Rules Tip of the Day: Permanents that are sacrificed cannot be regenerated. Regeneration creates a replacement effect that changes what would happen when a permanent would be destroyed. When a permanent is sacrificed it is not destroyed, so a regeneration shield has nothing to replace.

Q: I have a Kagemaro, First to Suffer in play. My opponent plays a Kagemaro and that puts him at zero cards in hand. Will both Kagemaro's go to the graveyard due to the legendary rule? Or will the Kagemaro coming into play with zero toughness die before checking the legendary rule? How does this work? This question came up after a friend of mine was playing MTGO and this scenario occurred. With MTGO the Kagemaro died before checking the legendary rule. We all thought that both should have been destroyed. Was MTGO correct?

A: Both will go to the graveyard. It does not matter that this second Kagemaro enters play as a 0/0 creature, all state-based effects are checked at the same time. His Kagemaro may go to the graveyard for two reasons, but that will not prevent yours from going there as well. MTGO definitely handled this incorrectly and it looks like you have found a bug that needs to be reported.

Q: Can I play Pithing Needle naming Form of the Dragon and actually have it do something? I know I can't prevent the "no flyers" bit but can I at least prevent the damage and life restoration?

A: Form of the Dragon does not have any activated abilities; it has two triggered abilities and one static ability. Because of this, naming Form of the Dragon as Pithing Needle comes into play will not impact the game at all.

Q: When I resolve Gifts Ungiven I choose a copy of Gaea's Blessing as one of the four differently named cards. If my opponent chooses that as one of the two card that goes to my graveyard, will I shuffle my graveyard back into my library?

A: Yes. The four cards that are revealed when Gaea's Blessing resolves are technically still in your library until they either go to your hand or your graveyard. If Gaea's Blessing is one of the chosen cards it will go from your library to your graveyard, so its ability will trigger.

Q: My opponent attacks with Samurai of the Pale Curtain while I am at 2 life. I have three cards in my hand and chose to block with my Kagemaro, First to Suffer instead of just sacrificing him and killing the Samurai. We continue and place damage on the stack, and then he plays Shining Shoal targeting me and choosing to redirect the damage that Kagemaro would deal to the Samurai. I then respond to this by sacrificing Kagemaro and kill these two creatures. He argues that the damage was stacked and that I will be dealt the damage regardless, but I disagree and say that the Samurai is not dealt any damage due to it not being in play, so the Shoal is countered. Who is right?

A: You are more correct. If the creature that would have been dealt combat damage is not in play, then the damage assigned to it will not be dealt. Because in this example all creatures in combat are not in play when combat damage would be dealt, no combat damage is dealt. If this damage is not dealt, then the replacement effect from Shining Shoal has nothing to be applied to. The Shoal won't be countered in this example, it will resolve as normal. However when combat damage would be dealt, there is nothing to redirect.

Q: If my opponent plays Stream of Consciousness on me, does he get to pick the cards that go from my graveyard to my library or do I get to pick?

A: He is the controller of the spell and he chooses all the targets of it, this includes the cards in your graveyard that get shuffled into your library.

Q: In a recent game one player played both Azami, Lady of Scrolls and another wizard in a single turn. Both creatures had summoning sickness. One player stated that since they have summoning sickness, the ability could not be played (neither the wizard nor the Azami would be able to be tapped) while the other player said that since the ability does not have the tap symbol, the ability would be able to be played. Can the ability be used to tap another wizard that has summoning sickness and can the ability be used on Azami herself the very turn she comes out?

A: As Azami's ability does not have the tap symbol, it can be played right away and you can tap a wizard that just came into play. This also means that you can tap Asami herself to activate this ability the turn that she comes into play.

Q: I am at 4 life and my opponent attacks me with a 4/4 creature. If I block with Kumano, Master Yamabushi, will the attacking 4/4 be removed from the game when combat damage is dealt?

A: Yes. It does not matter that Kumano is dealt lethal damage at the same time as this attacking 4/4. You will apply Kumano's replacement effect after combat damage is dealt and both of these permanents would go to the graveyard.

Q: Robert Vroman recently won the Chicago SCG Power 9 Tournament playing a deck featuring Uba Mask. Robert mentioned in a post about his deck that you can establish a lock by targeting the Uba Mask in play and one in your graveyard with Goblin Welder's ability after they have drawn for their turn before the first main phase. This way unless the card that they remove from the game is an instant they won't be able to play it at all. Does this play work as Robert describes - and more specifically, does the switch from one Uba mask to another (via welder) cause the removed card to be unplayable?

A: Yes, that works as he described. You are only allowed to play the cards that Uba Mask removes from a game that turn and as long as Uba Mask is in play. If another Uba Mask enters play it is a new and different Uba Mask with no connection the other Uba Mask that was in play.