Q: Nicole steals Amy’s turn with Emrakul, the Promised End. She then instructs Amy to cast Coax from the Blind Eternities. What happens?
A: Nicole can see all cards Amy could see, but this only applies to cards in the game [CR 714.4]. Cards in sideboards are considered outside the game, so Nicole cannot see them [CR 400.10a]. Coax from the Blind Eternities will resolve, but unless Amy owns an exiled Eldrazi, it won’t do anything.
Note: This is a change from previous rules, which allowed the controlling player to look at her opponent’s sideboard.
Q: Amy casts Emrakul, the Promised End. In response to its trigger, Nicole Meditates. What happens?
A: Nicole skips her next turn due to Meditate, so Amy takes the next turn in the game. After that, it will be Nicole’s turn. Since this is the next turn Nicole takes after the resolution of Emrakul’s trigger, Amy will control Nicole during this turn [CR 714.1b]. Emrakul’s trigger will give Nicole an extra turn after this one.
Note: For other questions about controlling another player, check out the returning mechanic article here.
Q: Can I use Coax from the Blind Eternities to get an exiled Chameleon Colossus? How about one from my sideboard?
A: Yes. Changeling is a characteristic-defining ability [CR 702.72a]. Among other things, this means that it applies in any zone, even outside the game [CR 604.3].
Q: Can I pay 2RR to cast a Collective Defiance that deals 6 damage to my opponent?
A: No. Under normal circumstances, you can’t choose the same mode more than once [CR 700.2d]. Cards (such as the confluence cycle from C15) that allow this will have special text explicitly stating that you can do so.
Q: Flying is an ability, right? So if I cast Summary Dismissal during my opponent’s turn, does that mean I can block their flying creatures now, since it counters all abilities?
A: No. Like “counter” and “draw,” the word “ability” can refer two multiple things in the game of Magic [CR 112.1]. It can refer either to text on a card that lets it affect the game (like flying), or to an activated or triggered ability on the stack [CR 112.1a, 112.1b]. The definition of the word “counter” makes it clear that the latter of these is the intended meaning in this case [CR 701.5a]. Summary Dismissal will counter all activated and triggered abilities on the stack, but abilities in the other sense of the word will be unaffected.
Q: Permeating Mass chump blocks a Hill Giant. Does Hill Giant become a copy of Permeating Mass?
A: The combat damage event happens, which causes Permeating Mass to trigger. After that, state-based actions will cause Permeating Mass to be destroyed [CR 704.5g]. Then, the game will check to see if there are any triggered abilities that need to go on the stack, and see that Permeating Mass’s ability has triggered [CR 603.3]. Though its source is no longer on the battlefield, Permeating Mass’ ability has already triggered, and will now go to the stack [CR 112.7a]. The game can use the last known information of the Permeating Mass when applying the copy effect to determine Hill Giant’s characteristics. Hill Giant will become a mass.
Q: Amy’s Volrath’s Shapeshifter is blocked by Nicole’s Grizzly Bears. The top card of Amy’s graveyard is Permeating Mass. In response to the Shapeshifter/Mass’s “becomes a copy” ability, Amy discards a Hill Giant. What does Grizzly Bears look like after that ability resolves?
A: Even though the ability says that Grizzly Bears will become a copy of “Permeating Mass,” this means that it will be a copy of the permanent that’s the source of that ability, even if its name has changed [CR 706.11]. Volrath’s Shapeshifter has a text-changing effect, which means that it isn’t applied until layer 3 [CR 612.5, 613.1c]. In contrast, the copy effect acting on Grizzly Bears applies in layer 1 [CR 613.1a]. Grizzly Bears will become a copy of Volrath’s Shapeshifter, which means it will become a 0/2 blue Shapeshifter with “2:Discard a card.” If the top card of Nicole’s graveyard is a creature, the bear/shapeshifter will gain the full text of that card in layer 3. The bear will not be a Hill Giant.
Note: Unlike Volrath’s Shapeshifter, Dimir Doppelganger has a copy effect, which is taken into account when determining its copiable values [CR 706.2]. Grizzly Bears would become a copy of whatever creature Dimir Doppelganger was impersonating at the time the doppelganger/mass’s ability resolved. It will even have the Dimir Doppelganger’s ability, which is retained during the doppelganger’s copying process and thus part of its copiable information [CR 706.9a].
Q: Amy blocks Permeating Mass with Mutavault. What does Mutavault look like afterwards?
A: After becoming a copy of Permeating Mass, Mutavault will have that card’s characteristics. So it will be green, have a mana cost of G, and have Permeating Mass’s ability instead of its original abilities. Although Mutavault loses the ability to animate itself, since that ability has already resolved, the continuous effects it set up will persist as normal until the end of the turn, regardless whether it still has that ability or not [CR 611.2c]. Because these all take place in later layers than the copy effect, they will overwrite the affected stats. So Mutavault will be a 2/2 that has all creature types. After these effects wear off, Mutavault will become a full copy of Permeating Mass, just as if it was, for example, a Clone that had copied Permeating Mass.
Note: Even though Mutavault’s ability says “it’s still a land,” it will have lost this type by the time it’s time for this part of its effect to apply in layer 4. Mutavault will not re-become a land; this language just means that Mutavault will keep all its prior card types and subtypes when its ability turns it into a creature [CR 205.1b].
Q: Amy’s Tree of Perdition has a +1/+1 counter on it when Amy activates its ability. Amy holds priority and responds with Transmutation on the tree. Nicole is at 15 life before the ability resolves. What will be the tree’s stats and Nicole’s life afterwards?
A: Before the ability resolves, Tree of Perdition is a 14/1. Thus, Amy will go to 1 life. Tree of Perdition’s toughness will be set to 15. At that point, there will be three continuous effects acting on the tree’s p/t: that setting effect, applied in layer 7b; the +1/+1 counter, applied in layer 7d; and the switching effect from Transmutation, applied in layer 7e. Applying these in that order, the tree starts as 0/13, then becomes 0/15, then 1/16, and finally 16/1.
Note: The tree doesn’t reduce Amy’s life total by dealing damage, so things like Elderscale Wurm and Furnace of Rath don’t interact with it. It does count as losing life, though, so she could gain it back with Children of Korlis or get a token with First Response [CR 701.8g].
Q: Amy activates Tree of Perdition, then casts a morbid Tragic Slip in response to give it -13/-13. What happens?
A: The tree’s ability will resolve after it dies [CR 112.7a]. Although the last known information for the tree is that it had 0 toughness, the opponent’s life total is not set to 0. Both halves of an exchange need to be possible, or else nothing happens [CR 701.8a]. Because Tree of Perdition is not on the battlefield when the ability resolves, it’s not possible to make an exchange involving its toughness. When the tree’s ability resolves, nothing will happen.
Q: Amy activates Tree of Perdition while Nicole controls Platinum Emperion. What happens?
A: Because of Platinum Emperion, Nicole’s life total cannot change. Since the whole exchange cannot happen, the ability does nothing when it resolves [CR 701.8a].
Q: Amy casts Deploy the Gatewatch and puts a planeswalker onto the battlefield. Apparently thinking of Collected Company, she puts the remaining 6 on the bottom of her library without shuffling them. What is the appropriate infraction, penalty, and fix.
A: Though the root cause is failing to follow the instructions of the spell correctly, the substance of this error fits into Insufficient Shuffling. Amy will get a Warning and will need to shuffle the bottom 6 cards of her library [IPG 3.4].
Q: Amy casts Bedlam Reveler, but forgets to discard her hand and draw 3. The players don’t notice until Nicole starts untapping her permanents. What happens?
A: This is clearly a case of Missed Trigger, but is it generally considered to be detrimental, and therefore meritorious of a Warning? Discarding your hand is certainly detrimental, but drawing 3 cards is clearly not. Because the overall effect is not clearly good or bad, this trigger is not generally considered detrimental, so Amy gets no infraction. Because the trigger was caught in time, Nicole has the option of whether it’s put on the stack immediately, or simply missed.
Note: Howling Mine‘s triggered ability is sometimes considered detrimental to its controller, and sometimes not, depending on who missed getting to draw a card [IPG 2.1]. It may be tempting to assume similar logic here: Maybe this trigger is detrimental if you started with 7 cards in hand, but not if you only had 1. Unfortunately, this logic is not backed by policy. Indeed, the IPG states that “the current game state is not a factor in determining this” and adds that only symmetrical effects can be ambivalent, based on which player is affected [IPG 2.1].
Q: Amy casts Supreme Verdict. In response, Nicole casts Spell Queller. What happens?
A: Although Supreme Verdict can’t be countered, it can still be exiled. That means Spell Queller’s ability can affect it just fine. The stack won’t have anything on it after Spell Queller’s ability resolves, so the game will proceed as normal after that point; it won’t “remember” that Supreme Verdict was on the stack and try to resolve it.
Q: Nicole has Spell Queller with nothing exiled and Amy tries to kill it with Incendiary Flow. Nicole responds by Essence Fluxing Spell Queller. What happens.
A: When Spell Queller enters the battlefield, Nicole will have to choose a target for its ability. Although the “enters the battlefield” ability triggers during the resolution of Essence Flux, it isn’t put onto the stack until after that spell resolves and is in the graveyard [CR 603.3]. Therefore, the only possible target is Incendiary Flow. Unlike its “leaves the battlefield” trigger, Spell Queller’s “enters the battlefield” trigger does not indicate that it is optional, so Nicole is compelled to exile Incendiary Flow, even though she probably doesn’t want to.
Note: Incendiary Flow had no legal targets since the Spell Queller it targeted became a new permanent with no memory of its past self when it left the battlefield [CR 400.7]. This means that it would have been countered by game rules. Unfortunately for Nicole, that doesn’t happen until the spell tries to resolve, which it doesn’t get to because Spell Queller’s ability will have already exiled it.
Q: Nicole has a Spell Queller in play that exiled Amy’s Grizzly Bears. She Essence Flux‘s it. What happens?
A: Exiling Spell Queller and returning it to the battlefield causes both its abilities to trigger. Because Nicole controls both these triggers, she can put them on the stack in whatever order she wants [CR 603.3b]. Suppose she stacks them so that the “enters the battlefield” trigger resolves first and the “leaves the battlefield” trigger resolves second. This ability, therefore, won’t do anything unless there’s another spell on the stack for it to target (which could be the case if, for example, Nicole’s Essence Flux was in response to a removal spell). After that, Amy will get to cast Grizzly Bears.
If Nicole stacks them the other way, she will still have to pick the target for her “enters the battlefield” trigger as it’s put onto the stack. The “leaves the battlefield” trigger will not have yet resolved by this time, so the result is the same as above.
Q: Amy casts Grizzly Bears. Nicole responds with Collected Company, and hits Spell Queller and Aether Adept. She wants to exile Grizzly Bears with Spell Queller and bounce Spell Queller with Aether Adept. What happens?
A: Both these abilities trigger when their respective creatures enter the battlefield. Nicole controls both, so she chooses the order they’re put onto the stack [CR 603.3b]. If she stacks Aether Adept first, then Spell Queller on top, Spell Queller will resolve first, exiling Grizzly Bears. Then Aether Adept’s trigger will resolve, bouncing Spell Queller and causing its leaves-the-battlefield ability to trigger. Amy can then cast Grizzly Bears without paying its mana cost.
If Nicole stacks them the other way, things work better for her. First Spell Queller is returned to Nicole’s hand, which causes its leaves-the-battlefield ability to trigger. In this case, there is not yet an exiled card for Amy to cast, so this will do nothing when it resolves. Only after this happens will Spell Queller’s ability, which is still on the stack, independent of its source, resolve and exile Grizzly Bears forever [CR 112.7a].
Q: Nicole Spell Quells Amy’s Eldritch Evolution. What happens when Spell Queller dies?
A: Amy will have the choice of whether to cast Eldritch Evolution again. Although Spell Queller’s effect takes care of the mana cost, Amy is still on the hook for any additional costs, in this case, sacrificing a creature [CR 601.2f]. Eldritch Evolution won’t “remember” that a creature was already sacrificed to cast it [CR 400.7]. Because nothing indicates the additional cost is optional, Amy must pay it in order to cast the spell (she can’t, for example, sacrifice nothing then search for a creature with CMC 2) [CR 117.8b].
Q: Amy casts Nahiri’s Wrath, which Nicole Spell Quells. When Spell Queller dies, Amy doesn’t want to discard, but still wants to cast Nahiri’s Wrath so it will be in her graveyard for delirium purposes. Is that allowed?
A: Yes. Casting Nahiri’s Wrath requires an additional cost of discarding X cards. It doesn’t specify that X can’t be 0 the way, for example, Mind Grind does, so that’s a perfectly legal play [CR 107.1c]. Nahiri’s Wrath will deal 0 damage to 0 targets and be put into Amy’s graveyard.
Note: Spell Queller does not indicate that something special happens if the controller decides not to cast it; in that case, the Nahiri’s Wrath would remain exiled.
Q: If I mulligan into a Providence, do I scry first or reveal it first?
A: The scry is considered part of the mulligan process and happens before any “opening hand” game actions [CR 103.4, 103.5].
Q: Nicole controls Lunar Force. Amy casts Grizzly Bears and responds to the Lunar Force’s trigger by Unsubstantiateing her own spell. What happens?
A: Because Lunar Force is still on the battlefield, it will trigger a second time when Unsubstantiate is cast. When this trigger resolves, Nicole will sacrifice Lunar Force and counter Unsubstantiate. Then, the original Lunar Force trigger will resolve. Lunar Force is not worded like some previous cards like Standstill, which make the effect contingent upon actually sacrificing them. When the first Lunar Force trigger resolves, it will do as much as it can and counter Grizzly Bears, even though Lunar Force isn’t around to get sacrificed anymore [CR 609.3].
Note: The trigger resolving and doing as much as it can works both ways. If Amy cast Supreme Verdict, Nicole would have to sacrifice Lunar Force, even though it couldn’t counter that spell.
Q: Can you Ruthless Disposal your opponent’s creature if they don’t have another creature in play?
A: Yes, but it’s not that easy. Note that this card does not specify “up to” two target creatures the way similar cards like Into the Void do. That means that to cast this spell, you need to pick two targets [CR 601.2c]. Because Ruthless Disposal only uses the word “target” once, you can’t choose the same creature multiple times, either.
On the other hand, you can target your own creature. If you aren’t feeling particularly ruthless, you can even choose the one that you’re planning to sacrifice. Because targets are chosen before costs are paid, it will still be on the battlefield to be useful one last time before you sacrifice it [CR 601.2c, 601.2h]. Sure, your creature won’t be around when Ruthless Disposal resolves, but that won’t affect you in any negative way. Spells are only countered by game rules if all of their targets are illegal; since one target is still around, Ruthless Disposal will do as much as it can and give your opponent’s creature -13/-13 [CR 608.2b].
Q: Ok, so with that in mind, can I discard a Weirded Vampire with Ruthless Disposal, cast it with madness, and sacrifice that?
A: No. Casting a creature with madness is still casting a creature [CR 702.34a]. That means Weirded Vampire will have to go onto the stack and resolve like a normal spell before it’s even on the battlefield to sacrifice. Unfortunately, the madness trigger that lets you do that won’t even go on the stack itself until after the process of casting Ruthless Disposal is completed [CR 603.3].
Note: If you do cast Ruthless Disposal discarding a madness creature, that spell will resolve and be on the battlefield before Ruthless Disposal resolves. So a Grave Scrabbler would be able to return a creature you discarded to cast Ruthless Disposal, but not a creature that died due to getting -13/-13.
Q: Amy controls 5 Swamps and 2 Maze of Iths. She wants to cast Ruthless Disposal by sacrificing Centaur Vinecrasher and discarding Riftstone Portal. Can she do it in such a way that she will be able to return Centaur Vinecrasher to her hand?
A: Yes. Although the spell’s instructions need to be performed in the order written, this rule does not apply to costs, which can be paid in any order [CR 608.2c, 601.2h]. Amy can therefore sacrifice Centaur Vinecrasher before discarding Riftstone Portal so that it will be in her graveyard in time to see a land put there. As soon as Riftstone Portal enters the graveyard, Amy’s lands will gain the ability to tap for green mana [CR 611.3b]. She can then tap her mazes in response to the trigger (or during its resolution) to produce the GG necessary to return Centaur Vinecrasher to her hand [CR 605.3a].
Note: Suppose one of Amy’s Swamps was instead a third Maze of Ith. Could Amy still make this play by discarding Riftstone Portal, giving herself a fifth mana-producing land, before paying Ruthless Disposal’s mana cost? Unfortunately, no. Because costs can be paid in any order, it is legal to pay the mana after discarding, but by the time costs are being paid, it is too late to activate mana abilities. Rather, there is a step in the process of casting a spell during which players can activate mana abilities which happens immediately before the step where costs are paid [CR 601.2g]. The mana needs to already be in the player’s mana pool before that player begins to pay the spell’s costs. It’s not possible to pay the “discard a card” cost, then tap for mana, then pay the rest of the spell’s costs.
Q: What does Dryad Arbor look like when it’s Imprisoned in the Moon?
A: In layer 4, Imprisoned in the Moon sets Dryad Arbor’s type to Land and removes its other card types [CR 613.1d]. Not being a creature anymore, Dryad Arbor loses the subtypes associated with it, in this case, Dryad [CR 205.1a, 205.3m]. Imprisoned in the Moon does not say that the enchanted permanent loses its other subtypes, so Dryad Arbor is still a Forest. In layer 5, Dryad Arbor will go from being green to being colorless [CR 613.1e]. Then, in layer 6, it will gain “T: Add C to your mana pool” and lose the ability to tap for green mana [CR 613.1f]. In the end, it’s a colorless Land – Forest that can tap for colorless.
Q: Amy Imprisons Nicole’s Urza’s Tower while Nicole also controls Urza’s Mine and Urza’s Power Plant. If Nicole taps all three lands, how much mana does she have?
A: Although the enchanted permanent loses all other card types, Imprisoned in the Moon doesn’t make it lose any subtypes, such as “Urza’s” or “Tower” [CR 205.3i]. Therefore, when Nicole’s other two lands look, they will still see that she controls an Urza’s Tower, so they will produce 2 each. The Tower loses its Urza land ability and has only the ability granted by Imprisoned in the Moon, so it only taps for 1.
Note: By default, we look at the type line and not the name for effects like these [CR 109.2]. Reference Crown of Empires for what the templating would look like if we were looking at the name.
Note: If you play Modern, you may be familiar with a similar case that has a different answer. If Urza’s Tower was enchanted by Spreading Seas, it would no longer “turn on” the other two Urza lands. This is because Spreading Seas sets the enchanted land’s type to Island, which overwrites any other land types it originally had [CR 205.1a].
Q: What does Magus of the Moon look like when it’s Imprisoned in the Moon?
A: Both Magus of the Moon and Imprisoned in the Moon have continuous effects which apply in layer 4 [CR 613.1d]. Because applying Imprisoned in the Moon first increases the number of objects that Magus of the Moon’s effect would apply to, Magus of the Moon is dependent upon Imprisoned in the Moon and applies last even though it (presumably) has an earlier timestamp [CR 613.7a]. So Magus of the Moon first becomes a Land and loses its Creature typing, then becomes a Mountain. Because it gained a basic land type, Magus of the Moon loses all its abilities and gains “T: add R to your mana pool” [CR 305.7]. This happens because of a game rule, not because of a continuous effect, so it happens immediately rather than waiting until the appropriate layer to apply in [CR 305.6]. In layer 5, Magus of the Moon becomes colorless [CR 613.1e]. Then, in layer 6, Imprisoned in the Moon will cause Magus of the Moon to lose its abilities and gain “T: add C to your mana pool” [CR 613.1f]. In the end, Magus of the Moon is a Land – Mountain that can tap for colorless, but not for red.
Q: Amy’s Heliod is Imprisoned in the Moon. Later on, one of Amy’s white creatures dies, reducing Amy’s devotion to white below 5. What does Heliod look like now?
A: There are two continuous effects trying to apply in layer 4: Heliod’s “not a creature” effect and Imprisoned in the Moon’s “becomes a land” effect. Regardless of the order these apply in, Heliod’s type eventually becomes Land, and all subtypes it had are lost [CR 205.1a]. After Heliod becomes colorless in layer 5, we again have two continuous effects to apply in layer 6: Heliod’s wants to give Amy’s creatures vigilance, and Imprisoned in the Moon’s wants to take that ability away (and all Heliod’s other abilities too). Because applying Imprisoned in the Moon first changes the existence of Heliod’s ability, Heliod’s vigilance-granting ability is dependent upon that and applied afterwards [CR 613.7a]. So Heliod first loses all abilities and gains the ability to tap for C, then Amy’s creatures look sadly at the moon because they won’t get vigilance.
Note: Enchantments aren’t a type that Imprisoned in the Moon can enchant, and this is Heliod’s only card type after the application of its own ability if it applies first. Fortunately, Imprisoned in the Moon can enchant lands, and the state-based action that makes it fall off is only performed after all continuous effects have applied [CR 704.3].
Note: The continuous effect that makes Heliod colorless does not affect its mana cost. Accordingly, Heliod will still add one to its controller’s devotion to W [CR 700.5].
Q: Amy has a Ugin, the Spirit Dragon that’s Imprisoned in the Moon, which she copies with Vesuva. What happens?
A: Vesuva enters the battlefield tapped as a copy of Ugin. Because other continuous effects acting on an object aren’t copied, it will look just like Ugin if it wasn’t Imprisoned [CR 706.2]. The fact that Vesuva couldn’t ordinarily copy Ugin is immaterial, and exactly mirrors the situation of, for example, Clone copying an animated Mutavault.
Note: This wouldn’t work out so well if instead of Vesuva, Amy had used a Thespian’s Stage. Because Thespian’s Stage is already on the battlefield, it will not get any loyalty counters, so it will die the next time state-based actions are performed [CR 704.5i].
Q: Amy has a Liliana, the Last Hope that’s Imprisoned in the Moon, then plays another one. What happens?
A: Nothing interesting. Amy’s original Liliana is no longer a planeswalker. Therefore, Amy doesn’t control two planeswalkers that share a planeswalker type, so there’s no problem with having them both out at once [CR 704.5j].
Q: Amy has a Thalia, Heretic Cathar that’s Imprisoned in the Moon, then plays another one. What happens?
A: The answer is different this time because the legend rule works differently from the planeswalker rule. Rather than looking at the legendary card’s types, it looks at its name, which Imprisoned in the Moon doesn’t change. Imprisoned in the Moon also doesn’t change supertypes, so Thalia is still legendary [CR 205.4b]. Because Amy controls two legendary permanents with the same name, one of them (probably the one that’s locked up) will have to go [CR 704.5k].
Q: Amy has a Ulrich, Uncontested Alpha that’s Imprisoned in the Moon, then plays a Ulrich of the Krallenhorde. What happens?
A: The legend rule looks at the full name of the card, including the title [CR 201.2]. Because these names do not match exactly, they can both stay on the battlefield. If the new Ulrich transforms, they will have the same name, and Amy will have to choose one (again, probably the land Ulrich) will be put into her graveyard.
Q: Amy has a Natural Emergence and a Foul Emissary that’s Imprisoned in the Moon, which she sacrifices as part of casting a Mockery of Nature. Does this unnatural emergence cause Foul Emissary to trigger?
A: First, Natural Emergence will always make Foul Emissary into a creature regardless of timestamps because applying Imprisoned in the Moon first increases the number of objects that Natural Emergence should apply to. This means that Natural Emergence’s effect is dependent upon Imprisoned in the Moon and will be applied last [CR 613.7a].
Foul Emissary triggers when it goes from the battlefield to another zone. This is a leaves-the-battlefield trigger, and is different from normal triggers in that the game “looks back in time” to the game state immediately before the event to see if it should trigger [CR 603.6d]. Because the Foul Emissary did not have its abilities immediately before it was sacrificed, it will not trigger.
Q: Amy has two Grizzly Bears and activates Tamiyo, Field Researcher‘s +1 ability targeting both of them. Then she attacks with both creatures, and they both get through. How many cards does she draw?
A: This question is tricky not because of the rules but because of an ambiguity in the English language. It’s not clear whether the “either” in this ability is meant in an inclusive or exclusive sense, and the difference determines whether this event will match the trigger condition once or twice [CR 603.2c]. This is the first time such a template has been used before in Magic, so we have no history to go on (although other uses of either, such as in hybrid mana symbols, have always excluded the admittance of “both”). Neither do we have any rules justification for favoring one over the other.
Fortunately, what we do have is this post from Matt Tabak confirming that you draw 2 cards in this case. While I’m not a fan of telling people to memorize a ruling rather than the rules, that’s really all we can do here.
Q: Amy Soul Separates a Lhurgoyf while there are 3 other creatures in her graveyard. How big is the Spirit? How big is the Zombie?
A: Lhurgoyf has a Characteristic-Defining Ability that sets its power and toughness [CR 604.3]. This ability functions in the exile zone, so the game sees it as being 3/3 when the token is created. Lhurgoyf doesn’t count itself because the instructions on Soul Separator are performed in order, so Lhurgoyf is exiled before either token is created [CR 608.2c].
The Spirit token has an ability that copies Lhurgoyf, but modifies the copying process by setting its final power and toughness [CR 706.9]. This means that the CDA on Lhurgoyf that sets its power and toughness is not copied. The Spirit is a 1/1 with flying and no other abilities.
Note: The Zombie token stays 3/3 even if creature cards enter or leave the graveyard. That’s because the Zombie token is created one time by a one-shot effect that sets its power and toughness [CR 610.1]. The Zombie has no abilities, so it doesn’t continuously update its power and toughness. See Elephant Resurgence for an example of a card that creates a token whose power and toughness are updated.
Q: Amy activates a Soul Separator exiling Quicksilver Gargantuan while there’s a Grizzly Bears in play. How big is the Spirit? How big is the Zombie?
A: Quicksilver Gargantuan’s printed p/t is 7/7. It doesn’t have a CDA to overwrite this, so the Zombie will be 7/7 also [CR 604.3a]. The Spirit will be a copy of Quicksilver Gargantuan, which means that it will acquire Quicksilver Gargantuan’s ability as part of the copying process [CR 706.5]. As the token enters the battlefield, its controller may have it become a copy of Grizzly Bears. If she doesn’t, the token will be a 1/1 Spirit Shapeshifter with flying as normal. If she does, that copy effect will overwrite those values, and the token will be a 7/7 green Bear with no abilities.
Q: Amy Soul Separates a Gisela, the Broken Blade in her graveyard while she controls Bruna, the Fading Light. What happens?
A: Amy gets a 4/3 Zombie and a Spirit token 1/1 copy of Gisela. At the beginning of her end step, the Gisela’s ability will trigger and exile both itself and Bruna. Tokens can’t meld, so that part of the instruction fails [CR 701.34b]. Because the meld wasn’t possible, Bruna will remain exiled [CR 701.34c].
Q: Amy controls two Hanweir Battlements and two Hanweir Garrisons. She activates the last ability of one of her battlements. In response, Nicole Wastelands that battlements. What happens?
A: Hanweir Battlements’ ability refers to itself by name. This refers only to the Hanweir Battlements that was the source of the ability, not any other cards, even if they also have that name [CR 201.4]. Since Amy no longer controls that Hanweir Battlements, the ability does nothing.
Note: Suppose that instead Nicole had used Mouth of Ronom to destroy one of Amy’s garrisons. Hanweir Battlements has no way to lock down which garrison will be affected, so the other will be exiled and melded with it.
Note: If one of Amy’s Hanweir Garrisons is Imprisoned in the Moon, she’ll probably want to meld with that one. At first, it seems possible, since Imprisoned in the Moon doesn’t change the enchanted permanent’s name, but Amy can’t do this. As long as it’s imprisoned, the garrison won’t be “a creature” named Hanweir Garrison, so it can’t be melded.
Note: If, for example, through a copy effect, Amy had another creature that acquired the name Hanweir Garrison, that would be a valid choice to exile. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to meld it with Hanweir Battlements, since it isn’t a meld card [CR 701.34b].
Q: Amy Submerges Nicole’s Brisela, Voice of Nightmares. What happens?
A: On the battlefield, these are both one card, so they move together. Both halves of Brisela will be put on top of Nicole’s library. Since they are being put into her library at the same time, Nicole chooses which order to put them in [CR 712.4a]. She does not need to tell Amy what the order is [CR 712.4a].
Q: What is Chittering Host‘s mana cost? What is its converted mana cost? If I Clone a Chittering Host, what will be Clone’s mana cost and converted mana cost?
A: On the battlefield melded, the game sees only the characteristics of the combined back face of a meld pair [CR 712.3a]. This means that since Chittering Host doesn’t have any mana symbols in its upper right corner, it doesn’t have a mana cost [CR 202.1b]. Its converted mana cost, though, is the sum of the converted mana costs of its two front faces, in this case, 7 [CR 712.3b]. A copy of the Chittering Host will still have no mana cost, but its converted mana cost is not calculated at all; it’s just defined as 0 [CR 712.3b].
Q: Amy uses Cytoshape to make her Brisela, Voice of Nightmares into a copy of her Chittering Host. What is Brisela’s new converted mana cost?
A: You might think that it would Chittering Host’s converted mana cost, or at least keep its original one, but no. The rule cited above gives no exceptions for if the copying object is a melded permanent, so it still applies. Because Brisela is a copy of a melded permanent, its converted mana cost is defined to be 0 [CR 712.3b].
Q: Amy sacrifices Chittering Host while Nicole controls Fecundity and Compost. What happens?
A: Fecundity has a “leaves the battlefield” trigger, which, unlike most triggered abilities, needs to “look back in time” at the game state immediately before the event that caused it to trigger [CR 603.6d]. It sees one (melded) creature about to be put into the graveyard, so Fecundity triggers once [CR 712.4].
Compost has a similar triggered ability, but it uses the phrase “from anywhere,” which means it isn’t treated as a “leaves the battlefield” ability [CR 603.6c]. It will not “look back in time,” but will check the game state immediately after the event that caused it to trigger [CR 603.6d]. Compost sees two black cards put into Amy’s graveyard, so it triggers twice [CR 712.4].
Nicole controls all three of these triggers, so she will determine what order they are put onto the stack [CR 603.3b].
Q: Amy uses Duplicant to exile Nicole’s Chittering Host. What are Duplicant’s power, toughness, and creature types.
A: Duplicant has the power, toughness, and creature types of the last card exiled with it, but both of Graf Rats and Midnight Scavengers were exiled at the same time. In this case, Amy, the player who exiled these objects, makes the decision as to which was the “last” one exiled [CR 712.4b]. Her choice will determine Duplicant’s characteristics.
Q: Nicole’s Hanweir, the Writhing Township dies while Amy controls Mimic Vat. What happens?
A: Because one creature died, Mimic Vat will trigger once [CR 712.4]. This trigger tracks Hanweir to its new zone and performs an action on it, so it will find both cards and exile both of them (assuming Amy chooses to use this optional part of Mimic Vat’s ability) [CR 712.4c]. Unlike Duplicant, Mimic Vat makes no reference to the “last card” it exiled; errata was issued in this set of Oracle updates so that it creates a token of “a card exiled with Mimic Vat.” Amy will get a token of Hanweir Battlements or Hanweir Garrison.
Note: Amy chooses to exile both the cards using Mimic Vat’s ability or not; she doesn’t make this choice individually for each card because it’s still just one ability.
Q: Amy sacrifices Brisela, Voice of Nightmares while her opponent controls Rest in Peace and Wheel of Sun and Moon. Into which zone is each half placed?
A: Both of these are replacement effects, so Amy, as the controller of the affected object, will decide which one applies first [CR 616.1]. Because replacement effects apply before the events they replace, whichever one she picks will see one creature about to be put into Amy’s graveyard and will move both halves of this creature [CR 614.4, 712.4]. Amy can thus either put both halves of Brisela on the bottom of her library or exile both of them. If she chooses to apply Wheel of Sun and Moon first, she doesn’t need to tell Nicole whether she put Bruna above Gisela or vice versa [CR 401.4].
Q: Amy has Hanweir Garrison, but not Hanweir Battlements out when she casts Moonmist. What happens?
A: Nothing special. While a card from a meld pair may look like a double-faced card, the rules specifically state that this is not the case [CR 712.1b]. Because Hanweir Garrison isn’t a double-faced card, it can’t transform.
Note: The same is true for effects that want to turn a meld card or melded permanent face down, like Ixidron: nothing happens [CR 712.10].
Q: Amy enchants Brisela with Gift of Immortality and it dies. What happens?
A: The instruction to return the card to the battlefield tracks both cards as they go to the graveyard and returns both of them [CR 712.4c]. At the end of the turn, both of Gisela and the delayed trigger from Gift of Immortality will trigger. If Amy stacks them so that the meld trigger resolves first, Gift of Immortality will not be able to track the permanents into exile as they meld, so its trigger will do nothing when it resolves [CR 400.7]. If she resolves the Gift of Immortality trigger first, she will return it attached to one of the angels, then, the meld trigger will exile them and return them as a new object. Gift of Immortality will be enchanting nothing, and will be put into the graveyard the next time state-based actions are performed [CR 704.5n].
Q: How does meld work in commander?
A: In a nutshell:
- Your commander needs to be a single card, so Gisela, the Broken Blade or Bruna, the Fading Light could be your commander, but not Brisela, Voice of Nightmares [CR 903.3].
- If your commander is half of a melded pair on the battlefield, it’s still your commander, so damage the Brisela does is considered commander damage [CR 903.3b].
- Although both cards from a meld pair go to the same zone when they leave the battlefield, if one of them is your commander, you can bypass this rule and move it to the command zone [CR 903.9a].
Q: Can I sacrifice a Steel Golem to cast my Abundant Maw?
A: No. In order to begin the process of casting a spell, you need to be legally allowed to cast that spell [CR 601.2]. There are exceptions to this, but they apply to cases where the effect that would prohibit the spell from being cast needs information determined during the process of casting it (so, for instance, you could bestow a Hopeful Eidolon with Steel Golem in play, because as part of the process of casting that spell, Hopeful Eidolon becomes an enchantment and loses its creature typing).
Q: Amy sacrifices Geist-Fueled Scarecrow to cast Abundant Maw with emerge. How much mana does she need to pay?
A: Before Amy pays costs, the game first has to determine what the cost to cast Abundant Maw will be [CR 601.2f]. It starts with the emerge cost of 6B. Then, Geist-Fueled Scarecrow’s cost increase applies to make this 7B. Finally, the emerge cost reducer applies and makes the final cost 3B. At this point, the cost is locked in and will not change. After this, Amy will have a chance to activate mana abilities, and will then pay the cost of sacrificing Geist-Fueled Scarecrow and paying 3B [CR 601.2g, 601.2h].
Note: Astute readers may have noticed something interesting when considering this question and the previous one. If the creature isn’t sacrificed until the costs for the spell are actually paid, how does the game know how much to discount the emerge cost by? After all, the game has to lock in the cost to cast the spell before this point. Unlike most other sacrifice effects, the creature you sacrifice for emerge is picked before it’s actually sacrificed. This choice is made at the same time as you choose to cast the spell using emerge, which happens earlier in the casting process [CR 702.118b]. That way, the game has advance knowledge of what’s getting sacrificed so it can discount the emerge cost appropriately when determining the cost to cast the spell.
Q: Amy controls Megrim and Mind Rots Nicole. Nicole discards to the top of her library with Nephalia Academy. Does Nicole lose 4?
A: Yes. Notice that Nephalia Academy is worded so that it replaces the zone the card is put into, not the fact that it is discarded. Since the part Megrim cares about was not replaced, it triggers as usual.
Q: Is the triggered ability that transforms Duskwatch Recruiter into Krallenhorde Howler detrimental or not?
A: Unless you’ve been judging under a rock the last few months, you’ve probably had this situation come up a few times. There’s nothing new in policy that affects this question, but it has sparked a number of contentious debates. These questions have been decided by an [O]fficial answer, promulgated by Kevin Deprez in his article here. The transform abilities on both sides of this card are to be considered not generally detrimental. This has two important consequences for judges. First, forgetting either of these transform triggers is not a Warning. Second, related to the first point, if you see this happen in a game, you should not intervene unless you think that the card’s controller may have missed the trigger intentionally.
Note: If you do think there’s a chance that the player could have missed the trigger intentionally, you should intervene in order to investigate for intent. For example, if the player has a flash spell in hand (such as Collected Company or Archangel Avacyn) missing this trigger potentially gives the player a choice between casting that spell and activating the Recruiter in the end step, which is a choice they wouldn’t have had if the trigger had been properly resolved.
Q: Both players forget about Nicole’s Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet when Amy’s creature dies. Amy forgets to exile it and Nicole forgets to make a Zombie. What do you do?
A: Again, nothing new with this ruling, except that we now have [O]fficial guidance as to what we should do, found in the same article as the last question. Forgetting Kalitas’ replacement effect is a GRV for both players, since each one did (or rather, forgot to do) something contributing to the error [IPG 2.5].
It may be tempting to apply a partial fix to this case. One sticks out readily: “If an object is in an incorrect zone either due to a required zone change being missed or due to being put into the wrong zone during a zone change, the identity of the object was known to all players, and it can be moved with only minor disruption to the state of the game, put the object in the correct zone.” [IPG 2.5]. Unfortunately, the thing that was done wrong is similar to, but not exactly the same as, what’s described there, the creation of a 2/2 Zombie being the difference. Because it doesn’t fit what happened exactly, the partial fix is out and we must either back up or leave the game as-is.
Q: Amy controls Bog Initiate and Ashnod’s Altar, but no other permanents. Can she produce BB?
A: No. How would that even work?
Note: In fact, this was possible until the rules change with this set. It was done by activating Bog Initiate’s ability, then activating it again during the time in the process of activating an ability where you’re allowed to activate mana abilities. During that time in the process of the second activation of Bog Initiate, you could sacrifice it to Ashnod’s Altar to produce the 2 colorless and pay for both activations.
We now have a new rule that excludes such chicanery. Once a player begins to activate a mana ability, that ability can’t be activated again until it has resolved [CR 605.3c].
Q: GPT’s are Regular REL now, right? So now can I play in one that I’m judging?
A: No. Although the conventional wisdom is that a judge can play in a Regular REL event while judging it, this is a simplification. The actual rule is that this is allowed only for a list of certain types of Regular REL events, found in MTR 1.4. This list includes pretty much any Regular REL event: Game Day, FNM, Prereleases, Launch Parties, and even “other non-Premier Magic tournaments.” Unfortunately, GPT’s are considered Premier tournaments, so you can’t play and judge one of those.
Note: Although GPT’s are now eligible to be run at Regular REL, this is not a requirement. They can (and should) be run at Competitive if a large prize in addition to the GP byes is at stake. For other questions and answers related to this change, read this post on the Northeast regional blog.
Q: Amy forgets to draw a card from Renewal. The players don’t notice until Amy’s next draw step. What happens?
A: Amy has missed the triggered ability. Because it should have happened prior to the current phase in the previous turn, it’s skipped [IPG 2.1]. There is no penalty for Amy because this trigger is not generally considered to be detrimental.
Note: In the previous IPG, this would be a delayed trigger associated with a card changing zones, so it would have been put on the stack regardless. Now, that exception has been reworded so that it does not apply to this case. The set of cards a trigger affects now needs to be locked in when the effect that sets up the trigger happens. Because the top card of her library isn’t a specific object, this type of trigger no longer is covered.
Note: Forgetting to discard with Ideas Unbound is likewise not this type of trigger anymore.
Q: After mulliganing to 5, Amy looks at the top two cards of her library. When you ask her what she’s doing, she tells you that she gets to scry 2 because she mulliganed twice. What do you do?
A: The changes in the IPG include an explicit callout in the definition of Mulligan Procedure Error to exempt this from being considered as such [IPG 2.4]. Although this error fits the definition of “A player makes an error during the mulligan process,” we want to consider the pregame scry a part of the game philosophically, even though the CR describes it as part of this process [CR 103.4].
Note: The pregame scry does not technically count as scrying because the CR does not use that word in its definition of the process [CR 103.4]. In the most recent MTR update, the shortcut stating that scrys are optional was expanded to include it [MTR 4.2]. This change was not strictly necessary because the CR definition of this process states that the player “may” perform this action [CR 103.4]. It does, however, underscore this same philosophy of considering the pregame scry as a part of the game rather than part of the mulligan process.
Note: Suppose that rather than looking at the second card because she thought she could scry 2, she did it because it accidentally stuck to the top card. Although the MPE section specifically calls out scrying for more than one card as a Hidden Card Error, we handle this as the infraction it would be if it were committed during the game, an LEC. This is confirmed in this thread from JudgeApps.
Q: After completing game 1, Amy asks if she can go to the bathroom. Twelve minutes later, her opponent calls you noting that Amy still hasn’t returned and she’s starting to get bored. What do you do?
A: Tardiness has now been standardized to give a unified answer to cases like this. A player can ask for time to do some legitimate task during a match (like going to the bathroom or finding replacements for cards that have been lost), and can take up to ten minutes for it. More than that, though is a Match Loss [IPG 3.1]. Sorry, Amy.
Note: After you tell her opponent this, Amy returns, apologizing for the delay and explaining that the insufficient number of bathrooms in this convention center meant that she had to go all the way down to the K-pop convention two ballrooms over. It’s going to feel really bad giving a Match Loss, especially when the excessive delay was largely out of her control, but we need to draw the line somewhere; we cannot allow indefinite time extensions, which slow the whole event, for the sake of one player.
Note: Due to the sensitive nature of this topic, advise players with medical conditions or other legitimate reasons for frequent or extended breaks to speak with the tournament organizers and come to a fair and logistically feasible arrangement.
Q: While Amy is sideboarding after winning game 1, you notice that her sideboard sleeves are significantly less worn as a result of being used less frequently. It’s a significant enough difference that you believe it may be possible to tell sideboard cards apart from maindeck cards in the deck. What do you do?
A: If it’s possible to tell sideboard cards apart from maindeck cards without looking at the front, that’s Marked Cards. In fact, the upgrade is applicable in this case, since there is a pattern that would certainly provide an advantage [IPG 3.8]. Amy hasn’t committed this infraction yet, though. Marked Cards is only a concern if the cards are in the player’s deck.
I would ask to talk to Amy away from the table and bring up my concerns. Assuming that it is possible to distinguish maindeck and sideboard cards, there are a couple of ways to proceed. Amy could resleeve her deck and sideboard with new sleeves. She would have up to 10 minutes to procure a new set and switch them out, after which her match would receive an appropriate time extension [IPG 3.1]. Alternatively, if the maindeck sleeves aren’t that bad, she could unsleeve cards she’s sideboarding out and use those sleeves with the cards she boards in.
Note: Of course, if you believe the player may be intentionally taking advantage of subtle differences like this, it is not recommended that you openly confront the player. If the player is Cheating, this would likely destroy any chance of catching them.
Note: Judges should not intervene in a game to prevent players from making errors [IPG 1]. On the other hand, sideboarding is outside of a game, and a judge who sees a player about to probably commit an error should step in to prevent an undesirable situation from escalating.
Q: At a Modern format PPTQ, Amy looks at the pairings for round 1, then scribbles some stuff on her decklist before handing it to you. You ask her what she was doing, and she says she was having a hard time deciding on her last couple of sideboard cards. You know that Amy and her first round opponent, Nicole, are both local players, and you notice that the last couple slots in Amy’s sideboard are cards that are good against the type of deck that Nicole is well known for playing. You strongly suspect that Amy waited to see the pairings and used that information to influence what those sideboard slots would be. What do you do?
A: Players must turn in decklists before the start of the first round [MTR 2.7]. Once pairings are publicly posted, Amy legitimately has access to that information, and while we may not want her to, we have no way of preventing her from using it in her decision-making process. Because she turned her decklist in before the deadline, she followed all the rules. Her behavior may be scummy, but it’s not illegal.
Note: The risk of a player taking advantage of this sort of thing is rather low at large tournaments like GP’s or SCG opens because of the great number of players. At local events, where such concerns are more warranted, I consider it a best practice to withhold the pairings until all players have turned in their decklists.
Q: Amy approaches you at the start of a round and tells you that she has lost a Sea Gate Wreckage from her deck. You can’t find it, so you tell her that she must replace it with a basic land of her choice. Since her deck uses a lot of Eldrazi she asks you if she can use a Wastes. Can she?
A: No. The IPG specifies that we should replace missing cards with “basic lands” of the players choice [IPG 3.5]. However, the MTR clarifies that we can only use Plains, Islands, Swamps, Mountains and Forests in such replacements [MTR 3.11]. This avoids the incentive, for example, of limited players intentionally “losing” cards in order to gain access to additional Wastes or snow-covered basics.
Q: In a Team Constructed format event, can I play 2 Horrifying Revelations and have my teammate play 2 in his deck?
A: No. The rules for Team Constructed have changed so that this is no longer possible. Now, if one player has any copies at all, none of that player’s teammates can play that card in their decks [MTR 8.5].