This week, in celebration of our Return to the beloved plane of Ravnica, I’ll be previewing each of the new mechanics! Tuesday is Tournament day, so I’ll be cramming two abilities onto Friday’s post. Today, Unleash! Unleash is the Rakdos mechanic, and it really helps capture the hedonistic, thrillkilling attitude of the Cult of Rakdos. […]
Category: Abilities
Vedalken Shackles only checks power vs. islands on activation and resolution (not any time after that).
is one of the key board control cards in Mono Blue Faeries (as of the time of this writing) … but how does it work? First, when you activate it, you have to choose a target, and that target can’t have power greater than the number of Islands you control at that time. Then your […]
What happens between two spells or abilities on the stack resolving.
Magic is a game of playing spells and abilities, interacting with them, and dealing with the results of them. How does this all work, and what happens during this process? When played, spells and abilities go into a zone called the stack until they resolve. At this point, each player can respond to that spell […]
You have to name a color when you add “one mana of any color” to your mana pool.
If something instructs you to add ‘one mana of any color’ to your mana pool, you have exactly five options: the five colors of magic. You can pick White, Blue, Black, Red, or Green, and you must name a color when you add ‘one mana of any color’ to your mana pool. You cannot add […]
All about Captivating Vampire.
I see a fair number of questions about this card, so I thought it couldn’t hurt to simply answer them all in one place! If the Vampire dies, do I lose the creatures I took control of with him? No. The effect doesn’t state a duration (e.g., “as long as you control Captivating Vampire”), so […]
Torpor Orb doesn’t stop Clone effects or other ʺas this entersʺ abilities.
As Scars of Mirrodin’s time in Standard is coming to a close, it seems fitting to give a final hurrah to one of the most confusing cards in the block: ! This confusion can be attributed mostly to the difficulty people have in understanding the difference between triggered and static abilities, but once you know […]
Multiplayer Monday: What happens when a player leaves the game.
Today, we’re covering what happens when a player leaves the game when the game consists of only individual players (not teams). This comes up most frequently in EDH/Commander and any other casual game with a bunch of players in a free-for-all. What happens when Susie is eliminated in the middle of the game, or even […]
Triggered abilities: The difference between “graveyard from the battlefield” and “graveyard from anywhere.”
Now you may be wondering why it is that you shuffle into your graveyard if you mill it, but you don’t get to draw a card if you mill your . It’s pretty simple; they’re a different breed of trigger. Simulacrum has a ‘graveyard from the battlefield’ trigger, meaning it only works if it goes […]
You control a trigger if you controlled its source when it triggered.
Does this work or not: You make the call! Active Player: “?” Non-Active Player: “Sure. After it resolves, I cast on my . I take your slime and use the trigger to destroy your !” Spells and abilities begin their time on the stack controlled by the player who puts them there, and triggered abilties […]