MTG Magic The Gathering Ask A Judge - 「 T H U R S D A Y ' S C H I L D 」

You could! Your Flamespeaker would poke the blocker for 1, and the opponent for 3, triggering itself. Trigger goes on the stack still in the First Strike step, resolves, exiles Mutagenic Growth. We're still in the First Strike Damage step, so you can cast that Growth (via paying G or 2 life) so that your Flamespeaker will donk the opponent for 6 (not 5; you've got a base power of 1, plus 3 from Maaka, and another 2 from Growth; that's 6 total).

Why doesn't Ghirapur Orrery make a trigger for its second ability

At the beginning of each player's upkeep, if that player has no cards in hand, that player draws three cards.

when you have cards in hand?

Do you mean for your turn? It doesn't for the exact reason I said- it has an Intervening "If" clause. At the beginning of your upkeep, if that condition of "you have no cards in your hand" isn't true, the trigger doesn't even go onto the stack, because that's how intervening-if triggers work.

I guess I was thrown off by the first phrase or looking for a deeper meaning or something

i or another player wipes the board. i sac five creatures with westvale abbey in response. what happens to the prince?

Depends on what they use. He has indestructible so if it says destroy, he doesn't get destraught. Exile exoughts, bounce bances.

so westvale goes on the stack and resolves first, then gets hit regardless of the boardstate when the spell was cast. got it.

At what part of the combat phase are counters added and 'when creature attacks' abilities get triggered?

Does the second ability of steel hellkite trigger of you use it in your M1, then afterwards deal the damage during combat?

It'll come out with the wrath effect still on the stack. Assuming it's either a damage type or a "destroy all the urrything" type, he'll live through it. If it's a Final Judgment, he exiled.

Correct.

Those triggers go on the stack immediately after the Turn-Based Action of declaring attackers in the Declare Attackers Step.

It doesn't "trigger" at all. You ACTIVATE it.

And if you activate it before you attack, then you done goofed, because no "permanent with converted mana cost X whose controller was dealt combat damage by ~ this turn" EXISTS yet, because Steel Hellkite hasn't damaged anyone, and you only get to activate that ability once per turn.

I started making MTGO youtube videos and no one watches them.

Is my thumbnail template bad? It feels too nerdy to me. Also I've realized that if someone looks at all my videos it would be difficult to tell between them.

I just thought of something. If I sac ordeal of Heliod to, say, Perilous Research, do I gain 10 life?

Colors are out of order.

Absolutely. The Ordeal cycle doesn't care WHY you're sacrificing them. Even if you sac them to a totally different effect, that "When you sac me" trigger will fire.

I figured it would be better to flatten the circle because there's no start point or indication of counter/clockwise

Commonly accepted order is WUBRG.

I splice Desperate Ritual into Peer Through Depths with Electromancer/Baral on the table.

Do I pay 3 or 2 mana for splicing mentioned spells?

What's the interaction between Remorseless Punishment and Sigarda, Host of Herons?

Can that opponent just not pick that mode? Would I even force him to sacrifice or is it his own choice?

We went that he can't pick the mode, since it says "unless", so he has to pick one of the other

You cast Peer Through Depths, and elect to Splice Desperate Ritual onto it. That means you jam the text box for Ritual onto Peer Through Depths and pay the additional cost of 1R. When you get to the step where you total out costs, you start with your base cost of 1U, add the additional cost of 1R, then subtract your discount of 1 from Electromancer or Baral. Total cost: 1UR. The effect doesn't double-dip, because you're still only casting one spell.

Since they are unable to sacrifice something, they can't even pick that option (same as if they didn't have any creatures/planeswalkers at all). They can discard 2 cards if they HAVE any and choose to; if they don't choose to (or don't have 2 cards to discard), they lose 5 life as the default. Then repeat the process.

Remorseless Punishment is not a modal spell.

>Total cost: 1UR. The effect doesn't double-dip, because you're still only casting one spell.

I agree on total cost, disagree for reason. Desperate ritual's splice is a card ability and doesn't get cast, so its splice isn't reduced. Peer is cast and so the cost gets reduced. Total CMC of spell cast is still 1U so it gets reduced to U.
Also, a 2U spell would get reduced to U if 2 Goblin Electromancer effects were out there.

I parsed that as "there is an Electromancer OR a Baral on board", not both. If there's both, it absolutely only costs UR total, because Splice is an additional cost to the spell itself, which means the generic portion of it can 100% be discounted by Electromancer or Baral.

Also, 1U is not a CMC. 1U is a mana cost. CMC is the sum total of all symbols in a mana cost, which means it's always an integer; in this case, the CMC of the spell would be 2 (because that's the sum of the symbols in the mana cost of Peer Through Depths), regardless of if you're paying 1U, 2UR, or just UR to cast it.

Why is Splice an additional cost and not a card ability of the spell being spliced?

702.46c The spell has the characteristics of the main spell, plus the text boxes of each of the spliced cards. The spell doesn’t gain any other characteristics (name, mana cost, color, supertypes, card types, subtypes, etc.) of the spliced cards. Text copied onto the spell that refers to a card by name refers to the spell on the stack, not the card from which the text was copied.

Says that the mana cost of the spell being cast is still 1U.

Nm, I read more and it doesn't make sense to me that it's done like that but OK.

>117.8d Additional costs don’t change a spell’s mana cost, only what its controller has to pay to cast it. Spells and abilities that ask for that spell’s mana cost still see the original value.

It's both.

702.46a. Splice is a static ability that functions while a card is in your hand. "Splice onto [subtype] [cost]" means "You may reveal this card from your hand as you cast a [subtype] spell. If you do, copy this card's text box onto that spell and pay [cost] as an additional cost to cast that spell." Paying a card's splice cost follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f-h.

It's an ability ON the card, which splices the text of that card onto a spell, as an additional cost tacked onto the spell. You're treating it like it's an activated ability, which it isn't.

WHY IS MY DECK SO BAD?

If i vanish into memory a token, do i still get to discard cards?

Is it true that a Cavern of Souls on Eldrazi cannot cast an uncounterable colorless Eldrazi? If so, why is this? Can only colorless mana be used from Cavern to cast a colorless creature, even if a colored mana can be used to cast it?

Read the gatherer page.

It is true IF AND ONLY IF the colorless Eldrazi requires {C} to cast and you couldn't have generated enough {C} to cast your Eldrazi unless you used Cavern of Souls to generate {C}.
If you're able to spend colored Cavern of Souls (named Eldrazi) mana on an Eldrazi, it's uncounterable.

If you play Aethersphere Harvester and then Rishkar, Peema Renegade the following turn with no other potential targets available for his enter the battlefield trigger can you tap Rishkar in response to ETB trigger, crew vehicle and then put the counters on him and the vehicle?

No. You have to choose targets for triggers when they go on the stack, and the only creature you'd have at that time would be Rishkar.

Can you shock a Walking Ballista in response to enters the battlefield where x = 3 and kill it when the third counter is due to Winding Constrictor?

My understanding was that neither cards have triggered abilities that use the stack and simply autoresolve (for lack of a better term) as in the case of a +x/+x anthem

Constrictor is a replacement effect, not a triggered ability, so there's nothing to respond to, it just enters with x+1 counters.

From Gatherer: "2/9/2017: If an artifact or creature you control would enter the battlefield with a number of any kind of counters on it, it enters with that many plus one instead."

Walking Ballista says "Walking Ballista enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters on it." Since it only enters the battlefield after it resolves, it already has the counters on it. It has to work this way because otherwise it would die to SBAs for being a 0/0 creature.

Perfect, thank you.
I'm fairly new
If you don't mind answering more I may as well ask. Just for clarity- During every phase the obligatory actions happen first (if applicable) like when you're in declare attackers, all attackers are declared before any action can take place, then triggered abilities hit the stack, then triggered abilities happen starting with the player who's turn it is then spell casting begins starting with the player who's turn it is, is this essentially correct?

I added a sentence fragment there re abilties hit the stack my bad.

Do I understand this right?

I tap dhund (equipped with pathway arrows) to crew the mobile garrison

I declare mobile garrison as an attacker, and use its ability to untap dhund

opponent declares blocker

I activate pathway arrows, targeting the defender assigned to mobile garrison

defender dies

mobile garrison hits opponent

He declared a block and damage doesn't go on the stack so all the damage is prevented to the opponent

Once the blocker is declared mobile garrison will not hit the opponent. You have to kill the potential blocker before blocking is declared (can be done after declaring attacks, so you can crew and then still shoot with the crewing creature) if you want to hit the player with the garrison. Everything else works as described.

In kitchen table magic it's a little different because they'll probably say their blocker too quickly and not give you an opportunity to shoot the creature and those rules grey areas are the worst thing about kitchen table magic.

Yes. When you enter a step or phase with Turn-Based Actions, those actions are the first thing to occur no matter what. Then triggered abilities are put on the stack in AP-NAP order, so that the Non-Active Player's abilities resolve first. Then the Active Player receives priority in order to cast spells.

The Untap step is special because no player receives priority during it. If you want to know more, the Yawgatog hyperlinked MTG comprehensive rules can tell you a lot about the steps, phases, what Turn-Based Actions are and how each step and phase happens.

I wouldn't read it all at once, but if you have questions you can ctrl+f to find what you're looking for, and it's hyperlinked so you can find rulings quite easily.

yawgatog.com/resources/magic-rules/

I don't know how having multiples of a card in play works.

If I have a card that has (something happens) that lets me (do thing) Can I (do thing) once, as many times as I want, or as many times as I have copies of that card in play?

If I a have two of Hero of Iroas (aura spells cost 1 less to play) does that mean that auras cost (2) less to play?

Planning to take a Modern Four Horsemen decklist to an FNM for funsies. Tips on how to last the duration of the event without earning a game loss/ round loss/ DQ?

>If I a have two of Hero of Iroas (aura spells cost 1 less to play) does that mean that auras cost (2) less to play?
yes.

So, take Underhanded Designs. It says "Whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, you may pay 1. If you do, each opponent loses one life and you gain one life."

That means if you have one in play, you'll get one trigger when an artifact enters the battlefield. You'll choose to pay 1, and if you do, you drain for 1. If you have two Underhanded Designs out, you'll get two triggers. You'll put each trigger on the stack separately, and you'll have the option of paying for each one. Triggered abilities pop up regardless of how many copies of a single card are in play.

>Hero of Iroas
Yes, it costs 1 generic mana less to cast for each copy of Hero of Iroas in play. Abilities like this are called static abilities, they do something as long as they're in play. Note that generic mana is not the same as colorless mana or colored mana, so it won't reduce Ordeal of Thassa to less than U to cast.

Thank you! Now I know which deck I'm building next.

if scrap trawler and a baleful strix die at the same time can i return the strix to hand?

Yes, you can use Trawler's trigger to return Strix to your hand, and Strix' trigger to return something else with cc less than 2 assuming that you have something else in your yard.

neat.
if i open the vaults and one of the cards returned is Sculpting Steel, can it copy that entered at the same time as itself or does it need to copy something already there?

Nope, have to be something already on the battlefield.

I'm back! Had to housesit for my parents last night, and I didn't have access to a computer.

Nope! The discard is an "if you do", tied to returning the exiled object to the battlefield. If you're not able to do that (for example, because the exiled thing stopped existing because it was a token), you won't discard.

It can, so long as there's a generic portion of the cost you can pay. If you had 3 Islands and a Cavern, you couldn't cast an uncounterable Thought-Knot Seer, because the only way you COULD cast that spell is by using the Cavern to generate colorless mana. If you had 3 Wastes and a Cavern, you could just use the Cavern to make no-counter mana, and the Colorless portion is covered by your Wastes.

Nope. Rishkar's trigger needs a target the second it hits the stack. By the time you have priority to activate the Crew ability, Rishkar's ability is already on the stack with targets chosen.

No, for the reason you think (mostly). Both of those cards have replacement effects. Both those replacement effects will modify how the Ballista enters. At no point is it on the battlefield without 4 counters (3 from X=3, one from Snek).

Not quite. If there's a turn-based action baked into that step (Declare Attacks, drawing a card in Draw Step, etc), that happens. Then SBAs are checked, and any triggers waiting to trigger go on the stack. Then everyone gets priority at least once to start casting spells, and if everyone has passed priority successively without adding to the stack, the top object of the stack resolves, then another round of priority. The triggers don't just auto-resolve before anyone can cast anything.

You're right up until the last line. A blocked creature STAYS blocked for the whole of combat, even if all of the blockers assigned to it die. Since Garrison doesn't have Trample, it'll neither deal nor take any damage that combat.

Not quite; it isn't that damage is prevented, it's that it has nothing -to- damage.

For each Underhanded Designs you have, you may pay 1 whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control (and if you do, you drain all your opponents of 1 life and gain 1 yourself), but that's your max, because you can only pay 1 per trigger. IF you had one Designs and played an artifact, your options are to pay 1, or to not pay 1. You couldn't pay 6 to drain 6 life, because that option is not available to you; as the trigger resolves, it just asks "Would you like to pay 1?". It's a yes/no question. If you have multiple copies, each triggers separately, so you'd have 2 or 3 or 4 instances of "Hey, wanna pay 1?", so you could pay for each of those.

Two Heroes would make your aura spells all cost 2 less to cast, yes.

Blind luck, mostly. You have to manually execute the combo since it's not shortcuttable, and it won't take long before you'd start racking up stern glares for just eating up time without furthering the game state. Honestly I'd advise you not take that deck.

Yes, because by the time the trigger goes on the stack and needs a target, both of them are dead like disco, so Strix is a legal target.

It can't. That replacement effect modifies how Sculpting Steel enters the battlefield, so it 'exists' immediately before that event. As such, you can only choose from among the artifacts that exist immediately before Open the Vaults started putting shit on the field.

>Honestly I'd advise you not take that deck.
don't take my deck
>Remorseless Punishment is not a modal spell.
my deck is not modal

When someone plays a "Mill X" does this count as one instance of a mill or does it count as multiple instances?

If you're told to put the top 10 cards of your library into your graveyard, that's one instruction, rather than "Mill 1" repeated 10 times.

Coo.

Another question. How does Entwine work? Do both abilities happen at once or do you choose the order?

You always perform all instructions in the order written.

ok.

when i target her with fall of the hammer.
for each copy of fall of the hammer, can i chose new targets for each copy for "other target creature"

...

you get no copies

?
because of zadas "only targeting zada"

Yes, Fall of the Hammer targets 2 creatures so it doesn't target only Zada

okay thank you

Zada triggers if you cast a spell that targets her, and only her. It's not "only her among creatures you control". Fall of the Hammer targets something else as well, so it won't trigger.

Not a rules question, just wnat your opinion.

What do you believe to be the gayest card in all of MTG. The one card you look at and say "What the hell was wizards thinking?"

I think I don't use "gay" as a negative term because I'm not 13.

Ok.
Overpowered?

Overpowered? Probably something from Urza's block like Tolarian Academy, one of the cards that furthered Combo Winter.

As far as "Card I despise, regardless of power level"? Life and Limb.

>Mfw life and limb one of my favorite cards

Also
Where do you think we are?

When I play a card that returns multiple creatures from graveyard to the battlefield do they all enter the battlefield simultaneously? For example I play Angel of Glory Rise and return a Champion of the Parish and 2 Thalia Lieutenants to the battlefield. Can I put down the Champion first then receive 2 counters from playing the first Lieutenant and then have both them get buffed from the second or will they all enter at the same time and trigger none of the ETBs?

It's even better. They all enter at the same time and everything goes trigger party.
Parish gets 2 counters from his own triggers, and a counter from each of the Lieutenants.
Each Lieutenant gets 2 counters from their own triggers and a counter from the other Lieutenant's

Unless it says to bring them back one at a time, or in waves, they'll all come back at once. Even better, they "see" each other do so, so the Lieutenants will each trigger themselves AND each other, and the Champion.

So you'll have 2 Champion triggers to put counters on it, 2 "Put a counter on all your other Humans" triggers from the Lieutenants, and 2 "Put a counter on me" triggers for each Lieutenant.

So your Lieutenants will be 5/5s (2 from their own triggers, 2 from their buddy), and your Champion will ALSO be a 5/5 (2 counters from itself, 2 from the Lieutenants)

Not, as I remembering you put it, "Grip of goddamned motherfucking chaos"?

Awesome, it works better than I thought. Thanks.

I hate Life and motherfucking Limb even more. Flip-or-rip causes me actual literal discomfort, and I have physically destroyed every copy of Life and Limb that has ever come into my possession.

Is it just because it's too easy to just have the game be a draw due to uninterruptible infinite loops?

Nah, because it creates dependencies SUPER easily and everyone always thinks I'm speaking in tongues when I explain dependencies.

Anyway, I'm off to have dinner with some friends! I'll be back later.