Published on 12/23/2024
We Put The 'Ice' in 'Solstice'
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
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Do you want to build a snowman?
As always, if you have questions for us, you can email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or send us short questions on X at @CranialTweet. One of our writers will send you an answer, and your question might appear in a future article.
Now, let's get on with those questions!
Q: My opponent attacks with Azure Beastbinder and targets my Kaito, Bane of Nightmares with its ability. What does Kaito look like during my next turn?
A: He'll be a 3/4 Ninja creature without any abilities. He's not a 2/2 because at the moment your opponent resolved Beastbinder's ability, Kaito was not a creature, so the "base power and toughness 2/2" part of Beastbinder's effect never got created in the first place. Only the "loses all abilities" part of the effect was created, which results in this somewhat counterintuitive outcome because of layers. Type-changing happens in layer 4, while adding and removing abilities happens in layer 6. The effect from Kaito's ability starts to apply in layer 4, so he becomes a Ninja. In layer 6, he gives himself hexproof, which is then promptly removed along with all his other abilities by Beastbinder's effect, which has the more recent timestamp. In layer 7b, his base power and toughness gets set to 3/4 even though the ability that creates this effect was removed in layer 6. Since it's part of an effect that started to apply in an earlier layer, it still gets to finish its job.
Q: My opponent activates Rogue's Passage to make their Bear Cub unblockable. In response, I use Boseiju, Who Endures's Channel ability to destroy Rogue's Passage. Is the Bear Cub still unblockable?
A: I'm afraid so. Once Rogue's Passage's ability has been activated, it exists on the stack as an object that's independent from its source, so destroying Rogue's Passage won't remove that ability from the stack. The ability still resolves and creates a blocking restriction that makes it illegal to block the Bear Cub.
Q: If I exile a Class card such as Cleric Class to craft Locus of Enlightenment from The Enigma Jewel, can the Locus level up and gain the corresponding abilities from the Class?
A: Yes and no. Locus of Enlightenment only gets the activated abilities of the cards you exiled to craft it, and the only activated abilities that a Class has are the abilities to advance its level. For example, Cleric Class's activated abilities are "
: This Class's level becomes 2. Activate only if this Class is level 1 and only as a sorcery." and a similar ability to level up from 2 to 3 for 
. The abilities a Class gets from reaching those levels aren't granted by the resolution of those activated abilities. They are granted by static abilities that check the Class's level, and Locus of Enlightenment does not get those static abilities.Q: How does God-Eternal Kefnet interact with suspend cards? Does Kefnet suspend the card or cast it right away? Can I cast Ancestral Vision with it? If the card re-suspends itself, such as Inspiring Refrain, does that work with Kefnet?
A: Let's tackle those questions one at a time. First off, Kefnet's ability doesn't care whether the card has suspend or not. It simply allows you to reveal the first card you draw each turn as you draw it, and if it's an instant or sorcery card, you may copy that card and then cast the copy for a discount of
off of its usual cost. This means that you cast the copy right away — rather than suspend it — if you can cast it at all. In the case of Ancestral Vision, the base cost is the unpayable cost of "this space intentionally left blank." The discount of doesn't make that cost any less impossible to pay, so you simply can't cast a copy of Ancestral Vision this way. In the case of Inspiring Refrain, you can cast the copy of it, and it'll cost you 
to do so. When it resolves, you draw two cards, and then the copy exiles itself with three time counters on it, and then it promptly ceases to exist because it isn't actually a card. Inspiring, perhaps, but not really a Refrain.Q: If my opponent controls Omen Machine, can I use Cryptic Command to bounce Omen Machine to their hand and also draw a card?
A: Sure, that works. Omen Machine doesn't stop you from casting a spell that might eventually attempt to make you draw a card when it resolves. It simply renders the instruction "draw a card" impossible while it's on the battlefield. Of course, in this situation it won't even be on the battlefield anymore by the time you draw the card. You follow the instructions on Cryptic Command in the order they're printed, so you bounce Omen Machine first. As soon as Omen Machine is no longer on the battlefield, its effect stops working, so you can and will draw a card when Cryptic Command tells you do draw a card.
Q: If I use Krenko's Command to make two Goblin tokens, can I tap them right away for Baylen, the Haymaker's first ability?
A: Sure, that's perfectly legal. While creature tokens are subject to the summoning sickness rule just like nontoken creatures are, the summoning sickness rule only stops a creature from attacking or from using its own activated abilities that have
(or 
) in their cost. It does not stop you from tapping the tokens to pay the activation cost for Baylen's abilities.We put the "win" in "winter."
A: No, you should have played that snow land before you cast Dead of Winter. Dead of Winter counts how many snow permanents you control at the time it resolves, and that determines the size of the effect it creates. Gaining or losing snow permanents after Dead of Winter has resolved won't retroactively change the size of this effect.
Q: If I control Displaced Dinosaurs and Ygra, Eater of All, does my Bear Cub enter as a 7/7 Dinosaur?
A: It sure does. When you check what replacement effects apply to the entering Bear Cub, you consider what it would look like on the battlefield, taking into account continuous effects that already exist, such as Ygra's effect. Because of Ygra's effect, Displaced Dinosaurs sees a historic permanent entering under your control, so its replacement effect applies and the Bear Cub enters as a 7/7 Food Dinosaur artifact creature.
Q: If I cast Three Steps Ahead with all its modes, how much damage does Vial Smasher the Fierce deal?
A: Just 1, I'm afraid. Vial Smasher's ability looks at the mana value of Three Steps Ahead, which is only derived from the card's mana cost, which is
. The additional spree costs do not figure into the mana value.Q: Does Hushbringer stop Walking Ballista from entering with +1/+1 counters on it?
A: No, Walking Ballista enters the battlefield with +1/+1 counters because of a replacement effect that changes how it enters the battlefield. Triggered abilities use the words "when," "whenever," or "at," which none of Walking Ballista's abilities do. The extent of Hushbringer's influence on Walking Ballista's function can be summed up by the phrase "not even a little bit."
Q: If I have the emblem from Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset and I also control Stasis, do I get to untap my permanents during my opponents' turns?
A: No. Teferi's emblem tells you to untap your permanents during each opponent's untap step, but Stasis makes players skip their untap steps. It doesn't stop them from untapping their permanents during their untap step, it deletes the untap step in its entirety, so it also deletes your opportunity to untap your permanents.
Q: I have enough devotion for my Purphoros, God of the Forge to be a creature, and my opponent has enchanted it with Unable to Scream. If my devotion drops below five, does Unable to Scream fall off because Purphoros stops being a creature?
A: No. Unable to Scream turns Purphoros into a Toy artifact creature and its effect has the more recent timestamp, so it wins. Purphoros remains a creature and remains unable to scream.
We put the "pun" in "punishment."
A: No. Archangel of Thune's counter-giving ability doesn't trigger off of it dealing damage, it triggers off of you gaining life. Because Archangel of Thune has lifelink, the damage it deals usually causes you to also gain that much life, but gaining life is impossible because of the Leyline. The damage is still dealt, but the life gain doesn't happen, so there is no trigger event for the counter-giving ability.
Q: I control Necroduality and cast Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. Can I sacrifice the token copy of Grimgrin to give the original Grimgrin a +1/+1 counter?
A: No, that doesn't work. Immediately after the token Grimgrin enters the battlefield, before you get priority to do anything, state-based actions are checked and the legend rule demands that you put one of the Grimgrins into your graveyard.
Q: I control Zada, Hedron Grinder, Birgi, God of Storytelling, and ten vanilla token creatures. If I cast Brute Force on Zada, does Birgi make one red mana or twelve red mana?
A: Just one. Birgi's ability only triggers when you cast a spell. The copies of Brute Force that Zada's ability makes aren't cast, so they don't trigger Birgi's ability.
Q: I control Fumulus, the Infestation, Starscape Cleric, and a bunch of Insect tokens. If I attack with multiple Insects, does Starscape Cleric's ability trigger once for the entire attack or once per Insect?
A: Good news, it triggers once per Insect. Each attacking Insect triggers a separate instance of Fumulus's life drain ability, and those abilities resolve one by one. Every time one of those abilities resolves, the life gain triggers an instance of Starscape Cleric's triggered ability, so for each attacking Insect you get one Fumulus trigger and one Starscape Cleric trigger.
Q: If I give Marchesa, Resolute Monarch undying with Undying Evil and then sacrifice her, does she come back as Marchesa or as Invasion of Fiora?
A: Undying puts the card onto the battlefield with its front face up, which is Invasion of Fiora, so you'll designate one of your opponents as its protector as it enters the battlefield. It'll enter with a +1/+1 counter, but fortunately that won't make it harder to defeat since it's not a defense counter and doesn't change with how many defense counters the battle enters.
Q: I control Panoptic Projektor and turn Brine Elemental face up. Does my opponent skip their next two untap steps?
A: Absolutely. Brine Elemental's ability triggers twice because of the Projektor, and each resolution creates a replacement effect that makes your opponent skip their next untap step. The next time your opponent would begin an untap step, one of those replacement effects kicks in and replaces that untap step with nothingness. The other replacement effect no longer has anything to replace, so it says "fine, I'll wait for the next one."
And that's all the time we have for today. Today was my last issue of the year, so I wish you a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year. Thanks for reading, and please come back next week when Nathan presents the last Cranial Insertion of 2024!
- 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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