MTG Magic The Gathering Ask A Judge - 「 B L U E M O N D A Y 」

Good morning and welcome back to Ask A Judge!

Why do I have this in my email but it's not on mythic spoiler?

I guess Mythic hasn't put it up yet?

Something weird happened in an EDH game last night:

My opponent controls a Dryad Arbor enchanted with Equinox. I cast Shifting Borders targeting Dryad Arbor, then splice Horobi's Whisper (also targeting Dryad Arbor) onto Shifting Borders. What happens? Can I tap the Dryad Arbor to save it?

You know, I'm honestly not sure. The rulings for Equinox say to determine if the spell would destroy a land you control if it resolved right then, but by the time the Whisper is going to destroy the Arbor, you no longer control it.

I'm gonna say "no" as a preliminary answer, and look into this.

The ability 'conspire' allows you to copy a spell as you cast it, as opposed to copying it while it is firmly established as being on the stack like spells such as reverberate. Does the phrasing "as you cast" mean that the copy will be put on the stack first (sort of like an 'additional cost to cast' type deal), or will the copy be put on the stack second (and thus the copy resolves first) as per usual with copy effects?

Nice, a "one mana: draw a card" with pili-pala

>copy a spell as you cast it
Not quite. Conspire is actually two things; the first is a static ability that functions while the spell with Conspire is on the stack, and which allows you to, as an additional cost, tap two untapped creatures you control which share a color with the spell. The second part is a triggered ability of "When you cast this spell, if its conspire cost was paid, copy it. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for the copy".

The copy isn't made until that triggered ability resolves, and that triggered ability doesn't even go onto the stack until the spell itself is cast.

No it would not work, you would not have control of the land at the time, since it is one card doing the splice, not two separate stacks.
He could counter it though.
Essentially both effects resolve at once.

Okay thanks. In case you were wondering I was trying to figure out if Wort, the Raidmother and casting Rite of Flame would be able to get an extra mana from the copy.

I figured it was worth knowing the stack order for other cards as well though.

Actually, each instruction happens in the order written. Instructions don't happen simultaneously, you carry them out one at a time.

If I have two Golgori Grave Trolls in the graveyard and cast cathartic reunion to dredge what is the correct way to order narcomoeba and amalgam triggers? If I dredge narcomoeba in the first 6 do I do that before I dredge the next 6 or do I dredge everything then do my graveyard triggers?

Don't they happen at the same time on the stack, like the card is resolved so no matter what that card will go through once it starts?

They don't happen "at the same time". The spell begins resolving, and you do each instruction one at a time in the order written. You only do things simultaneously if they're part of the same instruction; IE, Wrath of God will destroy all creatures at once (rather than one creature at a time), but a Righteous Confluence with the 'exile enchantment' mode chosen three times exiles each enchantment one at a time. It doesn't simultaneously exile all three.

In this case you'd do the exchange, THEN destroy the Arbor; it's not executed simultaneously.

The triggers won't go onto the stack until you're done resolving the spell. You'd finish resolving the spell (drawing or dredging for the next 2 draws), THEN put the triggers on the stack and begin resolving them.

Alright gA, two questions:
>jade's erasure, waste not, sphinx's tutelage out on my turn
>I pop memory jar main phase 2
>as soon as I am able, I cast windfall
What happens? I think memory jar hits me first, then I can choose whether or not to Jace's erasure or sphinx tutelage first. Then my opponents draw cards, the windfall would wheel them, and I can choose how to stay waste not, sphinxes tutelage and the erasure. What happens with the cards I draw from waste not, assuming I draw anything from what my opponents discard.

Second question, if Sarkhan is a creature, and I somehow gain control of it, what happens when it becomes a planeswalker?

So, you pop Jar to exile your hand and draw a new grip of 7. That fires 7 triggers for Erasure and Tutelage, which you stack as you like. Once those have resolved and your opponent has milled at least 21 total cards (2+ per Tutelage, 1 per Erasure), you cast Windfall. Discard your hands, draw presumably 7. You have 7 more Tutelage triggers, 7 more Erasure triggers, and 7 Waste Note triggers, on the stack as you like.

Technically you would discard your hand first, then they would do the same, then you'd draw 7, and then they'd draw 7, but this is all part of resolving the spell. By the time triggers are going onto the stack, you've got all of them and can arrange them as you like. At the end of the turn, you'll discard your hand (getting more Waste Note triggers) and get your original hand from Jar back. You can't Windfall in response to Jar, because Windfall is a sorcery.

>second question
I'm not sure what you're asking here. He just becomes a Planeswalker again. If you took him with a Mind Control or other Enchant Creature aura, it'll fall off when he stops being a creature and your opponent gets it back. If you took him with a temporary Threaten-type effect, he'll turn back into a Planeswalker and go back to the person you stole him from at the same time in the Cleanup step. If you stole him 'permanently' with something like Blatant Thievery... he's just a Planeswalker once the turn ends.

Back in a bit!

Thanks man, I know that was some convoluted nonsense. You're a hero!

Happy to help!

Is this a good green/black deck? I'm just starting out and a friend built it for me

7 Forest
4 Golgari Rot Farm
3 Khalni Garden
3 Mortuary Mire
7 Swamp

2 Ashling, the Extinguisher
2 Creakwood Liege
5 Deathgreeter
4 Essence Warden
2 Eternal Witness
3 Korozda Guildmage
2 Master of the Wild Hunt
1 Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
2 Savra, Queen of the Golgari
3 Tajuru Preserver

2 Attrition

3 Spawning Pit

3 Diabolic Edict

3 Kin-Tree Invocation

Depends on what you're wanting it to do. As a KTF deck? It's probably fine, other than the whole 'it's not legal because 5 Deathgreeter' thing. Seems like a pretty normal G/B token Rock type deck, albeit a budget-y one, which is fine. If you took it to a Legacy event you'd get bodied, but it's fine for casual games.

Also holy shit I am the worst person alive to ask for deck advice.

It's a purely casual deck, I just wanted to know if any of the cards were utter shit and would be better off replaced with something else

And sorry, I wasn't quite sure what this thread was for, so I assumed all mtg questions were alright

Oh, you're more than welcome to ask, just be aware that I'm a fuck-awful player and will give terrible deck advice.

If I put an Angelic Gift on a Battlewise Hoplite, would I draw or scry first?

Scry. Heroic triggers when you cast the spell, while Gift's ETB draw trigger doesn't happen until it... well, enters the battlefield, which requires the spell to resolve first. So you'd cast the spell, triggering Hoplite; resolve the Heroic trigger, Scrying 1 and putting a counter on Hoplite; then Gift resolves and gives Hoplite flying, triggering Gift to draw you a card.

Okay so lets suppose i manifest a card, which is an ally creature with a built in rally ability.

When i turn it face up does it trigger its own rally ability? Does it trigger the rally ability of other allies?

Being turned face up does not count as entering the battlefield.

What happens if I play Ezuri's Predaiton while I have a token doubler like Parallel Lives?

That is a weird fucking EDH game all right.

The doubled token wont be fighting anything.

Why is no one showing up to magic? A couple months ago there was always 20+ people now its like 10 even as low as 6

If two cards have the same triggered ability that are triggered at the same time, am I able to choose in which order they resolve.

Does Wei Assassin's get around Shroud if they only have one creature?

If playing lands doesn't use the stack, can you play lands while your opponent attempts to resolve an instant on your precombat main phase?

Can you play a morph creature (by paying it's morph cost to play it) with an even converted mana cost when Void Winnower is in play?

You can't play any spells using their morph cost, their cmc is zero.

What format? Standard appears to be on the decline a bit right now, as evidenced by the change back to 2-year rotation and the Showdown events at select stores. Looks like WOTC is trying to bolster numbers again.

1. yes you can.
2. Wei Assassin's ability targets the player, not the creature. They can choose any creature, even one with shroud/hexproof.
3. you may only play a land during your own main phase with an ampty stack.

Modern actually

Good morning!

No; it didn't enter the battlefield, it just changed what it looked like. It was already on the battlefield.

You'll make 2 4/4 tokens for every creature your opponents control, but only one token per 'pair' fights a creature. So say they have 10 creatures; you'll get a 4/4 to fight each of those, and also a separate 10 4/4s that don't fight anything.

A lot of people don't seem to be very happy about Standard lately.

1) If they're both your triggers, yes. They'll go onto the stack at the same time, and since both are yours you'll put them on the stack in the order of your preference.

2) It does, in a way. It gets around Shroud on creatures because it never targets the creature, it targets an OPPONENT and makes them choose a creature. If your opponent has Shroud, you can't select them as the target; if your opponent only has a single creature with Shroud, you target your opponent and they lose their creature.

3) No. You can only take the special action of playing a land while it's your main phase and the stack is empty.

You can't cast a face-down creature spell via Morph with a Winnower out, because it has a null mana cost, which means it has a CMC of 0, which is an even number. What the front side's CMC is, is irrelevant.

In an EDH game a few days ago my friend was playing Yidris, and he cast mind's desire with 4 cascade triggers on it. He kept insisting that the 4 cascaded spells he got from casting mind's desire add to the storm count, giving him more copies of mind's desire.

Is this true? I thought you got the copies on cast.

It is not. Storm explicitly says you get copies for every spell you cast -before- the Storm spell this turn. Even if he puts his Storm trigger below the Cascade one, the 4 spells he cascades into won't up his Storm count, because they were cast AFTER Mind's Desire, not before.

What are you talking about, your decks are the most deliciously fun and janky things in za entire warudo.

Maybe, but they sure as shit aren't GOOD.

>A lot of people don't seem to be very happy about Standard lately.
People are getting sick of power being concentrated at mythic rare. Some of the best cards in standard are Gideon, Avacyn, Emrakul, Marvel, Lilly, Ishkanah, Grim Flayer, and Torrential Gearhulk. These cards are essential in their respective decks, and all are mythic rare.

In other news, I talked to my L2 about becoming an L1, he said do some easy tests so I did a L1 practice exam which I got 90% on, and I spoke to my LGS owner that I've already known for years about becoming a judge, but now things have gone silent. Am I expecting to become a judge too fast?

As I understand it, "discard a card" written as a cost requires me to have a card to discard. Does "discard your hand" written as a cost also require at least 1 card?

>Does "discard your hand" written as a cost also require at least 1 card?
No. If there's nothing in your hand, those words mean discard nothing.

Well, that depends on how fast all this went down. If it's "over the course of a couple weeks", no, they're just ghosting you and you should ping them again.

If it's been like a week, just give them some time to get back to you, it's almost Christmas and they're probably swamped with other stuff.

"Discard your hand" just means to discard all cards in your hand. If you don't HAVE any, it means discard all 0 of them. Winning!

>Playing in a multi-player commander tournament at my lgs
>Gitrog hasn't been good to me lately
>Sit down in a 3-man pod with a Kambal stax player and mono-black ob Nix
>Kambal player plays Serra Ascendent turn 1
>Mono-black player doesn't seem to care
>Spend 6 turns getting smashed in the face with Serra Ascendent.
>Tooth & Nail Entwine cause it's literally the only non-land card in my hand.
>Creatures I cheated in get killed immediately.
>Kambal player is at 83.
>I'm at 5
>AcceptingDeath.jpg
>Mono-Black player casts Sorin
>"Oh wow you're going to take a huge chunk of his life"
>"Target you user"
>LiterallyWhy.jpg
>"Cause you almost won last turn!"
>Gives me 5 health.

>Kambal player at 100
>me at 10
>Scoop

Competitive commander is a fucking joke.

>Playing in a multiplayer commander tournament
Well there was mistake 1.

>posting this in the ask a judge thread
>implying entwined tooth and nail isnt one of the best plays in the format
You are the shitter here user.

To be fair, "entwined Tooth and Nail for two things that did not immediately end the game" doesn't make Player 3's Sorin-ing at all sensible.

>my sides
Good point. I can also see the Sorin player not wanting to come in last,particularly at a "competitive" tournament.

Except that play didn't even do -that-. The play GAINED him 5 life, so it really smacks of "Player 3 wasn't paying the least bit of attention"

I have a Dictate of Erebos and Ophiomancer out, with one additional deathtouch snake token. Let's say opponent has two creatures, attacks with one, which I block with the snake. What would the stack order look like in this case, can he sac the deathtouched creature as a consequence of Dictate (provided the creature isn't indestructible or anything similar)?

You block with your Snake. Assuming no trickery, we move to the Combat Damage step, your creatures assign and deal damage to each other. SBAs see your Snake token with presumably at least 1 damage marked, and your opponent's creature with 1 damage from a Deathtouch source marked, and summarily destroy both. This triggers Dictate; SBAs are checked again and see nothing has changed, put the trigger on the stack, and give priority to your opponent as Active Player. Once the two of you pass priority successively, the trigger resolves and they sacrifice another creature. By the time the Dictate trigger is resolving, his creature is LONG dead.

If your opponent were to sacrifice the blocked creature prior to damage, that's all they'd lose. Your Snake neither deals nor is dealt damage in that Combat Damage step, nothing of yours dies, so Dictate doesn't trigger.

How do reanimate effects work with Judge Tower? If a card in a graveyard can reanimate itself, must the current player reanimate it?

I saw a decklist with Ashen Ghoul which is hilarious but I don't think it will do what the poster wanted it to.

I don't actually know offhand, I'll have to look into it for you!

prize structure for all events (except draft/sealed, ironically)

1: buy any pack that is of the format you are playing, (example, only standard packs for standard) to enter event.
2: play event to completion
3: open all packs and based on standings
4: packs are drafted, so whoever won gets to pick.

So basically rare drafting, but for standard with prizes.
fuck they even were doing it with the showdown packs.

is this even legal?
if its not it's still pretty shit because it helps the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

does sundial bypass end of turn triggers?

situation
my commander is on the field and because i have been relentlessly bullying their commander they cast imprisoned in the moon on my dude
goes to my turn and because they are KOS i cast ruinous path for the awaken to kill their general and make my commander an elemental with 4 counters on it
have discussion about cmdr dmg, consult lgs owner for ruling
he says that because the name is different it isn't considered commander damage
accept the point and play on but on the inside strongly disagree
can you back him up? or is my gut feeling right here? i don't want to prove him wrong as i trust his rulings...

The commander-ness is inherent of the card. If your commander is damaged by a Permeating Mass, it's still your commander and it will still deal commander damage. As such, something that cloned your commander will not deal commander damage despite it having the same name as your commander.
So, yes, you are right.

I believe it does, removing all triggers as you immediately enter the cleanup step and pass priority to the next player (thus nullifying any at the end of turn, you lose the game effects)

but with confluence you can't take actions midway through resolving a spell, right?

yes you can't.

No clue if it's legal, because I'm not a lawyer, but it does sound stupid. It has all the problem of rare redraft, except without the tiny benefit of 'is cheaper'. "Drafting" prizes for a Constructed event sounds silly.

Depends! It'll skip right past them, but if they're "At the beginning of the next end step" ones, they'll just fire again during the NEXT end step (probably your opponent's). If you wait until they're on the stack, then Sundial, it'll exile them entirely.

The name didn't change. It's still named the same thing, it just looks different. Even if it WAS named differently, it wouldn't matter; "commander-ness" is inherent to the card. If your board got Ixidron'd, everyone would know which one is your Commander, and that specific nameless 2/2 would still deal Commander damage, because it's still your Commander.

Correct.

How does Deathtouch work with Trample? For instance, can I just deal one damage to each blocker and the rest to the player/planeswalker?

>6666
thanks satan

Very well! Deathtouch means any amount of damage from that source is considered 'lethal', so you can assign as little as 1 damage to each blocker and have the rest trample over.

fun fact: deathtouch means ANY damage dealt by the creature.
so if i were to play a 1/1 deathtouch out and give it an enchantment that says "enchant creature, tap to deal 1 damage to target creature" i could tap it to deal 1 damage to your 8/8 and your guy would die.

>give Goblin Sharpshooter deathtouch
>fun and profit

Holy shit yes

in fact I've seen it used with Niv Mizzet for just such a purpose.