We’re continuing with the Theros mechanic theme this week, and today we’re covering Heroic (or at least one aspect of it!). The Heroic mechanic is a lot like Batallion, Landfall, Threshold, Morbid, etc. All of these things aren’t actually keywords like Flying and Trample; they have no actual inherent rules meaning. In fact, if you […]
Category: Abilities
Monstrous Isn’t Linked to the Counters
While this didn’t come up much at the prerelease (since there’s no real way to get rid of their +1/+1 counters in Theros sealed!), I’ve seen and heard a few players thinking that “Monstrous” is linked to the counters themselves. For example, they think that if they remove the +1/+1 counters from their somehow (perhaps […]
Bestow and Illegal Targets
Now that Theros cards are in the hands of many a Magic player thanks to the prerelease, there’s plenty of questions to be had! One of the most common questions that came up over the prerelease weekend was “What happens if the target of my Bestow spell becomes illegal?” For example, I flash in trying […]
You can set up a regen shield “just in case” if your Trollhide is being Naturalized.
Most players only use regeneration right at the moment their creature would be destroyed. However, regeneration can be activated any time in case you need it later in the turn!
Primeval Bounty and Disciple of Bolas
There's a neat trick if you control only Primeval Bounty... you can cast Disciple of Bolas, and get a 3/3 in time to sacrifice it and draw 3 cards/gain 3 life!
Trostani and Scavenging Ooze for value
Today’s tip submitted by reader Nicholas Brown loves to gain you life. Sometimes its good to get a nice big creature popping into play to get you a good life swing. If you find yourself mid-game with some creatures already in the graveyard, you can utilize the stack to your benefit to get the maximum […]
Elite Arcanist’s ability can trigger Young Pyromancer or Guttersnipe.
Today, for our Hump Day tip, we’re going to be looking at a Magic 2014 card with some potential: . The ability to repeatedly cast an instant is a powerful effect, and it has some synergy with some standard-legal cards, which brings us to today’s question. When you activate the Arcanist’s ability, you make a […]
Young Pyromancer will make a token even if your spell is countered.
Young Pyromancer has an ability that triggers "Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell." These kinds of abilities only care about the fact that you cast it, and don't pay any attention to whether the spell resolves.
Angelic Accord only triggers once per turn in 2HG.
In true Two-Headed Giant fashion, here comes the second head…err, rules tip…as the week draws to a close. Teammates don’t only share life totals in this format, they also share steps and phases. Ordinarily this doesn’t matter much; during your shared main phase, you and your teammate can play spells and abilities in any order, […]