Published on 01/20/2025
Innistrad Redux
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Nathan Long
Cranial Translation
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He's one Vampire that doesn't suck.
And if you have rules question about Innistrad or any other plane, feel free to send them in to us - we'll send you an answer back, and we may use that question in a future article. If you have a short question, you can reach out to us at @CranialTweet, but if you have a longer question, you can send us an e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: If I activate the ability of Olivia's Dragoon on my opponent's turn, discarding a Murderous Compulsion, can I cast it, or does being a sorcery stop me from casting it during my opponent's turn?
A: You will be able to cast it. Madness triggers any time you discard the card. When that madness trigger resolves, it gives you permission to cast the discarded card for its madness cost. Since the trigger is giving you permission, it gets around normal timing restrictions, so even though the Compulsion is a sorcery, if you discarded it on your opponent's turn, the madness trigger will let you cast it on their turn.
Q: How does emerge work? If I sacrifice Wretched Throng to cast Wretched Gryff, how much mana do I need to pay?
A: You'll need to pay
to cast the Gryff. Emerge is an alternative cost that lets you sacrifice a creature as part of the cost, and the total cost of the spell will be reduced by the mana value of the creature you sacrificed. The base emerge cost is 
, and that's reduced by 
since the Throng's mana value is 2, so you'll end up spending a total of four mana to cast the Gryff for its emerge cost.Q: If I cast Borrowed Hostility, can I escalate it and pick the first mode twice to give my creature +6/+0?
A: No you may not. Paying the escalate cost will let you pick one additional mode each time you pay the escalate cost, but since the card doesn't say you can pick the same mode more than once, you have to pick different modes. You're free to escalate the Hostility once, but you have to pick both of its modes, you won't be able to pick the same mode multiple times.
Q: Can I activate Noose Constrictor's ability as many times as I want, or can I only do it once each turn?
A: As long as you have a card in hand to discard, there's no limit to the number of times you can activate the ability. The ability doesn't have a restriction on the number of times you can activate it each turn, so if you have seven cards in hand, you're able to activate the Constrictor's ability seven times. You'll have an empty hand, but have a 9/9 Noose Constrictor for the turn.
Q: If I'm casting Travel Preparations, can I put both +1/+1 counters on a single creature?
A: No you may not. The Preparations isn't distributing two +1/+1 counters, it's letting you put a +1/+1 counter on up to two target creatures. You're free to cast it with one target creature, but that creature will only get one counter, not two counters.
Q: I cast Lingering Souls for its flashback cost, but my opponent responds by casting Spell Queller and exiling the Souls. Later on, Spell Queller leaves play. Am I allowed to cast Lingering Souls?
A: Yes, you'll be able to cast it. A spell cast for its flashback cost is exiled instead of going anywhere else if it would leave the stack. But since the Queller's effect exiles the spell, flashback won't care and will let the Queller exile the card. When the Queller leaves play, you'll be able to cast Lingering Souls from exile. And, as a bonus, since you're not casting it for its flashback cost when casting it via the Queller's triggered ability, Lingering Souls will end up back in your graveyard after it resolves.
Q: I control Mentor of the Meek and a Wedding Festivity. If I cast Blood Petal Celebrant, will I get a Mentor of the Meek trigger?
A: You won't get a trigger. Because of the Festivity, the Celebrant enters the battlefield as a 3/2. It doesn't enter the battlefield with power 2 and then get the bonus later, so Mentor of the Meek won't trigger and you won't get the chance to draw a card.
Let's make one more visit to Innistrad.
Q: I have a Cathars' Crusade in play. If I cast Join the Dance, what happens?
A: Your creatures (including your two new Human tokens) will each get two +1/+1 counters. Since two creatures entered the battlefield under your control, the Crusade will trigger two times. When those triggers resolve, each of your creatures get a +1/+1 counter, and that includes both of the tokens you just created, so your entire team gets a +2/+2 boost.
Q: I have a Burning Vengeance in play. If I discard and cast a Fiery Temper for its madness cost, will my Burning Vengeance trigger?
A: No, you don't get a trigger. A spell cast for its madness cost is being cast from exile, not your graveyard. When you discarded Fiery Temper, you discarded it to exile and it didn't go to the graveyard. Since you're casting it from exile when the madness trigger resolves, Burning Vengeance will not trigger.
Q: It's my opponent's end step, and I cast Think Twice, drawing Reforge the Soul. Can I cast it for its miracle cost even though it's my opponent's turn?
A: Yep, you can do that. The miracle trigger will give you permission to cast the drawn card when that trigger resolves, whenever that may be. As long as the card drawn from Think Twice was your first draw of the turn, you'll be able to cast Reforge the Soul for its miracle cost, even if it's on your opponent's turn.
Q: I cast Fiend Hunter and it enters and I target my opponent's creature with its enter trigger. Before that trigger resolves, I cast Compelling Deterrence to return the Hunter to my hand. What happens when the Hunter's trigger resolves?
A: Your opponent's creature is permanently exiled. Fiend Hunter works like Oblivion Ring. It has two triggered abilities - an enter trigger that will exile the card, and a leave the battlefield trigger that will return the exiled card. If that leave the battlefield trigger resolves before the enter trigger resolves, the leave the battlefield trigger does nothing (since nothing has been exiled yet), and then the enter trigger will resolve and the targeted creature is permanently exiled.
They stopped printing this style of card in favor of cards like Banisher Priest, which can't be abused like that, but the old interactions still work with Fiend Hunter.
Q: I play Arlinn Kord, and activate its +0 ability, making a Wolf token and transforming her into Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon. Can I activate one of the back side's loyalty abilities this turn?
A: You cannot. You've already activated one loyalty ability of Arlinn this turn. Transforming Arlinn doesn't make it a new object. Since you activated a loyalty ability when it was Arlinn Kord, you won't be able to activate a loyalty ability of Arlinn, Embraced by the Moon that same turn when it transforms into the back face.
Q: After Deadeye Navigator enters the battlefield, do I get a chance to destroy it with Valorous Stance before they can pair it with a creature?
A: Yep, you have that window. The Navigator enters the battlefield unpaired, and it won't get the ability to exile and return itself until it's paired with a creature. You'll be able to respond to the Navigator's enter trigger by removing it with the Stance, and since it's not paired yet, it won't be able to save itself with its ability.
Let us in!
Q: I control two Conjurer's Closets and one Slayer of the Wicked. Can I target the Slayer with both triggers so I can flicker it twice (and destroy two of my opponent's creatures)?
A: No. While you can target the same creature with both triggers, after the first trigger resolves, the Slayer is a new object since it left the battlefield and returned. Since it's a new object, it's not being targeted by the second Closet trigger, so you won't be able to blink it a second time.
Q: Can I activate Captivating Vampire's ability as soon as it enters the battlefield, or does "summoning sickness" stop that?
A: You can activate it, even tapping Captivating Vampire in the process. "Summoning sickness" prevents the creature from attacking or using an ability with the tap symbol in its cost until it starts your turn under your control. The Vampire's ability requires you to tap five untapped Vampires you control, but the ability itself doesn't use the tap symbol, so it can be used as soon as Captivating Vampire enters the battlefield.
Q: I activate Hermit Druid's ability, but I don't have any basic lands left in my library. What happens?
A: You just discovered the true power of Hermit Druid. If you don't have any basic lands in your library, you'll reveal all of the cards in your library, then put all of those revealed cards into your graveyard (and put nothing into your hand). Your library is empty but your graveyard is full, so you just need to find a way to win with a fully-stocked graveyard.
Q: I'm playing Innistrad Remastered Sealed, and I opened Edgar Markov. How will his eminence ability work in my sealed deck?
A: While Edgar is on the battlefield, his ability will trigger like normal, but since you're not playing Commander, you won't be able to start with him in the command zone (or even get him into the command zone). You won't be able to get free Vampires early in the game, since you'll have to get him into play first to benefit from his triggered ability.
Q: Since Bruna, the Fading Light and Gisela, the Broken Blade can meld with each other, does that mean I can play them both as my commanders in a game of Commander?
A: You cannot. While they can meld with each other, they do not have a partner ability or similar ability that lets you start a game of Commander with two commanders. You could run one in the command zone and the other in your main deck, but you can't start with both cards in your command zone.
Q: I'm in a multiplayer game, and I just cast Emrakul, the Promised End, targeting one of my opponents with its cast trigger. While controlling that opponent during their extra turn, a third opponent kills me. What happens?
A: Since you're no longer in the game, you can't control a player, so the targeted opponent will regain control of their turn. And that opponent will still get an extra turn after the current turn is over - that effect was set up by Emrakul's cast trigger resolving, so after regaining control of their turn from you, they still get to benefit from the extra turn your Emrakul gave them.
Q: Since Imprisoned in the Moon is printed as common in this set, does that mean it's now legal in Pauper tournaments?
A: Yep, it'll be legal in Pauper. As long as a card has been printed at common in paper Magic or on Magic Online, it's legal in Pauper. It was previously printed at common, but only in the Magic Arena-only set Shadows Over Innistrad Remastered, so it wasn't legal in Pauper. But now that it's been printed as a common in Innistrad Remastered, it's legal for play in Pauper as of this coming Friday, January 24th.
That's all we have for this week. Enjoy your return to Innistrad, and we'll see you again next week!
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