Thragtusk will give you a 3/3 if it leaves play for any reason (not just if it dies).

is one of the exciting new cards from M13 that everyone is talking about. Anyone who has been paying attention to Standard immediately sees that this guy is ‘s new best friend. What’s most interesting about this card is that it doesn’t have the word “dies” anywhere in its text box. Instead, it says “leaves […]

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Rancor only returns to your hand if it went to the graveyard from the battlefield.

is a card I’m quite familiar with, because I play so much Commander. We’ve got a few green decks like Uril, the Miststalker and Jenara that tend to ‘go Voltron’, so I’ve had to learn how Rancor works. Mainly by telling my friends it’s not QUITE as unstoppable as they’d hope! Now, the normal ways […]

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Elderscale Wurm doesn’t actually ‘prevent’ damage.

If you’ve never faced an while you control a 28/28 fatty, let me tell you: it’s frustrating! Some effects, such as the Circles of Protection, prevent damage from ever occuring. Effects such as these use the word ʺpreventʺ in their rules text, making them easy to identify. Other effects, such as those you find on […]

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How Rhox Faithmender works with Tree or Redemption or Elderscale Wurm.

has an ability that seems pretty straightforward at first, but what happens if I’m trying to switch my life with ‘s toughness? Is that Life gain? Well, sometimes. If an effect sets your life total to a certain number, like Tree of Redemption or , for example, you ʺgain or loseʺ the appropriate amount of […]

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Switcheroo needs both targets to be legal at resolution, or nothing changes control.

Another day, another variant of ! This one is actually pretty unique, though. Where most of our variants just have targeting restrictions or altered costs, this one is a flat out permanent steal instead of an enchantment. It also comes at the expense of requiring a trade to be made. Now, first off, Switcheroo has […]

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How Sublime Archangel works with Geist of Saint Traft.

Those of you who were playing Magic during Shards of Alara block may remember Exalted, the feature mechanic of the shard of Bant. For the rest of you, let’s break it down step by step. ʺWheneverʺ signifies a triggered ability, that goes on the stack when a condition is met. ʺa creature you control attacksʺ […]

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