MTG Magic The Gathering Ask A Judge -「 F R I D A Y I ' M I N L O V E 」

Good morning and welcome back!

Slow morning

Monarch disappears if the player who is the monarch loses the game from a source other than combat damage (non-combat damage, being milled out, etc.) correct?

Incorrect! If the Monarch leaves a multiplayer game, the active player becomes the monarch. If the Active Player is the monarch who is leaving the game, the Monarchy passes to the next player in turn order.

Technically without that rule, the monarch would just disappear even if you killed them with combat damage, because the controller of the "Whenever a creature deals combat damage to the monarch, its controller becomes the monarch." trigger would leave the game before it's ever put onto the stack.

If my creature has double strike, can I cast instants after the first strike damage but before regular combat damage?

Absolutely. If there's any attacking or blocking creatures with First or Double Strike as the combat damage step begins, only those creatures assign and deal combat damage in that step. Then there's a round of priority (as normal), and the game creates an additional combat damage step immediately after it, in which only creatures that currently have double strike, and creatures that did not have first or double strike as the PREVIOUS step began, deal their damage. After that, more priority.

So yes, you can smack for first strike damage, and then cast a spell before the normal creatures get to hit.

Why is it that "enters the battlefield with x +1/+1 counters on it" the same as "put x +1/+1 counters on target creatures" for effects like doubling season? The same question goes for loyalty, I guess.

I understand the effects work, but how is it explained within game rules that entering with a counter is the same as having one put on it?

>How is it explained within game rules that entering with a counter is the same as having one put on it?

121.6. Some spells and abilities refer to counters being "placed" on an object. This refers to putting counters on that object while it's on the battlefield and also to an object that's given counters as it enters the battlefield.
Basically by flat out saying your exact question as a statement. Or in other words, "It's like that because we said so".

Hey gA, how does milling work with replacement effects?

Let's say I force my opponent to mill 20 cards, and the 5th card is OG Kozilek. Is there any way to Tormods the yard in response? Do the remaining 15 cards get milled, and do they get shuffled back into the deck?

Kozilek doesn't have a replacement effect, it has a triggered ability. All 20 cards are milled at once (It's not "mill 1" repeated 20 times, it's just "mill 20" done once), and THEN any appropriate triggers are put onto the stack. You can absolutely respond to the trigger with Crypt to nuke the yard, because it's a trigger.

REPLACEMENT effects, however, can't technically be responded to. They don't use the stack- they just replace one event with another. For example, if the fifth card down were a Blightsteel, you'd 'keep milling' (because again, you're putting the top 20 into the graveyard all at once) and then shuffle the Blightsteel in. There's no point where it's in the graveyard, and no point where you have priority to 'respond' with Crypt.

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Is the same true with mindgrind for 4, as an example? So, your opponent would mill until they hit 4 lands, then if blightsteel was yarded, shuffle the whole yard back into their deck?

Blightsteel doesn't shuffle anything but itself. Mind Grind has you reveal cards, one at a time, until you hit X lands, and then put all of those revealed cards into the graveyard. If a Blightsteel is among them, that'll get shuffled in instead, at the moment all of them are going to the graveyard.

If you hit a Kozilek, by comparison, it would trigger near the end of the spell once it's actually put into the graveyard, but the trigger still can't go onto the stack (let alone resolve!) until the spell is done resolving.

gA, if you're ever in canada, I'll buy you a pint. You're a hero.

I haven't been to Canada in a couple of years, and I don't drink, but I appreciate the sentiment!

Well, I'll make you a roast beef dinner instead, how about that?

Have yourself a good one man, you're a credit to our shitty shitty website.

Hey, far be it from me to decline free food.

You have a good weekend too- I'm happy to help.

I have Aether meltdown and my opponent has a Wandering fumarole. Is there any way that i can kill it? The -4/-0 applies on whatever p/t was set at the time the spell resolves, right?
If it works like i think it does, if i cast meltdown while the p/t swap ability is on the stack then it should die even if the trigger it again in response.

You can absolutely kill it. Meltdown will always apply before the P/T switch, regardless of what order the actions actually were taken, because layers.

In layer 7b, Fumarole sets itself to 1/4. Aether Meltdown applies in layer 7c, which is immediately after that; so now we have a -3/4. Then, the P/T switch applies in 7e (P/T switch is always last), so we swap the current power with the current toughness; we have a 4/-3, so it dies. Even if you flash in the Meltdown AFTER the switch has resolved, it'll work out this way; it wouldn't be a 0/1.

I play Control Magic on an opponent's creature, and next turn I untap Daring Thief to exchange the enchanted creature with another one that my opponent controls - what happens?

Do I get to control both creatures?
Do I control the stolen creature (with Daring Thief), the opponent gets the enchanted creature and I still control the aura on it?
Or does the ability fizzle? Or something else?

Control effects work on timestamp order. That is to say, the most recent one trumps all others.

Control Magic has an earlier timestamp than Daring Thief's effect, so Daring Thief's effect overrides it. Your opponent will control the creature enchanted by your Control Magic and you will control whatever creature you stole with Daring Thief. If Control Magic leaves the battlefield, it will not impact who controls whatever it was enchanting.

You exchange control of the creatures. That's it.

The ability doesn't fizzle because it has two legal targets, so the ability resolves and the exchange happens. There's now two control-changing effects in Layer 2 affecting the first creature, so the newer one 'wins'. That'd be the control-changing effect that you created with Daring Thief, which says your opponent controls that creature, so your Control Magic is overriden. It's still ON the creature, but it doesn't do anything of note.

Okay thanks, one more Control Magic question. Opponent A casts a creature that opponent B somehow gains control of. I cast Control Magic on the creature (owned by opponent A but controlled by opponent B), but later on the aura gets blasted by Disenchant. Does the creature return to its previous controller, or to its owner?

Previous controller. It's the same situation: there's two control-change effects on the creature, but you only apply the newest one. If the Control Magic gets popped, that turns off the effect it had in layer 2. So now we look and see if there's still a control-changing effect (there is), and that turns back on, so it shunts back over to Opponent B.

If there ISN'T one (for example, Player B cast a Threaten effect, and then you flashed in Control Magic, so their Threaten has worn off in the meantime), it'll go back to the person who 'should' have it without any control-changing effects in place (which, hilariously, is not always the owner)

If whatever made opponent B gain control of it is still in effect (Say, a Daring Thief's effect) then it will return to opponent B.
If not (Say, B played a Control Magic on the thing then you dropped yours then somebody nuked them both) it will return to opponent A.

This probably is super simple, but I am pretty new to magic

What happens when two effects trigger at the same time?

>I have Cream of the Crop and Elemental Bond are in play
>I put in a 3 power creature

Which effect happens first?

What happens if I have Yidris and Rashmi, and I cast a spell?

You choose how they order on the stack.

If more than one triggered ability wants to go onto the stack at once, we do AP/NAP order.

First, the AP (the player whose turn it is, Active Player) places all of their triggers on the stack in the order of their choosing. Then the NAP (Non-Active Player, the player whose turn it is NOT) does the same. If there's more than one NAP (multiplayer, for example), you start with AP and then just go in turn order.

In your example, both of those triggers are yours; you can either look at the top 3, put one onto the top and the rest onto the bottom, THEN draw 1... or you can draw 1, and then do your pseudo-scry.

If you've turned on Cascade via Ylvis and have a Reshmi, both trigger- you can either do the proper Cascade first and have Rashmi do her pseudo-cascade after, or you can have Rashmi do her thing FIRST, then Cascade.

Thanks you.

Happy to help!

On that note, I'm leaving the office shortly. It'll be a while yet before I get home and get a keyboard in front of me, so please have patience! I will get to any questions that pop up as soon as I can.

I'm gonna piggy back off his question and ask if this is how it works? Can you walk through the steps of casting and resolving the spells and abilities. I'M not to sure how the fumarole dies

Juuuuudge. I'm getting my ass handed to me by Finkel!
Please advise!

I forgot pic...
Send help it's G2 and we're staring at lethal!

did you get him to autograph your face and the shadowmage infiltrator you keep in your wallet?

this is important

Which part did you need more detail about? Because there's not a lot more detail I can go into!

>hearthstone in the background

Ok, say I cast Wheel of Fortune at 2. My opponent discards a fiery temper with madness. He doesn't get to cast it until after I draw my 7 cards, right?

Right. You discard your 2, then draw your 7. Then he discards his hand (discarding Temper into exile and triggering Madness), then draws 7. Then we put Wheel into the graveyard because it's done resolving, THEN his Madness trigger goes on the stack.

It was Kaladesh draft silly.
People were just watching the finals.
We were streaming Worlds for League all of September.

If I play Extraplanar Lens and Exile a wastes will it produce mana as the Lens state that "its controller adds one mana to his or her mana pool of any type that land produced." and wastes produce colorless which is not a color?

We were there to play magic!
I didn't want to be imposing or rude...

Maybe I should have asked him to sign my Doomsdays... That's the most johnny deck I know of...

>sadfinkel.jpg

Not either of those guys, but I'm not sure I understand either. I have always had the assumption that p/t swaps happen before other increases or decreases. So if I had Cranial Plating on a 1/1 and used Inside Out on it, it would get +0/+x, where x is my artifact count?

Judge i have Opalescence out and the board look like this:
me:
Opalescence
Athreos, God of Passage
Ghostly Prison
Brimaz

Opponent plays Humility, what is the final state look like? Opalescence is making my god into a 3/3, and that overwrite his own effect to become a creature since my devotion is >=7, but then humility turn everything to 1/1's and they lose their abilities so.. wouldn't humility become a 1/1 because of my opalescence and then stop applying?

What happens here haha

Question about replacement effects. How do multiple Gratuitous Violence stack?

Cranial platings effect isn't switched around in that case

In that case, why does Aether Meltdown work in the situation gA described?

each will replace once.
1 GV, 1 damage to 2
2 GV, 1 to 2 to 4
etc

Started playing last friday, I'm making a shitty goblin deck to get a feel for the game

I looked at this fellow. Can I sacrifice him right after attacking with him, once he's tapped? Can I sacrifice him in hte enemy's turn?

Let's say I respond to a counter spell with Spell Queller. Then next turn I sacrifice the spell Queller to help pay for the emerge cost of Elder Deep Fiend. Can my opponent use the exiled counterspell to counter Elder Deep Fiend?

Since the only cost is sacrificing it, you can can activate it at any time.

Abilities of permanents can generally be played at any time. Any restriction would be printed as part of the effect. See pic for a similar ability, only with the restriction of casting it only when you can cast sorceries.

If I cast something for an alternate cost (awaken, evoke, overload, etc), and I have an effect that cares about the converted mana cost of spells (Mizzix of the Izmagnus, for example), does the card check for the printed mana cost, or the alternate mana cost?

Here's a scenario: I have Mizzix at 3 experience counters. I overload Cyclonic Rift, paying 4 mana for the effect. Do the experience counters tick up?

I meant to say cast Blustersquall, not Cyclonic Rift.

Nope, CMC just looks at the printed value on the card, the only things that modify CMC is X spells while on the stack.