So your opponent is staring you down with an active Nylea, God of the Hunt, or maybe his Erebos, God of the Dead is online and giving you the business. Your board is fairly barren, but you’ve got a nice little Mind Control in your hand, and you’re ready to turn that threat into an answer! Well, you shouldn’t.

Devotion is a static ability on the five Gods we have, and it’s constantly checking itself. If you take over their god with your Mind Control or Domestication, the chances are low that you’ll get to keep it! As soon as the God switches over to your control, it’ll check to see what your devotion is. If that devotion is too low, it stops being a creature… which means your Enchant Creature aura falls right off… which means the God goes right back to them before you can do anything. You won’t even have time to sacrifice it to a Trading Post! So, you should only be using Mind Control-type effects on Gods who will stay creatures once you have them. Or, better yet, steal one of their other creatures to turn the god off! The deities of Theros are fickle like that.

Today’s Rules Tip written by Trevor Nunez