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 to Ask A Judge!

Any great combos you know using ooze cards? Unheard of stuff?

Nothing unheard of, but Necrotic Ooze is a combo darling.

How do you cope with severe depression? You seem like the kinda guy that'd know.

Talking to a professional is extremely helpful as far as having someone to talk about your issues with who will be understanding and helpful, as well as able to help you figure out the best way to address your depression, whether that be medication or mindfulness or what-have-you.

My opponent accidentally plays an extra land during his turn, but I don't notice until his next turn. What's the procedure? Do we rewind the game the best we can, or is he dq'ed?

If I reverberate a kicked spell is my copy kicked? And what about X-cost spells?

Neither. The procedure is you call a Judge and the Judge will investigate. If they think your opponent knowingly broke the rules for an advantage, they'll be DQed. Most likely it was a brain fart, and the Judge will decide whether it's more harmful to leave the game as-is, or rewind through all the actions between "second land drop last turn" and "right now". Either way, opponent's getting a Warning (or a finger-wag if Regular REL)

Yes and yes! Copying the spell will copy the value of X, whether or not it was kicked (and if applicable, WHICH kicker was kicked), and modes.

What do you think of the new Amonkhet mechanics? Do you think it was too much of a stretch to just give them flashback with some "if this spell was cast with flashback" text on them?

I'm not a huge fan of the wonky split cards (mostly the DESIGN; I think having a split card where one half can only be "flashed back", essentially, is pretty neat). Embalm is neat, but I furrow my brow at how most Limited games are going to be using a card-that-should-be-exiled to represent a token-which-is-not-a-card due to how it'll be a widespread mechanic. Cycling being back is 100% gas, and the "Building" mechanic is promising.

What is the correct way to to say "I am going to do something on your drawstep" without giving away a ton of information. For instance, I tupically say "Pass the tirn with effects on draw step", but that gives the opponents a ton of information as to what is about to happen. If I say "Move to end step", they do whatever they do, can I then say "effects on draw step"? Is that kosher?

Just say it as they draw. As they're drawing their card, jump in and stop them from moving further in the turn by saying "I have a response in your draw step", if you don't want to give that away at the end of your turn (or as they untap). So just end your turn, let them untap, and as they draw, say "I have a response in your draw step". That's exactly what you should do, yes!

Thank you much; that was a quick response.

Eh, not a lot going on at the office right now so I'm literally just watching Brooklyn Nine Nine and playing Zelda while I monitor this thread and wait for someone to need something in meatspace.

Can Ironclaw Orcs block a banded attack consisting of a Mesa Pegasus and a Pearled Unicorn?

Ironclaw Orcs cannot block Mesa Pegasus because Ironclaw Orcs does not have flying. It can't block Pearled Unicorn, because it can't block creatures with power 2 or greater. So, since it cannot block either of the creatures in the band, whole thing gets through for 3.

Are there any good video series for a beginner to get into MTG in general and MTGO?

I know how to play the game on a surface level but don't really understand what the intricacies of the game are. Like I dont know what people mean when they say moderns or the difference between sets and all, and it'd be nice to see like matches where they break down different strategies maybe

Any good video/audio/articles to break this down for a beginner to jump into with? Basically I'm trying to dive in.

There's probably plenty, but I'm afraid I don't know where to point you. Strategy isn't my strong suit.

If you donate Parallel Thoughts to a player, can that player choose to take from the pile you exiled face down?

Nope. Parallel Thoughts says that its controller (them, now) may put the top card of "the pile you exiled". "You" refers to a card's controller, and that player does not *have* a pile they exiled with Parallel Thoughts, so that option is unavailable to them.

RIP
Thanks

Even if it somehow did work, it's literally impossible for you to put a card you don't own (barring things you bring in from outside the game) into your hand. It'd just go to the hand of the Parallel Thought's OWNER instead.

But, y'know, that's "if". In reality, it does nothing.

How are you liking Breath of the Wild? Aside from the terrible durability, of course.

The weapons breaking every eleven seconds is getting to me, but otherwise it's pretty great. I'm surprised I like it- not because it's bad (it fucking is not, it's great), but because it's very un-Zelda with the lack of linearity and dungeons, but it's still VERY enjoyable.

what would happen in a two headed giant game where both heads had grave betrayal out (cast on the same turn and main phase and one of them used a board wipe (let's say in Garruk's wake for this case), would each get a copy of the destroyed or would they decide between themselves?

There's this one guy at the local tournament scene who has severely poor hygiene. Is it acceptable to forcibly wash him during the match?

So, the order in which they played their Betrayals doesn't matter. No matter what turn the board wipe happens, each Betrayal will trigger for everything that died, and they decide the order those triggers go on the stack. Each of those triggers will, in turn, set up a delayed trigger to bring the creature back bigger, blacker, and Zombie-er.

When those delayed triggers fire during the beginning of the next end step, they'll choose the order of those as well; the first trigger (for a specific creature) will bring it back, and the other will just shrug and do nothing because the thing it wants to bring back no longer exists in the graveyard;

tl;dr they don't both get a copy because this doesn't MAKE copies; for everything that died (of the opponent's, anyway) they will decide which of the two of them gets it.

It is not. It is acceptable to ask the TO to speak to them about it, because if their hygiene is poor enough to be disrupting the event, that's unfair to everyone there.

thank you, just wanted to know if both players get the creature or if just one gets it. you helped with a question me and a fellow golgari player had on how that works out.

Nah, just one. But like I said, it's decided per creature, so you can just split them up as you like with your teammate.

Want a confirmation.
I have a Clue (or other non creature artifact) enchanted with Tezz Touch.
If my opponent Fatal Pushed it, i can make it fizzle by bouncing the Tezz Touch to my hand right?

Correct. As their spell goes to resolve, the target is now illegal (in this case, it's no longer "Target creature"), so the spell is countered and none of its effects happen.

do you folks really just rip suspected fake cards in half on the spot?

Not at all! If we suspect a card is counterfeit, we'll do an investigation that does NOT involve any damage to the cards. If our investigation leads us to believe the cards are fake, one of two things happens: If we think the player knew they were fakes and was trying to pass them along as real, they'll be DQed for Fraud. If we believe the player got duped and genuinely thought they had real cards, at worst they'd get a Game Loss for their deck not matching their list (because it'd be N cards short), and give them a reasonable amount of time to replace the fakes with real cards to keep playing on. In absolutely no situation would we damage the suspected cards, and if they -are- found to be fake, they will absolutely not be confiscated, because that's not our job.

Do the Cards I draw with Jin-Gitaxias' ability come before or after my discard phase?

Step, not phase! The Ending Phase consists of the End and Cleanup Steps, in that order. The End Step is where things like Ball Lightning (oracle of "at the beginning of the next end step", printed text of "at end of turn") trigger, and where "End of turn, INSERT RESPONSE HERE" responses from opponents happen. It's also where Jinandjuice triggers and draws you a fatter grip.

Then, after that is the Cleanup Step, where "until end of turn" effects (Giant Growth) wear off, marked damage is cleared from permanents, and the Active Player discards to their maximum hand size, if applicable.

Ahoy!

My opponent has a Chalice of Void for 1, and I use Shattering Spree, it gets denied. But if I replicate it, will the copies get countered? Also, would the copies boost my Monastery Swiftspears? or some storm effect?

What happens if the opponent also has Trinisphere into play and I want to replicate?

The copies are not cast, so they won't be countered, because they won't trigger Chalice. However, they also wouldn't up the Storm count or trigger Swiftspear for the same reason.

If your opponent has 3ball out, then it won't do anything if you're replicating 2 or more times. If you're replicating 0 times, you'll pay 2R for a countered spell. if you're replicating once, you'll pay 1RR for a countered spell, and a copy that gets through. If you're replicating twice or more, you're already paying at least 3 because of the additional costs, so 3ball doesn't apply. It also won't apply at all to the copies, because again- they aren't cast. They're just created on the stack.

OK thanks! So I can destroy 3 artifacts in a row for RRR without getting limited by trinisphere... Noice.

On a related note: my opponent attacks with Emrakul, can I use Deflecting palm to redirect the damage to him? It doesn't use the word "target" but "of your choice"...
A friend told me Oblivion Ring would work on Emrakul, but O-Ring targets and Em' has protection, so I disagree on this one. Who's right here?

Deflecting Palm does not target, specifically because it does not use the word "target". You can choose Emrakul as your source of damage.

Emrakul does have protection... from colored spells. Oblivion Ring, the spell, does not target anything. Oblivion Ring, the PERMANENT, has a triggered ability which targets things, but that ability is not a colored spell, nor is its source a colored spell, so Emrakul's protection is irrelevant.

Two players are in a control mirror and after a ton of turtling the two have a huge End of Turn tap out stack war. They eventually exhaust everything and pause - they've both forgotten whose End of Turn it was.

As a judge is there any way to determine it?

Kinda sorta. It'd depend on the game, and it's possible that we wouldn't really be able to definitively figure it out by investigating. If that happens, the Judge would just make the call.

I ask because that actually happened tonight, and the judge said that unless one of the players was willing to say "Oh it must have been my turn" and pass to their opponent they will have to agree to drawing the game and going to game 4.

That is an option. If i felt like saying "either you guys decide whose turn it was or draw this one" was less damaging than just arbitrarily picking, I'd go with that.

I did ask the judge why he didn't suggest flipping a coin or some other agreeable random method. He said it fell too close to improperly determining a winner, which I guess I understand but want a second opinion on.

also is it safe to say that any time someone asks "did I count my energy from dynavolt tower" that the trigger has already been missed and cannot be applied?

IF the judge decides to say "It is N's turn, play on", they need to just decide that. If they flipped a coin for it, that would be very super bad.

Technically speaking, as soon as any action is taken that could not have been taken with that Dynavolt trigger on the stack, it's been missed.

So just to confirm, the judge saying "We can't tell whose turn it is so flip a coin and go from there" would be a Very Very Bad Thing?

It's not good, no.

Merrow reejerey on the field and I play harbinger of tides. I can take a creature with merrow and return it with harbinger in that order correct?

My opponent has 2 monsters on the field. I have a Widespread Dud targetting both of them, a Harpie Channeler, and a Harpies' Hunting Ground. I discard a Harpie Queen to special summon Harpie Lady #1, can I destroy my own Widespread Dud and chain Inferno Reckless Summon to special summon my Harpie Ladies without letting my opponent special summon any monsters?
If so what order of priority is it? Do I chain Inferno before or after I target Dud?

You can. Reejerey triggers when you CAST the spell, so by the time Harbinger is entering the battlefield and needing a target for its trigger, the creature in question has already been tapped by Reejerey.

Attack the moon directly

Merfolkfag here and thank you.

Speaking of which, I just finished up the Zora domain's Divine Beast, and am going to bed.

Player 1 plays has a Chalice of Void for X into play. He plays a spell with mana cost X, that would have been countered. He "forgets" that trigger.
Should player 2 remind him? What if player 2 "realizes" a turn later and calls a judge?

Now, if player 1 has a Chalice and player 2 plays said spell? Does Player 2 have to "remember" how his opponent's card works? What happens il player 1 realizes later and calls a judge?

Is there a difference if it's an "honest mistake" that doesn't give a crucial advantage to the player forgetting the Chalice?
For instance, is there a difference between forgetting the trigger on a Bolt cast on a player with 20 life, rather than a Spell pierce on a turn 3 Show and Tell?

Chalice does not make it illegal to cast spells of the chosen CMC. It just instantly counters them. This is important.

If player A has a chalice and player B plays a spell of that CMC it is on player A to point out that it's countered. If he forgets then player B is under no obligation to remind them of the trigger (though they can if they want their own spell to be countered for whatever reason)

If player A forgets his own chalice and player B notices, there is going to be a bit more investigation as to if he actually forgot, or just "forgot".

The game state will be a factor as to how I frame the investigation, but doesn't matter as to the penalty. If they knew the trigger was there and ignored it to get ahead, that's a DQ even if it's a bolt on 20. Though rarely is a player a good enough liar to have "forgot" and not be incredibly smug about it.