Published on 01/13/2025
Resolving Resolutions
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
Cranial Translation
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You could resolve to read more books.
Our collective new year's resolution at Cranial Insertion is to keep answering your rules questions, and you can help with that by resolving to send us your questions. You can email your questions to moko@cranialinsertion.com , or send short questions to our account on X, @CranialTweet. One of our writers will respond to you, and your question might appear in a future article.
Q: If my opponent ninjutsus Kaito, Bane of Nightmares onto the battlefield and I respond by flashing in Containment Priest, will Kaito get exiled? I think he gets exiled because the game looks ahead at what Kaito will look like on the battlefield, but I've heard that he won't get exiled. Please help!
A: First off, what you've heard is correct, he won't get exiled, which is quite counterintuitive because he actually enters the battlefield as a creature. There is no point in time at which he's not a creature on the battlefield, but like a true Ninja, he manages to sneak past Containment Priest's replacement effect. To determine what replacement effects apply to the event of Kaito entering the battlefield, rule 614.12 tells us to consider what Kaito's characteristics would look like on the battlefield, taking into account these things: 1) replacement effects that have already modified how it enters the battlefield; 2) continuous effects from the permanent's own static abilities that would apply to it once it's on the battlefield; 3) continuous effects that already exist and would apply to the permanent. Because of 1), Kaito will enter the battlefield with loyalty counters. Part 2) seems to tell us to take into account the "is a Ninja creature" effect, but that effect is conditional on one or more loyalty counters being on Kaito. The counters will be on him once he actually enters the battlefield with those counters, but they're not on him in this hypothetical version that rule 614.12 tells us to consider, so we don't take this effect into account. This means that the hypothetical Kaito is not a creature, so Containment Priest's replacement effect does not apply to him.
Q: I use Zur the Enchanter's attack trigger to search up a Steal Enchantment to take control of my opponent's Glorious Anthem. Can my opponent use Deflecting Swat in any way to interfere with this?
A: No, your opponent's Deflecting Swat is powerless to do anything here. The only thing your opponent can even respond to is Zur's ability, but Zur's ability doesn't target anything, so Deflecting Swat does nothing to Zur's ability. Once Zur's ability starts to resolve, you search your library for Steal Enchantment and put it onto the battlefield. Part of putting Steal Enchantment onto the battlefield involves choosing something to attach it to, and you choose Glorious Anthem. This doesn't target, either, nor does it use the stack, so your opponent can't interfere with that process.
Q: Haunting Imitation made a 1/1 copy of my opponent's Bear Cub. If I copy that token with Spitting Image, is the new copy 2/2 or 1/1?
A: It'll be a 1/1 Spirit Bear with flying, just like the token it copied. The modifications from Haunting Imitation's effect that created the token become part of the token's copiable characteristics, so those are the characteristics that get copied by Spitting Image.
Q: When I resolve chapter III of The Great Synthesis and one of the spells I cast for free is a draw spell, can I also cast the cards I draw off of that for free?
A: No, that doesn't work. The "you may cast" effect from chapter III does not specify a duration, so it's a one-time offer that's only good during the resolution of that ability. Any spells you cast with the chapter III ability go on the stack one on top of the other, but none of them will resolve just yet. Eventually you're done casting spells for free, and then the chapter III ability finishes resolving by exiling The Great Synthesis and returning it to the battlefield face up. Then the spells you cast get to resolve (if your opponent doesn't respond to them), so you'll draw cards off of that draw spell, but you don't get to cast any of those cards for free because the effect that would have allowed that is long gone.
Q: If my opponent casts an overloaded Cyclonic Rift, can I respond with Raise the Alarm to have two creatures that are safe from the Rift?
A: You can respond with Raise the Alarm, but you won't get the outcome you want. The overloaded Cyclonic Rift has the text "Return each nonland permanent you don't control to its owner's hand." It doesn't lock in at the time of its casting which permanents it will return. Once it starts to resolve, it takes a look at the battlefield then and returns each permanent matching the description. If you respond to Cyclonic Rift with Raise the Alarm, Raise the Alarm resolves first and makes Soldier tokens, which will be included in the set of creatures that Cyclonic Rift returns. It would be better for you if you waited to raise the alarm until after Cyclonic Rift has resolved.
Q: How exactly does Comeuppance work? Let's say my opponent attacks me with a 1/1 and a 2/2, I don't block and I cast Comeuppance. How much damage does it deal, and does it deal the damage when it resolves?
A: Comeuppance does not deal any damage right away when it resolves. When it resolves, it simply creates a damage prevention effect that hovers invisibly above the game and keeps an eye out for any damage that would be dealt to you or planeswalkers you control by sources you don't control. If such damage would be dealt, the prevention effect prevents the damage and then causes Comeuppance to deal that much damage to the source or the source's controller as appropriate. In the combat damage step, the 1/1 would deal 1 damage to you and the 2/2 would deal 2 damage to you, which is where the prevention effect kicks in. Comeuppance prevents the 1 damage from the 1/1 and deals 1 damage to the 1/1, and it prevents the 2 damage from the 2/2 and deals 2 damage to the 2/2.
You could resolve to be more creative.
A: You can get the outcome you want, but you're not having Sculpting Steel enter as a copy of itself. That would be impossible since Sculpting Steel can only copy an artifact that's already on the battlefield. Instead, you simply decline to have Sculpting Steel copy anything, which is perfectly legal since the effect is optional. The result is a Sculpting Steel that's ready to get copied by Urza's ability. The token copy of Sculpting Steel will have Sculpting Steel's copy ability, so you can have it enter the battlefield as a copy of any artifact.
Q: I'm in a multiplayer game and I have three opponents, and I control Exterminator Magmarch. If I cast Turn to Frog on one of my opponent's creatures, does Turn to Frog just get copied over and over until all of my opponents' creatures are Frogs?
A: No, that doesn't work. Exterminator Magmarch's ability only triggers off of a spell you cast, which is only the original Turn to Frog. It makes one copy of Turn to Frog that targets a creature that's controlled by another opponent, but that copy is not being cast, so it won't retrigger Exterminator Magmarch's ability.
Q: If I cast Waltz of Rage on a 1/1 with lifelink and there are ten other creatures it deals damage to, including my Ajani's Pridemate, how many +1/+1 counters does the Pridemate get?
A: Just one. The 1/1 deals all that damage simultaneously in one event, so Ajani's Pridemate's ability sees one life gain event.
Q: I control Biotransference and Karn, the Great Creator, and there's an Elvish Mystic I own in exile. Can I return it to my hand with Karn's -2 ability?
A: Absolutely. Biotransference doesn't just apply to creatures on the battlefield, but also to creature spells on the stack and creature cards you own that aren't on the battlefield. The last bit turns your Elvish Mystic in exile into an artifact creature, so you can choose it with Karn's -2 ability.
Q: Can I target my opponent's Thrun, Breaker of Silence with a kicked Tear Asunder?
A: Sure, that's not a problem. Paying the kicker cost does not change the fact that Tear Asunder is a green spell, so Thrun's "nongreen-hexproof" ability has nothing to say here.
Q: My opponent and I are both at 20 life and I control Heartless Hidetsugu that's equipped with Grafted Exoskeleton. If I activate Heartless Hidetsugu's ability, do I win the game or is the game a draw?
A: It's a draw. Heartless Hidetsugu deals 10 poison counters to you and your opponent at the same time. State-based actions see that both you and your opponent must lose the game due to those poison counters, so you both lose the game at the same time, so the game is a draw.
You could resolve to adopt a dog.
But maybe not this one.
But maybe not this one.
A: Yup. There is no "revealed" zone or "pile" zone that the cards go to during the resolution of Fact or Fiction. They're still in the library while they are revealed and being separated into piles, so the cards go into your hand and into the graveyard from your library.
Q: In what layer does Grand Abolisher's effect belong?
A: Grand Abolisher's effect isn't in any layer. Layers only govern the interaction of continuous effects that change characteristics or control of objects. Effects that change the game rules, such as Grand Abolisher's effect, get applied after processing the layers, provided that the ability that creates the effect hasn't been removed by something like Humility.
Q: If I attack with Ochran Assassin and give it flying after blockers are declared, and none of my opponent's creatures have flying or reach, does the Assassin become unblocked?
A: No, the Assassin is still blocked by all creatures that were originally able to block it. Blocking restrictions are only checked at the time blockers are declared. Introducing blocking restrictions or evasion abilities after that point does not change the blocks that have already been declared.
Q: I control Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain and attack with a Germ token that has Nettlecyst attached to it. What happens?
A: Arna's ability doubles any counters that are on the Germ, and then it makes a token copy of Nettlecyst that initially is attached to the Germ. However, the token's living weapon ability triggers, so it makes a new Germ token and moves itself over to it, so you'll have two Germ tokens with one Nettlecyst each.
Q: If my opponent casts Walking Ballista with X=1 and I respond with Dress Down, does the Ballista enter with a +1/+1 counter?
A: No. Because of rule 614.12, which we covered way back at the beginning of this issue, Dress Down's "creatures lose all abilities" effect gets considered as Walking Ballista enters the battlefield. The replacement effect that makes it enter with +1/+1 counters doesn't apply and the Ballista enters as a sad 0/0 that gets chucked into the graveyard by state-based actions immediately after entering.
Q: If Manifest Dread puts a creature with fading face-down onto the battlefield, what happens when that creature gets turned face up?
A: It'll be a face-up creature with fading that most likely won't have any fade counters on it, so you'll most likely have to sacrifice it at the beginning of your next upkeep.
And that's all the time we have for today. Thanks for reading, and please come back next week when Nathan takes a look at Innistrad Remastered!
- 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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