‘s ability causes the controller of the Ghoul to gain life equal to the toughness of a creature that went to the graveyard if the Ghoul dealt damage to it that turn. Because the creature that you are looking at to determine the amount of life gained is no longer in play, the game will […]
Category: Resolving spells and abilities
Timely Reinforcements determines what it does when it resolves.
can give its controller six life, put three 1/1 soldier tokens into play or both of those effects depending on what the game looks like when it resolves. If the controller of Timely Reinforcements has a life total that is less than any opponent in the game, then this player will gain six life. If […]
When an object changes controller it does not untap unless the effect that causes this change in control specifically says to untap it.
There are plenty of ways to ‘steal’ permanents in Magic. When a permanent does change controllers it is the same object that was previously in play. If it is a creature it will not be able to attack the turn it is ‘stolen’ unless it has haste or the effects that causes it to change […]
Chandra’s Outrage only has one target.
Spells and abilities are countered on resolution if all of their targets are illegal when they attempt to resolve. If a spell has multiple targets and at least one of them is legal when it goes to resolve, the spell will resolve and do as much as possible. However sometimes spells seem like they have […]
When choosing ‘up to’ a specific number you can choose zero.
Some cards have a variable effect and allow you to choose ‘up to’ a specific number of targets or objects. Sometimes you search your library for cards when an ability resolves, like with . In instances like that you choose the number to search for when the ability resolves. Other times you choose ‘up to’ […]
Removing the source of an ability does not counter the ability.
A common misconception for beginner players is that you can counter or stop an activated ability from resolving if you destroy or removed the source of the activated ability. This is not correct. Once an ability has been activated or triggered, it is on the stack and independent of the source that generated it. For […]
You can target indestructible permanents with spells and abilities that would destroy them.
Permanents with indestructible means that a permanent cannot be destroyed by effects that would destroy it or by receiving lethal damage. However that does not mean that indestructible permanents cannot be targeted by spells and abilities that would attempt to destroy them. For example, you can use ‘s activated ability and target a . When […]
Searing Blaze has two targets
has two targets. It targets a player and a creature that player controls. This is true regardless of whether or not its controller has landfall. With Landfall, the only thing that changes is the amount of damage that is dealt to the two targets. In order to cast Searing Blaze, you must be able to […]
When auras enter the battlefield but are not cast.
Most often, auras enter play after being cast. When they are cast, a target is chosen at that time. Then when the aura spell resolves, the aura enters the battlefield attached to the targeted permanent. However, it is possible for an aura to enter the battlefield without being cast. In those instances the the aura […]