has three static abilities that do similar things, in that they all ‘shut down’ infect. The first ability prevents you from receiving poison counters. The second prevents creatures you control from receiving -1/-1 counters. The last ability removes infect from all creatures that your opponent’s control. While the first two abilities prevent counters from being […]
Category: Static Abilities
Phyrexian Ingester uses the printed values of the exiled card.
has an enters the battlefield ability that exiles a targeted nontoken creature. The Ingester then gets a ‘boost’ to its power and toughness based on the power and toughness of the removed card. It is important to note that the printed values on the card are what the Ingester looks at when calculating the increase […]
How Phyrexian Unlife works.
changes both how what having zero life does and what happens when damage is dealt to you. With the first ability, you don’t lose the game if you have a life total of zero or below. In most cases this is great and keeps you from losing, however Phyrexian Unlife’s second ability changes how damage […]
Choosing a color does not use the stack with Caged Sun’s ability.
has a static ability that gives creatures you control of the chosen color +1/+1. This is a static ability that applies as soon as the Caged Sun enters play. The choice of a color occurs as Caged Sun enters play. This is not something that uses the stack or that can specifically be responded to. […]
If you enchant Spellskite with Canopy Cover, you’re being overprotective.
While a you control is enchanted by your , it can’t change the target of spells or abilities your opponents control to itself. This follows the theme for this week. The final set of targets must be legal. So it may not be the best choice to use Canopy Cover on your own Spellskite if your […]
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite’s abilities apply as creatures enter play.
has two abilities that affect the power and toughness of creatures in the battlefield. The first give +2/+2 to all other creatures that you control. (Keep in mind that in a multiplayer game this ability does not affect creatures controlled by teammates.) The second ability that applies to power and toughness gives -2/-2 to all […]
Puresteel Paladin’s Metalcraft ability does not remove or change Equip abilities.
has two abilities, the second of which is a metalcraft ability that changes what you can pay to attach equipment you control to creatures you control. It does so by giving your equipment an additional equip ability that costs zero mana. This ability does not alter the cost of existing equip abilities or remove them. […]
Spinebiter’s ability only lets you damage blocking creatures or the defending player, not both
has an ability that is seen from time to time on green creatures. This ability allows the controller of an attacking Spinebiter to have it deal its combat damage to the defending player even if it is blocked. (Because of the way it mimics trample, this ability is sometimes referred to as ‘super trample.’) There […]
What being ‘poisoned’ means.
A few cards in Scars of Mirrodin block (, , ) refer to a player being poisoned. A player is considered to be poison if he or she has one or more poison counter. In a two-headed giant game an individual player is considered to be poisoned if any member of the team has a […]