Category Archives: Prevention and Replacement Effects

Divine Deflection prevents and deals a TOTAL of X damage.

Posted on April 28, 2012 by bimmerbot

With the new card Divine Deflection, the wording can be a little misleading. While one might read it to mean that it prevents X damage to you AND X damage for each creature or planeswalker you control, then deals all … Continue reading →

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Parallel Lives doesn’t make any tokens. It causes other stuff to make extra tokens.

Posted on April 13, 2012 by bimmerbot

“If I make an Angel token with Geist of Saint Traft, and I have a Parallel Lives out, why does the token made by Parallel Lives get exiled too?” Easy! Because Parallel Lives doesn’t make any tokens at all. What … Continue reading →

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Prevention effects can only prevent the trample damage that is assigned to a creature.

Posted on January 9, 2012 by krizriktr

There are many ways to prevent damage that would be dealt to or by a creature. Some effects specify a specific amount of damage (Abuna Acolyte), some will prevent all damage from specific sources or types of damage (the portion … Continue reading →

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How Flashback and Zeniths interact

Posted on December 26, 2011 by krizriktr

When one of the Zenith spells (e.g., Black Sun’s Zenith or Green Sun’s Zenith) from Mirrodin Besieged resolves, it is shuffled into its owner’s library instead of going to the graveyard. While there aren’t many, there are a few ways … Continue reading →

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Inquisitor’s Flail does not have a triggered ability, it has static abilities that create replacement effects

Posted on October 31, 2011 by krizriktr

Inquisitor’s Flail has two abilities that cause the creature equipped by it to both deal and receive twice as much combat damage as it normally would. These two abilities are not triggers and do not use the stack. These abilities … Continue reading →

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You cannot respond to the choice of creature type with Adaptive Automaton’s ability.

Posted on August 11, 2011 by krizriktr

Magic 2012 has introduced a new do-it-yourself lord that give +1/+1 to creatures of a chosen type that you control. The Adaptive Automaton itself also becomes this type, but it does not gain the +1/+1 bonus from its own ability. … Continue reading →

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What and how to choose a source of damage.

Posted on March 12, 2011 by krizriktr

Some effects have you choose a source of damage, often with a specific quality. The choice of a source is made when the spell or ability telling you to choose a source is resolving. For example, if you sacrifice a … Continue reading →

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How Totem Armor Works

Posted on March 4, 2011 by krizriktr

Totem Armor is a keyword ability that appears on many auras from Rise of the Eldrazi. It is a static ability that generates a replacement effect. This replacement effect is applied when the enchanted creature would be destroyed by an … Continue reading →

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What Reflecting Pool can and cannot do

Posted on January 13, 2011 by krizriktr

Reflecting Pool‘s ability can make mana of any type of any other land that you control. There are six types of mana; white, blue, black, red, green and colorless. Other restrictions or abilities associated with mana are not part of … Continue reading →

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When the Scars tap lands enter play tapped, and when they don’t

Posted on January 1, 2011 by krizriktr

A cycle of five lands that produce two types of mana were printed in Scars of Mirrodin with a static ability that replaces how they enter play. Blackcleave Cliffs would be an example of one of these lands. The gist … Continue reading →

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