stack. The only interruption that can take place is replacement effects. Kozilek's shuffle ability is a trigger, so it won't even be put on the stack until after Sauron's trigger has fully resolved. Whether she chooses to reanimate Kozilek or a different creature, in quick succession she will have to shuffle what's left of her graveyard into her library.
Darksteel Colossus is an example of a card she could not reanimate with Sauron's trigger if it was milled during the trigger because Colossus's shuffle ability is a replacement effect.
Q: My opponent's commander is Lydia Frye and is currently on the battlefield wearing boots. The opponent casts Astarion's Thirst targeting my Bear Cub. Can my opponent put the +1/+1 counters on their commander even though it can't be the target of spells or abilities?
A: They can. You are correct that even your opponent can't target their commander while it's wearing boots. However, Astarion's Thirst doesn't target the commander that it puts the counters on, so the commander is a legal recipient of the counters.
Hopefully a just hand wins.
A: Yes, you can. All Aura spells have a single target, so the target can be changed with Misdirection. It's worth noting, although your creature will benefit from the protection from creatures, your opponent will still control the Unquestioned Authority and will be the player that draws a card from its enters trigger.
Q: I control Hatchery Sliver and Urza's Incubator naming Slivers. If I cast Sinew Sliver wanting to replicate it once, how much mana will it cost me?
A: It will cost you
. The cost reduction by 
can reduce additional costs like replicate. It can even be used to reduce part of the normal cost and part of the additional cost. Q: I control Urza's Incubator naming Slivers and my opponent controls Rhystic Study. If I cast Sinew Sliver and want my opponent not to draw a card, how much mana will it cost me?
A: It will cost you
to cast the Sinew Sliver and a to prevent the card draw. Rhystic Study doesn't increase the cost of your spells, it just makes a trigger that gives you the option to pay , so Incubator can't reduce its cost.Q: I control Spearbreaker Behemoth and Omnath, Locus of Mana, currently have four
in my mana pool, and have no other way to make mana. Can I activate Spearbreaker to make Omnath indestructible?A: Omnath is a legal target for Spearbreaker's ability, as targets are chosen before costs are paid. However, when the ability goes to resolve, Omnath will be a 4/4 and the ability will fail to resolve as its target is illegal.
Q: When I put the eighth counter on Idol of False Gods, does it gain summoning sickness when it becomes a creature?
A: Becoming a creature does not give it "summoning sickness". When a non-creature permanent becomes a creature, "summoning sickness" only affects it if you haven't controlled that permanent continuously since your most recent turn began. (Obvious caveat that haste allows it to ignore "summoning sickness").
So, unless you just got the Idol out this turn, it will be able to attack the turn you put the eighth counter on it.
Q: I control Bello, Bard of the Brambles and Gilded Lotus. If I cast Titania's Song, what does my Lotus look like?
A: During your turn, Gilded Lotus is a 4/4 artifact creature Elemental and has indestructible, haste, "
: Add three mana of any one color," and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw a card." But during an opponent's turn, it will be a 5/5 artifact creature with no abilities.Q: What if I swap it around and I control Titania's Song and Gilded Lotus and then cast Bello, Bard of the Brambles, what does my Lotus look like then?
A: The answer is the exact same. Most of the time if two effects happen in the same layer, they happen in timestamp order. However, there is a relevant exception in this case, dependencies. The interaction between Titania's Song and Bello create a dependency. One effect is dependent on another if one effect increases or decreases the number of objects the other can affect.
Titania's Song can only affect non-creature artifacts. Bello makes some artifacts into creatures. This decreases the number of artifacts Titania's Song can affect, making Titania's Song dependent on Bello.
When one effect is dependent, it is held until after the effect it is dependent on. So during your turn, Bello's effect always applies before Titania's Song's effect, no matter which card was played first.
Good luck, and happy voting to our US readers.
- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD
Graptharr
Heck yeah, trash panda gets knowledge!
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• Date: 2024-11-05 • Time: 00:22:41 •
