Good morning boys and girls, and welcome back to AAJ. Feel free to ask me questions! Do be aware that answers to questions about spoiled cards can range anywhere from clear and concise to "Dude I don't fuckin' know, we'll have to wait for the FAQ".
>>48023950
I have pic related on the battlefield along with Havoc Festival. What can or can't I do? What happens if I attempt to give my opponent a higher life total?
>>48023980
You can't use it on an opponent who has less than 13 life, because if they can't gain life then the exchange can't happen. If they're ABOVE 13 life you're good.
>>48023999
To be more specific, you can ACTIVATE it targeting an opponent below 13, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves. When you set a life total to a specific number, that player either gains or loses life until they hit that number, and with Havoc Festival they can't gain life, so if they're below 13 then you can't swap their life total with the Tree's toughness because that would involve them gaining life.
>>48024120
>To be more specific, you can ACTIVATE it targeting an opponent below 13, but the ability won't do anything when it resolves. When you set a life total to a specific number, that player either gains or loses life until they hit that number, and with Havoc Festival they can't gain life, so if they're below 13 then you can't swap their life total with the Tree's toughness because that would involve them gaining life.
It doesn't do *anything*? This surprises me. I would have expected it goes something like this:
-Havoc Festival and Tree of Perdition in play, activate 0/13 Tree targeting opponent with 10 life
-game attempts to set Tree of Perdition's toughness to 10, succeeds
-game attempts to set opponent's life to 13, fails due to Havoc Festival
on the grounds that if an instruction is partly impossible, you are supposed to do as much of it as you can.
>>48024236
Normally you'd be right, but exchanges are special. If you can't complete the whole exchange, none of it happens.
118.7. If an effect says that a player can't gain life, that player can't make an exchange such that the player's life total would become higher; in that case, the exchange won't happen. In addition, a cost that involves having that player gain life can't be paid, and a replacement effect that would replace a life gain event affecting that player won't do anything.
701.8a. A spell or ability may instruct players to exchange something (for example, life totals or control of two permanents) as part of its resolution. When such a spell or ability resolves, if the entire exchange can't be completed, no part of the exchange occurs.
>>48024266
Slow morning.
>>48024266
So one of those "you may have an opponent gain life instead of paying the mana cost" effects wouldn't work either?
If I have a Lich in play and I would gain 5 life, but there's a Havoc Festival in play. Do I draw 5 cards?
>>48025416
Right, because they literally cannot gain life, you can't pay that cost, though that's more along the lines of trying to cast a spell without enough mana for it- you can't pay the cost, you can't cast the spell.
NORMALLY a resolving spell or ability will do all it can, that's true- casting Hideous End on an Indestructible creature will still cause the opponent to lose 2 life, even though the creature isn't destroyed. It's just that exchanging has a specific set of rules for it that says if you can't carry out the whole exchange, none of it happens- you can't just exchange something for nothing. Equivalent Exchange and all that.
>>48025444
Nope! You can't gain life, so the replacement effect on Lich has no event to replace.
If my opponent uses Spelljack on Phage, the untouchable then plays it on his turn does he lose the game?
>>48025717
He does, because he cast it from exile, not his hand.
>>48025858
Can you cast Phage with Elvish Piper?
>>48025979
No, because Elvish Piper doesn't cast anything.
You can use Piper to put Phage onto the battlefield from your hand, and you will then die because you didn't cast her.
The only way Phage won't trigger is if you put her onto the stack from your hand and cast her. If you cheat her direct from hand (or any other zone) onto the board, she triggers. If you cast her from another zone (exile or library, for example), she triggers.
>>48025998
>Phage is triggered if you didn't cast her from your hand and she's so upset you lose the game.
fucking sjws...
>>48026091
It's more "they stapled weird shit onto scary creatures because the reanimation effects printed as early as Alpha were fucking dumb". It's why the ____steel Colossi have the shuffle-in replacement, why the Eldrazi Titans have the shuffle-in trigger, etc.
They've moved away from that now, and just decided "Fuck it, Legacy's gonna reanimate whatever, just stop printing cheap reanimation spells in Standard"
>>48026122
I think he was making a joke about the dual definition of "trigger", judgeAnon
Also, a question, how the hell does lion's eye diamond work?
Personal thoughts on Lone Rider/It That Rides Alone?
>>48026214
Like a Black Lotus except it's really hard to use it to cast spells from your hand.
>>48026227
Fucking badass name. Might be okay in Limited, maybe? I dunno. It sucks that it can't be a 4/4 until turn 4 at the earliest as far as attacking goes.
>>48026268
How is it even possible to cast spells from your hand? I know they do it in legacy but it's oftne just "I show you these couple cards and we agree the game's over."
>>48026287
Madness. Activate it, ditch your hand, shunt your Madness spell into exile, use the mana to cast it. Technically not casting FROM your hand, but you can use it to cast a Madness spell IN your hand.
The way it works in Legacy is that they don't need shit in their hand. The usual trick is to use other mana sources to cast an Infernal Tutor, hold priority to crack your LED, and then when Tutor resolves you're Hellbent so you fetch up exactly the card you need and cast it with the mana from your LED you already cracked.
>>48026322
Oh, and that works because mana burn isn't a thing anymore?
>>48026357
Worked before that, too. Mana burn only hit you when your mana pool emptied, and it only empties as you move between steps and phases.
>>48026368
Wait, so it's not illegal to have mana and not instantly use it?
>>48026393
Not even a little. Never has been, as far as I know.
You do need to announce what mana you have floating, though.
>>48026420
wow, we've been playing wrong forever. You had to make sure you knew what you were going to do for turns because if you play all your mana and then don't do anything with them you lose them to mana burn.
If I cast yawgmoth will and I have rooftop storm on the battlefield can I cast zombies from my graveyard and pay 0 for there mana cost?
So if I use Soul Seperator on a flip card and manage to trigger the transform on the token, does the token just exile itself or does nothing happen?
>>48026476
Well even mana burn didn't force you to use the mana immediately, you had until the end of the phase/step to figure out what do with the mana, only difference is now mana doesn't last through steps inside of phase, and it doesn't burn you when it dissipates
>>48026476
>>48026393
that's how high tide works. Also peregrine drake with ghostly flicker in pauper (flicker peregrine drake and mnemonic wall, untapping 5 lands and returning ghostly flicker to your hand with their triggers, tap 5 lands for mana, then spend 3 to cast ghostly flicker again, repeat until you have 8857399303797739374759393 mana floating in your mana pool cast kaervek's torch ftw).
>>48026988
only double faced cards can transform. If you would transform something that doesn't have a second face, nothing happens.
>>48026669
Sure! YawgWin just gives you permission to play cards out of your graveyard. It's not an alternate cost, so you can use the alternate cost of 0 from Storm just fine.
>>48026988
Depends on what the DFC you exiled does. If it's just a "transform me" thing, nothing happens because tokens can't transform. If it's like the Origins walkers where it's "exile me, then bring me back transformed" it'll exile itself, fail to come back, then stop existing.
What happens if I use Soul Seperator on Lord of Extinction?
>>48027608
You get a 1/1 Spirit with flying and a Zombie with P/T equal to the number of cards in all graveyards at the time it was created (not counting Lord, since that already got eaten)
>>48027703
But doesn't the Spirit get the ability "~'s power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards in all graveyards."?
>>48027748
Nope.
706.9d When applying a copy effect that doesn’t copy a certain characteristic, retains an original
value for a certain characteristic, or modifies the final value of a certain characteristic, any
characteristic-defining ability (see rule 604.3) of the object being copied that defines that
characteristic is not copied. If that characteristic is color, any color indicator (see rule 204) of
that object is also not copied.
are shapeshifters all creature types always, or just on battlefield?
>>48028180
Shapeshifters don't have any rules associated with them.
If you mean things with Changeling, that's a Characteristic-Defining Ability. It works in all zones. So a Woodland Changeling is all creature types on the board, in your hand, in your library, in your graveyard, etc.
I know that combat damage assignment with deathtouch creatures have been changed a few times, so i just want to be sure how it works currently.
A 2/4 creature with deathtouch attacks and is blocked by two 2/2s. How many creatures die?
>>48028899
Both, you need to assign lethal damage to the first blocker of your choice before you can assign damage to the second one. Your 2/4 has deathtouch so 1 damage is considered lethal damage
>>48029000
well, all three die
>>48023950
lets see....
IF you enchant a caged sun with song of the dryads, then spreading seas, would the caged sun produce infinite mana? (if the chosen color was blue)
GLHF :D
>>48029000
Ok now i get it, thanks.
>>48029203
oh by the way, you'll have to remove song of the dryads.
>>48028899
All three, if you want. Deathtouch makes it so any nonzero amount of damage from that source is considered lethal, so you can assign just 1 to each blocker and kill them both. Or just kill one, if you want.
>>48029203
Nah. Mostly because it won't have any abilities except tapping for blue because it's just an Island.
>>48029515
Then Spreading Seas falls off because it's not a land anymore.
>>48029729
if you cast song of the dryads on ANY permanent, then play vesuva as a copy of that "land", does it keep its land type?
>>48030004
Nope. Vesuva copies things as they exist in Layer 1, which is three layers before Song of the Dryads fucks with it.
What that means is if you have Song of the Dryads on a permanent, you can play a Vesuva and have your Vesuva come in as a copy of the permanent itself- and not be a land. You could throw Song onto a Planeswalker and then drop your Vesuva as an uncounterable Planeswalker.
>>48030038
same question, but with thespian's stage.
>>48030073
Ditto. Thespian's Stage copies the target as it exists in layer 1, which is before things mess with it. That means that a nonland with Song of the Dryads on it is a legal target for Thespian's Stage's activated ability, but the copiable characteristics it assumes are pre-Song.
It will retain the ability to become a copy of target land though.
>>48030038
Can you explain why it copies things as they exist in layer 1? Do all copy effects do that?
>>48030422
Because layer 1 is the Copy Effects layer. It's where copy effects pull their copiable characteristics FROM. It's why if I Clone a Bear Cub that has 10 +1/+1 counters, a Rancor, two Loxodon Warhammers and a Sword of Fire and Ice on it, I get...
A 2/2 green Bear with no abilities.
>>48023950
How does banding work?
Serious question.
>>48030517
it doesn't
>>48030517
Very TL;DR version: 1) banders can attack as a group the way anyone can defend as a group, 2) the opposite player of normal chooses how to assign combat damage to a banding group.
>>48030517
The short answer is it makes you King Big Dick of All Combat.
So, say you have three things with Banding. You can put those guys (and up to one thing WITHOUT banding) into a "Band". If any creature in the band gets blocked, the whole band gets blocked, so if you attacked with a band of one Flying, one Shadow, one Protection-from-whatever, and one vanilla creature, they could block the whole band by just throwing a body in front of the vanilla guy.
That sounds awful, right? It lets them gang-block even your evasive guys! But here's the fun part: Normally, when I block your creatures, you choose how yours hand out damage, and I choose how mine hand out damage. If I use something like Hundred-Handed One to block three of your 10/1 creatures and your 2/10, I can kill your 10/1s because I choose how to hand out damage. Ditto, if I block your 10/10 with a 0/20 wall and a bunch of 5/1s, you can choose to kill the 5/1s because you choose how your guy does damage. But not with Banding.
With Banding, YOU choose how MY blockers assign damage to your band. Even better, it lets you divvy it up so it doesn't need to be lethal. I could block a band of 2/2s with my 4/4, and you can just have it assign 1 damage to everything and lose nothing. OR assign all damage to one creature, if you want. It makes your little group easier to block for the boon of you fucking up my combat math, hardcore.
It's KINDA similar on defense- you don't actually form a "band", but if you block with at least one Banding creature, you get to decide how the attacking creature's damage is divided out. On defense there's no "up to one not-banding thing" limit; you could gang-block with your whole board, and as long as there's a Benalish Hero among them, you pick how my attacker hands out damage.
>>48030598
3) Banding also works while blocking.
>>48030765
>>48030598
4) Banding lets you assign less-than-lethal to a creature before moving on. That's a big one.
If I attack with a 5/2, a 3/3, and a pair of 2/2s into your 5/5, I can spread the damage such that none of my creatures die (1 damage on each of the 2/2s, 1 damage on the 5/2, 2 damage on the 3/3).
How does Camouflage work?
>>48030944
It's basically "your shit blocks randomly". You form up as many "piles" as there are things attacking you (or one of your Planeswalkers), and then you divide your creatures among piles as you like (and you can have empty ones, so you could just throw all your blockers into one pile, or put 2 blockers each into 2 piles, or 3 and 1, whatever).
Then, we randomly assign your piles to my attacking creatures 1:1. Let's say you have a pair of Runeclaw Bears, a Hill Giant, and a Sun Titan. I'm attacking you with a 5/6, a 2/3, and a pair of Glory Seekers. The smart thing would probably be to just throw your bears at my seekers, your Hill Giant at my 2/3. and your Sun Titan at my 5/6. But ah, I cast Camouflage!
So now, you have four piles. You can put your creatures in however you want- you can have one creature per pile, you could do 2 in one pile, 1 each in two other piles, and one empty. You could do 2 piles of 2, a split of 3/1/0/0, you could do 4/0/0/0, or just not block at all and leave all four piles empty.
Once you've sorted out your piles, we randomly assign one of your piles to one of my attackers, and repeat until all of my attackers have one pile assigned to them. Then, anything in that pile that CAN block the attacker associated with the pile MUST. So if you put your Bears into a pile and it ended up assigned to my 5/6, your bears have to block it.
>>48031042
any interesting interactions with banding?
What are your thoughts of Eldritch Moon so far?
I have Karador, Ghost Chieftain and Gisa and Geralf on the battlefield.
During my turn, I cast a zombie from my graveyard, can I now cast anything else from my graveyard?
Okay, leaving the office! I'll attend to these questions when I get home in a bit.
don't have a question and haven't played magic in years but somehow ended up on /tg/ and wanted to thank you gA for doing these for so long, helped me a lot back in the day
cheers man, polite sage
If I have sphinx of the final word is on the board can my opponent cast Invasive surgery on a sorcery I played and have delirium go off?
TL;DR delirium how does it work if the spell is illegal?
Several questions one post
1: Assume I'm casting a spell for free off of windbrisk heights. If that spell has a kicker cost, can I pay it?
What about for like, Buyback? in what case can I pay extra/alternate costs when casting a spell for free?
2: Does delving a treasure cruise allow me to get around Trinisphere, making it so I only have to tap 1 and delve 7? What about other Sphere effects? Can I tap 1 and delve 8 to cast treasure cruise with a Thorn of Amethyst in play?
3: Does Ashnod's altar/phyrexian altar count as a mana ability, and therefore can be activated in response to a split second spell?
4: So after I cast a spell, I maintain priority until I pass it right? Meaning that I cast a spell and before my opponent gets to do anything I can cast another spell immediately in response correct? and THEN my opponent gets his chance before either spell resolves, Correct?
>>48031688
Can't be countered works a lot like indestructible. You can play Doom Blades on an Avacyn all you want, they're legal and will resolve, she just won't care. Same thing goes for counterspells. Invasive Surgery can try to counter and the spell resolves even though the spell isn't actually countered, and your opponent gets to find the rest of that card and exile them because that effect doesn't care if the spell was countered.
>>48031744
1. When you're casting without paying mana cost, you can't pay additional costs or X costs at all.
2. Trinisphere has no effect on Ruse Cruise because its CMC is higher than three, you can pay U and delve 8 cards to cast it with Thorn of Amethyst. Delve pays the generic mana part of costs, it doesn't reduce cost. It and Convoke both used to reduce cost but that was changed in M15.
3. Yep, they're both mana abilities.
4. Correct. State based actions will check after every spell cast, but your opponent has to wait until you pass priority.
for non permanents that say something doesn't untap on the controllers next turn, does it untap the turn after that or stay tapped/
>>48031887
Just their next turn.
>>48031976
thats what I thought but wanted to be sure, thanks.
If I use Dominus of Fealty to gain control of a permanent that also has a trigger at the beginning of upkeep, can I use that too?
>>48032170
No. Beginning of the upkeep happens once, all the triggers that can happen go on the stack at one time, more can't be added even if you add more things that with beginning of upkeep triggers.
If you want, you could use a card like Paradox Haze to have a second upkeep step, then the permanent you took control of has a chance to along with everything else again.
>>48032170
If your Dominus ability has triggered and resolved it's already past the beginning of your upkeep
Angel of Jubilation is out and Living Death is cast, what happens?
>>48030622
how does banding interact with trample? If I block a creature with trample with two creatures of which one has banding, can I decide to apply 1 damage to both, not killing them, and take whatever's left to the face? Can I assign 0 to both blockers and take all damage to the face?
If I block with just one creature and it has banding, does banding still apply?
>>48031042
do attacking creatures that get assigned a camouflage block pile with 0 creatures in it still count as getting blocked?
>>48032421
Angel of Jubilation only stops saccing things for costs, any saccing and life payment in the resolution of the spell is fair game. Living Death'll work as advertised, you'll sac all your creatures and put the ones already in your graveyard on the board.
>>48032421
Living Death resolves and all players exile all creature cards from their graveyard, sacrifice all creatures they control, then return the exiled cards to play
>Players can't pay life or sacrifice creaturesto cast spells or activate abilities
>>48032424
I'm gonna leave the banding part to gA or the other anon just cause I'm sure I'll second guess myself on it.
After the camouflage clusterfuck is done, if an attacking creature has nothing in its block pile, it's not blocked.
>>48032517
>>48032539
thanks senpaitachi
>>48031093
Not really. It just makes 'blocking' weird.
>>48031118
Honestly, mostly disappointed.
>>48031150
It works like extra land drops used to. Each one is giving you permission to do a thing, so you just say which of them you're using.
>>48031457
Happy to help- thank you for your kind words.
>>48031688
The spell isn't an illegal target. "Can't be countered by spells/abilities" doesn't mean "can't be targeted by counterspells", it's like Indestructible. I can cast a Doom Blade targeting a Darksteel Colossus all day, it just doesn't DO anything. With Invasive Surgery, it's legal to cast it targeting an uncounterable spell, and with Delirium online you'll still get to strip the other zones.
>>48031744
1) You can for additional costs like Kicker and Buyback, and you do have to actually pay. It's ALTERNATE costs that you can't pay, because you can't pay 2 alternate costs, and you're already using one.
2) Hilariously, no. Delve USED to be a cost reduction, so it didn't work as well against 3sphere. It got changed a while back, so now it's another way to pay- and that's AFTER 3sphere locks shit in. You can absolutely Delve a spell down below paying 3 to get around 3sphere.
3) Yes. It's an activated ability that doesn't target, could add mana to a mana pool, and is not a loyalty ability.
4) The default is that you maintain priority, but the actuality is that the MTR establishes a shortcut that you're assumed to pass priority after casting spells unless you explicitly retain it. You can just do that, though- cast a spell, say "Retaining priority, then cast this other spell". Your opponent will still get to respond to those spells, both before and after the 'second' spell resolves.
>>48031887
Just the next turn. If it locked it down forever it'd say so.
>>48032170
Nope.
>>48032421
Nothing much, since saccing the dudes isn't a cost, so Angel won't stop it. Happens normally.
>>48031845
>When you're casting without paying mana cost, you can't pay additional costs or X costs at all.
Pretty sure you can pay additional costs like kicker.
"Because you’re already casting the spell using an alternative cost (by casting it without paying its mana cost), you can’t pay any other alternative costs for the card. You can pay additional costs, such as kicker costs. If the card has any mandatory additional costs, you must pay those."
From the Isochron Scepter gatherer notes.
Also I thought that was the point of exiling an orim's chant onto a scepter.
>>48032424
Sorry, ran out of post.
>Banding and trample
Nope. Trample only lets that creature assign damage to the defender after it's assigned lethal to all blockers. Banding doesn't get around that, it just lets you assign less-than-lethal to one blocker before moving on to the next. You can't elect to skip your blockers, because nothing is letting you do that.
>Camouflage pile
Nope. Nothing was in that pile so nothing's blocking it. It'd be a really bad card if it was something you play just to block all your own creatures.
so i have an experiment one with no counters on it and i cast avatar of the resolute. when the evolve trigger happens, will the avatar come in with a counter?
>>48035760
Nope. The Avatar's ability is a replacement effect that modifies how it enters the battlefield, and at the time it would apply you don't have any +1/+1 counters on your dudes. He comes in without one, triggers Evolve, and then Evolve resolves and ticks a dice up on your Experiment, well after Avatar has entered.
>>48035779
thts what i thought, thanks
What is the cmc of a melded creature? In the case of Bristle is it 0, 4, 7, or 11?
>>48036194
Tabak has confirmed that it's the sum of the CMCs of the base creatures. So for Brisela, it's 11. For Hanweir, it's just 3 since it's comprised of a 3 drop and a Land. For Chittering Host, it's 7.
Bedtime now.
>>48032847
>Honestly, mostly disappointed.
Really? Most people seem to like it so far.
>>48032847
>It works like extra land drops used to. Each one is giving you permission to do a thing, so you just say which of them you're using.
Used to? So extra landdrops work differently now? How?
>>48025998
What if you manifest phage and flip her face up?
>>48038543
it does nothing
MTR:
>Whenever a player adds an object to the stack, he or she is assumed to be passing priority unless he or she explicitly announces that he or she intends to retain it. If he or she adds a group of objects to the stack without explicitly retaining priority and a player wishes to take an action at a point in the middle, the actions should be reversed up to that point.
I never understood this. Why is casting multiple instants not a shortcut for casting them whilenretaining priority? If the game is reversed, can't the casting player just repeat the same action, but say "oh and I'm retaining priority, so you can't cast something in the middle of these"? Why is this shortcut so awkwardly written? What is the main purpose of it?
>>48040608
>I think we'd get along
Imagine those two together.
>>48040608
what's that have to do with phage?
judge question
Olivia, Mobilized for War is in play
play a Abbot of Keral Keep
do I get to see which card gets exiled by Abbot before deciding to discard to Olivia? or is it the case that I need to discard a card to make my Human Vampire Monk before being able to act on the knowledge of what the Abbot's exiled card is?
>>48040756
>>48040768
Depends on how you stacked the trigger, yes you can.
Olivia's ability will always trigger, and you choose whether to discard or not at the resolution of it.
>>48040768
You can choose whether to exile the top card first (and see what it is), or whether to discard with Olivia. This is because you discard on resolution.
You can make it so that you exile first, and depending on the card you exile, you can decide to discard or not.
>>48038438
I'm frustrated that they played up the big spooky mystery and went to such insane lengths for 'clues' (like the Tamiyo's Journal thing) only for it to be the villain everyone guessed three seconds after they announced the second set's name. It's predictable and lazy and disappointing. I really dislike Meld, too.
Extra land drops used to get 'used up'. I could play a land and say I was using the 'extra' land drop from my Oracle of Mul'Daya, then blink it and it'd "reset" and I could play another land. Or if you killed it after I dropped a land, I could cast another and still have a land drop to use.
Now, it's just a permissions thing. Let's say I play an Oracle, play two lands, then blink it. I don't get to play a third, because when I go to play another land the game goes "Well, you're allowed one, plus an extra from that guy, and you've played two, so you're out of extra."
>>48038543
You're fine. She only triggers when she ETB, and if you Manifest her she had no abilities at that time.
>>48039046
It's because if you add a bunch of objects to the stack at once without explicitly retaining priority, the assumption is that you're doing one, letting it resolve, then doing another. This is for stuff like firebreathing- if I just tap 5 Mountains and say "Pump 5 times", I'm not activating it 5 times in a row all at once. I'm assumed to be activating it once, letting it resolve, and doing it again. If my opponent wants to respond partway through that, they can, and that's what this line is saying- if they 'wish to take an action at a point in the middle', then we back up all the shit after that so they can.
>>48040768
They're both your triggers, so you can put them on the stack such that Abbot exiles a card before you have to decide whether or not to discard for Olivia.
Is emerge related to color identity?
>>48041032
Unless they say otherwise, yes. Emerge has colored mana symbols in the text box, which counts for color identity. Same reason that Memnarch's identity is Blue and Bosh's is Red.
If I target a tapped land with Elemental Uprising does the elemental come in tapped even though it has haste?
Sorry relative newbie
>>48041052
>Does the elemental come in tapped
Nothing's "Coming in". You're just making the land that's already on the battlefield into a creature. If the land was tapped before, it's tapped now because nothing is telling you to untap it.
>>48041001
>>48040828
>>48040818
thanks brethren
so the correct play for me here on T4 is
>play Abbot, put Olivia's trigger first on stack so that it resolves last
>Abbots ETB happens, see what it is
>then Olivia happens and decide based on exiled card whether to discard
but hang on, that means that the normal play to withhold my land may be wrong based on what's in my hand. Maybe Olivia x Abbot is a bad pair... AKK wants to exile a land and play it OR exile a card then play land and then card. But Olivia's madness cards want mana to be open when the creature enters the battlefield, so she wants land played first then discard effects... based on this i'll remove AKK.
>>48041001
>only for it to be the villain everyone guessed three seconds after they announced the second set's name.
This is like if people who read Fight Club were complaining they made the twist obvious in the movie. Of course it's an easily solvable mystery if you're a dedicated player.
>>48041368
I don't mind it being an easily solvable mystery, I really don't.
What I mind is the sheer amount of effort they went into for all the little clues and things that took a lot of work from super dedicated people to puzzle out that vaguely pointed to Eldrazi, but in such a way that it wasn't clear...
And then it was the villain everyone guessed 3 seconds after the set was announced. Why put that kind of effort into it? It's not a big twist to be proud of if everyone saw it coming from day 1. I could handle the "holy shit WHAT" twist villain if it were actually a twist, and I could handle it being the Eldrazi if they weren't acting so clever for hiding it from us, but not both.
>>48041001
>if I just tap 5 Mountains and say "Pump 5 times", I'm not activating it 5 times in a row all at once. I'm assumed to be activating it once, letting it resolve, and doing it again
Any idea why this is so? Does the existence of this shortcut make the game easier? Why is the shortcut not "if I cast a bunch if stuff it is assumed I am retaining priority"?
>>48041399
might be because you can't hold priority to cast two sorceries in a row.
>>48041338
putting in Avaricious Dragon to see how we do. seems like a fit but dropping my hand with no open mana ain't hot
>>48041399
Couldn't tell you why, just that it's so. I'm sure they had a reason for making that the default instead of the other way, but I don't know offhand what it is.
>>48041477
>inb4 coinflip.
Does colorless mana count as a color when casting radiant flames?
>>48042192
No.
>>48042192
Is colorless a color?
As a noob, should I start with an intro deck?
I really like the white themed cards
>>48042206
No but my opponent said I was being pedantic at suggesting that that was the case. He then said because he was using a colorless mana source it should count since it isn't generic colorless.
>>48023950
Forgive me if this sounds retarded.
I have Anafenza, Tree Kin Spirit on the field. I have a bunch of other creatures, and anafenza already has a +1+1 counter on her.
I cast ANOTHER anafenza, with the same name. How do I resolve this? Do I cast her, bolster a creature, and then remove her from the field straight away?
>>48042245
It doesn't count.
>>48042240
As a noob, you should start with a deckbuilder's toolkit, or your local prerelease for best value. If not, intro packs are not the worst way to start, but people will laugh at you if you take an intro pack to an event.
>>48042245
202.2a. The five colors are white, blue, black, red, and green. The white mana symbol is represented by {W}, blue by {U}, black by {B}, red by {R}, and green by {G}.
Colorless is not a color. There is no such thing as 'generic colorless'.
>>48042285
So, she enters, and Bolster triggers, but it can't go onto the stack yet. State-Based Actions get checked and see two Legendary permanents with the same name, so you have to pick one to keep and put the other in your graveyard. Once that's done, Bolster 1 goes on the stack, and as it resolves you pump up your lowest-toughness creature.
tl;dr cast her, pick one to keep, THEN Bolster
>>48042425
Sweet, just confirming i'm playing her correctly.
![tumblr_o92wkqeVgN1s9rpajo1_500[1].gif](https://i.imgur.com/JJNCusI.gif "tumblr_o92wkqeVgN1s9rpajo1_500[1].gif")
>>48041398
gotcha covered bro
>>48042738
>being among the 5% of people that found it obvious
>thinking everyone else found it obvious too, because the 5% are the ones posting online about it
Great job.
>>48043247
Here's the thing: the people who didn't find it obvious are the brand new players who weren't deciphering the Tamiyo's Journal clues and doing all the sleuthing and stuff.
I'd say a lot more than 5% of the playerbase called Emrakul the second Eldritch Moon was named. Probably more like 60%.
>>48043282
You are severely undersetimating the percentage of kitchen table players who were either surprised it's Emrakul or happy that their suspicions were correct. Hell, I bet many of them still have no idea.
>>48043312
>suspicions
Is it really a 'suspicion' if someone shows you a duck-shaped box that has quacking sounds and duck smells coming from it, and then you say it's a duck?
That's not a suspicion. That's just observation of obvious facts. And I wouldn't mind it being a duck! But when you show me something that walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, you do not get to go "HAHA IT'S A DUCK WHAT A CRAZY FUCKING TWIST RIGHT?!". It's not a twist. It's obvious.
>>48041398
You're a fuckin retard as usual
The mystery was for the characters
the gatewatch are not the ones who knew the sets were called shadows over innistrad and eldritch moon
The gatewatch are not the ones who knew nahiri is obsessed with the eldrazi
It was not supposed to be a mystery for us, it was a mystery for Jace and Tamiyo and the humans of innistrad
>>48041477
>>48041399
I can tell you why, just from the firebreathing example
Imagine player a is attacking player b with a Nantuko husk (ability is similar to firebreathing for the purposes of my example)
Imagine player b is tapped out
Player a sees that and feels free to just sac his 3 eldrazi scions one after the other and pump his Nantuko husk to 8/8, because player b is at 8 life
If the shortcut was to assume that player a retained priority, then player b could then respond with a pyrokinesis while tapped out and kill Nantuko husk even though player A could have prevented that by waiting for his activations to resolve, he just didn't realize he needed to play around pyrokinesis
You can argue that player a simply messed up there, but the point is there will be many times in magic where people ignore a player's priority, and since there's no downside for player A to just wait for each husk activation to resolve, it makes sense to simply assume they did that way if they tried to do 3 in a row
What is the definition of "sanctioned" in the context of a sanctioned format?
>>48043755
It can be translated as "those that are listed on this page"
http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sanctioned-formats-2008-08-11
Why does Invincible Hymn say to count my library, rather than just saying "your life total becomes equal to the number of cards in your library" or something? Is me counting it supposed to matter? What if I miscount? it doesn't say to count correctly, just to count.
>>48043755
Like, the actual definition, or just the difference between sanctioned and not?
A sanctioned event is one that's got the thumbs-up from WotCaHS. It has to abide by the official tournament documents (the CR, the MTR, the IPG/JAR as appropriate), meet certain requirements, follow certain guidelines, etc. An unsanctioned event is one that's... well, not that.
>>48043969
It's probably just a formatting thing. Some people aren't aware that they're allowed to count the number of cards in their library whenever, so just putting it on the effect streamlines it.
>>48043969
http://tabakrules.tumblr.com/post/51589263605/why-do-invincible-hymn-touch-of-the-eternal-and
http://tabakrules.tumblr.com/post/145895719579/why-does-invincible-hymn-have-two-sentences-in-its
So i have a question, not really related to the rules but more to drafting.
With SOI and EDM how do you go about drafting? I mean i know the basics and stuff, but i never drafted with double faced cards.
>>48044013
Normally, it's pretty simple- you'll draft as normal, and everyone will be able to tell if they glance up that you've picked a DFC because it'll have a non-normal back.
Some TOs/Judges elect to have players reveal the DFC from each pack for a moment or two, but that's not mandatory.
>>48044068
Huh, i thought you'd have to somehow make it so no one else could see the DFC.
>>48044102
Nah. Too much effort.
>>48044013
The best way to go about it in a casual or FNM setting is to give a few seconds where everyone holds their double-faced cards up so that everyone can check them out, and then proceed drafting as normal, ignoring that you can see the back faces of some cards. You may see someone's last pick if it's a DFC, so what. But don't go out of your way to find out that information.
I called Emrakul showing up after the teaser video for Shadows over Innistrad, and why are you all so mad about this? I was more interested in the card fluff about the characters' investigations than I was about myself personally finding out whatever the secret was. I liked seeing Tamiyo and Jace learning of what was pretty obvious OOCly. Do you do this every time the good guy wins in a book you're reading?
>>48045523
I think the issue is how wizards was being so cutesy about it, like it's some huge secret, and at the SAME TIME they're making it so blatantly obvious that anyone who thought otherwise was clearly deluding themselves.
It's the dichotomy that has a lot of people irked.
>>48045547
I guess I didn't really see many of Wizards' responses but that kind of seems like standard operating procedure, like a more sociable way of saying "wait for the story to finish you cunt".
>>48045547
Pretty much that for me.
I don't mind that the villain was Emrakul, I mind that they played it up as being a huge secret even in the real world, to the point that they had to hide the set symbol from us, and had an ironclad leak-lockdown, plus all the crazy shit like the different languages of Tamiyo's Journal having different numbers that ended up corresponding to words on the tokens
Like, that's some crazy AR meta shit and I love it, but I'm frustrated that they did all of that leading up to the fuck-obvious reveal everyone guessed months ago. It just feels disappointing and anticlimactic.
>>48045547
You must hate reading detective novels in which you are able to figure out the killer before the characters do.
>>48045653
Detective novels present reasons for there to be more than one person - there are several suspects and short of seeing one of them actually doing something you can never be sure.
This isn't a detective novel, there's one obvious suspect and the book is going "oh wow who could it POSSIBLY be?" when there's only one potential choice. Not to mention that since this block was RIGHT after BFZ, it was very much on everyone's mind. Had they waited 2 or 3 blocks before dropping it, then yeah it would have had a much better effect. But this is just lazy writing.
>>48045653
If the detective novel spends the first 3/4 of the book patting itself on the back for how clever the twist is going to be and then it's the most rock-obvious bullshit imaginable, yes.
>>48045697
I think the hints all over SOI card art and the overall lovecraftian/eldritch mystery feel combined with the mechanics (investigate, madness, delirium, overall limited gameplay) is among the best work they've done on the feel and the flavor of the game. If the drawback to that is that the answer is too obvious, I'll gladly take it.
>>48046051
Oh, I agree- this may be the best they've ever integrated story and gameplay, ever.
I just wish they'd quit patting themselves on the back for how clever they are when EVERYONE guessed the villain months ago before any of the clever shit came to light.
If you mindslaver an opponent with emrakul ability and they have demonic pact. Can you choose "you lose the game" immediately during upkeep
>>48047382
I dunno, dingus. Is that a choice available to them? And are you the one making all their choices that turn?
>>48047382
yes you can.
>>48047495
Thx
>>48047382
Yep! You take control of their turn as soon as it begins (in the Untap step), so by the time you get to the upkeep you're holding the reins. You can select that option so long as it has not already been selected that game.
What happens if i play Fact or fiction with 4 or less cards in my library? Since nothing says "draw" i assume i don't die from milling until my next draw step.
>>48048320
You'd do all you can, revealing the top 4 cards of your library. An opponent of your choice separates them into two piles, you pick one to keep and one to bin.
So this might be the same answer as "why does invincible hymn instruct you to count your library" but it's always bugged me that Gomazoa instructs you to put each creature on top of its owners library, then shuffle. Is there a reason it doesn't simply read "shuffle X into it's owner's library" like the Zenith cycle?
>>48049371
It's probably similar to Hymn, just worded to make sure it's as clear as possible.
So for the hideaway lands, you're still 'casting' the card underneath them, when you activate them with the proper requirements, right?
There's no way to just 'play' what's underneath it unless it's a land, right?
Since the little pointy mana symbols require colorless mana, do I need the wastes to pay their costs, or could I use lands like the tron lands, since they produce colorless mana?
>>48051685
Always check the official errata for something like this before asking about it
>>48051685
yes you can. they are colorless mana. there are no types of colorless mana.
>>48047528
>You can select that option so long as it has not already been selected that game
>Lose the game
>already been selected that game
gA... there's something you may be missing here
>>48047528
Is untapping in the untap step mandatory? Can I choose to not untap my shit? for example if I'm at 1hp and there's a card that does a damage when it untaps
>>48051799
It's mandatory
>>48051779
He probably said it that way for the sake of being explicit on the rules.
>>48051779
sundial of infinite
>>48051799
yes it is
no you can't unless the ability specifies so ex. Vedalken Shackles
>>48051633
The reminder text knows all
>>48051633
"Play" in this context means it allows you to play it as your land drop if it's a land, or cast if it's a spell. If you're asking if there's a way to bypass the stack and not let your opponent get a crack at countering it, there is not.
>>48051685
Any colorless mana. Everything that used to make {1} and {2} and such has been errata'd to {c} and {c}{c} and such.
>>48051779
Hey, I can select it and not lose. Platinum Angel, Angel's Grace, etc.
>>48051799
You can only choose not to untap something if you're being given explicit permission to make that choice.
>>48051779
>Platinum Angel
You need to think like a melvin.
>>48053030
>>48052021
>>48051847
>sundial of infinite
>Platinum Angel
>Angel's Grace
shoulda specified standard
>>48053030
Also, in a multiplayer game player C could steal a pact from player B, then choose "you lose the game" and lose control of the Pact back to player B before the ability resolves
Morning kids
>>48057196
why are there no blonde planwalkers?
>>48057239
You could argue that Ajani is platinum blonde.
>>48057239
you need a soul to have a spark
>>48057251
gA can you explain why Arcbound Ravage is good? I don't understand the deck at all, isn't it just a 2cmc 1/1?
>>48057266
that's gingers you dolt
see: chandra
>>48057277
Ravager is good because you can feed excess artifacts to make it very strong, very fast, and your opponent has to either kill your whole board at once or exile it, because if they just throw a Doom Blade at it you just shunt all the counters on it over to something else. It's a very flexible threat.
It was also scary as shit in Standard back in the day because you could be casting Frogmites for free and feeding them to your Ravager, or feeding your LANDS to Ravager.
>>48057277
+1/+1 counters and shit.
>>48057277
>gA can you explain why Arcbound Ravage is good? I don't understand the deck at all, isn't it just a 2cmc 1/1?
1) attack with one more artifact creature than the opponent has blockers
2) sacrifice every blocked creature and artifact you control to Ravager, then sac Ravager to itself and move all its counters to the unblocked creature for lethal
Based on the wording for Tomorrow, Azami's Familiar, I can't play miracle cards for their miracle cost, right?
>>48057897
Correct. Futurefrog replaces your draw event with something that is not a draw event, and Miracle requires that you reveal the Miracle as you draw it for your first draw in a turn.
Since you didn't draw the Miracle, you don't get the option to cast it for the Miracle cost.
What happens when two creatures targeted by Tamiyo's +1 deal damage in the same combat step?
Does it put a trigger on the stack for each creature (like Edric) and you draw two or is it one single trigger that is checked (like Thopter Spy Network) and you draw one?
>>48059414
It's "whenever" so I'd assume you draw twice
>>48023950
If you use Nahiri, the Harbinger to put a creature into play. Attack with it. Then play Cloudshift on it to flicker it. Do you still have to return it to your hand?
>>48059574
It's the "either" that's fucking me up. It could mean "and" but it could be "or" as well.
So to me it could be:
"Choose two target creatures. Until your next turn, those creatures gain "Whenever ~ deals combat damage, draw a card"
or
"Choose two target creatures. Until your next turn, if creature A or creature B deals damage draw a card."
>>48059683
See, that has me thinking that you just draw a single card despite both creatures hitting.
Asked this in another thread but didn't get any (you)s. I want to get started playing Magic but I think jumping into FNM would be too much. Drafting a deck before I've even played the game seems like a recipe for disaster. Instead I was thinking of picking up a couple of the SoI starter decks to play with friends at home. Is this a good idea or a waste?
>>48059414
Triggers for each.
>>48059678
Nope. As soon as it changes zones, it becomes a new object with no memory of, or relation to, its previous self. The delayed trigger will look for the object it put onto the board, fail to find it, and move on.
>>48059683
Myself, an L3 friend of mine, and the L1 who wrote the spoiler article are all parsing it as triggering for each.
>>48059857
If you're wanting to play with friends, I'd bite on a Duel Deck. It's 20 dollars for two fully-built decks designed to be played against each other. Now, most of the stuff isn't legal for Standard, so it won't translate to that, but the stuff in the Intro Decks is mostly trash anyway
>>48059955
Oh, I didn't know they sold two decks in one package. I think I'll pick up Blessed vs Cursed this weekend!
Also is B/W a viable combo in Innistrad? The main reason I want to play MtG is because Innistrad is so cool.
>>48060078
That depends on your definition of "Viable". If you want to build a deck to be really competitive, sometimes you have to throw out what you prefer color/deck wise and build what's the strongest, or accept that the deck you REALLY want to play is poorly posed, and pick something you want to play a little less.
If you're just fucking around with friends, you do you cupcake. I saw a B/W Control deck do admirably at the PPTQ I ran last week, though.
>>48059955
>Myself, an L3 friend of mine, and the L1 who wrote the spoiler article are all parsing it as triggering for each.
If that is true it makes me want this card even more than i allready do.
>>48060316
I mean, we'll know for sure when we get the FAQ for the set, because this templating seems unique, but I'm fairly confident it triggers multiple times if both your targeted creatures deal damage at the same time.
I could be wrong, though- I always advise people take my 'rulings' on spoiled cards (especially fucky ones) with a grain of salt until I can give a 100% definitive answer.
>>48060340
It'd be worse obviously if it's just one card that you'd draw, but i want to play with her anyway.
Incedentally a question about Desperate Ritual, if i splice into arcane that card into another desperate ritual and i have an active pyromancer ascension out does the copy get the 6 mana aswell if it resolves?
>>48060470
Yep! When you copy spells, you basically just take a photocopy of the spell on the stack, exactly as it is- including value of X, modes chosen, additional costs, all that jazz.
Do tokens go to the graveyard when they die before they cease to exist
>>48061312
Yes they do
If I sacrifice a creature with a cmc of 5 via birthing pod, can I only grab a creature card with 6 cmc or am I allowed to get one of lower cmc?
>>48062840
Only creatures with cmc exactly 6.
Why does lifelink not work with rain of gore. If you have vampirc link on a creature does it work then. What about vampiric link on a life link creature
>>48023950
Does my commander have to have colorless mana in the cost for me to put in the eldrazi with the colorless mana symbol, such as Kozilek, the Great Distortion? For instance, could I put Kozilek in a deck where Emrakul, The Promised End is my commander?
>>48063224
Because it's a static ability that grants that characteristic to a creature.
It's not the lifelink ability that gains you life, it's the damage that the creature (with lifelink) dealt so it's unaffected by Rain of Gore (not a spell or an ability).
Triggered abilities like the one granted by Vampiric Link or Armadillo Cloak will be affected by Rain of Gore.
>>48063509
I would say that you can. Colorless is not a color.
>>48063509
I think this one falls under the "Colorless is not a color" rule. So no.
>>48061312
Yep! They die and hit the bin for stuff that's watching, but then stop existing before you can do anything to them.
>>48062840
Cards do what they say. CMC of the sacced thing plus one. If it was intended to find 'or less', it would say so.
>>48063224
Because it's not a spell or ability that's making them gain life, it's combat damage.
>>48063509
Colorless is not a color.
>>48064516
Okay, so I can put Kozilek in my Emrakul edh, but I do still have to have something that produces the weird eldrazi colorless mana type to cast him, right?
>>48065238
That would be any colorless mana. The purpose of the colorless mana symbol is to make it clear that it is colorless mana that is required, and you can't just slot in any color mana for that particular part of the mana requirement.
What happens if your creatures with Banding are blocked by your opponent's creatures with Banding? I'm assuming it acts like First Strike and Flying, where neither side of the combat can use the ability.
Why do you have a picture of a foreign spell snip as the picture for these threads?
Suppose I cast Glimpse the Unthinkable on my opponent and Emrakul is the 5th card milled. Since it's a triggered ability, they don't shuffle their graveyard into their deck until the Glimpse finishes resolving, correct? What about a blightsteel colossus, how do replacement effects work in this case?
>>48064516
Thanks for the help in the last thread.
One of the local judges I talked to last friday is willing to take me under his wing, and help me become a judge myself.
The funny thing is he wasn't judging that night, he was one of my FNM opponents.
Not once was a judge called to our table.
Questions on the new Escalate mechanic:
1. Can "Escalate a spell" multiple times and keep choosing the same mode if I keep paying the mana, or am I limited to only 1 max of each choice?
2. Is Escalate an "additional cost" that I have to pay to put the spell on the stack?
3. With a Trinisphere on the battlefield, when casting the Escalate spell "Blessed Alliance," if I pay for at least one Escalation (total mana 4+), do I still have to pay the extra (C) to make it the 3 mana minimum Trinisphere requires?
You are correct on Emrakul and triggered abilities, which have to wait to go on the stack. Replacement effects are different because you perform their replacements in real time, as the event happens. Specifically important here is that when milling or drawing cards, players are supposed to do it one at a time. So if you had a deck with a Collossus and mill into it, it's replacement effect will have you shuffling your deck during the resolution of Glimpse. You can even hit the same Collossus multiple times during resolution!
>>48065545
>it acts like First Strike and Flying, where neither side of the combat can use the ability.
that's not how first strike or flying works...
>>48065578
he's a gay italian
>>48068306
what I meant by that is, when two creature with first strike fight, you get the same result as if neither creature had first strike.
I assume it works the same way with Banding.
>>48068257
That's not true. While you -draw- one at a time, with mill you do all of them at once.
Most people just do it one at a time because.. dramatic?
When two bands are in combat vs. one another, then BOTH controlling players get to divide up the damage among the creatures of each band however they want. Usually this means that the most expendable creature or a creature that can live through the damage will get all the damage assigned to it.
What is the distinction between Thawing Glaciers' card text and new rules text?
Does it bypass the checking for handsize that happens at the beginning of the cleanup step? It just seems really weird that Thawing Glaciers doesn't just trigger at the end of your turn
>>48069203
It was worded in a way that lets it be used at your opponent's end of turn and again on your turn before being returned to your hand.
If I activate Tree of Perdition and in response cast turn to frog on the tree what will happen?
Judge I have a question that came up today in FnM. If languish is cast and then after it resolves another creature is played does that creature also have -4/-4 same thing with cards like magmatic chasm
Fuuuck. Work, traffic, dinner with family. Finally home.
>>48065238
Well, Emrakul is banned in EDH, but yes. And 'that weird eldrazi colorless mana' would be 'colorless mana'.
If you had 5 Sol Rings somehow, you could tap them and only them to cast Newzilek.
>>48065545
I pick how your creatures assign damage to mine, you pick how mine assign damage to yours.
>>48065578
Brand awareness.
>>48065945
>Emrakul
Correct. You don't actually mill 1 card at a time for these, all 10 go at once, and then Emrakul shuffles in.
Ditto for the Colossus- most people will mill 1 card at a time, but the game is seeing all 10 hit at once. So you'd "lock in" the 10 you're milling, reveal Colossus as one of them, and shuffle him in.
>>48067549
I'm glad to have helped! Good luck!
>>48067868
1) You can't choose the same mode more than once because it doesn't say you can (compare to the Commands and the Confluences- one set doesn't let you pick the same mode, one does)
2) It is an additional cost. You announce how many modes you're using as part of casting the spell, and then pay the Escalate cost that many times later down the line.
3) You factor in additional costs before 3ball, so it'll cost you 4, not 5.
>>48068679
Mostly to count and make sure they're not overdoing it. Also habit.
>>48069203
If it triggered at end of turn, you could tap it DURING the end step and it wouldn't bounce until the next turn, letting you pull double-duty. As-is, it'll get bounced during the turn you use it no matter what.
>>48069329
That is 100% the opposite of the case.
>>48069787
Your opponent's life goes to 1 and you have a 1/N frog with no abilities (where N WAS their life total) until end of turn, at which point it becomes a 0/N with abilities.
>>48070022
No. Those things 'lock in' the set of objects they mess with as they resolve.
>>48070022
no, Languish' -4/-4 doesn't linger after it's resolved.
>>48070045
>That is 100% the opposite of the case.
If you use it on opponent's eot, you get to untap with it at your untap phase.
>>48070106
You absolutely do not. It bounces at the beginning of the CLEANUP step, not the END step. The cleanup step is the one after the end step. If you use it during the end step of your opponent's turn, it bounces during the very next step of that turn and is in your hand by the time you begin yours.
>>48070117
i mean before being errata-ed
>>48070155
Ah, I see. Using present-tense verbs made it seem like you were saying that's how it works now, rather than how it used to work. Mea culpa!
