Published on 12/16/2024
Year End Mailbag
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes
Cranial Translation
Deutsch
Français
Ohh, I got two questions in this article.
I figured I'll keep it simple today. The following are all questions asked on the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) chat room #magicjudges-rules.
And as usual, if you have any questions about Magic rules or card interactions, 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 cast Energy Tap targeting my Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy, do I make
or do I make when it resolves?A: You only make
. Energy Tap taps the creature, then Energy Tap makes some amount of mana. It isn't tapping the creature to make mana. Kinnan's first ability is looking for mana abilities that tap nonlands as part of a 
cost.Q: I control Beastcaller Savant and Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy. If I use the Beastcaller to make
, can I use any of this mana to cast Sol Ring?A: You can! Beastcaller makes the first
that can only be used to cast creatures, and this triggers Kinnan who makes the second . The mana made by Kinnan doesn't have the restriction to only cast creatures. By the same account, this means Kinnan's mana doesn't gain buffs like Delighted Halfling's "legendary spells can't be countered."Q: The only land I have is Canopy Vista. If I play an Isolated Chapel does it enter tapped or untapped?
A: It enters untapped. Canopy Vista is a Plains since it has the subtype Plains on its type line. Isolated Chapel sees the subtype Plains, which is what it's looking for, so it enters untapped. Isolated Chapel is looking for any land with the subtype Plains or Swamp. It's not looking for cards named "Plains" or "Swamp", although Plains and Swamp will also work as they have the Plains and Swamp subtypes, respectively.
Q: I control Warleader's Call and Marauding Raptor. If I cast Bear Cub will it die to the Raptor trigger before Warleader's Call makes it a 3/3?
A: It will be a 3/3 before it takes the 2 damage from Raptor's trigger. Static bonuses like Warleader's first ability are always functioning for creatures on the battlefield, so at no point would the Bear Cub be both on the battlefield and only a 2/2.
Not sure why Kinnan feels special.
I got two questions also.
I got two questions also.
A: Let's look at the Comprehensive Rules for the Draw step:
504.1. First, the active player draws a card. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack.
504.2. Second, the active player gets priority. (See rule 117, "Timing and Priority.")
So, to start with, the opponent will draw a card as part of the normal draw step, which is done before any triggers are put on the stack and before any player can cast spells or activate abilities. The triggers for Puzzle Box and Font both trigger as the draw step begins, but those are not put on the stack until a player would get priority. As you are the player who controls both Puzzle Box and Font, you get to put them on the stack in the order of your choosing. They will resolve in the reverse order you place them.
So you choose between:
A) Normal draw, Font resolves, then Puzzle Box resolves
or
B) Normal draw, Puzzle Box resolves, then Font resolves.
Q: Let's say instead I control Font of Mythos and my opponent controls Teferi's Puzzle Box. When my opponent goes to their draw step, in what order do they resolve Font, Puzzle Box, and their normal card draw?
A: When multiple triggered abilities are placed on the stack at the same time, first the active player places all of their triggers (in the order of their choosing if they have more then one). Then the next player in turn order does the same for all triggers they have, placing all triggers above any already placed by another player. If there are more than two players, then the next player will do the same, followed by the next, and so on until all players have placed their triggers.
So the more precise answer is, the non-active player's triggers will resolve before any of the active player's triggers.
So the opponent will do their normal draw, then resolve Font, followed by resolving Puzzle Box.
When it becomes your draw step, you will do the normal draw, followed by resolving Puzzle Box, and then resolving Font.
Q: Earlier this game, I Cloned my opponent's Enduring Vitality. My opponent just Murdered my Clone. When it returns I want it to copy my opponent's Arcanis the Omnipotent. Will it be a creature? What abilities will it have?
A: You will have a legendary enchantment named Arcanis the Omnipotent with the abilities "
: Draw three cards" and "
: Return Arcanis to its owner's hand." It will not be a creature, which means you can activate its tap ability immediately if you want, as "summoning sickness" only affects creatures.Q: I control Metallic Mimic naming the creature type Elf. I then cast Evolution Witness. When Witness enters the battlefield, will it immediately trigger its last ability?
A: As per rule 122.6 in the comprehensive rules, the game sees a permanent entering with counters as the same thing as placing counters on the permanent after it's already on the battlefield.
So yes, Witness will trigger immediately.
Q: I've had Teferi, Time Raveler on the battlefield for several turns now. During my opponent's last turn they cast Valley Floodcaller. It's now my turn and my opponent says he can cast Ponder, because Floodcaller has a newer timestamp and therefore wins. Is he right?
A: Your opponent is wrong. Although Floodcaller has a newer timestamp, it's not relevant to the question at hand. A "can't" beats a "can" in Magic (rule 101.2.).
Until your Teferi goes away, your opponent can't cast spells during your turn.
Q: My opponent's Perforating Artist's triggered ability is resolving. If I have no cards in hand, can I still choose to discard a card so I won't lose 3 life?
A: You can't choose to perform an action that you are unable to do. In this case, you lose 3 life or you must sacrifice a nonland permanent.
Q: If I use Shifting Woodland's delirium ability to have it become a copy of Snake Umbra will it become attached to a creature I control automatically?
A: It will not. Auras become attached in two main ways:
#1) When an Aura is cast, a target is chosen that it will automatically become attached to as it enters the battlefield.
#2) If an Aura is put onto the battlefield without being cast, its controller must choose something legal to attach it to, without targeting it, as it enters the battlefield.
You might think #2 would work here, but this is done as an Aura enters the battlefield. Shifting Woodland has been on the battlefield for a while, and is then turning into an Aura. No rule or ability here is designating it to become attached, so you now have an Aura on the battlefield not attached to anything, so rule 704.5m (the state-based action for Auras) takes over and the Shifting Woodland copying Snake Umbra gets placed in its owner's graveyard.
Q: My commander is Karona, False God. It's currently my turn, and I control both Karona and Cultist of the Absolute. When it becomes my opponent's turn, will they have to sacrifice a creature to Karona?
A: They will not. The trigger given by the Cultist won't trigger on your opponent's turn because they didn't control Karona as their upkeep began. You also won't have to sacrifice a creature to Karona as you won't control her as your upkeep begins, either. Karona will be a 8/8 Flying Deathtouch with 'Ward - pay 3 life" no matter who controls her, but her built-in "Threaten" ability means she almost never starts the turn under the control of the active player, so she would never normally trigger an upkeep cost she gains.
Q: My Abomination of Llanowar is a currently a 5/5 because of 4 Elf cards in my graveyard. It gets enchanted with Stop Cold. What's the power/toughness of the Abomination now?
A: It will be a 0/0 and immediately be put into its owner's graveyard for having 0 toughness. Removing abilities is done in layer 6. Power and toughness CDAs happen in layer 7a, but that ability is removed before it can apply, so the Abomination has no power or toughness.
I think I said "Far" and "Away" so many times
in this question and answer,
both word have lost all meaning.
in this question and answer,
both word have lost all meaning.
A: To cast Far, you need two counters. To cast Away, you need three counters. If you would like to cast Far // Away fused, you need five counters.
Fuse is not an alternative cost or an additional cost. Instead, it's a permission. You are allowed to cast both sides if it's in your hand. If you are casting it from your hand without paying its mana cost, you can fuse it for free as well.
If you cast Far // Away fused, its mana value is 5. Brain in a Jar can only fuse Far // Away if it has 5 charge counters as Far // Away's mana value would be 5.
Q: My opponent blocks my Shelob, Child of Ungoliant with Benalish Marshal while I control Academy Manufactor. When the Marshal dies, I get a Food, Clue, and Treasure token. Does only the Food token have Marshal's ability or do all three get it?
A: So I have some bad news. None of them have Marshal's ability, not even the Food. When you attempt to create the "Benalish Marshal Food token", the Manufactor sees you making a Food and replaces making a weird Food with making a normal Food, a normal Clue, and a normal Treasure.
Q: If I activate Curie, Emergent Intelligence's last ability exiling my 3/3 prototype version of Steel Seraph, will Curie end up as a 3/3 or a 5/4?
A: Curie doesn't care what the card it exiles looks like in exile, but how it last existed on the battlefield. It only copies the copiable values of the creature it exiled though. For a card this is what is actually printed on the card, unless it was copying something else, then Curie cares about what it was copying, or if the original was a prototype, and then Curie cares about the prototype's characteristics.
So you get a 3/3 Steel Seraph with Curie's ability "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw cards equal to its base power."
Q: For the first time this game my Etrata, the Silencer deals combat damage to my opponent. I decide to exile my opponent's mutate stack that consists of Bear Cub, Dirge Bat, and Gemrazer, Gemrazer being the top card. I know I put all three cards into exile, but do all three of them get a hit counter? And if so, does my opponent just lose the game?
A: Yes, and yes. When a mutate stack is removed from the battlefield, it leaves as one object (going to that zone), then immediately splits into however many separate cards it was made of. Any further instructions are applied to each card individually.
Q: I block my opponent's Bear Cub with Chandra's Phoenix. When both die, does this allow me to cast Syrix, Carrier of the Flame from my graveyard during my opponent's turn?
A: Yes, it does. If you are granted the ability to cast a spell by an ability, if that ability doesn't give a duration for how long you can do so, then you must cast it now, during the resolution of the ability, and you can ignore any timing restrictions that spell normally has (such as sorcery speed for creatures).
Q: I'm currently at 3 life. My opponent is currently blocking my Bloodrock Cyclops with three 0/1 Serf tokens. My opponent also controls a Sengir Autocrat and Blood Artist. Can I choose to deal all 3 combat damage to one Serf token so I don't die to the Blood Artist triggers?
A: Yes, you can. You can always choose to "over-damage" a single creature when multiple creatures block.
Q: My opponent cast The One Ring from their hand during their last turn. If I attack them with Archon of Cruelty, I know they won't take damage, but will any other parts of Archon's trigger happen?
A: Depends if you have more than one opponent. In a 1v1 game, the trigger won't have a legal target, and therefore won't even be put on the stack. If you have a second opponent, you could still attack the "Ring Protected" player, but have the trigger target and affect the second opponent. (You might do this if the second opponent has multiple creatures that could block and kill Archon.)
As I end this article and this year, I would like to give out many thanks: To Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, the many editors and translators who work behind the scenes here (I would list some but I'm afraid I'd forget someone or say someone's name that may prefer to stay anonymous), of course Moko, and the many fans who write in questions and recognize us at events. Writing here gives me something positive to concentrate on and a sense of accomplishment. I hope you all are enjoying the holidays, and see you next year!
- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD
No comments yet.
