Published on 04/22/2013
A Dance with Dragon's Maze
By Eli Shiffrin, Carsten Haese, James Bennett, and Callum Milne
This Article from: Carsten Haese
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Note: This article is over two years old. Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes. Proceed with caution.
What is dead may never die
As always, please send your Magic rules questions to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet them at @CranialTweet. You will receive an answer directly from one of our writers, and your question might even appear in a future episode.
Q: If I activate Jace, Architect of Thought's -8 ability and search out some cards, can I wait to cast those cards later?
A: Nope. The only thing that allows you to cast those cards is the resolution of the -8 ability, so you can only cast them while that ability is resolving. Any cards that you exile but choose not to cast will simply remain in exile indefinitely.
Q: When I cast Pithing Needle, can I name "planeswalker" and stop all planeswalkers?
A: That would be very powerful, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Pithing Needle is asking you to name a card, not a card type. You can shut down one specific planeswalker with one Pithing Needle, but not all of them at once.
Q: If I control Palisade Giant and put Holy Mantle on it, does that mean I can no longer be dealt damage by creatures?
A: Yup. Any damage that a creature would deal to you gets redirected to Palisade Giant. This redirection doesn't change the source of the damage, so it's still damage from a creature source. Since Palisade Giant has protection from creatures thanks to the Mantle, that damage is prevented and both you and your Giant are unharmed. If all your opponent has is an attacking army of creatures, he's pretty much screwed.
Q: Suppose I control Djinn Illuminatus and there are twelve total creatures on the battlefield. How much would I have to pay to cast Blasphemous Act with one replication?
A: Let's do some math! To calculate the total cost you have to pay to cast a spell, you start with its mana cost or alternative cost, add additional costs and cost increasing effects, subtract cost decreasing effects, and finally you apply Trinisphere's effect if necessary. The mana cost is the string of mana symbols that's — usually, says Tarmogoyf — printed in the top-right corner of the card. For Blasphemous Act, that's
. The replicate cost is the same as the mana cost, so it's as well, which we add to the mana cost. Then we apply a cost reduction of 
, which leaves us with a total cost of 
. Q: If I control Djinn Illuminatus and an Isochron Scepter that has Searing Spear imprinted on it, can I replicate Searing Spear when I activate the Scepter?
A: Sure! You're casting a copy of Searing Spear, so it's a spell you cast. As such, it has a replicate cost you can pay. However, as we established in the previous question, the replicate cost is the same as the mana cost which is still
even if the Scepter waives the part of the total cost that comes from the mana cost. Q: Does Vigil for the Lost work for token creatures?
A: Absolutely! A token that gets sent to the graveyard actually goes to the graveyard, and it'll set off appropriate triggered abilities on the way there. Once it's there, it'll cease to exist when state-based actions are checked, but that doesn't change the fact that it did go to the graveyard.
All men must die
A: Nope. Unlike a targeted spell, Damnation doesn't lock in what it wants to destroy when it's put on the stack. It simply destroys all creatures it finds on the battlefield when it resolves. If you blink a creature with Restoration Angel in response to Damnation, the creature leaves and comes back right away, and then the newly returned creature gets destroyed by Damnation.
Q: My opponent controls a Wolfir Silverheart and a Silverblade Paladin that are paired. What happens if I cast Turn to Frog on Wolfir Silverheart?
A: Silverblade Paladin is really committed to this relationship, so the pair won't break up just because Wolfir Silverheart is temporarily turning into a Frog. Since the two creatures are still paired, Silverblade Paladin still gives itself double strike. It also tries to give Froggy Silverheart double strike, but the more recent effect from Turn to Frog removes that ability, so Froggy Silverheart doesn't have double strike. Likewise, Froggy Silverheart loses the ability to give itself and its significant other +4/+4, so Silverblade Paladin shrinks to 2/2.
Q: I control a Cloudfin Raptor that doesn't have any +1/+1 counters on it. If I cast Gather the Townsfolk, how many counters does it get?
A: Just one. The evolve ability triggers twice, but the Raptor's power and toughness is re-checked for each trigger when it resolves. When the second evolve trigger resolves, the Raptor is a 1/2, so it's no longer smaller than the token that triggered the evolve ability and it won't get a second counter.
Q: Due to an epically Epic Experiment in a recent Commander game, we got a large number of Sphinx-Bone Wand triggers on the stack at once. If the Wand is destroyed in response, does the Wand still do damage?
A: Nope. Destroying the Wand doesn't remove those triggers from the stack, so they'll still resolve and do as much as possible, but as much as possible unfortunately amounts to a big bowl of nothing. The ability only causes the Wand to deal damage if you put a counter on the Wand with the ability. Since the Wand is no longer there, putting a counter on it is impossible.
Q: What about Eye of the Storm? If that's destroyed in response to its trigger, does it still exile the spell and can the copies still be cast?
A: Yes to both. Just as before, the trigger resolves and does as much as it can. Exiling the spell doesn't require Eye of the Storm to be on the battlefield, so that part happens. Knowing which cards were exiled with this ability doesn't require Eye of the Storm to be on the battlefield, either, so the part that copies those cards and lets you cast the copies still happens, too.
Q: I attack my opponent with Lazav, Dimir Mastermind and my opponent blocks with Hypnotic Specter for reason that I don't care to guess. Lazav takes 2 damage and lives while my opponent's Specter dies. What happens if I choose to copy the Specter with Lazav?
A: That wouldn't be a very good idea. Becoming a copy changes what Lazav looks like, but it won't make Lazav into a new object. In particular, he still has 2 damage marked on him after he becomes a copy of Hypnotic Specter. That amount of damage is lethal for Lazav's new body, so he is destroyed.
Q: Can an Evil Twin destroy itself with its own ability?
A: Certainly! Except in weird face-down situations, an Evil Twin will always have the same name as itself, and the targeting requirement doesn't say anything about "another." It may require some convincing, but an Evil Twin that feels the need to stab itself in the face is welcome to do so.
Q: Can I regenerate my Charging Troll so I get to keep it after sacrificing it to Altar of Bone?
A: No, that doesn't work. While sacrifice and destruction both (usually) result in the creature going to the graveyard, they are still different actions, and regeneration only replaces destruction.
All men must serve
A: Two each. The Champions are returned at the same time, and creatures that enter the battlefield at the same time see each other entering, so each Champion's ability is triggered twice by the other two Champions. The ability refers to the Champion itself by name, so it only puts counters on itself as opposed to putting +1/+1 counters on all creatures named "Champion of the Parish," so each Champion puts two +1/+1 counters on itself.
Q: When is a creature considered attacking? Can I Aetherize my opponents creatures in his second main phase if they attacked me in his combat phase?
A: The second main phase is a bit too late for that. Creatures are attacking from the point they are declared as attackers, or are put onto the battlefield attacking, and they remain attacking creatures until something removes them from combat or until the combat phase ends. The last chance to Aetherize your opponent's creatures would be in the end of combat step, which is the last step of the combat phase.
Q: My opponent controls a Blistercoil Weird that's enchanted with Dual Casting. If I want to use Lyev Skyknight to prevent him from activating the spell copy ability, what do I have to target with the detain ability?
A: You have to detain the thing that actually has the activated ability you want to stop. Dual Casting has a static ability, and that static ability gives an activated ability to the enchanted creature. This means that you have to detain the creature to stop the ability it gets from Dual Casting.
Compare this to, for example, Firebreathing. Firebreathing itself has an activated ability, and its resolution gives the enchanted creature a boost. To stop that ability, you'd have to detain Firebreathing.
Q: I control a Body Double that's copying a Chancellor of the Spires in my graveyard. If I use Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker's ability to copy the Body Double, does it make a Chancellor token or a Body Double token that can copy a different creature from my graveyard?
A: It makes a Chancellor token. Copy effects are copiable, so when Kiki-Jiki looks at your Body Double to determine its copiable values, it doesn't actually see a Body Double. It sees a Chancellor of the Spires, so that's what it'll copy.
Q: If I control Exquisite Blood and I use Sorin Markov's -3 ability to set my opponent's life total from 20 to 10, will I gain 10 life?
A: Yup! Setting a player's life total causes that player to gain or lose the amount of life that's needed to get to the new life total. Your opponent lost 10 life, so Exquisite Blood's ability triggers and you gain 10 life.
Q: I'm playing a Commander game, and my commander is black and blue. My Nightveil Specter has exiled a juicy green creature from my opponent's deck and I really want to cast it. Can I copy my opponent's Forest with Thespian's Stage and use it to make green mana?
A: You can copy the Forest, but you can't tap it for green mana. If you try, it'll just produce colorless mana instead.
903.9. If mana would be added to a player's mana pool of a color that isn't in the color identity of that player's commander, that amount of colorless mana is added to that player's mana pool instead.
And that's all the time we have for today. Please come back next week for our very special Dragon's Maze special. You won't want to miss it. If you think you know what to expect, I have only one thing to say: You know nothing, Jon Snow!
- 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.
ybadragon
The Lazav question with hypnotic specter was mine :p
#1
• Date: 2013-04-22 • Time: 05:32:17 •
Doesn't the Evil Twin only have that ability because it applied a replacement effect? If so, does that mean it would only have (and be able to use on itself) the ability if it came into play as a copy of another, not-copying-anything Evil Twin?
#2
• Date: 2013-04-30 • Time: 09:14:16 •
Carsten
Quote (ajohnnyspridemate):
|
Doesn't the Evil Twin only have that ability because it applied a replacement effect? If so, does that mean it would only have (and be able to use on itself) the ability if it came into play as a copy of another, not-copying-anything Evil Twin? |
Yes, it only has the ability if it's copying something.
In the question as stated it is assumed that Evil Twin is copying something because that's what Evil Twins normally do and the question didn't mention anything that would keep it alive if it weren't copying anything.
#3
• Date: 2013-04-30 • Time: 19:02:55 •
