What happens when two players control a Mimic Vat.

Posted on February 22, 2012 by bimmerbot

One of the most common situations regarding simultaneous triggers that comes up is two players controlling Mimic Vats, and who gets to imprint the creature when it dies.

When two triggers go on the stack simultaneously, they are often controlled by one player, and it is fairly simple to handle. That player decides the order they go on the stack, and effectively chooses which resolves first.

When two triggers go on the stack simultaneously that are controlled by different players, they are placed on the stack in Active Player (“AP”), Non-Active Player (“NAP”) order (this is commonly referred to as “APNAP”). The active player is the player whose turn it is right now. This means the player whose turn it isn’t will put their trigger on top of the stack, and will get to choose whether to exile the creature with his or her trigger first, and if he or she doesn’t imprint the creature, then the AP will get a chance to choose.

For example, both players control a Mimic Vat, and the AP casts Day of Judgment. It destroys a creature, and both Mimic Vats trigger. The AP must put his trigger on the stack first, followed by the NAP. The NAP’s trigger resolves first, and she chooses to exile the creature with her Mimic Vat. The AP then resolves his trigger, but it does nothing, because the creature that triggered the ability is no longer in the graveyard.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Peter Golightly, Level 1 Judge from Austin, TX

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Don’t get in trouble for drawing extra cards. Keep your hand separate from the cards you’re looking at with Ponder.

Posted on February 21, 2012 by bimmerbot

When you cast Ponder, you look at the top 3 cards of your library, and you have the option of manipulating the order in which you would draw them. With that said, keep in mind that the cards you’re looking at are still a part of your library. Make sure that the cards in your hand are not being mingled with the cards you’re looking at with Ponder. If the cards you’re looking at end up touching the cards in your hand, they’re considered to be drawn. When resolving an effect like Ponder, the best advice is to set aside your hand face down before you begin looking at the top 3 cards of your library and go from there. Being able to differentiate your hand from your library is key to avoiding a drawing extra cards infraction.

The “Drawing Extra Cards” infraction occurs any time a player puts one or more cards into his or her hand which shouldn’t be there. This can happen if you accidentally draw an extra card for your turn or for an effect, if you put a dead creature into your hand instead of the graveyard, or if you simply have more cards in hand than you can account for.

At Competitive REL, the penalty associated with “Drawing Extra Cards” is a game loss, unless the card is uniquely identifiable (it’s still a warning in that case). At FNM, there is not a specific penalty for accidentally doing this, but the judge will put random cards from your hand on top of your library equal to the extra cards you have in your hand. And of course, if you’re doing this on purpose (at any REL), that’s Cheating and you’ll earn yourself a disqualification from the event.

Today’s Tournament Tip written by
Ronny Alvarado, Level 1 Judge from Houston, TX

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Tragic Slip checks for Morbid when it resolves, not when you cast it.

Posted on February 20, 2012 by bimmerbot

Tragic Slip normally gives target creature -1/-1, but it gives that creature -13/-13 instead if a creature died this turn. This means that this can send just about any creature to the graveyard if a creature already died this turn. Note that Tragic Slip only checks whether a creature died this turn when it resolves, and not when you cast it.

For example, you control a Falkenrath Aristocrat and a Doomed Traveler, and your opponent casts Tragic Slip, targeting your Aristocrat. In response, you activate the Aristocrat’s ability, sacrificing the Doomed Traveler. When the ability resolves, your Aristocrat is indestructible and it gets a +1/+1 counter. This would normally prevent it from being sent to the graveyard, as Tragic Slip only gives -1/-1, but when Tragic Slip resolves, it checks to see if a creature died this turn. It notices that a Doomed Traveler was sent to the graveyard, so instead of -1/-1, it gives the creature -13/-13. It’s also important to understand that reducing a creature’s toughness to 0 will send it to the graveyard even if it is indestructible. This is because putting a creature in the graveyard for having 0 toughness is not destruction, which is what indestructibility prevents.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Ronny Alvarado, Level 1 Judge from Houston, TX

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Hellrider’s ability triggers when a creature attacks.

Posted on February 17, 2012 by krizriktr

Hellrider has an ability that triggers when a creature controlled by Hellrider’s controller attacks (this includes Hellrider itself). Like similar ‘whenever… attacks’ abilities, this ability triggers when attacking creatures are declared, and will resolve before blocking creatures are chosen.

It is important to note that once this ability triggers, it will still resolve no matter what happens to any of the creatures involved. Removing Hellrider and/or the attacking creature that caused this ability to trigger will not prevent this ability from resolving or prevent the damage to the defending player.

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Helvault does not trigger ‘goes to the graveyard’ or ‘dies’ triggers.

Posted on February 16, 2012 by krizriktr

Helvault has two activated abilities, both of which exile creatures. Exiling means to put a card into the exile zone. Creature that are exiled do not go to the graveyard and will not trigger relevant abilities that trigger when a creature dies (because ‘dies’ means ‘is put into a graveyard from the battlefield,’ and ‘exile’ is not a graveyard).

For example, if an Elder Cathar it exiled by one of Helvault’s abilities, the triggered ability of the Elder Cathar will not trigger. Similarly, if a creature is exiled by Helvault, the ability of Galvanic Juggernaut will not trigger.

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Pyreheart Wolf’s triggered ability is not cumulative.

Posted on February 15, 2012 by krizriktr

Pyreheart Wolf has a triggered ability that makes it harder for your opponent’s to block your attacking creatures. When Pyreheart Wolf attacks, its ability triggers. When this triggered ability resolves, it creates an effect that prevents your attacking creatures from being blocked by just one creature.

This ability is not cumulative in any way. If two Pyreheart Wolves attack, both of their abilities will trigger and resolve independently. However, these two abilities to not create an increased effect. Both of these effects will end up doing the exact same thing, and prevent your attacking creatures from being blocked by just one creature. As long as the defending player assigns two blockers to an attacker, neither one of these restrictions is being violated, so the block is legal.

Posted in Combat Phase, Triggered Abilities | Tagged | Comments Off

Don’t offer advice to someone during a game.

Posted on February 14, 2012 by krizriktr

For events run at competitive or professional rules enforcement level, giving someone advice in a match is covered in the Magic Infraction Procedure Guide. It falls under the category ‘Tournament Error – Outside Assistance’ and the associated penalty is a match loss. This match loss is given to the player that either sought advice from someone outside the match or the player who gave advice to someone in another match (i.e., you can’t force a match loss on a player who’s in a match by giving them advice; you’ll just earn a match loss for yourself). In instances where the person is not currently in a match, but is a player in the event, the penalty is applied to that player’s next round.

Hopefully none of what was stated above comes as a surprise and doesn’t seem particularly harsh. The reasoning for this is that players in a tournament are expected to play their own games and make their own decisions; the tournament isn’t meant to test a player’s ability to follow directions.

An important thing to keep in mind is that this penalty can and will be applied for seemingly innocent chatter. It is very easy to accidentally provide play advice or information about a game unintentionally. It is recommended that players that are not in a match be very careful about what they say and do not engage in conversation with players about their game. What seems like an innocent comment or joke may have unintended significance and lead to a severe penalty. It’s best to simply remain silent when watching a match.

While there is not a specific penalty for this behavior at regular rules enforcement level events like FNM, it is still an unwanted behavior that must be avoided.

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The card exiled by Fiend of Shadows is not free to cast.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by krizriktr

Fiend of Shadows has an ability that triggers when the Fiend deals combat damage to a player. When this ability resolves, the player that was dealt damage chooses and exiles a card from his or her hand. The controller of Fiend of Shadows can then play the exiled card.

The effect that allows the controller of the Fiend to play the exiled card does not specify that they can do so without paying its mana cost. This means that in order to cast the card, all costs must be paid as normal. For example, if a copy of Altar’s Reap were to be exiled, the controller of the Fiend must pay 1B and sacrifice a creature in order to cast the exiled card.

There are a few other things to be aware of with Fiend of Shadows’ ability. The first is that this ability only allows you to play the exiled card. For example, it is not in your hand, so you cannot discard it. The Fiend’s ability can exile more than one card. You must follow all timing rules associated with playing any of these exiled cards. You can only cast an exiled sorcery during a main phase of your turn while the stack is empty. Similarly, you can play a land that was exiled this way, but only during a main phase of your turn while the stack is empty and only if you have not already played a land that turn. Finally, the effect from Fiend of Shadows does not end once the Fiend leaves play. If its triggered ability exiles a card, you still have the option to play that exiled card even after the Fiend is no longer on the battlefield, because the ability that exiled it specifies that you can do so “as long as that card remains exiled.” It doesn’t care whether the source of the ability is still there.

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How Fateful Hour works

Posted on February 10, 2012 by krizriktr

Fateful Hour is an ability word. While the comprehensive rules do govern how these abilities work, there are not dedicated rules in the comprehensive rules about Fateful Hour. The specific workings of this mechanic are printed on the cards themselves. However, some additional rules knowledge about the mechanic can be useful.

Fateful Hour ‘works’ when you have a life total of five or less. If your life total is six or more, then Fateful Hour abilities will not do anything.

How Fateful Hour affects individual spells and abilities depends on the exact ability that this ability word appears in. On some instant and sorcery spells, Fateful Hour will change what happens when the spell resolves. These Fateful Hour abilities use the word ‘instead,’ and in these instances are replacement effects. For example, Gather the Townsfolk‘s fateful hour ability will change what happens when the spell resolves. Instead of getting two token creatures, you get five.

On other spells, Fateful Hour will give you a bonus effect if your life total is five or below. Clinging Mists prevents all combat damage in the current turn, regardless of how much life you have. However, if you have five or less life, the Fateful Hour effect will also tap all attacking creatures and keep these creatures from untapping during their controller’s next untap step.

There are also a few Fateful Hour static abilities. These abilities are simply on or off depending on your life total. With Thraben Doomsayer, if your life total is five or less, other creatures you control will get +2/+2. If your life total is six or more, this ability does nothing. Keep in mind that these static abilities will continually check your life total to determine if they are ‘on’ or ‘off.’

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You can ‘steal’ more than one creature with Beguiler of Wills

Posted on February 9, 2012 by krizriktr

Beguiler of Wills has an activated ability that gives you control of a creature with power less than or equal to the number of creatures you control when the ability resolves. In order to play this ability, its target must be legal and you must have an appropriate number of creatures. This ability also checks when it resolves to make sure that this condition is still true. If it is, you will gain control of the targeted creature.

There is no duration for this effect, so barring any other change of control effects, you will maintain control of the targeted creature until it leaves play or the game ends. Additionally, unlike many other similar activated abilities, there is not a restriction or limit on reusing Beguiler of Will’s ability. As long as you can tap it to activate its ability, you can continue to steal other creatures.

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