And we’re back! It’s Friday, so let’s get one last tip out there before we all head out to our local FNMs tonight. Let’s talk about our favorite deadly, can’t stay dead dinosaur, Deathmist Raptor.

It’s hard to keep a good Lizard Beast down, and as long as you can keep playing morphs and turning them face up, Deathmist Raptor can keep coming back, even if it dies. But even Raptors have an enemy that can even stop their saurian shenanigans, and on Tarkir that creature is Anafenza, the Foremost (not the Anafenza from Dragons of Tarkir. Apparently, that version of Anafenza never got into dinosaur hunting). Anafenza’s ability to exile opponent’s creature cards instead of letting them hit the graveyard means no Raptor shenanigans for you. But what happens if they trade in combat? What if that Raptor blocks the attacking Anafenza? Can that Raptor make it to the graveyard?

The answer is no- life does NOT find a way! Anafenza has a replacement effect that replaces the creature card going to the graveyard. Even if Anafenza is dying at the same time as the opponent’s creature (which is what will happen if Anafenza trades with the Raptor in combat), Anafenza will see that other creature dying and its replacement effect will apply and will exile the creature instead of having it go to the graveyard. Clever girl!

So, if you’re wondering why Tarkir doesn’t have its own version of Jurassic Park, Anafenza may be the reason. She just has something against dinosaurs (and creatures going to the graveyard in general).

Today’s Rules Tip was written by Nathan Long