There’s not a lot of uncounterable spells kicking around in Standard right now, but there ARE a few (like and a Spell Mastery-enabled ), and they’re alongside some weird “counterspells”: and . Unsubstantiate is a sort of ‘new’ version of an old favorite, , or a creature-free version of . Rather than outright countering a […]
Category: Activated Abilities
Corrupted Grafstone: What Can It Do?
is an interesting mana rock. It can make many different colors, but only costs 2 instead of the usual 3! To make up for that, it comes in tapped the turn you play it, and it requires a little work to get going. It has a normal mana ability (because it isn’t a loyalty ability […]
Setting A Life Total
Welcome back to the Rules Tip Blog! Today we’ll be covering effects that set a life total to a specific number. Right now in Standard we’ve got a few cards that do this, such as and . When a life total is set to a specific number, most people are just going to change their […]
All About Tree of Perdition
For today’s Rules Tips, we’ll be covering , the anti-backwards sibling of . Like Tree of Redemption, Perdition is a 0/13 Defender for 4 mana with a nifty ability that trades life totals for toughness. Where Redemption swapped its toughness with YOUR life total, Perdition (being black and spooky and all) swaps with an OPPONENT’S […]
Tamiyo, Field Researcher: How Many Draws?
Welcome back to the Rules Blog! This particular question came up a lot during the spoiler season, and we’re still seeing it now that the whole set is out. is a really neat card, with some interesting effects. Her -2 and -7 are both very good and very straightforward, so why is she getting a […]
Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek: How It Works
Today we’re covering another relatively “new” interaction in Modern- the Thopter/Sword combo! was recently unbanned in Modern alongside (which we covered yesterday!), which means is ready to churn out bodies again. But how exactly does the combo work, so you know how to play it, OR how to disrupt it properly when you’re staring down […]
Spells with Delirium won’t count themselves as they resolve.
How delirious are you feeling today? Hopefully enough to achieve Delirium while you cast your next spell! This powerful new ability can take a normal card and put it over the top- but, there is a catch! The card you are casting cannot be the fourth type going to your graveyard if you are hoping […]
Olivia’s Bloodsworn can give itself haste.
Vampires are back! Any trip to Innistrad will include a visit from our favorite blood-sucking creatures (not that there’s a lot to choose from). Today, we’re going to have a brief discussion about . Olivia’s Bloodsworn is an obvious inclusion for vampire decks. A two powered flyer that can give vampires haste is always appealing. […]
Arlinn Kord (Embraced by the Moon) can’t activate another ability after she transforms.
To round out the week, we’ll take a look at , who isn’t the legendary werewolf creature players have been howling for, but is quite possibly the next best thing. Unlike her werewolf brethren (and precedential flip-walker, ), Arlinn is something special: she can control her transformation, and can even transform back and forth “at […]