Published on 04/07/2025
Cloudy With a Chance of Dragonstorms
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Carsten Haese
Cranial Translation
Deutsch
Français
Today's forecast:
Cloudy with a chance of Dragonstorms
Cloudy with a chance of Dragonstorms
As always, if you have questions for us, whether they're about Tarkir: Dragonstorm or Magic cards from any other set, you can send your questions by email to moko@cranialinsertion.com , or send short questions on X to @CranialTweet. One of our authors will send you an answer, and your question may even appear in a future article.
And now, without further ado, let us behold some questions about Dragons!
Q: What counts as a Dragon for behold a Dragon?
A: Something is a Dragon if (and only if) it has the creature type Dragon on its type line, such as Armament Dragon just to name one of many examples. Having artwork that looks like a Dragon doesn't count — sorry, Ugin — and just having the word "Dragon" in the card name doesn't count, either — sorry, Sarkhan, Dragon Ascendant.
Q: If I choose a Dragon I control to behold for Osseous Exhale and the Dragon gets destroyed in response, do I still gain 2 life?
A: Sure. Osseous Exhale only checks whether a Dragon was beheld at the time it was cast. It doesn't matter if the Dragon is still around at the time Osseous Exhale resolves, you gain 2 life either way.
Q: If Poised Practitioner is the second spell I cast in a turn, does it get a +1/+1 counter?
A: No. Poised Practitioner needs to be on the battlefield at the time you cast the second spell in a turn for its ability to trigger. If it's the second spell you're casting, it's on the stack at the time you're casting it, so its ability doesn't trigger.
Q: If I control Taigam, Master Opportunist and cast Channeled Dragonfire as my second spell for the turn, do both the original and the copy resolve before Taigam suspends the original?
A: No. Taigam's ability goes on the stack above Channeled Dragonfire and resolves first. It makes a copy of Channeled Dragonfire, and then it exiles Channeled Dragonfire with four time counters on it. The copy resolves now-ish, and the suspended one will get a chance to resolve when its last time counter goes off, but the original Channeled Dragonfire won't resolve.
Q: I control Taigam, Master Opportunist and the second spell I cast is the Omen spell Flush Out. What happens?
A: Taigam's ability makes a copy of the spell, and it sees the copiable characteristics of Flush Out, so it puts a copy of Flush Out on the stack. Then it suspends the entire card, Dragon and Omen, with four time counters on it. The Flush Out copy resolves and does its discard+draw thing and then you shuffle it into the library, which means you simply shuffle your library because the copy is not represented by a physical card. Eventually, when the last time counter comes off of the suspended card, you get to cast it for free and you may choose to cast either the Dragon side or the Omen side of it.
Q: When do I have to announce the target for Glacial Dragonhunt?
A: Glacial Dragonhunt as a spell doesn't have a target, so you don't announce a target at the time you cast it. If you choose to discard a card during its resolution and that card turns out to be a nonland card, this triggers a reflexive triggered ability that has a target, and you announce its target when you put that ability on the stack.
Q: Does Bloodletter of Aclazotz double the value of X for Kotis, the Fangkeeper's triggered ability?
A: I'm afraid not. Bloodletter of Aclazotz causes your opponent to lose twice the amount of life due the damage that Kotis deals to them, but the X in Kotis's ability is the amount of damage it dealt, not the amount of life that was lost as a result of the damage.
When the sky looks like that, RUN!
A: Since the ability doesn't specify a duration for the "you may cast" effect, it means right now, during the resolution of Kotis's triggered ability. Any cards that you choose not to cast at that time, or that you can't cast because they lack targets or other prerequisites to cast, simply stay in exile indefinitely and uselessly.
Q: In Two-Headed Giant, does the last part of Betor, Kin to All's ability just insta-kill my opposing team?
A: As long as the "toughness 40 or greater" condition is met, sure. Both players on your opponents' team lose half their life rounded up at the same time, and the game sees their shared life total for each player's life total. For example, if the team's life total is 30, each opponent loses 15 life and their team ends up at 0 life. However, note that Betor only counts the total toughness of the creatures that you control individually. It does not consider the creatures your teammate controls.
Q: If I control The Sibsig Ceremony and I cast some creature, can I sacrifice it to give Unburied Earthcarver a counter in response to the Ceremony's trigger and still get a Zombie Druid token?
A: Yes, you can do that. The Ceremony's triggered ability will try and fail to destroy the creature, but the creation of the Zombie Druid token is not contingent on this destruction, so you still get the token.
Q: Can I sacrifice a creature token to Sidisi, Regent of the Mire's activated ability?
A: Sure, as long as you can target a creature card with mana value 1 in your graveyard. To activate Sidisi's ability, you first choose some number for X; then you choose an appropriate target, which is a creature card with mana value X+1 in your graveyard; finally you pay the cost, which involves sacrificing a creature with mana value X other than Sidisi. X=0 is a legal choice for the ability, and a creature token has a mana value of 0 (usually, unless it's a copy of something that has a nonzero mana value).
Q: After I draw cards with Narset, Jeskai Waymaster's ability, can I cast any of the cards I drew?
A: If they're instants or have flash, sure. Narset's ability triggers and resolves in your end step, and players get priority in the end step, so you get the opportunity to cast spells from among the cards you drew.
Q: For chapter III of Awaken the Honored Dead, when do I choose the target? Can I target the card I discarded?
A: Choosing to discard a card triggers a reflexive ability that requires a target, so you only choose a target after you discard. This means that you could target and bring back the card you just discarded, provided that it's a creature or land card, but this only benefits you if some triggered ability notices the card entering or leaving the graveyard. Otherwise, you achieve the same end result of the card being in your hand by simply choosing not to discard it in the first place.
Q: Can I target Zurgo's Vanguard with Smile at Death's triggered ability?
A: That depends on how many creatures you control. The ability that defines Zurgo's Vanguard's power is a characteristic-defining ability that functions at all times and in all zones, including in your graveyard, so Zurgo's Vanguard's power is only small enough to be a legal target for the ability if you control at most two creatures.
Who you gonna call?
A: Sure, that works. Call the Spirit Dragons's ability does not have an intervening-if clause that gets checked at the time the ability triggers. The ability goes on the stack regardless of how many Dragons you control, so you can make more Dragons in response to the ability.
Q: If Effortless Master is the second spell I cast in a turn, does it get the +1/+1 counters?
A: Absolutely. As Effortless Master resolves, the replacement effect checks how many spells you've cast this turn, and you have cast two or more spells this turn, so the condition for Effortless Master to get counters is satisfied.
Q: If New Way Forward deals an amount of damage that's lethal to my opponent but also causes me to draw more cards than I have left in my library, what happens?
A: The game ends in a draw. The delayed triggered ability from New Way Forward's prevention effect deals damage to your opponent and causes you to draw a bunch of cards, and then state-based actions are checked. State-based actions see that your opponent is at 0 or less life and that you've attempted to draw from an empty library, so both of you lose the game at the same time and the game is a draw.
Q: If I control Hollowmurk Siege with Sultai chosen, do I draw a card when Host of the Hereafter enters with counters on it?
A: Yup! An ability that triggers when a counter is put on a permanent also triggers when a permanent enters with a counter on it. Also note that the ability would ordinarily trigger twice because Host of the Hereafter enters with two counters, but the ability is limited to triggering once each turn.
Q: If Mardu Siegebreaker's ability triggers twice due to Panharmonicon for example, what happens when its attack trigger resolves?
A: Thanks to Panharmonicon, there are two cards that fit the description of "the exiled card", and the ability simply performs its actions on both of those cards, so you'll make tapped and attacking token copies of both cards for each opponent.
Q: What happens if Mardu Siegebreaker's ability exiles a mutate pile?
A: You'll get a very similar situation as in the previous question. Mardu Siegebreaker exiles one creature, but it turns into several individual cards in exile. All of those cards are "the exiled card", so you'll make token copies of each of those cards for each opponent.
And that's all the time we have for today's episode. Thanks for reading, and until next time, watch out for stormy weather!
- 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.
No comments yet.
