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Argy on Can Dragon Whisperer be given …

20 hours ago

Thank you for your very clear answer.

Rhadamanthus on Marchesa Black Rose + Thran …

1 day ago

Yes, you can do that. Targets for a triggered ability are chosen when it's put onto the stack, but after an ability triggers it waits to be put onto the stack until the next time a player receives priority. In your example, Vigil triggers during the resolution of Marchesa's delayed trigger but the next time a player gets priority is after Marchesa's trigger is completely finished resolving, so the returned creature is on the battlefield when it's time to choose a target for the Vigil trigger.

Rhadamanthus on How does Grab the Prize …

1 day ago

The copy will also deal damage, so it's a total of 4 to your opponents. Rule 707.10 in the section of the rules about copy effects includes the following: "If an effect of the copy refers to objects used to pay its costs, it uses the objects used to pay the costs of the original spell or ability." This means the copy of Grab the Prize will be able to use information about the card discarded to pay the cost of the original to determine its effects.

Last_Laugh on Marchesa Black Rose + Thran …

1 day ago

Thran Vigil triggers when a creature leaves the grave from Marchesa, the Black Rose's delayed trigger. Is the returning creature a valid target for Thran Vigil's +1+1 counter?

builderboy7 on How does Grab the Prize …

2 days ago

If I cast Grab the Prize and I discard Grizzly Bear as an additional cost. If I hold priority and cast Reverberate on Grab the Prize, would the copy and original deal a total of 4 damage to my opponents or would I only deal 2 damage once to my opponent?

Rhadamanthus on Am I creating a draw …

2 days ago

Where you'll run into a problem is if there are cards with replacement effects involved that send send the card back to the library instead of the graveyard (they are still considered to have been "milled" in such a case). If your opponent has two or more copies of something like Progenitus, or if they have Wheel of Sun and Moon, then the game will draw.

Rhadamanthus on Can Dragon Whisperer be given …

2 days ago

Yes, you have the right idea. Activated abilities can be activated any time the player has priority to take an action, unless they're specifically written to have some restriction ("as a sorcery", "during combat" etc.). However, the legality of a block is only determined once, at the time the block is declared. That means giving an attacking creature flying after blockers have already been declared won't "undo" a block if the blocking creature doesn't have flying.

bhst5019 on Tapping lands and Mist of …

3 days ago

Oh lol. Thanks for the clarification. After the explanation, I understand I can do more shenanigans with it then I realized. :)

bhst5019 on Am I creating a draw …

3 days ago

Thanks. :)

wallisface on Tapping lands and Mist of …

3 days ago

No. When a trigger, such as the one on this card, starts resolving, it will resolve in-full before anyone gets any chance to make any other actions.

You can tap your lands before it resolves, or afterwards, but not during. No land will untap more than once each turn from this cards ability.

wallisface on Am I creating a draw …

3 days ago

Correct

Argy on Can Dragon Whisperer be given …

3 days ago

I think it can, but it still remains blocked.

bhst5019 on Tapping lands and Mist of …

3 days ago

So, in a mill deck. I have Mist of Stagnation and have a question about lands. Can I untap my lands equal to the number of cards I have in my graveyard? Like untap them, and then tap them. Then keep untapping them equal to the number of cards in my graveyard?

bhst5019 on Am I creating a draw …

3 days ago

So repeating the process is not a separate stack trigger then?

wallisface on Am I creating a draw …

4 days ago

Grindstones activation will entirely resolve before other abilities are added to the stack.

Effectively, Grindstone will put the entire opponents library into their graveyard. And then Kozilek, Butcher of Truth will trigger and shuffle all of those cards back into their library. The game continues.

bhst5019 on Am I creating a draw …

4 days ago

So, the situation is I have Painter's Servant and Grindstone out. Friend had Kozilek, Butcher of Truth . I proceed to activate grindstone on them thinking I would be milling their entire deck. What I want to know is this a game draw situation?

DemonDragonJ on Do Trigger Doublers Bypass "One …

4 days ago

Yesterday, thank you, very much, for informing me, about that, so that I shall not be surprised, if I ever am in a situation, such as that.

Yesterday on Do Trigger Doublers Bypass "One …

4 days ago

No, they still only trigger once. Trigger doublers don't have any triggers of their own, they just tell the trigger source to trigger again; those sources can still only trigger once if that's defined in the ability.

DemonDragonJ on Do Trigger Doublers Bypass "One …

4 days ago

Does a card that doubles triggered abilities bypass abilities that normally trigger only once per turn? For example, if a player controls both Morbid Opportunist and Teysa Karlov, and then a third creature dies, will the opportunist's ability trigger twice?

Neotrup on Does card:General's Regalia and card:Jade …

6 days ago

No. Each replacement effect can only apply to an event once. You can bounce the damage back and forth as many times as you like because each activation will create another replacement effect, but Furnace of Rath will only apply to the event of Ancient Tomb dealing damage once, no matter how many times you change where that damage is being dealt.

freezerboy on Does card:General's Regalia and card:Jade …

6 days ago

This is a little complicated because I run Zirda, the Dawnwaker, but say I have a General's Regalia, Furnace of Rath and Jade Monolith in play with a bunch of mana free. Something I own deals damage to myself like tapping a Ancient Tomb, and I redirect it to one of my creatures like Boros Reckoner, can I then tap 1 each time the damage is redirected to keep exponentially increasing the damage till I shoot a player for lethal?

Neotrup on How does Temporary Lockdown effect …

1 week ago

One additional note, Temporary Lockdown will return any permanent cards that were cloaked to the battlefield face up when it leaves. Any Instant or Sorcery cards you cloaked will remain in face up exile since they cannot be put onto the battlefield face up.

Rhadamanthus on Preston and Opalescence interaction when …

1 week ago

Yes, both of those work. Opalescence's ability affects all non-aura enchantments on the battlefield from the moment they enter to the moment they leave. Also, "dies" triggers and other leaves-the-battlefield triggers use information from the last moment something was on the battlefield to determine if and how they trigger. Preston, the Vanisher's ability will see a creature entering and Luminous Broodmoth's ability will see a creature dying.

bhst5019 on Preston and Opalescence interaction when …

1 week ago

So, Opalescence is out in play and so is Preston, the Vanisher . Assuming I have AEther Barrier come out via a blink spell. Will I get a 0/1 copy of the enchantment?

Another question, Luminous Broodmoth is now out with Opalescence. Does this return my enchantment with a flying counter?

K4nkato on How does Temporary Lockdown effect …

1 week ago

ALL HAIL THE GREAT EGOTIST!

Yesterday on How does Temporary Lockdown effect …

1 week ago

Oh, right. And they'll return face up after Temporary Lockdown leaves.

Swebb87 on parnesse, the subtle brush & …

1 week ago

Thanks both. Really appreciate the responses

Rhadamanthus on Ghired, Conclave Exile and 'tapped' …

1 week ago

OyeGevoltageSurge: Answers to your question have been up for a while. Since there don't seem to be any follow-ups or corrections that need to be made, I marked one of them as the "Accepted answer" so this topic can move out of the list of unanswered questions. In the future you can take care of this yourself using the "Mark as Answer" button on the response that you feel is the most helpful answer to your question.

Yesterday on How does Temporary Lockdown effect …

1 week ago

Cloaked creatures have a mana value of 0 while they are face down, so they will be exiled with Temporary Lockdown.

The default state of an exiled card is to be face up unless the effect that exiles the card says otherwise. So those cloaked creatures will be exiled face up for all to see.

When Temporary Lockdown leaves the battlefield, there is no additional check that the cards it has exiled are of a specific mana value. Everything it has exiled will return when it leaves, even if you had a cloaked Scornful Egotist under there.

MindAblaze on when can you play cards …

1 week ago

Guess I should have checked the Gatherer, it’s right on there.

K4nkato on How does Temporary Lockdown effect …

1 week ago

If Temporary Lockdown enters the battlefield, does it exile the Cloaked Creature?

If Temporary Lockdown leaves the battlefield & the Cloaked card is exiled, does it enter face up or face down?

Very unsure how this works, any clarification would be nice.

Rhadamanthus on when can you play cards …

1 week ago

SteelSentry has the correct answer. The effect that allows you to cast the spell later is created by the resolution of Neyali's triggered ability. It's not tied to a static ability of Neyali, so Neyali doesn't have to remain on the battlefield for the effect to continue existing.

SteelSentry on when can you play cards …

1 week ago

In this case, the ability to cast them is tied to the cards themselves, not Neyali. From her rulings:

  • The effect allowing you to cast the exiled card if you attacked with a token continues to apply even if Neyali leaves the battlefield or another player gains control of it. It also continues to apply during later turns—as long as you attacked with a token during those later turns.

Compare Hedonist's Trove to Gonti, Lord of Luxury. The enchantment exiles cards and then has a second linked, but separate, ability to cast them. Blinking the Trove would "empty" it and you would lose access to the cards. Gonti, like Nyali, exiles the cards and then gives the cards the innate ability to be cast. So long as you meet the requirement of attacking with a token, and are within timing restrictions, you can cast the card.

wallisface on Can I use jhoira, ageless …

2 weeks ago

The answer is yes. Cards without a mana cost, such as lands, have a mana value of 0.

DeathBySprnkles on Can I use jhoira, ageless …

2 weeks ago

If I use Jhoira, Ageless Innovator’s ability, would I be able to put an artifact land like Silverbluff Bridge out on the field? I have a feeling the answer is no because the artifact lands don’t have mana values.

MindAblaze on when can you play cards …

2 weeks ago

The ability originates from the onject in question so if your Commander, for example, leaves the battlefield and comes back, it is now a different object and any cards exiled with it prior to its return are no longer at your disposal. Otherwise normal timing restrictions apply.

YStar27 on when can you play cards …

2 weeks ago

when can you play cards exiled with Neyali, Suns' Vanguard? can you cast them even if neyali leaves the battlefield? what about if it leaves and returns? i find the card's wording unclear as some cards have a seperate line of text telling you you can play them and others say for as long as it remains exiled?

thanks

Polaris on parnesse, the subtle brush & …

2 weeks ago

What I think you're getting at here is "Can I use Parnesse, the Subtle Brush and Cowardice to get my creature back to hand and force my opponent to pay 4 life to not give me a land from Path to Exile?"

The answer to that is no. Once Cowardice resolves, your creature will be bounced back to hand. Regardless of whether they pay for the Parnesse trigger, Path to Exile will have no valid targets left and be countered by game rules. You will not get to search for a land.

Rhadamanthus on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

@legendofa: What you're reading is how the rules are meant to be understood and how they're meant to work, but they've unintentionally been written in a way that doesn't say what they mean. 509.1 (with its subparts) doesn't describe "the entire declare blockers step", it's specifically about the special action of declaring blockers at the beginning of the declare blockers step, and the rules seem to say this is the only time "blocked"/"unblocked" is determined for attacking creatures.

To be clear: I'm not arguing with your interpretation of what the rules are supposed to mean and I agree you're absolutely correct about what the result of this situation is supposed to be. This is a copy-editing problem rather than a weird rules quirk, and because I like thinking about the rules so much, it's just interesting to notice and consider it, especially when the rest of the document is written so tightly.

wallisface on parnesse, the subtle brush & …

2 weeks ago

You can stack the triggers whichever way you want. BUT, Cowardice is not a may ability, and will always return the creature back to your hand, whether the opponent pays 4 life or not.

Parnesse, the Subtle Brush is effectively doing nothing in this interaction, as whatever option the opponent chooses there, Cowardice is still going to trigger. As Cowardice is not a may ability, your opponent also has no reason to ever pay the 4 life, as it achieves nothing.

legendofa on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

wallisface I'm not suggesting anything, just learning that my interpretation of "Zareth is an attacker that didn't have blockers declared" is probably too broad, and the rules are more of a mess than I thought they were.

wallisface on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

legendofa the rules here are just terribly written… and i’m not sure trying to force the current wording to comply with how we all naturally know the game works, is helpful. Your suggestions require a lot of guesswork and filling-in-the-gaps of the rules which ends up reading just as unintuitively as the rules in this space are written.

I think it’s ok here to say that “wotc dropped the ball with these rules”. Luckily, the interaction itself is one players all intuitively understand, so I don’t see it becoming an issue.

Swebb87 on parnesse, the subtle brush & …

2 weeks ago

If I control both cards and someone casts a Path to Exile targeting one of my creatures, can I stack the triggers with cowardice first then parnesse? Parnesse resolves first and if they do pay the 4 life, then cowardice resolves and bounces it back to my hand?

legendofa on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

Apologies for double posting, but I thought of a different way to explain my logic.

I was reading 509.1h as explaining how the labels get applied, not as actually applying the labels. Is the reading of the word "becomes" supposed to be descriptive (if a creature ends up meeting these criteria, it becomes unblocked) or prescriptive (if a creature is meeting these criteria right now, it becomes unblocked)?

legendofa on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

So to make sure I understand the issue, the definitions provided by 509.1h can only be applied at that moment, and can't be applied at any future point? My reading, which I'm assuming is too broad now, is that any attacking creature has to be defined as blocked or unblocked, and that 509.1h defines the procedure for the entire declare blockers step, not just that singular moment. Basically I read it as "An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature (, as long as it enters before combat damage is assigned)." For me, this interpretation is intuitive and covers both Ninjutsu and Zareth.

If that's wrong, and the labels are applied only in that instant with no forward recognition, so that Ninjutsu does need that specific rider, then yeah, I see the problem. Zareth ends up as an "undefined un/blocked" attacker, and causes a rules snarl.

Rhadamanthus on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

@legendofa: In the rules-as-written, the "blocked/unblocked" label gets applied in 509.1h, as the next to last step in the process of declaring blockers defined by 509.1, and it's not mentioned again for any of the other rules that describe the rest of the Declare Blockers step. The problem is that the things described in 509.1-509.4 happen in a specific order and Zareth San, the Trickster is entering the battlefield sometime after 509.4, so it technically wasn't around when attackers were designated as "blocked" or "unblocked", which would also mean for the rules-as-written in the Combat Damage step that it wouldn't deal combat damage. That is so unintuitive that it can't possibly be the intended result, because no one would ever play it out correctly.

legendofa on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

Clarification to my bolded point: As an attacking creature with no blockers, and blockers have been fully declared, this is the point where it becomes an "unblocked" creature.

legendofa on How does Zareth San become …

2 weeks ago

If I may step in late, what's the alternative to the apparent intended outcome? What ambiguity am I missing?

What I see is:

  • Inkfathom Infiltrator and Soaring Thought-Thief attack. They are now "attacking" creatures, and their "un/blocked" status is currently undefined.

  • Blockers are assigned. No blockers are assigned to Infiltrator, while Thought-Thief is blocked.

An attacking creature with one or more creatures declared as blockers for it becomes a blocked creature; one with no creatures declared as blockers for it becomes an unblocked creature. (...)

  • Infiltrator becomes an "unblocked" creature. Thought-Thief becomes a "blocked" creature.

  • Because Infiltrator is "unblocked" and "attacking", it can be used to activate Zareth San, the Trickster's ability.

  • Zareth's ability is activated, Infiltrator returns to hand, and Zareth enters as an "attacking" creature with no assigned blockers. As an attacking creature with no blockers, this is the point where it becomes an "unblocked" creature.

  • Zareth deals combat damage, and stuff happens.

(...) This remains unchanged until the creature is removed from combat, an effect says that it becomes blocked or unblocked, or the combat phase ends, whichever comes first.

  • At the end of combat, creatures stopped being "blocked" or "unblocked" and return to the undefined status.

I understand the note in Ninjutsu's rules as a (technically redundant) clarification of the un/blocked rule, not an independent rule.

How else could this sequence be interpreted? At what other possible point could Zareth receive the definition of "unblocked"?