MTG Magic The Gathering Ask A Judge - 「 T H U R S D A Y '

File: IMG_3579.jpg (44KB, 223x310px) Image search: [Google]

44KB, 223x310px

How does pic related work with fiery confluence? I know it can OHKO any opponent who played a Blasphemous Act.

>>52090255
It works poorly with Confluence, because unlike Blasphemous Act, it's three separate instructions.

The best it'll do is stop the damage from the first "do damage" instruction on the spell. In the case of Fiery Confluence, that'll probably be the "1 damage to all creatures" mode, but just that first mode. If they pick that mode 3 times, Reflect Damage will stop the first half-a-Pyroclasm and throw it all right back at the Confluence's controller, but the next two will hit just fine.

>>52089926
Can mind bend change the color of a permanent?

>>52091923
It cannot. Mind Bend is purely a text-changing effect (Layer 3) where color-changing is Layer 5.

>>52091946
But it does make Omnath, locus of mana lose all green mana it was floating if I mind bend him?

>>52091966
Not immediately, but if you use Mind Bend to change the word "GREEN" to the word "BLUE", for example, then any floating green mana would disappear as soon as the game moves to the next step/phase.

If an indestructible creature is damaged. Is the damage still marked on it?

>>52092439
Yep. The damage just doesn't do anything on its own.

It still gets damaged, and damage is marked on it.
If you removed whatever is making it indestructible, like Shield of the Oversoul, it would die as a state based action.

>>52092439
Yes, it just won't be destroyed as a result of the damage. If it lost Indestructible later in that turn, it would die.

File: zada.jpg (69KB, 312x445px) Image search: [Google]

69KB, 312x445px

I have questions!

If I have two Zadas out, do they bounce the copies back and forth forever?

Do Zada copies resolve in any particular order, or simultaneously? Also, do they count as casting spells for things like prowess? thx, much love

>>52093435
IF you have two Zadas out, one of them dies because they're Legendary.

Assuming you had Mirror Gallery out, they would not bounce back and forth forever. The copies created by Zada's trigger are not cast, they're just created on the stack. As such, they wouldn't trigger the other Zada. You'd just get two copies of each spell aimed at all your dudes.

The copies are put on the stack in the order of your choosing, and resolve one at a time.

>>52093435
No because it's looking for a spell that's been cast. The copies are not cast. So they also don't count for prowess etc.

I think the only thing that makes copies of spells that are then cast (for free) is Isochron?

>>52093435
No, since copies aren't cast.

In whatever order you damn well please, since you're the one putting the copies on the stack you do so in the order you want.

No, since copies aren't cast.

>>52093450
>You'd just get two copies of each spell aimed at all your dudes.
You'd only get one copy per dude.

>>52093469
Right, shit- Zada triggers only when you cast one aimed at her, so the other wouldn't trigger.

RTFC, self.

>>52093457
afaik things that create an instant or sorcery copy that are not on the stack must be casted.

>>52093450
>>52093469
So mostly no fun allowed. Thanks for the help dudes!

>>52093507
Bingo. Anything that creates a copy of an instant or sorcery card in a non-Stack zone will have you cast it.

There's Elite Arcanist, Arcane Savant, Scepter, Eye of the Storm, Mizzix's Mastery, Panoptic Mirror, Reversal of Fortune, Spellbinder, Spellweaver Helix, and Spellweaver Volute, if I remember right.

>>52093502
>RTFC, self.
I've learned that the hard way.
Hell, I've learned that the first step when any player ever has a question about a card is to have them read it aloud to me. About 15% of the time, that resolves the issue on the spot.

>>52093678
The good old Socratic Judge Call.

Noobish question but how does exactly Magus of the Tabernacle work on your upkeep? If you sac him to his ability first, what happens with the rest of your critters?

>>52095740
He makes each creature create a trigger that says "Pay or I die".
Imagine this as each of your guys throwing a grenade at themselves because he said so.

Getting rid of him once the triggers go on the stack won't stop the remaining triggers.
Imagine this as the guy who said "EVERYBODY GRENADE YOURSELF" dying while the other grenades are still ticking. Doesn't change a thing.

>>52095740
Magus gives a triggered ability to all your creatures. At the beginning of your upkeep, ALL of those abilities trigger and go on the stack. Getting rid of the Magus will not undo the abilities that have already triggered.

tl;dr it doesn't

Someone casts living death and An Elesh Norn from one player comes in and a Bane of progress from another comes in at the same time. The bane of progress hits 3 targets, does the bane of progress live?

>>52095906
Bane of Progress doesn't target anything.

But no, it won't. The trigger will fire when it enters, as will any other ETB triggers. Living Death finishes resolving, is put into the graveyard, and SBAs are checked. Bane of Progress, along with any other creature that has 0 toughness because of Elesh, immediately dies. Then all triggers are put onto the stack (including Bane's), then those triggers resolve.

File: 1461699311442.jpg (22KB, 720x540px) Image search: [Google]

22KB, 720x540px

I'm considering going to GP Orlando for the main event since I live nearby, and while I'm not the best at the game I am able to at least go 2-2 with a shit deck (the LGS I play at is a mix of competitive and casual players, myself being more in the middle).

Thing is, I've never touched a Competitive REL and I doubt I'll make it far enough to even fathom Professional. So my question is just what are some basic pointers you would give to someone who has touched nothing more to an FNM regarding the REL and the general environment?

>>52096226
Never trust your opponent.

That's not to say they're cheating, but they absolutely do not have your best interests at heart. If something feels fishy, call a Judge. If you're not sure how an interaction works, call a Judge. If you and your opponent don't agree on how something should work, call a Judge. If you want to make sure a card does what your opponent SAYS it does, call a Judge. Don't ever hesitate to call a Judge if you have a question about basically anything.

Beyond that, it's really just tighter technical play. Be aware of your triggers, don't offer anything for a match result (or request it, or vice versa), etc.

Quite honestly, if you don't dig the competitive scene, I'd say avoid the main event. Save your cash and just go hang out. GPs are like Magic conventions anymore- there's hella side events, plenty of random people to jump into games with, artists, cosplayers, vendors.

>>52092619
So if I deal 5 damage to an indestructible sigarda I have to toxic deluge for 5 life to kill her still?

>>52097013
Yes.

>>52097013
Yes, because damage does not reduce toughness. That Sigarda is not a 5/0, or a 5/1, she's a 5/5 with 5 damage marked on her.

>>52097302
I recently got into a little spat with a friend during a friendly kitchen-table game.

The game had dragged on to the lategame, and I have a tendency of stacking my lands one on top of the other for simplicity's sake; by this point I had quite the pile.

My opponent was at low life, and had just tapped out to draw a bunch of cards with Invoke the Firemind. I noticed that if I activated my Treetop Village and attacked with everything, it'd be just enough damage to kill my opponent. I do this, my opponent has nothing to respond with, and I swing for lethal.

My opponent was upset afterwards. He had a Shriekmaw in his hand (that he did not draw with the Invoke the Firemind), and he said that he would have killed one of my creatures with if if he knew I had a Treetop Village. However, since he couldn't see the Treetop Village (as it was obscured by lands on top of it) he felt safe to spend all his mana to draw.

What I want to know is, did I break any rules by accidentally covering my Treetop Village? Do nonbasics and/or manlands have to stay in distinct piles?

File: 249.jpg (75KB, 312x445px) Image search: [Google]

75KB, 312x445px

>>52097668
So, this is an odd grey area. There's not a rule that you have to put them in distinct piles, but you can't try to obscure what you have. I know it wasn't your intent to "hide" your Treetop Village, but your opponent couldn't see it and took game actions based on that assumption.

Your opponent is able to request that you spread your lands out more, because they're entitled to know exactly which objects are in a public zone like the battlefield. In the future, I'd recommend spreading your lands out a bit more; I usually keep mine stacked up by what colors they can produce, cascading (like in this poorly done MSPaint)

This way, your opponent can see what lands you have more easily than if they're just in a haphazard pile.

File: 1425370073546.jpg (82KB, 555x526px) Image search: [Google]

82KB, 555x526px

Do I have to explicitly announce I'm using Cavern of Souls's second ability to make something uncounterable or can I just tap it along with other lands for mana and let my opponent make the attempt

>>52097873
The opposite, actually. It was ORIGINALLY ruled that you're using the colorless mana unless you explicitly said otherwise, but the design team (yes, the DESIGN TEAM) spoke out against that. So the default is that you're using colored mana unless you explicitly state that you're using colorless (or using colorless would be the only way to legally cast the spell- example, three Forests and a Cavern set to Eldrazi would result in a very counterable Thought-Knot Seer)

How does misdirection work with wild defiance if I misdirected the spell to another creature?

If I have a Lightning Axe exiled by a Spell Queller, if I kill the Queller, may I discard a card to cast the Axe on another creature?

>>52101875
Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: When you recast a spell from Spell Queller you have to pay the alternate costs again and you pick targets as though you were casting the spell for the first time. So you can choose the same target or a new one.

>>52102107
Cool, just verifying.

So I just judged my first event. Modern FNM. I don't have a good modern deck so I asked the shop owner if I could (unofficially) judge the event. He basically handed it over to me, letting me call pairings, make rulings and decide prizes, which was great. There were a couple of straightforward rulings (can I trample over planeswalkers, can I spell snare a kicked vines of vastwood, etc), and a couple of ones I had to look up, such as one player having four mental missteps in his sideboard.

One I wasn't totally sure about, I was watching a game where a player had a blood moon out and that player cracked a fetchland on his opponent's end step. Neither player noticed, and I didn't spot it till the next turn. I stepped in and undid it, fetch back onto the field, plains shuffled in, one life up. Was this the right way to handle it? He had untapped and drawn, but had not used the mana from the fetched land.

Another one that thankfully didn't have time to happen, the last two players of a round went to turns and one of them cast a karn. A spectator asked me what would happen if karn managed to ult during turns. I wasn't sure, but after looking at tournament procedures, I saw the line "New games should not be started once time has been called" and told him I assumed it counted for this as well. Is that right?

Also, thanks for all these threads, they certainly helped me to push in the direction of becoming a judge.

now I just have to find a mentor in buttfuck nowhere, Australia.

>>52104254
I'm not gA, but I would not have made that rewind, given a whole turn had passed.
I would check to make sure that fetch guy wasn't trying to sneak that past his opponent. (i.e. Knew he couldn't legally activate it but did so hoping his opponent wouldn't notice) because that's a one way trip to Dairy Queen.

If it was an honest "wait shit I forgot blood moon stops that", then since the board state is legal I tell them to play on and be more careful. (Our shop's judge literally has players hold out their wrist to be slapped lightly)

>>52090265
Why is this? It says "all damage dealt by any one source" does that mean 1 card with 3 modes is seen as 3 sources of damage?

I have Gitrok Moster on the battlefield a fetch land and a Drownyard Temple.

Lets assume I crack my fetch after trigger from sacraficing the Temple to gitrok resolves, do I draw totall of 3 cards or just 2?

>>52104982
See the oracle text.

>>52105028
You will draw one from the Temple and one from the fetch.

>>52101697
Wild Defiance would have already triggered for the FIRST target, and would then trigger again for the new one. The trigger condition is 'becomes the target', so even if an existing spell just changes targets, that'll trigger it.

>>52101875
You either pay 5, discard a card, or the Axe stays stuck in exile.

>>52104982
It says -the next time- that source would deal damage. Fiery Confluence choosing "50% of a Pyroclasm" for all modes is only one source of damage, but it's there different instances of damage.

>>52105028
Just two. Saccing Temple to Gitrog's trigger will feed you a draw, and popping your fetchland would feed you a draw. I'm not sure where you think a third trigger would come from- could you clarify?

>>52104254
>Fetch Moon
More or less. At FNM, the proper course of action for something like that is "Rewind through everything that happened between now and the error, if feasible". That said, the rewind should not be more disruptive than leaving things as-is, so if you're having to undo too much stuff, leave it. Rewinding through draws is rough. Rewinding through draws where a fetch was involved is basically "never"- because you'd have to shuffle a random card from his hand back into his library and then he gets to draw a new card.

>Second thing
Correct. Karn's "Restart the game" is actually just "End this game, then begin a new one". So if you Karn during extra turns, that game is over and you don't start a new one.

Can I use deflecting palm against bonfire of the damned? Do my creature still take damage?

>>52106162
You can, but it'll only stop the damage to you. Your creatures will still get blasted.

>>52106187
So it's better to use wild ricochet or redirect against bonfire?

>>52106231
A Reflect Damage would work too- Deflecting Palm only half-works because it explicitly specifies that it only stops damage TO YOU.

But yeah, a Ricochet would be a real slap in the mouth, since Bonfire is 'target player' rather than 'target opponent'

Does pithing needle stop pentad prism or lotus bloom from adding mana?

>>52107050
It does not, because it explicitly won't stop mana abilities, which both of those are.

Is mystical tutor a good website to utilize while gaining more knowledge about judging?

>>52107301
It is!

I have 2 questions regarding energy and token production:
1 - Let's say I have 5 energy, 2 Decoction Modules (+1 energy when a creature enters the battlefield) and a servo creating attacker (like Aether Chaser). When I attack I'm able to create 1 servo? 2 servos? or any amount of servos?
2 - Same situation, but with an additional Fabrication Module. So, when I cast another Aether Chaser I should get a total of 4 energy, but does the Fabrication Module trigger once or 3 times (Aether Chaser + Decoction Module + Decoction Module)?

>>52108464
>First bit
You can make 1 total. That trigger says "Hey, you can pay EE to get a guy", and that's your option. You pay EE for one guy, or you pay nothing for nothing. It's a binary choice- pay or don't. You can't "overpay" or pay it multiple times.

>Second bit
Three times. You play Chaser, and it triggers itself and both Fabrication Modules. As each trigger resolves, you get some amount of Energy, which immediately triggers Fabrication Module.

>>52089926
My friend and I are going to GP today. We're planning on joining a 4-man commander side event, and purposefully try to eliminate the other two schmoes before taking each other out. Is this allowed? Can they call a judge over and stop us somehow?

>>52109072
There's really no way to stop it, no. Not really against any rules, either.

>>52110030
Thanks just making sure. We plan not to be dicks about it but at $10 each we're not walking away empty handed.

>>52110332
Honestly, I'd suggest you skip the paid pods and just play pick up games. Set up somewhere that's not in use and jam some games- passerby WILL stop and ask "Hey, can I get in on the next one?", and ideally they will not be tryhard assholes because there's not money on the line.

>>52109072
If you're in Pastimes' sphere of influence they will DQ you as that kind of collusion falls under Cheating - Fraud in their HJ's eyes.

Also don't attempt an infinite damage combo to win - you can get hit with Improperly Determining a Winner which is also a DQ.

File: 2qNqF2Y.png (29KB, 480x480px) Image search: [Google]

29KB, 480x480px

>>52111855

>>52105640
>Just two. Saccing Temple to Gitrog's trigger will feed you a draw, and popping your fetchland would feed you a draw. I'm not sure where you think a third trigger would come from- could you clarify?

Beggining of my turn since Gitroks ability goes on the stack.

>>52111916
Not sure what that's supposed to mean. I got bopped by collusion at an SCG Indy side event last month and IDaW at Gencon 2016.

I can storyline if you want.

>>52112017
>Upkeep
Sac Drownyard Temple to Gitgud, draw
Sac fetch to fetch a land, draw
>Draw step
Draw

If that's what you mean by 3 draws, then yeah, there's 3 draws, but there's not anything else telling you to draw in the situation you described.

>>52112120
Then I'm very sorry for that, because neither of those penalties should have happened to you.

Are you excited for the new duel decks/mm17?

>>52112017
If you're including your Draw Step draw, you get three, yes. But I'm only seeing two lands dying here, so two total Gitrog triggers.

>>52112304
For IDaW, it was super infuriating because I got booted out of the other events I had signed up for.
>4 man commander pod, 2tix entry. Winner gets 6 tix, 2nd place gets their 2 back.
>Cast Tooth and Nail entwined (based bojeisu the GOAT of lands) fetch Mikaeus and Triskelion
>demonstrate the loop twice to allow for interaction and prove it's infinite.
>announce I will do the loop 3 googol times, each player gets hit with 1googol trike pokes
>pick up a die to see who gets hit by the first googol, then the second googol.
>guy who would have gotten second calls judge
>since I used a method outside the game to determine placement, I was sent to dairy queen while they play on
>45 minutes of paperwork later I'm told I will not be allowed in any further MTG events for the duration of the convention.
>am refunded entry fee to other events I pre-registered for and escorted out of the hall.

The salt was unfathomably unreal.

Sorry if you've been asked this before but, if you give Deathtouch to Walking Ballista and remove a counter to deal one damage to a creature, does the deathtouch effect trigger?

>>52112625
Yes. Deathtouch doesn't care whether the creature deals combat damage or not. If it deals damage to a creature, that creature's dead.

See also: cunning sparkmage+basilisk collar.

>>52112446
No, that was totally improperly determining a winner. You used a out-of-game method (a dice) to determine loss order. You should have just nuked them in some arbitrary but not random order.

>>52112625
Worth noting that deathtouch doesn't technically "trigger." Once a creature's been dealt damage by something with deathtouch it dies the next time someone would receive priority with no chance to respond.

>>52112810
The whole priority thing still confuses me.

>>52112852
Okay, so basically any time anybody does something that doesn't directly generate mana it doesn't actually happen right away. Instead, the ability gets thrown on the stack (think of it as papers being added to an in-box on a desk). If there's anything in the in-box then the following steps occur:
>The active player has a chance to activate more abilities or cast instants to put on the stack
>The other player has a chance to activate more abilities or cast instants to put on the stack
>If either player added anything go back to step 1, otherwise the thing on the top of the stack resolves (this is the most recent thing added)
>Go back to step 1
This continues until the stack is empty.

There's more details, interactions, exceptions, etc. but that should be plenty to cover most situations.

>>52112354
I am. Hopefully Punch vs Think has some neat reprints, and I'm super glad for MM17 putting a bunch of Commander staples in my groups' hands.

>>52112446
So, I can see where that's coming from. Instead of just making a decision, you basically used a random not-magic method to determine who would get prizes, so I can 100% see you getting penalized for that.

Technically you shouldn't have gotten IDAW, because the IPG doesn't apply to Regular REL events, which all side events are by default; I can see booting you from that pod without prizes, but booting you from the venue entirely is waaaaaay too far.

>>52112625
Deathtouch isn't a trigger, but yes.

>>52112749
>You should have just nuked them in some arbitrary but not random order
Is there even a way to do that besides just choosing the order yourself?

>>52113544
Sure- for example, killing the lowest life total first. Or the highest.

Just don't use a random and not-part-of-the-game method.

File: image.jpg (2MB, 3264x2448px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3264x2448px

I just found a trail of full art basics leading from my kitchen to my bathroom. Should i call a judge?

>>52095797
>EVERYBODY GRENADE YOURSELF
fuckin A

>>52113829
Sure.

Not so much a ruling questioning but more of a terminology question, when people say early, mid game, what turn/CMC limits our they typically talking about? Me and my group of friends always broke it down to early- up to 3rd turn/3 CMC, mid would be 4-5 and late is 6 in above. Is that fair breakdown and if not how do comp players typically tier early, mid and late?

>>52115273
Depends on the format.

>>52115424
could you break it down to legacy (the best you can lol) modern and current standard? Obviously depending on deck and format there is no universal answer but I would like a general breakdown if possible. Much obliged.

File: kill anything.png (267KB, 444x311px) Image search: [Google]

267KB, 444x311px

>>52112625

So deathtouch works through any damage dealt as long as the card rules say '(this thing) deals damage to target creature?"

>>52115914
Yes. I have a couple buddies who played this same basic combo with bow of nylea. The wording is "ANY damage" and because tapped damage is dealt through that creature deathtouch applies.

Quick question about stack:

Suppose my opponent plays Scrapheap Scrounger and in response I play Aether Meltdown. Can they in response tap Scrapheap Scrounger to crew a vehicle?

On a similar note if they tap to crew something, can I play Aether Meltdown in response to make the crew frizzle?

>>52115914
google magic deathtouch
"If a creature deals damage to another creature, and the damage-dealing creature has deathtouch, then the receiving creature has lethal damage (causing it to be destroyed). "
fucking noob

>>52116447
>Goes into an ask-a-judge thread to complain about someone asking a rules question

File: 1483260610265.jpg (961KB, 4208x3120px) Image search: [Google]

961KB, 4208x3120px

relatively new player here. can someone clearly explain the walker redirection rule to me?

You are able to redirect any damage that you deal to a player to an enemy planeswalker correct? does this mean that you can double dip on effects which deal damage simultaneously to both the player and the walker?

How do divided damage spell interactions work, for example, can both damage instances of electrolyze be redirected separately? similarly, lets say I have a teferi emblem and can cast walker abilities as instants. The opponent electrolyzes me for 1 and a 1 loyalty walker for 1. I cast an ability in response and go to 3 loyalty, can my opponent instead just send both at my face instead or is he locked into (basically) wasting a damage on the walker?


Im sure the rule exists for reasons that I dont fully appreciate yet but it seems that its needlessly clunky and too punishing for reactive playstyles

>>52115914
Correct. ANY damage (combat or non) dealt by a source with Deathtouch will "count".

>>52116332
They could. Meltdown doesn't give the Scrounger -4 power until it resolves and enters the battlefield, so they can respond to that spell by activating Crew.

If they Crew something, you can absolutely drop Meltdown in response, but it won't "fizzle" anything. By the time you're ABLE to respond, the Crew ability is fully paid for and on the stack.

>>52116447
Be nice or be quiet, your choice.

>>52116583
Any time a source YOU control would deal NOMCOMBAT damage to an opponent, you may redirect all of that damage to ONE planeswalker they control, as it happens. There's no way to "double dip" because there's no cards that do damage to a player AND their planeswalker.

>Electrolyze
If you're only targeting your opponent, you can deal 2 to them OR to one of their planeswalkers. If you're hitting them and also another player or a creature, you can only redirect that 1 damage to their planeswalker.

>Teferi
You do not 'cast' abilities, you activate them. Your opponent cannot Electrolyze you AND your planeswalker, because your Planeswalker is neither a creature nor a player. They can hit you, or the planeswalker, but not both. So let's say they're hitting you (and you have a 'walker on 1 and a Teferi Emblem), and an X/1 of yours. You can respond by activating a +2 ability... but they can then just ping you for 1, because they don't decide whether to redirect or not until the damage is HAPPENING. So they can change their mind.

Basically, the rule exists because their options were

1) Have Planeswalkers count as players for the purposes of targeting

2) Errata HUNDREDS of cards to say "Target player or planeswalker" or "Target creature, player, or planeswalker", or "Target opponent or planeswalker an opponent controls", etc

3) Bake in a rule to redirect noncombat damage on resolution

The other two options would have been way bigger headaches.

BED.

>>52116723

So basically as long as the scrounger resolves and enters untapped I can't prevent it from crewing at least once. Damn.

File: 20170311_023210.jpg (2MB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 3264x1836px

>>52089926
I made a red white standard kaladesh 75 card deck (in a short amount of time) revolving around a planeswalker (chandra) and heavy artifact crew/buffing.
>25 land, 9 white, 13 red, 4 mix
>22 "spells"
>>9 sorcery
>>3 enchantment
>>10 instant
>17 creature
>>16 creature
>>1 planeswalker (pic)
>11 artifact (pretty sure 5 creature artifact, 1 equiptment)

Some of these have changed, and I understand you cant help too much without seeing most of the cards, the lot of the artifact creatures have tap put 1/1 thopter (flying) on battlefield or tap/fabricate put 1-3 1/1 servos on the battlefield. No energy. Also, a lot of the sorceries, instants, and artifacts let me draw a card. Looking for improvements, will explain more if I have too.

>>52118926
Didnt mean to >>

>>52118926
1. Really not the right thread for this. gA doesn't give deck building advice usually and any side discussions are just gonna muddle things. Go ask in standard general or something.
2. There's no way for anyone to help you improve if you only vaguely provide what's in your deck. If you're asking for help you should be posting a complete or mostly complete list, preferably in the form of a link to a deck building website.
3. Only running one copy of a card you're "revolving around" doesn't work at all
>but it's expensive
Then don't build your deck around it.

>>52115914

>>Beginning of Combat Step
>>Declare Attackers Step
>>Declare Blockers Step
>>Combat Damage Step
>>End of Combat Step

Up to which point in the combat phase can I activate abilities, and how do tapped creatures that have already been declared as attackers or blockers behave?

I'm trying a new deck with a bunch of pic related TAP>deal damage/tap target creature

Ways back, I played against one guy with a similar thing, and I was never sure if he was cheating or not with how he handled blockers with tap-activated abilities.

Just want to make sure, if my opponent uses like tons of pyretic rituals, mana morphoses, and what not, and then right as he runs out of fuel, cast past in flames,can I use in response Ravenous trap for 0, exiling his grave, assuming the only ways his cards hit the grave were from the stack, thus screwing him over?

>>52119654
priority needs to pass back and forth before any of the combat steps end so you have a chance to activate abilities before all of them begin.

tapping does not remove a creature from combat so you are completely free to assign a creature as a blocker, then tap to activate its ability. It sounds like you are a little hung up on how to tap a creature to stop it from attacking. Just know that once the active player begins his declare attackers step, it is too late to tap a creature to prevent it from attacking. If you want to tap his creatures down you need to do it before the declare attackers step begins.

>>52119727
that is exactly how you do it assuming 3 or more cards entered your opponent's graveyard that turn

When, in a tournament setting, is something considered to be cast? If player A has a Chalice on 3 and player B taps three mana, puts an oblivion ring on the table, then immediately says "no wait" and plays a 4 drop instead, is that acceptable?

>>52119159
I understand that, I have recently started magic, I was just wondering what a susceptible amount of land-creature-spell ratio.

>>52122136
The basic rule is 24 lands 36 spells. The ratio can change depends on what kind of deck you are playing.

>>52120224
It's kind of a judgement call. If someone tapped three lands and started to put an O-Ring on board, but hadn't announced that they were casting it, and they quickly stopped themselves, I'd probably let them back that up and let their "punishment" be giving away the info of O-Ring in their hand.

If they actually said "Cast O-Ring" and paid the 3, tough luck. Ditto if I think too much time passed between them laying it down and 'realizing' there's a Chalice.

How does Stigma Lasher's effect work with Karn ult? I'd assume that the effect goes away but I'm not sure

>>52123562
You assume correctly. Karn's "Restart the game" actually means "end this game, then start a new one".

>>52124703
Say I beat someone in the previous round of a GP and knocked him out of day 2 contention. Next round during my win-and-in, he comes up and loudly yells what my opponent has in hand and how I should play around it.

Obviously salt lord gets thrown out. But what happens to the actual match? Is it aborted? Do I get DQ'd by getting outside assistance?

>>52125547
First, OA is a Match Loss, not a DQ.

Second, you're never penalized for OA that someone just throws at you- it's only if you GIVE it, or SEEK it, which you did not in this hypothetical.

Third, nothing would be done to your match. It would continue on. The saltlord would have an Outside Assistance penalty put into the system for tracking, and MIGHT be asked to either leave the venue or stay away from the main event, depending.

At what point is a "may" trigger considered missed?
Let's say I have Bident of Thassa. Combat damage is dealt to my opponent and nothing happens for a minute, no spells cast or anything.
Can I still claim my cards or is there a time limit?

>>52125646
Pretty much the same rules as regular ones- as soon as you take an action you couldn't have taken without acknowledging the trigger.

For Bident, the trigger is assumed to be remembered and on the stack until you move out of the Combat Damage Step; any activated abilities or spells cast while still in that step could be done with those triggers on the stack, so you haven't missed them yet. Once you move to the next step, they're gone.

For a targeted trigger, it'd be "missed" as soon as you took ANY game action post-trigger, because you need to have declared a target.

Player A attacks with Drana, Liberator of Malakir, Lantern Scout and Shambling Vent
Player B blocks the Lantern Scout with his Servant of the Conduit
When the damage it's done what would happen? Would the Servant die because the Scout get the +1/+1 counter or both of them would die? Also when the land loses the creature type, it would also lost the counter or not?

>>52126312
Drana will smack Player B for 2 damage, triggering herself. That trigger will resolve post First Strike damage, but before normal damage, putting a +1/+1 counter on the team.

Then, we move to the normal Combat Damage Step, where Shambling Vent does 3 damage to Player B, Lantern Scout does 4 damage to Servant of the Conduit, and Servant does 2 damage to Scout. Player A will gain 7 life, Player B will take 3 damage (resulting in probably losing 3 life), and Servant of the Conduit will die.

The counter will remain on the Vent, it just won't do anything while it's a noncreature; if noncreatures couldn't have +1/+1 counters on them, Raging Ravine and Llanowar Reborn would kinda suck.

How do the escalate cards, such as blessed alliance, work with ischron scepter

>>52128024
Pretty well. Escalate is an ADDITIONAL cost, and you have the option to pay those on Scepter. So you could Escalate the copy if you want.

>>52128181
You still have to pay the escalate cost though, right?

>>52129109
Correct.

say a duskwatch recruiter flips back into a human with Champion of the Parish out. Does Champion get the counter from the flip?

>>52130331
No, because a Human didn't enter the battlefield. It's been on the battlefield the whole time, all that changed is what it looks like.

Say I have a Silence in hand and want to be sure my opponent doesn't wreck the board before my next turn. Would the upkeep step be my chance to cast before combat?

>>52130441
Kinda sorta. You could cast during the Upkeep or Draw Steps, or the Pre-Combat Main Phase.

Upkeep is your 'safest' choice, because while your opponent can respond with Instants or spells with Flash, that's ALL they can do. If you wait until Draw, they get to draw a card, which may help them, and if you wait until the Main Phase, they'll be able to cast at least one non-Instant non-Flash spell before you can throw out Silence in response.

does a morph monster keep +1+1 counters when it flips?

>>52130558
They turn face up, they don't flip. But yes. They're still the same object, all you did was change what they look like. Any counters of any kind will remain on them, and any Equipment or Auras that can still legally be attached to them will remain.

R8 H8 my pauper

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/591679#online

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/591687#online

I am playing EDH with two opponents. I had Confusion in the Ranks out. Opponent 1 has a Breya and a Fairy Artisans. Opponent 2 plays a Phyrexian Metamorph targeting Breya.

What the fuck happens?

I have Ice Floe and am being attacked by two creatures, I activate my Ice Floe targeting one creature, hold priority, activate my Candelabra of Tawnos to untap Ice Flow, than activate it again targeting the second creature. Are both creatures locked down by Ice Flow?

>>52130735
Phyrexian Metamorph doesn't target.

Metamorph would enter as a Breya, triggering Confusion. Opponent 2 would target an Artifact or Creature that you or Opponent 1 controls, and swap control of them.

>>52130834
Nope! You'll tap both, but only the second one is locked down. The reason for that is that the duration of "for as long as Ice Floe remains tapped" ended before it began for the first activation, so the effect tied to that duration never begins in the first place.

>>52130852
lame

>>52130852

I phrased that badly, my mistake.

The real weird confusion came from creatures coming into play and Fairy Artisan, and what triggers first Confusion in the Ranks or Fairy Artisan? Also, what about when Fairy Artisans is the target of Confusion in the Rank's effects? Does it create the token of the Creature and then trade, or does it not create a token at all when it is traded?

Are the rules for strive basically a subset of the rules for replicate?

>>52130940
Ah, I missed that- my apologies.

Artisan and Confusion both trigger, and the triggers go on the stack in AP/NAP order. Assuming the turn order is You, Opponent 1, Opponent 2, then Opponent 1's trigger will go on the stack first. That means Opponent 2 would swap his MetaBreya for the target of his choice, and then Opponent 1 would make a token copy of MetaBreya, triggering Confusion in the Ranks. This will happen even if Opponent 2 steals the Artisan.

>>52131020
They are not. Replicate allows you to pay an additional cost as many times as you want, which throws a trigger after the spell is cast that says "Copy me N times, where N is the number of times the Replicate cost was paid. You may choose new targets for each copy".

Strive lets you choose as many targets as you want when casting it, and makes the spell more expensive for each target beyond the first. One big spell targeting a lot of things, whereas Replicate is many spells that may or may not be targeting different things.

File: Syncopate.jpg (31KB, 223x310px) Image search: [Google]

31KB, 223x310px

If I cast Syncopate for X=0 targeting my own spell, can I choose to not pay the 0 mana? Or is a 0 mana cost always assumed to be paid?

>>52131902
You can, but you have to explicitly decline to pay. The assumption is that you auto-pay any costs of 0, so you have to outright say "I choose not to pay 0."

>>52131950
>that one story of the pro who would cast syncopate x=0 and then call judge when his opponents didn't explicitly say 'pay 0' and enforce that the spell was countered

>>52132248
I'd really hope they weren't enforcing that, because that should have bit him in the ass every time.

"A player is assumed to have paid any cost of 0 unless he or she announces otherwise."

That's a default tournament shortcut from the MTR. How that call SHOULD go, every time, is 'Yeah, they're assumed to pay a cost of 0 unless they say they don't. Not the other way around.'

Question about how spells work.

If I cast Fated Infatuation on a Torrential Gearhulk, can I use the ETB trigger to cast Fated Infatuation again from the graveyard? I'm having trouble figuring out the order between casting spell, spell resolves, card enters graveyard. Obviously it'd be cool if it worked how I want it to, but I can't help but feel like things don't go to the yard until every effect of them resolving has happened. Help?

On Panharmonicon rules it says:
>9/20/2016: In some cases involving linked abilities, an ability requires information about “the exiled card.” When this happens, the ability gets multiple answers. If these answers are being used to determine the value of a variable, the sum is used. For example, if Elite Arcanist’s enters-the-battlefield ability triggers twice, two cards are exiled. The value of X in the activation cost of Elite Arcanist’s other ability is the sum of the two cards’ converted mana costs. As the ability resolves, you create copies of both cards and can cast none, one, or both of the copies in any order.

Does that mean if i have say a isochron scepter and cloudshift and lightning bolt i can exile both of them with the scepter? If i use the scepter do i have to chose the same target if it has 2 things exiled under it?

Also can Birds of Paradise and the like generate colourless mana? The way i read it it doesn't seem like it can.

>>52135403
colourless is not a colour

>>52133227
Placing a spell in your graveyard is the last part of resolving a spell, so I believe you will create a copy of Torrential Gearhulk while Fated Infatuation is still on the stack and thus not be a legal target for Gearhulk's CiP ability

>>52135403
yes, you get to imprint two instants on Scepter and when activated it creates a copy of both the imprinted cards, they are separate spells though so they can have different targets

Colorless is not a color, BoP can only generate green, red, blue, black, or white mana.

>>52133227
You can! Your Gearhulk is put onto the board during the resolution of Fated Infatuation, and triggers as such, but the trigger can't go on the stack while an object is resolving. So it waits patiently for the spell to finish, THEN goes on the stack. By the time it needs a target, Infatuation is in the bin and is a legal target for the trigger.

>>52135403
If you get two spells under your Scepter, you get to be glad. Activating Scepter will create copies of both spells, and you may cast one, both, or neither. They do not need to both have the same target.

Birds can't generate colorless mana because colorless is not a color.

>>52136808
>but the trigger can't go on the stack while an object is resolving. So it waits patiently for the spell to finish,
tell that to the expertise cycle

>>52137068
Not sure what they have to do with triggers. You cast a spell during the resolution of the Expertise cycle because they explicitly tell you to do so.

Does a creature with protection from, say, red, have protection from spells that do blanket destruction? Like Blasphemous act? Would you explain this to me please?

>>52137558
Protection from Red means four things.

D amage from any red source is prevented

E nchantments/Equipment that are red cannot be attached to it

B lockers that are red cannot be declared as blocking it

T argeted red spells, and targeted abilities from red sources, cannot target it.

D E B T. Damage, Enchant/Equip, Block, Target. Blasphemous Act is a red source trying to do damage to it, and that damage will be prevented.

Hey, gA, I know you've said you're not that great of a player, but do you have any draft tips? I'm a pretty good constructed player, but for some reason I'm really bad at draft, never doing much better than 1- X. I understand the basics, but I was hoping you could help me out at least a tiny bit.

>>52137690
I really don't; I'm sorry/

>>52137698
That's cool. Keep doing what you're doing. I always learn a lot from your threads.

>>52137687
Thanks, Based Judge.

>>52137698
If I could make suggestion, the fewer colors you pick for your deck, the more convenient it is for your actual fluidity in casting and doing what you want to do when it comes down to it.

Also, good cards make good decks, but if something obviously has more downsides than it is worth, don't bother with it.

Flyers are super useful,

>>52137690
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/melissadetora-041212-a-beginners-guide-to-drafting/
TLDR version:
1) know the cards, know the 1st picks and bombs so that you don't pass them
2) remember your BREAD
Bombs - this is really just a reiteration of step 1)
Removal - it is always important to be able to counter your opponent's threats
Evasion - a creature that can consistently damage your opponent will win games
Aggro - be able to put pressure on your opponent
Duds - don't pick bad cards, at the very least pick the least bad cards
3) read the signals! if someone is passing lightning bolts to you it probably means they're not picking red, so you should snatch that shit up
4) synergy be on the lookout for cards that work well or combo together, part of 1) is also knowing how frequently you are going to see these cards (you wouldn't pick the Oaths if you hadn't already drafted a planeswalker
5) Learn to table cards - tabling means passing a card up and expecting it to get passed by everyone else at the table so you can grab it when it comes back to you. If you solidly know what colors people are playing or which cards are only good when you've got specific synergies you can table those cards in favor of picking more generally desirable cards earlier.
6) hate/money drafting. anybody who complains about this is a basic bitch, there is no shame in pulling the garunteed win cards like Elspeth and Relentless Rats even if you will be incapable of using them in your deck. You should feel no shame about grabbing the $15 fetch if there's nothing you really like in the pack or even if there is something you could use, it's a solid tradeoff of low risk early reward vs higher risk late reward.

ay judge, what's getting banned/unbanned tomorrow?

>>52140276
They're banning everything except for swamp and relentless rats. In all formats. You can't even play standard, it'll just be decks of swamps where the player with the largest deck wins because they deck out later. Eventually standard will become a large-stack shuffling contest, since you can only have a deck as large as you can shuffle.

>>52089926
Mizzix Mastery and storm. Does the copies from Mastery add to the storm count?

>>52141259
Yes, since it says to cast the copies.

An opponent in commander attacks me with Serra Avatar. I block with a 2/2 and cast deflecting palm on Serra Avatar. In response to deflecting palm they cast Rest for the Weary to gain 4 life. Do they die?

>>52142035
Yes, they die. Serra Avatar's P/T changes the instant your life total does.
Additionally, Deflecting Palm's damage prevention and damage effect does not use the stack, it just happens as part of the damage process. There's no way to say "In response to Deflecting Palm sending Serra Avatar's damage my way, ..." (The casting of the spell itself DOES use the stack, just to make sure I'm clear, it just sets up a thing that then doesn't use the stack.)

Does Yixlid Jailer stop Past in Flames? Or is this one of these layer things where the latest timestamp matters?

>>52142253
It's timestamps, yeah. Jailer says "I'M TAKING YOUR ABILITIES", PiF says "I'M GIVING YOU FLASHBACK".
Think of it like having an asshole prison guard who takes your chirstmas presents. If he comes by to take your shit but then you get given another present, you'll have the present. If you get given another present but then he makes his rounds, you don't have anything.

>>52142317
Thanks, I feared as much. Poorfag me wanted a way around grafdigger's cage.

>>52089926
I went to comicon with my friend over the weekend, it was about as weeb trash as I suspected it to be, but I did happen upon a shit ton of magic cards for a pretty good price, only problem is I only have 1 land card in the decks I bought, I'm new to magic but have always been interested, does anyone know if I could just buy a stack of black and blue land cards or do I have to cough up the 40 bucks and buy a starter box?

>tldr I have monsters but need land, anyway I can get some without lightenin' my wallet too bad?

If I cast and resolve Fact or Fiction, am I allowed to shuffle the 5 cards before I reveal them? To out put it another way:

>Cast Fact or Fiction
>Hold priority and cast Mystical Tutor
>resolve Mystical Tutor, putting something on top of my library
>resolve Fact or Fiction
>count out five cards face down
>shuffle the five cards
>reveal the five cards

Am I allowed to do this, or is this seen as scummy or sleezy? Could it be construed as cheating or something that could get me a warning?

>>52142500
http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/commander-2015/island-327
http://shop.tcgplayer.com/magic/product/show?ProductName=Swamp+(296)&newSearch=false&ProductType=All&IsProductNameExact=true

>>52142526
you need to reveal the card you tutor with Mystical Tutor anyway so how does shuffling the cards make any difference?

>>52142592
So that they wouldn't know precisely which card I tutored for, which would influence their make two piles decision.

>>52142500
You can generally walk into any card shop and just grab as many basic lands as you want, most card shops just have giant boxes of free basics. Or talk with the folks there, likely somebody willing to give you a bunch or sell them for a penny each.

>>52142526
The first clause in Fact or Fiction is to reveal the top 5 cards. That also entails revealing their order, since you don't have permission to reorder them.

Can you play greenbelt rampager, and if you can't pay the cost can you still use him with cryptolith rites before he goes back into your hand?
Or crew a vehicle with him?

>>52142705
Cryptolith Rites no, unless you somehow gave it Haste. It'd have summoning sickness. The ability text is on something else, but it's being given to the creature.
Crew yes. The tapping is a cost of the vehicle's ability, not a T: ability.

Rampager's got a trigger, so you can do anything you can do at instant speed before it fucks off.

>>52142592
>>52142673
Thanks dooders, I'll see if I can find a local shop first if I can't I use the ol website.

>>52142638
>Mystical Tutor U
>Search your library for an instant or sorcery card and reveal that card. Shuffle your library, then put that card on top of it

you explicitly need to reveal which card you tutored for as part of Mystical Tutor's effect

>>52142984
Yes, I know, i was just giving an example. It's not actually part of my question.

>>52143049
You're forgetting that this is the land of technically proficient autism. We'll shitcan your example just because we can.

Tournament rules question:
I know that if something my opponent is doing lets me see his cards then that's 100% his fault.
If something some third party is doing is letting me see my opponent's hand (say, spectator with a very reflective cell phone case) am I obligated to mention or correct that?

File: desire to know more.jpg (86KB, 640x512px) Image search: [Google]

86KB, 640x512px

>>52089926

If I do something that would, for example, trigger the ability of a card I've already played, at what point am I not allowed to go back and say 'oh no wait I forgot X' and then do X?

>>52143049
Then you should use whatever card lead to the question instead of some arbitrary example. But regardless, you have to do what the card says, nowhere on the card does it say you can shuffle the cards prior to revealing them.

>>52146238
When the chance to trigger have passed.

>>52146238
I'll dovetail this.
Can an opponent "play fast" to take an action that means I've missed a trigger before I mention it, or can I stop them and say "Whoa, you can't [THING] my trigger needs to resolve"?

>>52146843
they can't unless you let them.

>>52142253
Timestamps. Past in Flames is throwing an ability on stuff, so if it comes out after Jailer, it's a 'newer' effect in layer 6.

>>52142500
Bulk land is easily purchased from most online retailers. If you have a local shop, they may be able to sell you a Land Pack (they buy some from WOTC to stock draft stations, and they intentionally have UPCs so they can be resold to customers)

>>52142526
You can usually rearrange the cards, but you have to reveal what you Mystical'd for before you put it on top of your library, so there's no way for you to "hide" what you tutored for. If you Mystical something to the top without revealing, you'll get a penalty. If the Judge thinks you did it on purpose to gain advantage, knowing that it was illegal, that penalty will be preceded by a Very Unpleasant Talk.

But yeah, TECHNICALLY you're revealing the top 5 cards of your library- they're still "part" of your library during this, and are technically still in that order. If I got called over something like this, I'd probably ask "Do you have any actual reason for shuffling those cards?", and if the answer is 'yes', you're probably doing something illegal.

>>52142705
He'd need haste to tap for Rites, but you can play him and Crew a vehicle in response to the trigger no problem.

>>52145965
As long as you personally are not going out of your way to get ahold of that (IE, craning your neck hard to see more cards or something), you aren't obligated to say anything, but it's a weird grey area where it's a super dick move. I wouldn't bat an eye at you seeing your opponent's hand in his Pokerface mirror-shades, but I'd probably be frowny if you were seeing it off the reflection of something totally out of your opponent's control.

>>52146238
The basic rule for a missed trigger is that it's considered remembered until you demonstrate otherwise. That 'line of no return' depends on the trigger- incoming followup post.

>>52146238
So, triggers fall into four categories for this, each one telling you the line of no return for when your trigger is now "missed".

Any modal triggers or targeted triggers (other than 'target opponent' in a 2 player game, that one's a "gimme") need you to demonstrate awareness basically IMMEDIATELY, because that's something you need to do as the trigger is put on the stack. If you take absolutely any actions after the trigger 'should' have fired, you lost it.

Triggers that do something visible as they resolve (lifegain, putting counters on objects, creating tokens, etc) need to be acknowledged before taking an action you COULDN'T take with the trigger on the stack. So if you cast an Instant or activate most activated abilities, that COULD be done with the trigger on the stack, so it's assumed that's what happened. As soon as you cast a Sorcery or a Creature or go to move to another step or something, the trigger's gone, because you couldn't do that with the trigger on the stack.

The third group is triggers that do something INVISIBLE to the game state, like Exalted giving a guy +1/+1. These are considered remembered until they would have an effect on the VISIBLE game state, and you flub it. If you swung with a Bear Cub while controlling a Noble Hierarch, the trigger isn't missed until you say "Take 2", or put it in the graveyard after I block with a 2/2, or don't tell me to put a 1/3 blocker in the graveyard, or tell me "It's a 2/2" when I ask how big it is, etc.

So, that's your line- "When it matters", basically.

>>52146843
Magic is a game of priority, not reflexes. Your opponent can't try to brute-force their way through a step to make you 'lose' your trigger; if they TRY, you can say "I actually had a trigger back at X" and we'd rewind back to that point.

There's even a few lines about it in the IPG, which will follow because this post is out of letters

>>52147684
Players may not cause triggered abilities controlled by an opponent to be missed by taking game actions or otherwise prematurely advancing the game.

During an opponent’s turn, if a trigger’s controller demonstrates awareness of the trigger before they take an active role (such as taking an action or explicitly passing priority), the trigger is remembered.


BED NOW

>>52147684
Ga, you said four categories then list three.

What happens if I target my opponent with Head Games while they have an Aven Mindcensor on the field and 5+ cards in hand?

>>52147772
I forgot to edit that part!

There -used- to be four, where the last one was "Shit that changes the rules of the game" and the go-to example was Pyreheart Wolf, but they seem to have since just rolled that into the third category (which is something I'd advocated for for months, because they effectively had the exact same deadline, and also Pyreheart Wolf is no longer a change-the-rules trigger)

>>52147801
They would put the 5 cards from their hand on top of their library, and then you would search the top 4 cards of their library for 5 cards to give back.

Practically speaking, they basically pick one card from their hand to shuffle into their library, and show you the other 4.

File: Screen Shot 2017-03-13 at 3.14.49 pm.png (139KB, 214x305px) Image search: [Google]

139KB, 214x305px

with B Lightning, if the 3 damage is aimed at a planeswalker does that walker's controller still discard?

>>52147876
Yep! You're still targeting that opponent, and "that player" refers to the thing Blightning is aimed at, not what it ends up hitting.

>>52147535
>but I'd probably be frowny if you were seeing it off the reflection of something totally out of your opponent's control.
Frowny at me, or at the source of the free information?