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

Morning GA.
Question at prerelease my girlfriend got two prerelease promos(both in the same little plastic wrap) is that ok? I know if you open it you can play it but what about mistakes like that.

What about when magister of worth was spoiled in an unrelated prerelease?

>>53058825
So, either of those cases are what we call "Abnormal Product". For the extra promo, the options are "leave it", "replace the pack it came from", or "have the player add a random card from the rarity of the extra to their trade binder". So our options would be to say 'play on with 2 promos', let you KEEP those promos but get you a new promo-pack from another unopened kit and have that be part of your pool, or just pick a random rare from the pool to 'remove' from the pool. For a prerelease, I'd probably just pick one of those two at random, rather than ALL the rares, since it's easier to fix- assuming the TO isn't willing to gut a prerelease pack for another promo.

For the Magister of Worth thing, that would also be abnormal product. I'd basically treat it as though that card wasn't supposed to be in the pack, meaning your pack is one card short. If your pack is SHORT, the HJ can open up a booster and pick a random card of that rarity to replace the 'missing' one. So if you got a Magister of Worth instead of a rare in your Totally Not Conspiracy pack, we'd let you keep that Magister (obv), and I'd open another pack of Totally Not Conspiracy and give you the rare from THAT pack. If it was a common, I'd open the pack and give you a random common from it, etc.

What's up GA, if I have a summoner's egg and donate it to my opponent, when it dies my opponent will get the creature right? So if I imprinted a Phage they'll die right?

>>53059024
Right. They controlled the Egg when it died, so they control the trigger.

>>53059038
My friend told me that I get the Phage because the egg goes into my graveyard, why exactly is that wrong?

>>53059199
Because that's not how triggers work. The controller of a triggered ability is the controller of the source at the time it triggered. "When ~ dies" triggers fire from the battlefield rather than the graveyard, so whoever controlled it when it died controls the trigger.

He'd be right, if Egg triggered from your graveyard (like Emrakul, Kozilek, and Ulamog do), but that's not what it does.

112.8. The controller of an activated ability on the stack is the player who activated it. The controller of a triggered ability on the stack (other than a delayed triggered ability) is the player who controlled the ability's source when it triggered, or, if it had no controller, the player who owned the ability's source when it triggered. To determine the controller of a delayed triggered ability, see rules 603.7d-f.

603.6c. Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written as, but aren't limited to, "When [this object] leaves the battlefield, . . ." or "Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, . . . ." (See also rule 603.10.) An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone "from anywhere" is never treated as a leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the battlefield.

>>53059247
Thanks GA, you rock.

If I have two Anointed Processions out and something gives me a token, say an embalm effect from the graveyard, do I get three tokens or four?

>>53059487
Four. You have two replacement effects wanting to apply to the same event. Embalm says "make a token guy that looks like this", and each of those replacement effects wants to replace that with "make twice that man of that thing". It's your event, so you choose which to apply first (not that it matters HERE), and "make a token guy" becomes "make 2 token guys". The other effect still can apply, so it does, and it turns "make 2 token guys" into "make 4 token guys". Replacement effects like this one are multiplicative, not additive.

>>53059499
Thanks. That's how I thought it worked, but wasn't sure.
In another similar example, let's say I use strionic resonator to double quietus spike's ability - in a commander setting, of course. They were at 40 health, took one damage, and then triggered the spike. When does the ability 'see' their hp? That is, would they lose 19 life twice, or 19 and then 10?

>>53059660
It checks their life total as it resolves. They'd lose half of 39, rounded up (so 19.5 rounded up to 20) and go to 19, then the original trigger would drop them for half of 19 rounded up (so 9.5 rounded to 10), putting them at 9 life.

>>53059688
Ah, I forgot which way it rounded. Thanks again.

>>53058772
Does as foretold allow you to play cards you target with snapcaster for free? I'm just wondering if giving the card flashback has any strange interaction here

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When does a "whenever x attacks" effect actually take place? After attackers are declared? After blockers are assigned? After combat resolves?

>>53059965
It does not. As Foretold sets up an alternate cost you can pay (0, specifically). Flashback is also an alternate cost, and you can't pay two alternate costs.

>>53060073
It triggers when the creature is declared as an attacker, and the trigger will go onto the stack and resolve in that step, after attacks but before blocks.

>>53060073
Immediately after you declare the creature as an attacker, still within the declare attackers phase and will be placed on the stack before your opponent has priority

>>53060232
Step, not phase.

>>53060264
Yes, I knew that sounded wrong, mybad

>>53060308
'salright!

Phases can have steps, but not the other way around. The turn has 5 phases: Beginning Phase (Untap, Upkeep, and Draw steps, in that order), Precombat Main Phase (no steps), Combat Phase (Beginning of Combat, Declare Attackers, Declare Blockers, Combat Damage, End of Combat, in that order), Postcombat Main Phase (no steps), and Ending Phase (End Step and Cleanup Step, in that order)

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>>53060218
>>53060232
ty I am not good at card game

>>53060466
Every question you ask makes you a better player, so fire away, friend

>>53058772
Is entwine (specifically asking about tooth and nail) an activated ability? could I counter or prevent it with pithing needle or squelch?

>>53060557
Entwine is an additional cost, not an activated or triggered ability. It can't be countered.

A lot about this comment in the EDH general sounds wrong.
>>53060458
>Also, learn the rulings of Yasova back and forth, because people don't know them. She targets a creature with less power. Your opponent has a chance to boost that creature up so you can't steal it. Then you pay mana. If your opponent does anything to their creature's power at that point it doesn't matter. It's yours.

Yasova requires the payment of mana before being able to target any creature, correct?

>>53060586
so, aside from straight hard countering, are there any ways to effectively stop tooth and nail from going off?

>>53060557
>>53060586
Yeah, additional cost, not an activated ability.
>>53060593
Preventing a player from searching his library or not allowing creatures to enter if not cast (Hallowed moonlight)

>>53060593
Stop them from searching their library limits them, I guess?

>>53060590
It's sort of right. Yasova has an intervening if clause, which is wonky in the rules.

>>53060593
Grafdigger's Cage, Hallowed Moonlight, Containment Priest.

>>53060641
Yasova's intervening if just pertains to the available targets though.

Target creature with less power, if the creature gets bigger, fizzle.

But I don't see how this stops the needing to pay the 3 mana to ever put the ability on the stack

>>53060682
Grafdigger's does nothing, the cards enter from hand, technically

>>53060682
Grafdigger's cage actually won't stop Tooth&Nail because the cards go from library to hand and then hand to battlefield. Even if the physical action may be library to battlefield, the stop in the hand in rules text means it gets around cage.

>>53060715
>>53060743
Derp, you're right.

I was thinking GSZ/NO, I play more Legacy than anything else.

>>53060824
Don't worry, easy mistake.

>>53060715
I'm actually going to let gA handle this. Because just by reading the oracle text, it sounds like the intervening if is "did you pay the cost?" Which makes no sense.

>>53060715
>>53060590
EDH general found rulings in regards to Yasova in case anyone was following along, and I still find it strange.

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rulestips/2015/02/yasova-dragonclaw-pays-for-the-trigger-only-on-resolution/

>>53060874
That is very strange. But I'm going to trust them without a more recent counterexample.

>>53060923
It's really not that weird.

Intervening-if triggers check at trigger time and on resolution to see if their condition is met.

Triggers that ask you to make a payment always do so when they resolve.

This is just both of those things.

Also, the Judge Blog is the final word on rulings. Unless the rules get changed, that's the ruling.

>>53060466
Everyone starts somewhere. By asking, you learn.

>>53060557
Entwine is not an activated ability, it's a static ability of a modal spell. An activated ability will always be worded as COST : EFFECT. Off the top of my head, exactly one non-permanent spell has an activated ability.

>>53060590
Targets are chosen as soon as the ability goes on the stack. You pay mana (or not) as the ability RESOLVES. If you target a 3/x with Yasova, and they Giant Growth it, it will be an illegal target, but you can just not pay at that point. If they wait to see whether or not you're going to pay, it's too late to respond.

>>53060593
Nevermore naming it, Hallowed Moonlight/Banisher Priest to exile the creatures, Mindlock Orb/Shadow of Doubt/Aven Mindcensor to limit the search.

>>53061043
Actually, the Judge Blog isn't 'final word' on anything. It's just us helping people understand rulings. This isn't Yugioh, where a "ruling" from a judge determines how something works- the RULES determine how something works. A ruling is just us interpreting the rules, not the other way around.

Technically the 'final word' on things is an [O] answer, but we only break those out for confusing things.

>>53061080
>Technically the 'final word' on things is an [O] answer, but we only break those out for confusing things.

An [O] answer?

>>53061160
Basically, sometimes there's things that the rules or Policy docs aren't really clear on, and we can't agree what the answer is. We turn to the senior judges who SHAPE the policy, and they discuss it, and based on the situation and the philosophy of our rules, they'll issue an Official answer on the situation. These answers are tagged [O] on Judge Apps (and before that, were tagged as such on the MAILING LISTS), so an [O] Answer is just an Official answer from the most senior of the program.

>>53061173
Do you know of an example off-hand?

Also:
>This isn't Yugioh, where a "ruling" from a judge determines how something works

Thank god. I still get chills from the random as fuck IGS call.

>>53061191
A recent example would be the senior judges saying that (prior to Amonkhet's update of the combat shortcut), if AP wanted priority to act in their Beginning of Combat step, they had to explicitly state exactly why (IE, "I'm going to cast Cauldron Dance" or "I'm going to resolve my Toolcraft Exemplar trigger, then use it to crew this vehicle").

>>53061309
And then the judges made a new shortcut because wizards told them "beginning of combat triggers are gonna be a thing we do more of".

But yeah. Very glad this isn't YGO. Sick and tired of that shit.

>>53061400
Technically we didn't make shit. The shortcut is in the MTR, and that's a WOTC document.

>>53061415
Is the communication guide part of MTR?

>>53061453
Yep! Section 4.2.

>>53058772
Do you normally ask local stores to pay you for judging prereleases/small PTQs?

The volunteer judges in my hometown got together and started demanding $35/hour to work them...

>>53061534
I would not recommend working for free to any judge, whether you're compensated in product, cash, food, a pay raise as a store employee, or some combination.

>>53061482
Huh. Good to know.

But yeah, having set tournament rules that aren't draconian as fuck are a godsend. Take, for example, the rules lawyer's best friend: the Irreperable Game State.
>Player A commits a minor game play error (plays a card with an illegal target, discards too many cards to an effect, picks up something they shouldn't have, etc.)
>Player B sees the infraction and calls a judge.
>Judge comes over and examines for overt intent to cheat. if none is found, the game is rewound right before the infraction occurred.
>If the game cannot be rewound to that moment due to game circumstances (a player's deck or graveyard order has changed, it's impossible to tell what cards should be in a player's hand or other zone, etc) the the game state is Irreperable.
>Player A, having committed the error, gets a game loss because they can't undo the rule-break.

>>53061534
I do. Not to be a dick, but judging is skilled labor, and my time is worth money. I don't work for free.

That said, 35 dollars an hour is ridiculous. Usually for FNM or Prereleases, which I could run while asleep, I just ask for free entry into the event, and a meal. For something that needs more focus, or that I can't play in because it's a Premier Event, I usually charge a flat fee- but the most I charge is in the neighborhood of 150 dollars plus travel expenses for an all-day PPTQ. 35 dollars an hour is just ludicrous.

But yeah, as I tell all my new judges: Never work for free. It devalues not only your labor, but the labor of all the other judges. If you work for free, you teach the TO that he can get something for nothing.

>>53061594
That is babytown frolics. It works the same in Magic up to the "irreparable game state" part. If we can't rewind, and none of our partial fixes apply, we just issue a Warning, tut-tut the offending player, and move on.

Lord, if I had to give a Game Loss every time I couldn't rewind a GRV, tournaments would be over in 4 hours.

>>53061628
Oh it gets worse. If you're a good enough actor, you can "bank" the IGS and call them on it later once you're SURE the game state is irreparable. All you need is to be able to say "sorry I just now noticed" with a straight face.

Reposting because the last thread is gone:
I have Metallurgic Summonings and I cast Yahenni's Expertise.
MS triggers and resolves giving me a 4/4 token.
YE resolves, giving everything -3/-3 til EOT, and I choose to cast Catalog, triggering MS again.
Catalog resolves, drawing 2 and discarding Fiery Temper, triggering madness.
After Catalog resolves, I put MS and madness triggers get put on the stack. I put MS over madness.
MS trigger resolves, giving me a 3/3, then madness trigger resolves.
I choose to cast FT for madness, triggering MS again. MS trigger resolves giving me a 3/3, and finally FT resolves.
When the stack is empty, I'm left with 2 3/3's and a 4/4 with -3/-3 til EOT.

Do I have that all correct?

>>53061674
Every time I think I can't possibly lose more respect for YGO's judge program and organized play, I'm proven wrong.

I mean, if you're "good enough" at acting with Magic, you can pretend you didn't notice their GRV until later, but there's zero reward and you risk getting DQed for it.

>>53061920
MOSTLY right. You cast Catalog as part of resolving Expertise, but it doesn't just insta-resolve. Catalog is cast, then you finish resolving Expertise (which in this case is just 'put it in the graveyard'), then MS's trigger from Catalog is put on the stack ABOVE Catalog. That trigger resolves and makes a 3/3. Then Catalog resolves, you draw 2, discard Fiery Temper, which triggers Madness. You cast it via Madness, trigger MS and get a 3/3, then Fiery Temper domes the target for 3.

End result: 4/4 that is a 1/1 until end of turn and two 3/3s. You have the end result right, just mixed up the middle a little.

>>53062060
Yeah. And if you're shit at acting then it's a double game loss for the attempted fraud (IGS for them, cheating for you) - so if you're up a game you only risk breaker math by holding it.

So with Archfiend of Ifnir, if I discard my hand of 5 cards I put 5 -1/-1 counters on all my opponents creatures, right?

>>53062184
I'm sorry, fraud is a GAME LOSS in this shitfire of a game? Not "Get out of my tournament", but just a Game Loss?

>>53062060
So I get the token before resolving Catalog still, that's good to know, thanks gA! Expertise's are weird.

>>53062354
Yep! If you discard several cards at once, it'll trigger for each. Technically, you'll put one -1/-1 counter on your opponent's creatures, 5 times, rather than putting 5 on at once.

>>53062406
Yeah- they let you CAST the spell at a weird time (during the resolution of another spell), but those spells still go onto the stack as normal. They can't resolve until Expertise is done, SBAs are checked, triggers are put on the stack, etc.

>>53062364
Not bribery, not theft, not aggressive behavior. Those are the 3 DQ offenses, and you can't DQ anyone for anything else.

>>53062884
Jesus fucking christ.

>>53062913
This is why I left the game 2 years ago.

Magic may not be perfect but it's so much better than that shit.

Anyway, actual policy question: how do you appeal a floor judge without sounding like a dick?

>>53062987
Wait for them to finish giving their full ruling, and then just politely say "I'd like to appeal to the Head Judge". As long as you're not being a combative dick about it, nobody will THINK you're a dick.

Hell, I've had players appeal with something like "I'm like 99% sure you're right, but if you're right I lose this game, so I'd like to appeal", which is totally understandable.

>>53060073
Worth noting that an "attacks and isn't blocked" trigger has to wait for blockers to be declared.

>>53063087
Most judges will be okay with that? I would expec them to take it as an insult.

>>53064529
Judges aren't perfect.
I've miscalled, GA's miscalled, every judge who's not so wet behind the ears that you could tap them for U has miscalled.

>>53058772
We can force defenders with spells correct? A friend of mine tried to tell me I couldn't use prey upon on my cariyatid 2/5 to kill one of his creatures cause it had defender and couldn't attack. I tried to explain that attacking demands I tap or declare attackers which I hadn't. I played prey upon to force it to fight.

>>53064529
Do it politely instead of YOU'RE WRONG, I DEMAND ANOTHER RULING FROM NOT SCRUB JUDGES!!!

>>53064976
Fight != attack. A thing with defender can absolutely fight another creature.

>>53064529
Judges are human. We can make mistakes. There's a reason that the rules have a built-in system to allow you to request a ruling from the most senior judge in the room.

Some judges do take it as an insult. They are not very good judges.

Now, if you interrupt me before I'm done giving my ruling, or you immediately ask what level I am, or are generally a dickhead I'll take it like an insult, because at that point it is one. But politely requesting to exercise your right to appeal is nothing to be insulted by, so feel free to use it!

>>53064864
The only judge who hasn't punted a call that cost someone a game, hasn't done so -yet-.

>>53064976
Fighting is not attacking. Prey Upon makes two creatures deal damage equal to their power to each other. It's not "Attacking" or "blocking", it's not combat, and combat-oriented abilities (Defender, Flying, Trample, First Strike, etc) have absolutely no bearing on it.

Things that just care about DAMAGE (Wither, Infect, Protection, Lifelink, Deathtouch, etc) will care, though. If you use Prey Upon on a 2/5 with Defender, it will absolutely fight whatever thing you tell it to fight, Defender be damned.

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Hello, not a rules question but I'm hoping to draw on experience from you veterans.

I have a magic collection. I want to part with it.

I know there's going to be a couple GP near me over the next few months. Can you generally get good card prices there? Or am I better off going to a local store to sell my collection?

For reference I'm in the Denver area, so I'm looking at the Denver GP in Aug and the Omaha GP in June as possibles.

>>53066101
Selling your collection is going to be tough. Mostly all a vendor is going to be interested in is stuff that they can actually sell, so the bulk of your commons and uncommons they're EXTREMELY unlikely to take at a Vendor Table, because then they'd have to haul it all back to their shop (or to the next event). They'll buy your rares and stuff, but expect at most ~60% of the cash value for your stuff.

Selling it as a collection is 'easier', but will take longer and you'll likely not get a lot for it.

Can a player cast instant speed spells or abilities at any point during their opponents turn whenever they please or is it a step thing? What i mean is, if a player imprints a Silence on Isochron Scepter can they essentially never let you cast spells for the rest of the game?

I also have problems understanding targeting when it comes to Hexproof. What happens if the creature was already targeted before it gained Hexproof? Protection saves it from damage, destruction and targeting but Hexproof simply protects it from targeting, so what happens here?

Sorry for the noobish questions

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>>53058772
I have pic related, and I flip it face up immediately after I flip it face down. Can I get a second trigger this upkeep? Is it still 'the beggining' of my upkeep? Is it the same ability, or an identical ability?

>>53067330
First, there's no such thing as 'speed'.

Second, you can cast Instants or spells with Flash, and activate activated abilities (most anyway- things like Equip have built-in timing restrictions) any time you have priority. That's how Magic works- the player with priority is the one who can take actions, and priority goes around in turn order starting with the Active Player - the player whose turn it is.

In the Silence situation, your earliest chance to use it is during your opponent's upkeep, after they pass priority to you to try and move to the Draw Step. They can still cast Instants before they pass to you, or in response to your activation. There's no way for you to completely lock them out of ANY chance to cast spells with just a Silence on a Stick.

For targeting, if the target BECOMES illegal between being selected and resolution (for example, "I cast Hapatra's Mark in response to Never"), the spell will 'fizzle'. It'll try to resolve, have no legal target, and be countered by the rules of the game.

And don't be sorry! Everyone starts somewhere- usually from damn near 0. Asking is how you learn. Never be afraid to learn.

>>53067410
Turn, not flip; flip is a whole other thing.

And no, you can't. All "at the beginning of..." triggers fire as that step BEGINS, before priority happens. By the time you have priority to take the special action of turning your face-down creature face-up, we're past that point (doubly so, since it's face-down because you resolved a trigger). Giving it new triggers won't make them fire, because it's past the point for them to do so. It'd be like playing a second Impact Tremors AFTER you play a creature, and wanting it to retroactively trigger.

>>53067036
How about if I just brought valuable cards? I'm just wondering if the vendors at big events are known for fair prices or not.

>>53067330
In regards to your first question, you need to look up "priority." You can cast an instant when you have priority.

If a creature gains hexproof after being declared the target of a spell it is no longer a valid target. If all instances of targets chosen by the spell are invalid then the spell fissiles. So for instance if a spell said "Do 2 damage to target creature, do 2 damage to target player," and they targeted you and your creature, and then you gave your creature hexproof then the creature would no longer be a valid target, but you still would be (not all targets have been invalidated, so the spell still resolves), so you would be dealt 2 dmg. If instead the spell said "Do 2 damage to target creature, all opponents lose 2 life" then the spell would fissile when you made your creature hexproof because the one and only instance of targeting on the spell got negated.

>>53067478
Danke

>>53067496
If you just wanna offload your big guns, a GP is a great place. There's several vendors on site, and all are willing to discuss prices before the transaction. So you can sit down at one vendor, get prices, and thank them, then move to the next one, see what they offer. If it's low, tell them what the previous vendor offered. Move on to next vendor, repeat. Once you've got the best offers you're gonna get, sit with that vendor and sell the stuff. That's how I went from "I'll give you 550 credit" to "I'll take it for 700 cash" with my foil Mind Sculptor a few years back- I just circled the GP and told each vendor what the current highest offer was to see if they'd top it.

>>53067517
Bitte!

>>53067539
Appreciate the insight. I'll start separating my stuff out.

>>53067446
>For targeting, if the target BECOMES illegal between being selected and resolution (for example, "I cast Hapatra's Mark in response to Never"), the spell will 'fizzle'. It'll try to resolve, have no legal target, and be countered by the rules of the game.
If it becomes an illegal target, then becomes a legal target again before whatever's targeting it resolves, then the spell or ability doesn't fizzle, correct?

>>53068069
Right, I worded that poorly.

If it becomes illegal, but then becomes legal again, all between spell cast and spell resolve, all is well- that's just not super common.

If the previously-legal target of a spell or ability is illegal as that spell or ability resolves, nothing happens to it. If it was the sole target, the spell "fizzles"- the game rules counter it and NONE of its effects happen. If the spell or ability had other targets, and they're still legal, the spell resolves doing all it can, and just skips whatever was supposed to be done to any illegal targets.

Savvy?

>>53068306
Yeah, just making sure.

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I'm fairly new to the game and I'm confused.
Does this card gets its counter before declaring blockers and applying damage? And do the counters stay on it after the turn is over?

If for example it attacks alone, would it inflict 4 damage and then becoming a 4/4 until the next attack?

>>53068924
The trigger fires when it attacks, so it'll go on the stack and resolve well before blocks are declared. The counters stay indefinitely, because that's the default for counters. If you swung with Raiders alone, you'd swing as a 3/3, trigger, get a counter, and do 4 damage. Next turn, you'd swing as a 4/4, trigger, get a counter, and do 5 damage, etc.

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>>53068306
Does the spell or ability have to specifically target something else to keep it from being countered in that instance? For example, if a creature is targeted by Mercy Killing and in response the creature is given protection from white by Eight-and-a-Half-Tails, the creature's controller doesn't get a bunch of free tokens because the only target of Mercy Killing became untargetable before it resolved?

>>53069514
If all targets of a targeted spell or ability are illegal as it goes to resolve, the whole thing is countered by the rules of the game and none of the effects happen.

If someone makes the sole target of Mercy Killing illegal in response to Mercy Killing, the WHOLE SPELL is countered, and none of its effects happen. The creature's controller won't sac it, and they won't get Elves, because the spell didn't resolve.

>>53069599
Thanks!

>>53069036
thank you

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If I declare Chandra's Spitfire as an attacker, then my opponent declares a 4 toughness blocker, I get priority after his blocker is declared and can Lightning Strike that opponent before combat resolves, right? So the Spitfire attacks as a 4/3 (instead of 1/3) and the blocker is destroyed if my opponent has no other instants or abilities to play before combat resolves?

>>53070376
To be clear I would be targeting the player with Lightning Strike, not the blocker

>>53070376
Correct, and correct. You'd Strike him, he takes 3, Spitfire triggers, and is a 4/3. It would kill the blocker.

>>53058927
>pack is short
Assuming my LGS owner is a tight ass, would he be able to go back to wizards and claim that one of his packs was faulty? There's no way in hell he'd give up a pack for that otherwise.

>>53070780
Theoretically, yes, but I don't know that they'd do much of anything about it.

Personally, if I explained this issue to a TO and they started throwing a fit over 4 dollars, I would pay for the replacement pack out of pocket and permanently add that TO to my blacklist.

Also, it is now late, and I am going to bed. Later, y'all!

Will mtgo ever be good?

When you're judging and playing in an event, say an FNM, what do you do? Just take judge calls? Do you let the TO take results and do pairings? And if you do get a call, do you just excuse yourself from your opponent and give your match an extra few minutes?

>>53067539
Knowing my luck, if I pulled that trick the 3rd vendor would go "well now it's 400 credit and we've all agreed to not give you a penny more"

>>53072565
Personal experience, most stores will ask judges to not play FNM specifically for this reason. But I would assume that if you get a judge call you excuse yourself, give an answer asap, and return to play.

It helps if you're playing a very fast deck that wins matches 10-15 minutes into the round.

>>53072565
Well, I'd personally not be playing in the event per se. I'd have a casual side game going, let my opponent know in advance "Hey, I'm gonna be called away. A lot.", and just walk away from my game when called or I have to do judge things. Of if it was a big event, just have another judge or a friend on hand to chatter with between judge stuff.
If I did want to play in the event, I'd call up another local judge beforehand so they'd be judging instead of me. I'd also wear a tee instead of my nice dress shirt, so it was clear I was there informally.

What happens when I play Approach The Second Sun from exile via Gonti, Lord of Luxury?

>>53070779
late but thanks m8y

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New player here, how does this card works?
Do the three mana stay in my pool until I use them, even if it's in my next turn?

Let's say I only have 2 lands, I use desperate ritual and don't use the mana, in my next turn do I have 5 mana?

Also, with arcane spell does that mean any sorcery?

>>53075486
(not a judge)
The three mana are use it or lose it right now (technically this step or phase)
Mana disappears from your pool each step and phase.

for example
if you play this card in your turn before you attack (that is your first main phase) , then you cannot use that mana as you attack.
If this sounds too technical think of it as if you paid 1R to tap three imaginary mountains, and then those imaginary mountains disappear.

can you rephrase your last question?

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>>53075486
(also not a judge)
Arcane is a specific subtype of instant or sorcery spells, kinda like Angel or Zombie are specific subtypes of creature spells

>>53074149
You gain 7 life, then you put the card back in its owners deck 7th from the top.

If you then manage to get another sun under gonti, and play that one, you will again gain seven life as it isn't both cast it from hand and your non-first sun. (you put it back 7th in owners library again)


If you would cast a sun from your hand after you have cast a sun from gonti, you'd win the game.

Can you target a tapped creature with an effect that has multiple effects such as tap target creature and add a - 1/-1 counter to it.

>>53075723
>>53075825
thank you

>>53076060
Yes you can.

>>53076060
There's nothing stopping you normally from using a "tap target creature" effect on something that's already tapped. It just won't do much unless it's "tap target creature and then some other stuff"

But make sure to read the card and that it isn't "tap target UNTAPPED creature".

>>53072082
In theory it could, if they stopped half-assing it and really tried.

>>53072565
If I'm playing and judging at an event, it's usually small enough that I can easily post the pairings and sit for my match to announce the round once everyone's seated. I have the TO (or an employee) handle the scorekeeping, so all results are taken to them. If I get a call, I excuse myself from my game to handle it, and give my game an extension if necessary.

>>53072999
The vendors don't usually 'collude' like that, so don't worry about it.

>>53074149
You gain 7 and put it 7th from the top even if you've cast another spell named Approach of the Second Sun this turn, because it wasn't cast from your hand.

>>53075486
Lands are not mana. Lands MAKE mana. Desperate Ritual will give you 3 red mana to use in that step or phase, as if you had just tapped 3 mountains. IN practice, it turns 2 mana into 3 mana for a brief moment.

"Arcane" means "Arcane", which is a subtype of Instants and Sorceries, as you can see on Ritual right there. As you cast any spell with the Arcane subtype, you can reveal Ritual from your hand and pay 1R to slap the "Add RRR to your mana pool" text onto that Arcane spell.

>>53076060
Absolutely. If it says "Tap target creature", the only targeting restriction there is "Target creature". If it was intended to only hit an untapped one, it would say "Target UNTAPPED creature". Cards mostly do what they say.

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Does this ability mean that I can cast a spell costing 1 blue mana for free or does that ability only affects the colorless mana requirement?

>>53077829
It affects only the GENERIC portion of the cost (colorless is a different thing). It won't make Brainstorm any cheaper, but it would make Lightning Strike only cost R. It doesn't do anything to COLORLESS costs- if you had one of these out, Warping Wail would cost C. If you had two of them out, it would still cost C.

>>53077829
Anything that adds or removes a cost expressed in colorless like that means only colorless.

>>53077841
Generic, not colorless. We used to use "Number in a grey circle" to denote generic mana in costs, and colorless mana PRODUCED (IE, Sol Ring cost 1 generic mana, and made 2 colorless mana). In Oath of the Gatewatch that was changed- now number-in-circle is ONLY used in costs, to denote a generic mana cost, while colorless mana (either as a cost, like with Warping Wail, or being produced, as with Sol Ring) has the diamond symbol.

>>53078253
Meant to post a question here but ended up in the EDH general.
Bruna and shroud question

>>53078278
The ONLY time Auras target is when they're spells. An Aura that's just put onto the battlefield doesn't target; you just put it onto the battlefield attached to something it can legally be attached to.

Shroud won't stop Bruna from getting free Auras.

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Does the activated ability of Gryff's Boon trigger Sigil of the Empty Throne?

>>53078393
It does not, because you didn't cast it.

>>53078388
Nice, thanks gA

>>53077837
>>53077841
I see, thank you!

>>53078405
So I'm playing gifts storm in modern FNM tonight. I feel like I know most of the standard lines, but some of the awkward ones where I need to gifts for less than 4 cards, or go off without electromancer are awkward.
How much time is "taking too long" to execute the combo? 3 minutes?

How does vial smasher work if one of your opponents has hexproof? Do you essentially just exclude them from the random choosing?

>>53079869
There's no hard time limit, because it would be abused if there was one. "How much time is too much time?" is a judgement call. If you're actually trying to take your game actions at a reasonable pace, but your turn has taken a few minutes, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Same as you could be 'slow playing' with a 30 second turn, if that turn was "untap, draw, stare at opponent for 28 seconds, then drop a Forest and pass".

Basically, don't ultra-rush yourself to the point you make mistakes. Just try to take your game actions at a reasonable pace.

>>53080025
Pretty much. It's just like if it were 'normal' targeted, it's just that instead of you choosing, you choose RANDOMLY. You can still only choose from legal targets.

>>53080107
One other question - my opponent has leyline of sanctity in their opening grip. Can i exile two simian spirit guide, manamorphse to UU and remand it?

>>53080314
You cannot. Nobody has priority until the first Upkeep step of the game, and you put out Leylines long before that.

Even if you HAD priority that wouldn't do anything, because he's just beginning the game with that permanent on the field. Nothing was cast.

>>53080331
So there's nothing I can do to stop it? He gets it every game because he double sleeves the cards so he knows what's what.

>>53080422
>He gets it every game because he double sleeves the cards so he knows what's what.
Then he's cheating and you should report this to a judge

>>53080422
There's nothing you can do to naturally 'stop' a Turn 0 Leyline, no. Your best bet is to just hit it with an Erase effect on turn 1.

Also, it is like a billion percent not okay to only double sleeve specific cards, ESPECIALLY if it's so you can tell them apart from others. If that was done intentionally at a tournament, the penalty is "Get the fuck out of my event".

>>53080442
>>53080443
The entire deck is double sleeved, but he can tell from the air bubbles if it's a land or not, and the judge looks at his sleeves and goes "lol not marked"

>>53080479
If he can -actually- tell the cards apart, they are marked, and you need to talk to the Judge about that (the judge is probably only doing a quick scan for physical markings on the sleeve).

Alternatively, tell your friend he's a cheating asshole and to stop doing that.

>>53080495
My """friend""" is a smug asshole who insists that since the cards and sleeves don't have any marks on them they aren't marked. Like, they look the same but he can feel where the bubble is and know. And he doesn't let the judge take the cards out because "they're too expensive to let you ruin".

I want to punch him some days.

>>53080534
"Cards or sleeves in a player’s deck have inconsistencies on them that might allow them to be differentiated from each other while in the library. This includes scuff marks, nail marks, discoloration, bent corners and curving from foils."

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/ipg3-8/

It doesn't have to be a physical MARK on the sleeve. If you can tell cards apart because of inconsistencies like air bubbles, scratches on the sleeve, bent corners, whatever, they are Marked. If they are Marked in such a way that you could gain an advantage by noticing the pattern, that can be upgraded to a Game Loss. If you KNOW they are marked, and use that knowledge to your advantage, that's a DQ.

If you responded to "I need to examine your cards and sleeves to see if they're marked" with "They're too expensive to let you ruin", you'd get an ear to ear smile, and a direct instruction to comply with my request, or pack up your things and leave.

>>53080606
>>53080534
I guess what I'm trying to say is you should probably talk to the Judge, go over 3.8 with them, and politely suggest they grow a spine.

If a creature with 3 toughness would be dealt lethal damage by lightning bolt but regenerates, do things that say "when X is dealt damage" still trigger?

>>53080892
Yes. Damage doesn't kill creatures, state-based actions do. Here's the entire breakdown of Bolting a Cudgel Troll that's regenerated in response:

>AP announces Lightning Bolt, places it on the stack, chooses Cudgel Troll as the target, taps a Mountain to generate R, uses that to pay for the spell
>AP passes priority to NAP
>NAP activates Cudgel Troll's ability, passes priority to AP
>AP has no response, activation resolves, puts a 'regen shield' around Troll.
>Priority pass happens again, nobody has anything to add, Bolt resolves. Does 3 damage to the target, is put into the graveyard
>SBAs are checked, see a 4/3 with 3 damage on it, say 'destroy that'
>Regeneration replaces the destruction event with "tap that, remove all damage from it, remove it from combat"

So the short answer is that yes, the target still takes damage, and that'll trigger anything that CARES about that happening. It's just that the creature lives through that damage.

>>53081049
Same is true for totem armor? The creature has to be damaged for any damage to be removed from that creature?

>>53081083
Totem Armor is similar. It replaces the event of "Enchanted creature is being destroyed" with "remove all damage from enchanted permanent and destroy this aura instead".

So, say it's a 2/2 with Hyena Umbra against a Bolt. 3 damage is dealt- it HAPPENS, it'll trigger things that care. SBAs say 'kill this', Totem Armor alters that to 'wipe the damage off of this, kill Hyena Umbra'.

>>53081109
Right. So when would something like repurcussions trigger and go on the stack? After bolt resolves and SBA are checked?

>>53081176
So, Bolt would hit for 3, and Repercussion would trigger, but JUST trigger for now.

SBAs are checked, enacted, and replaced. THEN the trigger goes on the stack.

>>53081109
If you have Totem Armor and Regeneration effects both active on the same target, is it up to the owner/active player to choose which takes effect as priority?

>>53081335
Any time you have more than one replacement effect wanting to apply to the same event, the choice of which to apply first is made by the controller of the affected object (or if it has no controller, the owner).

In this case, the affected object is "The thing that's gonna die", so that creature's controller would decide if they want to use Regeneration first, or Totem Armor. Whichever they use, it eats the destruction event, so the other one no longer has anything to replace, shrugs, and moves on.

So, if they'd rather keep the aura, but don't care about it being tapped and removed from combat, they'd want to pick Regeneration.

If they're okay losing the aura to keep the card in combat/untapped, they could pick Totem Armor.

>>53081358
That's what I thought, but it's a load off my mind to have it clarified. Thanks for all the help you do!

>>53081370
Happy to help!

Fun fact, an interaction like this has been in Standard for a hot minute now: Flaying Tendrils and Kalitas. Technically speaking, the decision of whether or not you get a Zombie (assuming your Kalitas) is entirely in the hands of your opponent.

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So i have a question about pic related, if the spell i reveal costs more mana than the spell that causes the ability to trigger it do i put it in my had?

>>53082436
If the card you hit is NOT a nonland card with CMC less than the spell that triggered her, it goes to your hand.

So if it's a land, or a nonland with CMC greater than or equal to, you'd reveal it to all players, then put it into your hand.

>>53082492
Thanks.

Another question related to Rashmi, if i say cast a card with As Foretold do basically reveal the card and put it in my hand because the card has a CMC of 0 because As Foretold?

>>53082585
Nope! CMC is not "What you paid", CMC is 'the sum total of the symbols in the top-right of the card'.

Cryptic Serpent has a CMC of 7, whether it's costing you 5UU, 3UU, 0, or WWUUBBRRGG and a Baja Blast to cast it. The only time CMC ever actually 'changes' is with X spells; for those, X is 0 everywhere but the stack, and X is whatever value you said it is while on the stack. So a Banefire in your hand, graveyard, library, exile, trade binder, and heavily-read copy of Ender's Game has a CMC of 1. Banefire on the stack with X=6 has a CMC of 7.

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New to Magic. Is MTGO any good?

>>53083093
Eeeeeeh. If you don't really have an area to play in, it's passable in the sense that you can draft whenever you want, and a lot of cards are much cheaper on MODO than they are in paper (but some, conversely, are bafflingly expensive compared to paper). Unless "can draft whenever" is appealing to you, or you lack an area to play, I wouldn't advise it as a starting point, because to be frank it's also a buggy piece of shit.

If you're just looking for a no-pressure way to learn the game, look into Magic Duels. It's free on Steam, PSN, and Xbox Whatever, and is aimed at brand-new players.

How do you feel about the volatile secondary market and wizards reprinting policy?

>>53083141
Best way to play imo. Also cheaper.

>>53083581
So long as it's a TCG and not an LCG, the market will be volatile. The only way for it to NOT be would be for the game to die tomorrow.

I'm not a huge fan of the Reserve List, but I understand why WOTC won't rescind it.

>>53058772
Hello, says >>53068376 >>53068443 he has a cheating That Guy at his LGS and the judge is friends with said That Guy and the judge is a bigger believer in nepotism than doing his job. Is there a way to get a judge to lose his license for that?

>>53085905
the says should be after the links, sorry.

>>53068924
>>53069036
How would Rubblebelt Raiders work with a card that makes attackers (e.g. hero of blade hold).

>>53086387
Tokens are created attacking, while "when X attacks" effects trigger only when attackers are declared. So they don't pump the raiders.

>>53086554
What happens if the triggered ability of Hero of Bladehold resolves before the triggered ability of Rubblebelt Raiders?

>>53086554
>>53086717
The tokens affects the Raider, same with battlecry from the Bladehold.

>>53085905
If you believe a judge is doing shady shit, you should report it to the Judge Conduct Committee and their Regional Coordinator.

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/contact/contact-a-regional-coordinator/

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccIfjzcQ8Q_CuxKYjpuznesTQ46g5n5lhGSmp5FWe_hPy3CA/viewform

(Note that both of these can be used to report GOOD behavior as well- if your local judge is just busting their ass making things awesome, let their bosses know)

>>53086387
They would count. The trigger looks at which creatures are currently attacking, which those tokens are.

>>53086717
You'd make the tokens, and then they'd get counters because they're attacking creatures that exist as that trigger resolves.

>>53086836
Can I choose to stack the triggers so the Rubblebelt Raiders's resolves first for some reason?

>>53087135
Sure! Both triggers go onto the stack at the same time, and both are yours.

>>53087164
I officially have a problem.

I'm the guy who asked about calling for IDW during a pre-release. Took your advice, reported them to WPN, figured it was done with. Apparently not.

After FNM tonight I'm approached in the parking lot by a store employee who says, quite bluntly, that "if you don't like how we run (events) here, you really should find some other place to play."

It's clear this is retaliatory for the WPN call, but at the same time if I get banned there I'm likely to get banned from every other store in town. The hell do I do?

>>53088763
What is JAR?

>>53089109
Something the store apparently doesn't know about, or doesn't care about.

Bump on the off-chance gA sees this

>>53058772
I assume you like Spell Snip. What are your thoughts on Censor?

>>53088763
Honestly, your options are either to stand your ground for what's right and report the retaliatory action to the WPN and run that risk, and if other stores ban you because THAT store badmouths you, report it again (and explain to the stores that you're not a cheater/thief/whatever, but that the store banned you for reporting their rule-breaking to the WPN), or keep your head down and continue to let them do whatever they want.

It's up to you to decide whether having a place to play is more important than having a place to play where the rules are followed.

>>53089202
>>53088763
So, I'm also talking to my RC to see if he has any ideas. A suggestion he brought up was to go to the other stores BEFOREHAND and explain the situation, to try and cut 'your' store off at the pass. Personally, I'd just stop playing at that store on principle at this point.

We're also gathering other ideas and talking to other people, so hold tight.

>>53094500
Well now it gets interesting because a local L2 is caught up in this as well. I vented to him on Facebook and according to the store, he named me specifically as having the concern that lines up with the WPN report, which is how the store triangulated me.

I'm in a real bind because this is a VERY big store in the area and the other stores will not be able to absorb that hit.

>>53095083
Sorry- are you saying that this L2 told the store you had anonymously reported their behavior to the WPN?

Because if so, he and his RC need to have a VERY unpleasant conversation. Which Region are you in?

Sorry for interrupting the way more interesting anon's stuff, but does a creature need to be alive and on the battlefield to do damage in combat?

Example: I declare Serra Angel as an attacker. Opponent declares something as a blocker that would normally trade for the Serra Angel. I get priority and activate Bubbling Cauldron's first ability to sacrifice Serra Angel and gain 4 life. Does the blocker still die?

>>53095208
It does. Combat Damage hasn't used the stack in about... 8 years.

>>53095237
Just so I'm clear, it does need to be alive and on the battlefield or the blocker does die?

>>53095255
Sorry, I realize now that was unclear.

It does need to be alive and on the field to do combat damage. The very first thing that happens in the Combat Damage Step is all combat damage is assigned and dealt. By the time you have priority in that step to activate Cauldron, damage has been dealt and the Angel died. If you use Cauldron BEFORE damage, the Angel doesn't exist to DEAL damage in that step. So you can either have 4 life, or trade your Angel for their blocker, but not both.

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>>53095281
Thanks again!

for XX and XXX spells is the converted mana cost equal to all the Xs added up

>>53095400
Yes. You declare a value for X, then plug that in everywhere there's an X. If you cast Chalice of the Void for X=3, then it has a CMC of 6 on the stack. An Astral Cornucopia for X=4 has a CMC of 12 on the stack.

You can only cast scourge of nel toth from grave by paying BB and saccing two dudes? you can't just cast him from yard right by paying his mana cost?

>>53095514
Can you normally cast things from your graveyard by paying their mana cost?

The only reason you're allowed to with Scourge is because it has an ability which allows you to cast it from there, but only for a specific alternate cost. Same reason you can't just pay B to cast Bump in the Night from your graveyard- nothing is allowing you to. Something allows you to cast it from your graveyard for 5R.

If you have an effect which lets you cast creatures from your graveyard by paying their mana cost (like Havengul Lich), you could cast the Scourge for 5BB from your graveyard. But not normally, no, because nothing is letting you.

how does strionic resonator work with abilities which the target is chosen at random?

>>53095621
You can either leave the target of the copy as the same one that was randomly chosen for the original, or you can 'choose' a new target... at random.

How do multiple As foretold work? Do you only get one free spell each turn?

>>53096122
Nope! Once you use up a single one's free-cast, that only uses up the free-cast from THAT copy. You've still got a freecast for each of your other copies.

I tried Magic at a comicon with a couple of friends and really liked it. I would like to play it more but I'm not sure what's the best way for a beginner to get into the game.

I found a cheap kaladesh deck builder for 15 bucks and my girlfriend bought a duel deck pack, but what am I supposed to do now to start having a decent deck? Should I get booster packs?

Also, do you have any suggestions on how can I get my friends to be more into the game?

>>53097538
That's really going to depend on what you want out of the game. If you want to play competitively, I'd recommend finding a game store and trying to do some drafts. They're a better way to build a collection than just buying packs, and it's a lot more FUN than just buying packs too- plus, it'll help you get better at the game. Heck, they're not a bad idea even if you wanna play casually.

Most likely you'll start with Standard as a format. It's the most readily-accessible format, but it rotates on a set schedule, meaning you'd need to get new cards every few months to keep up to date. There's older formats like Modern and Legacy where the card pools don't rotate, but they tend to be more expensive to get into.

For now, figure out what you like, draft some, maybe look into Commander, build a bit of a collection. Once you start wanting certain cards for a deck, buying singles is the best option rather than playing the booster lottery.

Try showing your friends Magic Duels. It's free on Steam, PS4, and Xbox One, and it teaches the game pretty well. It's aimed at beginners.

>>53095111
I'm saying I told the judge on Facebook and he recommended i file a WPN report, which i do.

Last night, the store employee that tried to strongarm me insisted that "a couple judges" were the source that I had a problem. So I have to expect that it came from either the L2, or someone he talked to.

And I'm in whatever region Indiana is in.

>>53098062
Yeah, it sounds like either your L2 told the store directly, your L2 told some other judges about the issue and one of them blabbed, or the store is lying and trying to deflect blame.

If one of the Judges told the store, that is super not a good thing- huge diplomacy failure, and their RC needs to know. Even if it's all at the store level, your RC needs to know that a local store is acting like this and threatening to ban customers for reporting rules not being followed.

Indiana would put you in the USA - Great Lakes region.

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/contact/contact-a-regional-coordinator/

That is an easy way for you to contact the RC for your area and let him know what's going on. I highly recommend you do so.

>>53098501
It was made clear that I'm not banned, but and I quote, "if you don't like the way we run (events) then you REALLY need to find a different store."

I'll ask around a bit regardless.

Abilities have colors right, what color is the second triggered ability of Heart-Piercer Manticore if the Manticore itself has changed color?

>>53099217
The ability is colorless. Though I'm wondering why you would ask.

>>53099613
If abilities are colorless then what's the interaction with protection from color?

>>53099217
>>53099613
>>53099816
Abilities don't have colors in and of themselves. "Color" is a property of a card.

Abilities do, however, have sources. And that source will always be a card, so the source will always have a color (or be colorless).

In the example of Heart-Piercer Manticore, if something made it green then its abilities could not target anything with protection from green.

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>>53058772
>be me
>be fnm
>i'm on grixis control
>opp is on jeskai control
>it was like a 6 hour game 1
>start G2
>opponent casts Gideon of the Trials
>it resolves
>opponent puts a die on 4 on Gideon and says go
>I activate my Wandering Fumarole and attack Gideon, make it a 4/1
>opponent says that he targeted Fumarole with Gideon so Gideon takes no damage
>you, the judge, saw that my opponent never declared a target which he must, but he forgot and either I forgot or can just say I forgot, even if I knew he needed to pick one
>you, the judge, missed that he needs to pick a target and let him pass the turn to me
1) What happens?
2) What happens at Comp REL?
3) How would you change your ruling if you just came over to the table and only heard my story?
4) What types of things could the opponent say that would change the ruling if you didn't see what happened?
5) If I get to my turn and am thinking about attacking with Fumarole and realize that my opponent never picked a target for an effect he has to choose a target for and I call a judge, what would you rule if I speak to you in private?

What actually happened was my opponent forgot to pick something and I missed it too. I attacked with Fumarole, he facepalms and puts his Gideon in the graveyard.
I proceed to lose the game because he both drew better and outplayed me.
Possible mulligan and deck building factors too. #scrublife

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>>53099859
What happens if i cast Thoughtlace on the manticore with its ability already on the stack, targeting a pro blue creature?

>>53098574
I mean, if I were you I'd find a different store to play purely because that place sounds like a trash fire that's going to lose their WPN sanctioning eventually anyway. If a store threatened a paying customer with being banned (even if it was just heavily implied) for reporting their shady practices, I'd blacklist them and happily tell everyone around me WHY.

>>53099217
Abilities are colorless. For things that care (like Protection), you look at the color of the SOURCE.

>>53100112
1) What happens is I admit I caught the error, but didn't manage to intervene before the game moved on. The root cause is that a target wasn't chosen for Gideon, so I'd decide which option is less disruptive: Leaving the game as-is right now with Gideon's effect not hitting anything, or rewinding through your draw step to the point where the error happened, and have the opponent select a legal target. Most likely, I will not be rewinding- I am loath to rewind through draws.

2) Same deal, except the opponent gets a Warning for Game Play Error - Game Rule Violation, and you get one for Game Play Error - Failure to Maintain Game State. Both of these hinge on me thinking you didn't notice it either- if I think you realized he fucked up and were riding the error, we might be having a Very Unpleasant Talk instead.

3) Investigate- talk to you, talk to your opponent, talk to spectators or nearby matches, and determine what I think most likely happened, then move on from there.

4) Not much. The only thing I can think of is finding out they intentionally didn't name a target so they could "name" one later, which changes this from 'fix' to 'Very Unpleasant Talk'.

5) Same deal. I'd determine whether it was more damaging to rewind or to leave as-is, come to the table, explain what happened, give penalties if appropriate, and apply whatever fix is best.

>>53100150
The trigger would be countered on resolution because the source is blue, so the ability cannot legally target it.

If an opponent attacks me with all his creatures and I cast Reins of Power targeting him, does that actually help me, other than letting me perhaps use sacrifice outlets I might have on his creatures?

>>53101113
If a creature changes controller it's removed from combat

>>53101113
It helps you a lot- any creature that changes controllers during combat is removed from combat. Reins of Power can be used as a pseudo Fog.

What is the difference between 'when' and 'whenever' when referring to a trigger?

>>53103889
None.

WoTC just uses "when" for events that are likely to only occur once and "whenever" for things that are likely to happen multiple times.

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Can i use Cards exiled by Geralf on prior activations?

like if i exiled 3 big creatures with Geralf can i use the third one next time i activate his ability?

>>53105609
of course i meant that can i use the 1 remaining card in the graveyard on the next activation.
stupid brainfarts

how would you recommend to randomly pick a card from graveyard when you know one player has card that cares about the order the graveyard is in so you can't just turn them and shuffle?

>>53106646
Roll a dice. Or more than one dice, if needed.

One easy, if a bit time consuming, way to pick an arbitrary card with just a single n sided dice is as follows.
Separate the pool of objects into stacks of n. This is doable without reordering them, so no issue there.
If you have more than n stacks, repeat the above. Some number of piles of n stacks of n objects. Recurse as deeply as needed.
Roll your n sided dice. It tells you stack n. Roll again to determine which object in the stack (or stack in the pile, or etc). If the roll indicates a valid object, you're done.
If the roll indicates an invalid object, such as the fourth object in a stack of three, restart rolling from the beginning.

>>53106646
You could turn the number of cards into base 6, then roll d6s equal to the number of digits you have in your graveyard. For example, if theres 35 cards in the grave, thats 55 in base 6, so you roll 2 d6's, and if you roll a 2 and a 4, you pick the 24th card in base 6, which is the 18th in base 10. Bases aren't super hard to learn, and if this is a situation that comes up often, it's not a bad idea to do so. Also, it can be done with a d20 and base 20, but bases over 20 are annoying as you have to start using letters and symbols to denote numbers over 9 in a single digit.

If Humility and Opalescence enters the battlefield simultaneously (e.g. Show & Tell) is the Humility a 4/4 or a 1/1?

>>53058772
If I have Leonin Abunas and Spellskeit out, and my opponent tries to target Leonin, can I move the target to Spellskeit? Does their effect fizzle, or does Spellskeit become the target despite Leonin?

>>53107461
You can activate Spellskite's ability but it won't change the target.

>>53107461

As >>53107559 said, it doesn't work. The reason is because the effect tries to move the target over, discovers it's an illegal target and just shrugs and doesn't do anything. It's the same with trying to re-direct a thoughtseize to a spellskite

>>53107166
I'm not sure the cards enter the battlefield simultaneously...
I think that the permanent chosen by the player who cast Show and Tell arrives first.
I don't know about other cards though, like if you cast Replenish with Opalescence and Humility in the graveyard. My guess would be that you choose the other of arrival.

I'm no judge though.

>>53105609
(Not a judge but 100% sure)

Nope, you can only choose to exile ones from this activation, there is no "memory" of previous times.

Say you activate it once, creature cards, A,B,C, and D are put into yard. you make an A+B zombie by choosing to exile A and B.

Then some amount of time later, you activate the ability again, and you're unlucky, and no creature at all is put into a graveyard. You cannot choose to exile C and/or D, because they were not "put into a graveyard this way" (referring to /this specific/ activation). You get a 0/0 zombie, which will then most likely die (unless you have something that boosts your zombies/creatures in play)

So, a stupid question. Do both nuZendikar and nuInnistrad rotate out in the fall with the block after amonkhet, or just BFZ/OGW?

>>53106646
Take a pic of the graveyard order with your phone, then shuffle and pick, resort after.

>>53108837
http://whatsinstandard.com/

Is the effect of Approach of the Second Sun a self-replacement effect? I'm trying to determine whether Thrumming Stone works, and while it looks like a self-replacement effect sort of, which would mean it works, I can't determine it for sure.

I'm unsure because it doesn't have any of the specified identifying traits from rules 614.1a to 614.1e, but it does have the similar nature of changing the manner of its resolution.

So, it's not letting me post. Trying this from my phone.

>>53111015
Okay, I have no clue. It's letting me post from my computer, but only when it feels like it. Save your questions, kids- more thread tomorrow.

>>53108928
Whipping out your phone is likely to get a judge breathing down your neck if you're playing at an event.

>>53110995
I don't get what shouldn't work, a card casted with ripple should resolve normally.

>>53110995
If you're asking whether you will win if you found another Approach using the Stone, the answer is no.

>>53112420
>cast approach from hand
>ripple triggers, finds second approach
>cast approach from library
>approach from library resolves
>approach from hand resolves
Seems like it would win

>>53112344
I'm wondering if the "if" clause checks on cast as well as resolution or only resolution

If it checks on cast, like the conditional ifs of triggers, I'd assume it wouldn't work, but it's not a trigger

>>53110548
1) I am not a clever man
2) Thank. Fucking. God.
3) Don't feel like triggering gA this time.

If a triggered ability triggers off an event and has no legal target, does the ability resolve and do nothing or not resolve at all? Or does it not trigger at all if there are no legal targets?

>>53115456
You just don't put it onto the stack.

How does dryad arbor work with ward of bones now?

>>53116147
>Each opponent who controls more creatures than you can't cast creature spells. The same is true for artifacts and enchantments.
>Each opponent who controls more lands than you can't play lands.

>you control ward of bones, opponent controls more creatures but not more lands
Opponent can play dryad arbor
>you control ward of bones, opponent controls more lands
Opponent cannot play dryad arbor

This is because dryad arbor is never cast but it is played as a land card.

Does "If this creature would die, instead..." care if the thing is actually a creature or does "this creature" just mean "this card"?

>>53118160
You mean if a creature is something else when it dies? I'm pretty sure it'll still trigger.

>>53118160
"Dies" is just shorthand for "Goes from the battlefield to the graveyard". A thing that's not a creature still "dies".

>>53118445
>>53118567
I suppose a chose a bad instance of the trigger.

Basically divorce it from the dying part. Does a trigger worded with "this creature" care if it's actually a creature at the time (assuming everything is still a legal target and so on)?

>>53118589
No. Same as with how a copy effect changing a name doesn't mean that self-reference abilities stop working.

You should specify which card if you want to ask something.

idk what thread to ask this in

does anyone know if there are any cards that prevent mana from disappearing from your mana pool at the end of each step? just curious

>>53120074
Omnath Locus of Mana

So what if I have a cumulative upkeep card on the board and every time I would have to pay for the cost I would end my turn with sundial of the infinite. I guess the age keeps going up for the cumulative card but does it count as paid of not paid for example a card like Heart of Bogadan?

For short can I skip my upkeeps until Heart of Bogardan 1 shots my enemy or does it not count as paid upkeep from the skipped turns?

>>53120220
You can't. The counter placing is in the same triggered ability as the pay or sac clause.

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what is that symbol in the top left corner?

>>53120446
Old flashback cards from Odyssey block have that symbol.

>>53120074
kruphix, god of horizons

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I had a quick question. If I had Dance of the Dead on a Deep Spawn, and use Deep Spawn's ability to give it shroud to dodge some removal, it will tap Deep Spawn and it won't untap as normal during my upkeep, but during my upkeep can I pay Dance of the Dead's cost to untap it?

>>53120751
yes you can

>>53120826

Thank you!

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>>53120446
It's a tombstone. It indicates it has Flashback so you can easily spot it out of a well-fed graveyard.

You know, like the new Aftermath cards but implemented in a fashion that isn't vomit inducing.

>>53120848
>You know, like the new Aftermath cards but implemented in a fashion that isn't vomit inducing.

With that and the Invocations I sort of wonder how the art director for this set still has his job.

>>53058772
Question that has come up a few times during my modern play (I play terrible mono green devotion):
If I Cast a Genesis Wave for 3, flip an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, an Eternal Witness, and a forest, can I get back either the Genesis Wave or the Emrakul with the Eternal Witness?
I know that you can get back the Genesis Wave without Emrakul, but what about in the example above?

>>53120908
Yes you can. You still have to shuffle the yard back to library after.

>>53121097
Okay, thanks. Just for clarification, what would be the proper way to say it//stack it for my opponent to understand?

>>53120074
Upwelling

>>53121823
Both Emrakul and Witness triggers. Witness trigger targets Em/Wave. I stack/let Witness' resolves first getting Em/Wave back to hand, then Em's resolves shuffling the graveyard back to the library.

>>53098574
where in indiana is this specifically? 219 bro here. i know of a few unfavorable stores in my area.