Published on 02/10/2025
We're Going the Distance
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Nathan Long
Cranial Translation
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They deftly maneuver and muscle for rank
And if you still have more questions after reading this article, reach out to us and ask us your questions. We'll send you an answer back, and we may use it in a future article. If you have a short question, reach out to us at @CranialTweet, and if you have a longer question, you can send us an e-mail at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: I've started my engines by playing Starting Column and my speed is currently at 2. Can I use the proliferate ability from Karn's Bastion to increase my speed to 3?
A: You cannot. "Speed" isn't a counter - it's just a number that's tracked. There's no counters involved with speed, so there's nothing to proliferate.
Q: It's my first turn, so I play Amonkhet Raceway to bring my speed to 1. If I then cast Gingerbrute and attack with it, dealing one damage to my opponent, will my speed increase to 2, or stay at 1?
A: It will go up to 2. While the trigger to increase your speed can only trigger once each turn, when you play your first card with Start your Engines!, that's not a trigger setting your speed to 1, it's a state-based action that sets your speed once you control a permanent with Start Your Engines!. Since that's not a triggered ability, if you can deal damage to your opponent that same turn your speed goes to 1, your speed will go from 1 to 2.
Q: If I activate the exhaust ability of Camera Launcher and then exile it and return it to the battlefield with Charming Prince's triggered ability, can I activate its exhaust ability again?
A: Yes you can. An exhaust ability can only be activated once, but if a permanent leaves the battlefield and returns, it's a new object with no memory of its previous existence on the battlefield. Since it's a new object, it's an object that hasn't activated its exhaust ability, so you'll be able to activate its exhaust ability again.
Q: Loot, the Pathfinder has three different exhaust abilities. Can I activate each of them once, or just one of them?
A: You can activate each of the abilities once. Each ability has exhaust, so each instance of the ability can be activated once. Activating the ability to add three mana won't stop you from activating the ability to draw three cards later, nor will it stop you from activating the last ability to deal 3 damage to a target.
Q: Can I use creatures that just entered the battlefield to crew a Vehicle or saddle a Mount?
A: Sure. "Summoning sickness" only prevents a creature from attacking or using abilities with the tap or untap symbol. You can tap them in other ways, like to crew your Vehicle. If you have a Vehicle with crew 3, you could play a 3/3 from your hand before combat, then tap that 3/3 to crew your Vehicle so your Vehicle can attack.
Q: My only two nonland permanents are an uncrewed Rangers' Refueler and a Transit Mage. If my opponent attacks me with two creatures, can I block one with Transit Mage, then tap it to crew my Refuler and block with the Refueler as well?
A: No you cannot. All blockers are declared at the same time, not one at a time. You don't get a chance to activate abilities in the middle of declaring blockers. You can either use the Mage to block, or you can tap it to crew the Refueler so the Refueler can block, but you can't block with both during the same combat.
Q: I'm attacking with Sab-Sunen, Luxa Embodied that has two +1/+1 counters. After attacking with it, I cast Snakeskin Veil to give it a +1/+1 counter and hexproof. Is Sab-Sunen still attacking, or is it removed from combat since it has an odd number of counters on it?
A: It will still be attacking. Once Sab-Sunen has been declared as an attacker, it will remain attacking until the combat phase is over or it is removed from combat. Adding or removing +1/+1 counters from it so it ends up with an odd number of counters after it's declared as an attacker or blocker won't remove it from combat, so it will still be attacking and will still deal and receive damage like normal.
And long ago somebody left with the cup.
Q: If I cycle my Lightshield Parry, will that cause my Marauding Mako to trigger and get a +1/+1 counter?
A: Yep, it will get a counter. Cycling a card involves discarding it from your hand, so any ability that triggers when you discard one or more cards (like the Mako's ability) will trigger, and the Mako will get a +1/+1 counter.
Q: I have a Captain Howler, Sea Scourge under my control. I've cycled three cards this turn, triggering Captain Howler's ability three times targeting itself, and Captain Howler deals combat damage to my opponent. How many cards will I draw?
A: You'll draw a total of three cards. Since Captain Howler's triggered ability resolved three times targeting itself, there are three instances of the delayed triggered ability set up. When Captain Howler deals combat damage to the opponent, all three instances of those delayed triggers will trigger, and you'll end up drawing a total of three cards from those three delayed triggered abilities.
Q: Since there's a new Pilot token, does that mean all of my old Pilot tokens can also saddle Mounts as though its power were 2 greater?
A: It does not, and old cards that made Pilot tokens won't receive errata. They have an identical name to an already-existing token, but a Pilot token isn't a predefined token like a Food token or Treasure token. We've had instances of tokens with the same name but different power/toughness, color, and abilities in the past, so this isn't any different. Old cards that make Pilot tokens won't be changed to help out saddle as well, they'll continue to only treat their power as if it was 2 greater when crewing Vehicles.
Q: If I have multiple Unstoppable Plans in play, can I tap my permanents after one trigger has resolved, before the next trigger resolves?
A: Sure. The triggers from your Plans resolve one at a time, not all at the same time. After one trigger has resolved, everyone gets priority again before the next trigger resolves, so if you have something like Riverchurn Monument in play, you could let one Plan trigger resolve, then activate its ability before the next Plan trigger resolves (so it will untap and you can activate it a second time).
Q: I have six cards in my graveyard, and I cast Quag Feast targeting my opponent's Dracosaur Auxiliary. In response, my opponent activates the first ability of Soul-Guide Lantern to exile my graveyard. What happens when the Feast resolves?
A: When the Feast resolves, you mill two cards, then we count the number of cards in your graveyard and compare it to the mana value of the target you chose. The Auxiliary has a mana value of 6, but you only have two cards in your graveyard. Since you don't have enough cards in your graveyard, the Feast won't destroy your opponent's Auxiliary.
Q: Does Radiant Lotus have a mana ability?
A: It does not. One of the requirements for an activated ability to be a mana ability is that it can't target. Radiant Lotus targets a player to add the mana, which means that the ability will use the stack and can be responded to.
Q: Does that mean I could use something like Deflecting Swat on Radiant Lotus's ability and steal the mana from my opponent?
A: You could! Since the ability uses the stack and targets a player, you could use Deflecting Swat and change the target of the opponent's Radiant Lotus ability to you. Your opponent would choose what color of mana you get, but you'll end up with the mana instead of your opponent.
And thinking of someone for whom he still burns.
Q: I'm at max speed, and I control Vnwxt, Verbose Host and a Teferi's Ageless Insight. If I would draw a card, what happens?
A: You're going to draw a lot of cards. If it's not the first draw that you would make during your draw step, then Vnwxt and the Inight will both apply to the draw. It won't really matter in what order you apply the replacement effects in, since they're both doing the same thing. One draw is doubled to two draws, and then those two draws will be doubled by the other replacement effect, and you'll draw four cards.
It's a little different if it's your first draw during your draw step. Vnwxt will apply to any draw you make, but the Insight won't apply to the first draw during your draw step. So at first, you apply Vnwxt's ability, and you would draw two cards instead of one. The first draw happens like normal, but when we'd draw the second card, the Insight can apply to that second draw, so you actually get a second and a third card, so you end up drawing a total of three cards during your draw step.
Q: I control Rover Blades which are currently attached to a creature. If I activate its crew ability, what happens to the Blades?
A: The Blades will become a creature and will unattach from the creature it's currently attached to. A creature can't be attached to anything, so when the crew ability resolves and Rover Blades become an artifact creature, if they're attached to a creature, they'll unattach from that creature. This can serve as a surprise blocker if you need it - sure, you'll have to pay to equip it again on your next turn, but your opponent may not realize that you can effectively turn your equipment into a blocker on their turn.
Q: If I name a card with crew or saddle with Skyseer's Chariot, will it affect its crew or saddle cost?
A: In both cases, yes. Both crew and saddle are activated abilities, so they'll be affected by the Chariot's ability. It doesn't matter that there's not a mana component to the cost, it will still be increased. For example, if you name "Hulldrifter", players will have to tap creatures with total power 3 or greater and pay two mana to activate the crew ability of Hulldrifter.
Q: If I exile Ketramose, the New Dawn with an Ephemerate, will Ketramose's ability trigger?
A: As long as it's your turn, yes. Ketramose will see itself being exiled from the battlefield when Ephemerate resolves, so its ability will trigger and you'll draw a card and lose 1 life.
Q: I cast Mimeoplasm, Revered One and exile Scavenging Ooze from my graveyard with its replacement effect. I make Mimeoplasm into a copy of the Ooze, then start exiling creature cards with the Ooze's activated ability. Can I now use Mimeoplasm's ability to copy those creature cards I exiled to the Ooze's ability?
A: No you may not. Mimeoplasm has a linked ability - the activated ability of Mimeoplasm only has access to the cards exiled to Mimeoplasm as it entered the battlefield, not cards exiled by it for any other reason. The cards exiled when it was a copy of Scavenging Ooze are not linked to Mimeoplasm's normal activated ability, so Mimeoplasm will not be able to copy anything that was exiled by the Ooze's ability.
Q: I discard a creature card while I control Hashaton, Scarab's Fist. When the trigger resolves, can I pay
multiple times and make multiple tokens?A: No you may not. When the trigger resolves, you can pay
once to make a copy. It's not an activated ability, and the trigger doesn't say you can pay multiple times, so you can only pay once to make a single token, not as many tokens as you want.We've reached the finish line for this article, so we'll see you all again next week!
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