By far the biggest chunk of questions I’ve gotten from my players and my threads the past week are all about the last mechanic we’re covering this week (sorry, Scry): Devotion. Devotion is more or less a reworking of Chroma, an ability word from back in Lorwyn block. Put simply, “Devotion to COLOR” is measured […]
Category: Casting / playing a spell or ability
Bestow and Savage Summoning
Surprise! I liked this little trick so much I decided to skip Scry’s day this week (since it’s a returning mechanic) and cover another fun Bestow interaction. is a rare from M14. It allows you to cast the next creature spell of the turn as though it had Flash, make it uncounterable, and also make […]
Heroic Triggers Resolve Before the Spell
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 […]
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 […]
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!
Priority Mail: A Spirited Effort
Today’s Rules Tip submitted by reader Sean Stackhouse, who is also a Level 2 Judge! Thanks, Sean! Many players have, at some point, been disappointed to read one particular sentence on : “Activate this ability only if you control no creatures.” But what if I told you it’s possible to create an army of ghostly […]
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.
Wild Ricochet + Rakdos’s Return
I’m glad to see making a return to Standard; it’s such a fun card, and can lead to hilarious reactions when timed right (A friend of mine once used against a , spinning two lands back to the opponent’s deck and gaining 14 life). Sadly, it also can lead to some confusion! First off, Ricochet […]