Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 19:53:12 +0100 From: Paul Barclay Subject: [O] NetRep Reply 511 ======================================================================= NetRep Reply number 511 to the Magic: the Gathering List ======================================================================= This reply covers the digests: MTG-L Digest - 10 Jan 2000 to 11 Jan 2000 (#2000-12) MTG-L Digest - 11 Jan 2000 to 12 Jan 2000 (#2000-13) MTG-L Digest - 12 Jan 2000 to 13 Jan 2000 (#2000-14) Older replies may be found at: http://www.second-hand.demon.co.uk ftp://ftp.magic.asuka.net http://yavapai.ccgnews.com http://www.en.magic.asuka.net http://www.thedojo.com/backpage-rulesregulations.shtml LONG ANSWERS: ======================================================================= [Hanno, asking about Trap Runner] >And here is another question: If I "block" a Deathgazer with Trap Runners >ability, will Trap Runner be destroyed at end of combat? No. It didn't block the Deathgazer. It just made it "become blocked". ----- [Tod Tinlin, asking about Serra Avatar and other stories] >If my opponent Sneak Attacks a Serra Avatar, then I respond to the attack phase >declaration by turning it into an Enchantment with a Soul Sculptor, where does >the Avatar end up? In the graveyard. It has no abilities when it's supposed to be put into the graveyard at the end of the turn, so it goes to the graveyard. >MM Card Bargaining table. >When is X determined? Is it required that X be the same at both cost payment >and resolution? It's determined on announcement, and it only matters on announcement. X only determines the amount of mana that it costs to play the ability. It's not checked after the mana has been paid. >Does Phyrexian Tower produce 1 or 2 black mana when using it's Sacrifice a >creature ability under Contamination? 1 mana. It produces {B} instead of its normal type and amount. ----- [Peter Jahn, asking about Flicker and Gaea's Blessing] >If I bring a creature into play with Sneak Attack, then cast Flicker on that >creature, does that creature lose the delayed goes-to-graveyard trigger? Yes - it's a completely different creature when it comes back in. It will also have Summoning Sickness, so you can't attack with it after Flickering it. >Situation: Oath of Druids is in use, and it dumps Gaea's Blessing into the >graveyard. Gaea's Blessing then shuffles the graveyard into the library. >Is there any situation in which you could play an instant to remove Gaea's >Blessing from the graveyard before it went into the library? Yes. Its ability is a triggered ability, so respond to this ability with something that removes the Blessing from the game. ----- [Harry York, asking two questions] >(1) What happens if I have a Sigil of Sleep enchanting an Order of Yawgmoth? >In what order do these effects resolve? You control both the triggered abilities, so you choose what order they go onto the Stack. > Could the Sigil of Sleep return a creature card to the owners hand >only to have the Order of Yawgmoth force that player to discard that >card (assuming the defending player had no cards in hand)? Yes. >(2) This question relates to damage dealing and effects. Say you attack with >a number of creatures and 3 of them are unblocked (a Thieving Magpie and two >Rishdan Footpads) for a total of 5 damage. Your opponent then taps his >Master healer to prevent the next 4 damage that would be dealt to him/her. >Do you get to draw a card because of the Thieving Magpie's ability? It depends which points of damage your opponent chooses to replace. If he's sensible, he'll choose to prevent the damage from the Magpie, and you won't draw a card. ----- [Charles Bienvenue, asking about Defender of Chaos[ >If i play a Defender of Chaos during my oppenent turn, my defender of >chaos is destroy a the end of the turn right or sacrifice or ... ??? No. Remember one of the major rules of Magic: Cards don't do anything they don't say they do. So, if you play the Defender at the end of your opponent's turn, it just stays in play normally. ----- [Curtis Spendlove, talking about e-mail topics] >I would like to see something done similar to what is standard on a lot of >the other lists I subscribe to. Typically, a three- or four-letter >abbreviation is chosen and all subjects begin with this abbreviation and a >colon. Well, there are a couple already in use on this list. The abbreviation [O] stands for Official. So, don't use anything similar to this (specifically, don't use [Q] to mean "Question"), as it will confuse people. I haven't ever asked people to use anything like this, as I simply don't need it - I read everything. ----- [David Weinlick, asking about the January 2000 rulings] >If a Coral Atoll "would be put into play" but is actually put into its >owner's graveyard., does it still count as playing a land for the turn? Yes. It even says this in the January 2000 rulings post, which you quoted. ----- [Steve Lord, asking about Contamination] >Follow up question that I just thought of, since I don't have D'Angelo >handy -- if I tap a Mishra's Workshop for mana when a Contamination's in >play, I get B that can only be used to pay for artifacts, correct? No, you get a normal {B}. Contamination replaces _type_ and amount, and restrictions on what mana can be spent on is part of the mana's type. ----- [Rob and Dawn Albertson, asking about en-Kor and targets] >1) Please help clarify for me the ability of the "en-Kor" creatures: >Now, I am aware that I cannot play this once to redirect 5 damage that >would be dealt to the creature, but I would have to activate that >ability 5 separate times and each would go on the stack. My question >here is how much damage can I redirect to another creature? As much as you want to. >Can I redirect the 5 separate points of damage all to a 1/1 creature, >or can I redirect 1 point of damage and then that creature dies? You redirect all 5 damage. When the damage resolves, all of it is dealt to the 1/1, not the en-Kor. >Also, does it matter if this is combat damage or direct damage? No. Any damage. >And just to clarify, can I ever, under any circumstance, redirect more >damage to a creature than it's toughness? Yes. Just the same way that you can Incinerate a 1-toughness creature. >2) In playing the card Nekrataal, which is a 2/1 black creature card >that reads: > >First strike > >When Nekrataal comes into play, destroy target nonartifact, nonblack >creature. It can't be regenerated. > >Now my question is, if there are no available creatures out to destroy, >would I still be able to play the card? Yes. You put it into play, and then you can't put its triggered ability onto the Stack. So, it just sits there and does nothing. >3)The last question that I have is about the card Symbiosis. >If there is only one creature in play, can I apply a +2/+2 to that one >creature and just let the other +2/+2 not apply anywhere, or must I have >two valid targets that I can cast that spell on? You must have two creatures to target. You can't play a spell without choosing enough legal targets. >And now, could someone then please explain to me the Magic rule #103 >(103.1), where it references impossible actions. The rule states that >impossible actions should be ignored. Would that be the case in either >#2 or #3 of my questions above. It covers #2, to some extent. It doesn't cover #3 at all. ----- [Robert Boer, asking about Pariah] >I was playing a game of Magic with my girlfriend and everything went >perfectly until I played Pariah. On one of her creatures, she said it wasn't >legal. The text on Pariah doesn't say you can only play it on your >creatures. >My question is can you play Pariah on your opponents creatures? Yes, you can play it on your opponent's creatures - this is legal. ----- [Jeff Jordan, talking about the new Rulings] >> 1) Gilded Drake >The ability *could* be countered in the first mode, if there >were a spell that could target it. True. I'll remind them about that (but nothing can, currently). >Does this new wording remove the old ruling that Gilded Drake's >trigger could not be countered because it had an "If you can't" >clause? I sure hope so; that was an atrocious ruling, IMHO. Yes, it removes that ruling. That's the reason for the new wording. >> 2) Undiscovered Paradise should read, "T: Add one mana of any color >> to your mana pool. During the next untap step of Undiscovered >> Paradise's controller, as that player untaps his or her permanents, >> he or she returns Undiscovered Paradise to its owner's hand." > >I like the attempt, but this is poorly worded. You mean to make it a >replacement ability; it isn't one unless you use the word "instead." It's worded as an "As..." ability, like the ones that the Spikes have. It works in exactly the same way. This is a replacement effect in all but name. Try wording it using an "instead". We tried. We failed. ----- [Jeff Jordan, talking about Laccoliths] >I suspect it will be called "Firstest Strike," since people have been >wanting to use that name for a long time. R&D has asked me to remind all players that the mythical Throat Wolves are _still_ mythical, and not real in any way, shape or form. Paul. - ------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Paul Barclay -- paul@second-hand.demon.co.uk -- Mobile: 0958-980180 - - DCI Level III judge -- http://www.second-hand.demon.co.uk/index.htm - - Official MTG-L Network Representative for Wizards of the Coast, Inc -