Published on 02/03/2025
Moko's Sing-Along Rules Blog
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
Cranial Translation
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Do you ever get that singing feeling?
My ability to answer Magic rules questions is considerably better, so I'll kill some time doing just that, answering questions from our inbox. Remember that you can send in your questions by email to moko@cranialinsertion.com , or you can send short questions to us on X at @CranialTweet. One of our writers will reply to you with an answer, and your question might even show up in a future issue.
Q: I have a question about The Wise Mothman. If I milled five nonland cards but I only control two creatures, what happens to the other three cards that were milled?
A: The Wise Mothman's ability targets up to X creatures, so it's perfectly legal to target fewer creatures than the number of nonland cards that were milled. Since you milled five nonland cards, you could target at most five creatures to get counters, but it's legal to target fewer than that, even as low as none at all. This doesn't change the fact that five nonland cards were milled, and the milled cards stay milled regardless of how many targets you choose for the ability.
Q: If I control Sanctum of All and Go-Shintai of Lost Wisdom, can I pay
twice at the beginning of my end step to mill four times? Also, what does the "and/or" in Sanctum of All's upkeep trigger mean? Can I search for one Shrine from my library and another Shrine from my graveyard?A: Sanctum of All causes Go-Shintai's end step trigger to trigger twice, so you can pay
twice, but the reflexive trigger that is triggered by this choice is not subject to Sanctum of All's trigger-doubling effect, so you'll only mill two times X. As to your second question, no, you search for one Shrine card from the set of cards that comprises of your choice of your library, your graveyard, or both. If the ability used only "and", it would incorrectly imply that you must search both zones if you choose to search; using "or" would incorrectly imply that you have to decide on one zone to search before you begin your search. The use of "and/or" is the most space-efficient way of describing that you're searching for one card from among your library, your graveyard, or both.Q: My commander is Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal and I currently control its back face, Temple of the Dead. Do I get to cast Deadly Rollick for free?
A: Absolutely. The "commanderness" of a card belongs to both faces of the card, so the condition for casting Deadly Rollick without paying its mana cost is fulfilled.
Q: If I control Jin-Gitaxias, Progress Tyrant and I cast two relevant spells off of Collected Conjuring, how does the game decide which of those two spells is the one that triggers Jin-Gitaxias's ability?
A: The game doesn't have to decide this. You do. The two spells you cast off of Collected Conjuring are cast one after the other in whichever order you choose, not both at the same time. The spell you choose to cast first triggers Jin-Gitaxias's ability, and the second one does not.
Q: If I play Conspiracy and choose Bear, are all my creatures only Bears now?
A: Yup. Conspiracy doesn't say "in addition to their other types", so it replaces the creature types of your creatures, creature spells, and creature cards that aren't on the battlefield with only the chosen type.
Q: I'm confused about how Bello, Bard of the Brambles interacts with the ability "Creatures you control have base power and toughness 6/6 and are Oozes in addition to their other types" of March of the World Ooze from Aetherdrift. I'm hearing conflicting stories about whether there is or isn't a dependency between those two abilities. Please help!
A: I'll try. This is, of course, a question of layers. Your confusion probably stems from the fact that dependency isn't a relationship between abilities. Dependency is a relationship between effects, and an ability can create multiple effects that fall into different layers. Bello's ability creates effects in layers 4 (type-changing), 6 (ability-granting), and 7b (p/t-setting). March's ability creates effects in layers 4 and 7b. The important bit to understand is that the layer system works out the order of effects in each layer entirely separately from the order in any other layer. If there's a dependency between two effects in one layer, that dependency overrides timestamp order for those effects only in that layer. The effects can come from abilities that have other effects in other layers, and the effects in those other layers can be independent and happen in timestamp order.
In this example, in layer 4, March of the World Ooze's effect depends on Bello's effect because Bello makes more creatures that March's effect can apply to. Therefore, in layer 4, Bello's effect is always applied first regardless of Bello's and March's timestamps. However, in layer 7b, the two effects are independent of each other because neither effect changes what the other one does or what it applies to. Therefore, the two effects in layer 7b are applied in timestamp order.
Into the woods without delay
But careful not to lose the way
But careful not to lose the way
A: Not at all, really. When you attack with a non-Human creature, both Winota's ability and the ability of Lost in the Woods trigger. Since you're the active player, your ability goes on the stack first, and then your opponent's ability goes on the stack. If your opponent reveals a Forest card, your non-Human attacker is removed from combat, but that doesn't "un-trigger" Winota's ability. Winota's ability resolves either way and you get to put a Human onto the battlefield tapped and attacking if one is among the cards you look at. This Human enters the battlefield attacking, but it didn't attack for the purpose of attack triggers, so it doesn't trigger Lost in the Woods' ability.
Q: Can Despark counter the enters ability of Bogardan Hellkite?
A: No. You can respond to Bogardan Hellkite's enters ability with Despark, but exiling the Hellkite in response to its ability doesn't counter the ability. The ability exists on the stack as an object in its own right, and exiling the Hellkite doesn't stop the ability from resolving. The damage will be dealt by the ghost image of Hellkite as it existed on the battlefield.
Q: If I use God-Pharaoh's Gift to reanimate Splinterfright, is the token 4/4 or */*?
A: It's 4/4. Since the copy effect of God-Pharaoh's Gift makes an exception for the power/toughness of the token copy, the token copy doesn't get the characteristic-defining ability that would set its power and toughness.
Q: If I use Serra Paragon's ability to cast a Bear Cub from my graveyard and then use Double Major to copy that spell, does the copy also have the triggered ability from Serra Paragon?
A: No. Double Major copies the Bear Cub spell as printed. The ability that the spell gained from Serra Paragon is not part of its copiable values.
Q: I control a Gemrazer that's mutated on top of a Young Wolf, and there's no +1/+1 counter on this mutated creature. If it dies, what happens?
A: The mutated Gemrazer was a creature that consisted of two cards. It had no +1/+1 counters on it and it had undying, so undying triggers and attempts to return "it" to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. However, it arrived in the graveyard as two separate cards, so the undying ability will return each of them to the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.
Q: My opponent attacked me with a Serra Angel that has Godsend attached to it, and I block it with my Stormbreath Dragon. My opponent claims that he can exile my Dragon with Godsend's ability even though my Dragon has protection from white. Is that correct?
A: I'm afraid so. Protection only includes four particular benefits. Protection from white means that damage from white sources is prevented, white Auras or Equipment can't be attached to it, it can't be blocked by white creatures, and it can't be targeted by white spells or abilities from white sources. Godsend's ability isn't targeting the Dragon or doing any of the other things that protection deals with, so protection from white doesn't bother it at all.
See someone's got to tell the tale
Whether or not it turns out well
Whether or not it turns out well
A: That's a lot of effort to save a little Bear Cub from destruction, and unfortunately it doesn't even work. When you cast a spell, you choose targets before you pay the cost to cast the spell. Sacrificing the Bear Cub is part of the total cost to cast Rescue from the Underworld, which hasn't happened yet by the time you choose the target, so you can't cast the spell because you don't have a legal target for it. If you wait for the destruction spell to resolve first, you now have a legal target, but now you can't pay the cost for the spell anymore. No matter which way you slice it, you're either short an Orpheus or a Eurydice because the Bear Cub can't play both roles at the same time.
Q: If I sacrifice Forsaken Miner to activate Altar of Dementia targeting my opponent, does that trigger Forsaken Miner's crime ability?
A: Yes. Forsaken Miner's crime ability functions from the graveyard because it talks about returning it from the graveyard, and "whenever you commit a crime" abilities check whether they trigger after you have completed the process of casting a spell or activating an ability, including paying its cost. Since you sacrificed Forsaken Miner to pay the activation cost, it is in the graveyard at the time its ability is checked, so the ability triggers.
Q: If Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer exiles Mox Tantalite, may I suspend it or cast it immediately?
A: Neither, actually. You can't suspend it because it's not in your hand, and you can't cast it because it has the unpayable cost of "this space intentionally left blank."
Q: What if I cascade into Mox Tantalite instead, for example with Bloodbraid Elf, can I cast it?
A: Sure. Mox Tantalite's mana value is 0, which is less than Bloodbraid Elf's mana value, so cascade allows you to cast it without paying its mana cost. This is an alternative cost that you can pay, so you can cast Mox Tantalite this way.
Q: My opponent attacks with Living Lore and I block it with enough creatures to kill it. Can my opponent still sacrifice it to cast the card it had exiled?
A: No, that ability gets triggered by Living Lore dealing combat damage, and it gets dealt lethal damage at the same time. By the time the ability goes on the stack, Living Lore is already in the graveyard, so it can't be sacrificed when that ability resolves.
Q: Can I still cast Vampiric Tutor if Angel of Jubilation is on the battlefield?
A: Absolutely. Vampiric Tutor causes loss of life when it resolves, but that's not the same thing as paying life to cast it. Look at Toxic Deluge for an example of the type of thing that Angel of Jubilation forbids.
And that's all the time we have for this week. Thanks for reading, and please come back next week when Nathan presents our first look at Aetherdrift!
- 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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