Bloodbraid Elf can cascade into Boom/Bust and cast Bust.

Cascade and split cards are a fun little combination, both in Modern and in Commander. The reason it can be fun is that when Cascade asks a split card what its CMC is, you get two answers; one for each side. As long as ONE of those answers is ‘low enough’ for that Cascade, you […]

Read more.

Guttersnipe won’t trigger if you sacrifice it to cast Fling or Launch Party

It’s quite possible that you might end up having and plenty of support for it in a Limited deck. Maybe you put in for some removal, and the time comes that you have to cast that Launch Party with your Guttersnipe as the only creature you have on board. In such a situation, your Guttersnipe […]

Read more.

Nivmagus Elemental can only exile spells, not abilities.

’s ability is an activated ability that exiles an instant or sorcery spell you control from the stack… only instants or sorceries. This does not allow you to exile activated or triggered abilities on the stack (e.g., Planeswalker abilities, artifact abilities, etc.). While most abilities can be activated any time you could cast an instant, […]

Read more.

You can flashback Ray of Revelation after Rest in Peace enters, before it exiles all graveyards.

You have a in your graveyard, and your opponent casts . Is there any way to use your Ray of Revelation to destroy it before it gets exiled anyway? Will that save the rest of your graveyard? When Rest in Peace enters the battlefield, it has a triggered ability that will exile all graveyards. This […]

Read more.

Spelltwine needs two targets for you to cast it, but only one to resolve.

is a great card that gives a player the ability to cast two other instants or sorceries without having to pay for them. However, here’s the thing – in order to cast Spelltwine, you have to have an instant or sorcery in your graveyard to exile AND there has to be an instant or sorcery […]

Read more.

Tournament Tuesday: An explanation of how “name a card” works.

Many cards in Magic ask you to “Name a card” as part of their effect, such as , , and . Whatever you pick has to be an actual Magic card legal in the format; calling “Pikachu” isn’t a legal choice, and neither is calling in Standard. Double-faced cards are a bit unusual. You’re restricted […]

Read more.