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 […]
Category: Abilities
Roaring Primadox’s ability doesn’t target anything.
Probably one of the most-misused words in Magic has to be ʺtarget.ʺ Despite how often people seem to be confused, it’s actually quite simple: a spell or ability only has a target if the word ʺtargetʺ is included somewhere in its rules text (or in the comprehensive rules text for certain keyword abilities, such as […]
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 […]
Thundermaw Hellkite will tap your opponent’s flying creatures even if the damage is prevented.
is a creature that got me really excited when I first saw it, because it comes into play and takes all of your opponent’s flying blockers out of the way. This was before I saw that was being reprinted. 🙁 Anyway, there’s one thing that might be confusing about his third ability, and that’s ʺwhat […]
The order you put permanents into play with Primal Surge can matter.
Seems like I have a tendency to get the Commander questions lately! So, what’s the main difference between and (besides how easily Surge can whiff)? Mainly, the order of things coming into play. When you Genesis Wave for X=10, any and all permanents you hit will come in simultaneously, all at once, together. With Surge, […]
If you cast and flicker Stonehorn Dignitary, the next two combat phases will be skipped.
Each time ‘s ability resolves, it sets up a replacement effect that is extremely patient. It does not immediately decide “It’s currently turn X, so that means you skip combat in turn X+1.” Instead, it sets up a delayed effect and waits for the next time the specified event would happen. Right before your opponent […]
Chalice of Life doesn’t transform when you gain life from something else.
has an ability that causes it to transform if your life total is at least ten points higher than your starting life total when it resolves. In most games of magic, your starting life total is 20, which means that it can transform if you have at least 30 life. It is not a triggered […]
How Demonic Rising really works.
‘Intervening if’ clauses! Fun times. These are handy little things that can stop stuff from happening before it happens. They’re always written as “When/whenever/at…, if SOMETHING IS TRUE, do something.” These abilities check for “something is true” at two times: when the ability would trigger, and when it would resolve. The ability needs something to […]
Redirect can’t change the target of Oblivion Ring.
Oblivion. Such a fun word. I use to send your permanent into OBLIVION! It’s only natural to want to protect your permanents from this very popular enchantment. While there are lots of -style ways to get your toys back, wouldn’t it be more fun to simply use and send THEIR permanent into OBLIVION? Let’s look […]