Category Archives: Static Abilities

A Miracle card must be cast in the same step you draw the card (even if it’s a sorcery).

Posted on April 29, 2012 by bimmerbot

When you draw your first card for the turn (usually in your draw step), you can reveal it as you draw it if it has the Miracle ability. When you do that, the ability triggers and goes on the stack … Continue reading →

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Why Knowledge Pool + Curse of Exhaustion locks your opponent out of casting spells from the hand.

Posted on April 25, 2012 by bimmerbot

As part of combo week, I’ve chosen to explain my personal favorite combo in standard: the Curse of Exhaustion + Knowledge Pool lock. First, let’s take a look at what these two cards do before we explain how the combo … Continue reading →

Posted in Abilities, Casting / playing a spell or ability, Continuous Effects, Static Abilities, Triggered Abilities | Tagged , | Comments Off

Deathtouch only works if a creature actually deals damage.

Posted on April 9, 2012 by bimmerbot

When a Grave Titan attacks and is blocked by Mirran Crusader, the Crusader will not die. As we discussed a few weeks ago, protection does several things, such as preventing all damage from any source it has protection from. That … Continue reading →

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What Grafdigger’s Cage does and doesn’t stop.

Posted on March 26, 2012 by bimmerbot

Grafdigger’s Cage prevents players from casting spells from the graveyard or library, as well as creatures from entering the battlefield from a graveyard or library. This is a static ability that changes the rules of the game for as long … Continue reading →

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What “Protection from [something]” really means.

Posted on March 16, 2012 by bimmerbot

Today we’re going over an old favorite: Protection! It’s a fairly common mechanic in Standard lately, between all the Swords kicking around and the Crusaders and what-have-you. So what does protection ‘stop’? A lot of people wonder why it is … Continue reading →

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When creatures “fight,” some abilities matter, and others don’t.

Posted on March 12, 2012 by bimmerbot

When a creature “fights” another creature, that means each of those creatures deals damage equal to its power to the other creature. It’s important to know that fighting isn’t considered combat damage and won’t trigger any abilities that look for … Continue reading →

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You don’t control the equipment or auras attached to a creature you steal with Traitorous Blood.

Posted on March 5, 2012 by bimmerbot

When you gain control of a creature, you aren’t gaining control of anything that’s attached to it. This can be important to know when the equipment or aura has an ability, as opposed to when it give the creature an … Continue reading →

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A blocked creature stays blocked for the rest of combat, no matter what happens to the blocker.

Posted on February 27, 2012 by bimmerbot

The first thing that happens in the declare blockers step is that the defending player chooses which creatures will block and how they’re blocking. Once that happens, the blocks are locked in. Attackers that had a blocker declared become “blocked” … Continue reading →

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Abilities only do exactly what they say they do.

Posted on December 23, 2011 by krizriktr

Most relevant information about how a card works is on the card itself. The biggest exceptions are in regards to keyword abilities that have additional information on how they work in the comprehensive rules. Most keyword abilities have reminder text … Continue reading →

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Instigator Gang / Wildblood Pack’s static abilities end when it leaves play.

Posted on November 20, 2011 by krizriktr

Both sides of Instigator Gang / Wildblood Pack have static abilities that give either a +1/+0 or +3/+0 bonus to attacking creatures controlled by the controller of this permanent. This bonus is applied as soon as a creature controlled by … Continue reading →

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