Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 23:01:49 +0000 From: Paul Barclay Subject: [O] NetRep Reply 516 ======================================================================= NetRep Reply number 516 to the Magic: the Gathering List ======================================================================= This reply covers the digests: MTG-L Digest - 27 Jan 2000 to 28 Jan 2000 (#2000-30) MTG-L Digest - 28 Jan 2000 to 29 Jan 2000 (#2000-31) MTG-L Digest - 29 Jan 2000 to 30 Jan 2000 (#2000-32) MTG-L Digest - 30 Jan 2000 to 31 Jan 2000 (#2000-33) MTG-L Digest - 31 Jan 2000 to 1 Feb 2000 (#2000-34) MTG-L Digest - 1 Feb 2000 to 2 Feb 2000 (#2000-35) MTG-L Digest - 2 Feb 2000 to 3 Feb 2000 (#2000-36) MTG-L Digest - 3 Feb 2000 to 4 Feb 2000 (#2000-37) MTG-L Digest - 4 Feb 2000 to 5 Feb 2000 (#2000-38) MTG-L Digest - 5 Feb 2000 to 6 Feb 2000 (#2000-39) 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 FOLLOWUP TO PREVIOUS REPLIES: ======================================================================= ** I'm back from LA, and I've managed to catch up. See this Reply and Reply #515 for all the answers from the last two weeks. SHORT ANSWERS: ======================================================================= ** Thunder Dragon is a card in Starter. ** Magic uses exactly the same rules all over the world. ** If a Serra Avatar is destroyed with a Remembrance in play, you do not get to use the Remembrance's ability to search for another Avatar, as the Avatar never goes to the graveyard - it's shuffled directly back into the library. ** There is no minimum age requirement for Pro Tour Qualifiers. I think that the youngest person to ever play in a Pro Tour was eight years old (a member of the 1997 Korean national team). ** Volrath is male. Allegedly. ** Mirri is dead. Allegedly. LONG ANSWERS: ======================================================================= [Nicci Hartland, asking about the Magic Interactive Encyclopedia] >I am wondering if anyone can help me. I recently brought a copy of the >interactive encyclopedia, but every time I go and load it, the program >crashes my computer. It doesn't do it all the time, but I am getting >frustrated in having to try and reboot the program 4 or 5 times before I can >get it to work. Check the memory and processor on your machine. It may not meet the requirements. Also check to see that the MIE CD is in your CD drive, and that your CD drive is working properly. Your best bet is to e-mail custserv@wizards.com. ----- [Charles Bienvenue, asking about converted mana costs] >I don't understand very perfectly the meaning of converted mana It means that you add up the numbers in the top right corner of the card, with each coloured mana symbol counting as 1. >can a Unearth: Black Knight? Mana cost: {B}{B}. Converted Mana cost: 2. Yes. Sengir Vampire? Mana cost: {3}{B}{B}. Converted Mana cost: 5. No. Baron Sengir? Mana cost: {5}{B}{B}{B}. Converted Mana cost: 8. No. Nightmare? Mana cost: {5}{B}. Converted Mana cost: 6. No. >I want explaination for the card Defensive formation because i don't understand >that card ? Basically, it does exactly what it says on the card. You get to choose how creatures the attacking player controls, exactly as you would get to choose if you actually were the attacking player (only useful if an opponent has something with Trample, or you're blocking with more than one creature). You can never do anything that the attacking player couldn't do (such as choosing to have a creature deal no damage). ----- [Joe Zeff, asking about the Masques Depletion lands] >The new depletion lands in Mercadian must be sacrificed if there are no >depletion counters on them. However, the way the requirment is phrased, it >looks like you can respond to the sacrifice and maybe save the land. You cannot do this. The land is sacrificed as the mana ability resolves. >On Peat Bog, the important line is, "If there are no depletion counters >on Peat Bog, sacrifice it." The others have the equivalent phrasing. >As this is not a cost, you declare that you're sacing it, and the sac >occurs on resolution. That's correct. However, note that this is part of a mana ability, so announcement and resolution are effectively the same time. ----- [Charles Bienvenue, asking about tapped creatures] >My friend have a Red creature deck with Granit Gargoyle. During my turn i >tapped the granit gargoyle with my puppet string and i do a Inferno to get rid >of it but he said he can boost the Granit toughness !!! I said he cannot because >the granit is tapped... The Gargoyle doesn't have any abilities which require it to tap as an activation cost. So, there's no reason that he cannot use its ability to keep it alive (if he has the 5 mana necessary). ----- [Stephen Chace, asking about regeneration] >1) Played my son today; he had a green beatdown deck and i had a >blue/white Rebel/Spellshaper. I used Overtaker (has Ray of Command >ability) to take control of his Uktabi Wildcats (Power and Toughness = >number of forests you control; G and sac a forest to regenerate). >Since control no forests, UW dies as soon as it comes under my >control. My son's question: Can i regenerate it? No. You don't ever get a chance to play its regeneration ability. And, even if your son had played its regeneration ability before you gained control of it, it would not regenerate, as death from 0 or less toughness cannot be regenerated from. >If he created the regeneration shield in response to my targeting it, >would it work on the state-based effect that sent it to the graveyard? > >Since he's only 7, i let him (house rule #34 :-) Well, it's technically not correct, but it was clever of him to think it up. MTG-L Digest - 6 Feb 2000 to 7 Feb 2000 (#2000-40) ** Abeyance does _not_ under _any_ circumstances counter _any_ spells or abilities _ever_. It doesn't affect spells and abilities played before it resolves at all. ----- [Beta, asking about Phyrexian Negator] >There appeared a problem with Phyrexian Negator and a 5/2 first striker. > >The Negator was enchanted with Spinal Graft and was blocked by the 5/2 >guy. Now PN is 8/8, but I was enforced to sacrifice the Spinal Graft due >to the sac effect the Negator has. Remember the blocker has first >strike, so his damage will come earlier than the Negator's. > >My question is: Will the blocker survive? Yes, it will live. The Negator will die to the first strike damage, as it will be 5/5 with 5 damage on it at some point. ----- [Przemyslaw Kozlowski, asking about Lacoliths] >Player A attacks with a Lacolith Grunt. Player B blocks it and the Lacolith >ability triggers. Player A responds to this ability by activating Puffer >Extract and pumping the Grunt's power by 4. He chooses for the Grunt to do >damage to another creature with its ability. How much damage does the >Grunt do? 6 damage. Unlike combat damage, the amount of damage done by the Grunt's ability is not set when the ability goes onto the Stack. It's checked on resolution. >What would happen if the Grunt was killed in response to >its ability by a Shock? It would deal 2 damage, as that was the last known value of its Power. >Would this be different if he was killed by Maggot Therapy (+2/-2)? Yes. The ability would deal 4 damage. Now that's a neat trick. ----- [William York, asking some questions] >(1) What happens in the case of Insubordination (player takes 2 damage each >turn enchanted creature doesn't attack) vs. a wall creature? Does it matter >that walls can't attack? No, it doesn't matter (other than the fact that the player will take 2 damage every turn). >(2) Suppose I have Rancor on a creature and my opponent attacks me with an >Order of Yawgmoth enchanted with a Sigil of Sleep and he puts their >abilities >on the stack so that he returns my Rancored creature to my hand and then >forces me to discard a card. When does the Rancor return to my hand? Would I >get it back in time to be able to choose to discard the Rancor from my hand? Yes, you would, because the Rancor's triggered ability will go onto the Stack after the Sigil's resolves (before the Order's resolves). >(3) Suppose I have Engineered Plague (vs. Mercenaries) in play and my >opponent >has a Spidersilk Armor in play. Then my opponent brings in a Misshapen Fiend >(a 1/1 mercenary). What happens to the Fiend? Does it die or is it a 0/1 >creature? It's a 0/1 creature. Apply power/toughness changing effects in the order that they resolve. >(4) For the Chameleon Spirit, do lands have a color? So, if the player >chooses "black", do swamps contribute to the CS's power and toughness? No, lands do not have a colour. >(5) Again with the Chameleon Spirit. Suppose that the CS's owner chose >"black" and his opponent has 4 black permanents in play (so the CS is a 4/4 >creature). Then the player attacks with the CS and his opponent blocks him >with some generic 3/3 black creature. The black creature dies and the CS >takes 3 damage. Now, what happens to the CS? Does it die now too since there >are only 3 black permanents in play now? If it does die, when does it die? That's correct - it will die, because it is a 3/3 with 3 damage on it. It dies just after the 3/3 black creature dies (but only just after). 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 -