Rhox Faithmender has an ability that seems pretty straightforward at first, but what happens if I’m trying to switch my life with Tree of Redemption‘s toughness? Is that Life gain? Well, sometimes.

If an effect sets your life total to a certain number, like Tree of Redemption or Elderscale Wurm, for example, you ʺgain or loseʺ the appropriate amount of life to get to that number. This means that if you are at 5 life, and Elderscale Wurm enters the battlefield, you would gain 2 life to put you at 7. Rhox Faithmender sees this life gain, and instead of gaining 2, you gain 4, putting you at 9. (yes, that seems a little strange… “set my life total to 7… and by 7, I mean 9”).

If you play Tree of Redemption, and then the next turn you use its ability to ʺswitchʺ your life with its toughness, you will gain or lose enough life to get to 13. If you are losing life, Rhox Faithmender doesn’t do anything, but if you are gaining life instead, Rhox Faithmender will double the amount gained, and you will end up at some number higher than 13, depending on how much you needed to gain to get there. So if you’re at 1 life, and ‘exchange’ with the Tree, you end up at 25 life while the Tree ends up with 1 toughness.

Today’s Rules Tip written by
Jess Dunks, Level 2 judge from Fairfield, CA