Rules Tip of the Day: Cards that are removed from the game will remain removed from the game, unless the effect that removed them provides some method for them to be returned to play, or these cards are retrieved by a Ring of Ma' Ruf or a relevant Wish from Judgment.

Q: I control two Elder Pine of Jukai. When I play an Arcane spell, how many cards do I reveal?

A: You will end up revealing three cards twice, so you'll reveal a total of six cards and put all land cards in those six cards into your hand.

Q: My opponent has Throatslitter in play, with Shuriken attached to it. I have White Knight. Can he tap the Throatslitter and use the Shuriken's ability to deal two damage to the Knight? It seems as though the way that Shuriken is worded, that the creature doesn't target the Knight, the Shuriken itself does, making the White Knight a valid target.

A: No, it is not a legal target. While the Shuriiken is the source of damage, Shuriken gives the activated ability to the equipped creature, so the source of the ability is the equipped creature, not the Shuriken. This means that creatures with protection from a quality of the equipped creature (like the White Knight here) cannot be targeted by Shuriken's ability.

Q: Konda's Banner says "Konda's Banner can be attached only to a legendary creature." If you went to equip a non-legendary creature with it would the equip go on the stack and then be "stifled" by Konda's Banner ability or can it not even be activated?

A: The restriction on what can be equipped by Konda's Banner is not a targeting restriction of the equip ability. This means that you can target a non-Legendary creature with Konda's Banner's equip ability. This ability will not become countered or "stifled", but when it resolves, nothing will happen, as the Banner cannot become attached to this creature.

Q: I have Platinum Angel in play. I play Beacon of Unrest to put Phage the Untouchable in play from the graveyard. In response, my opponent plays Disenchant, killing my Angel, and tells me that I lose the game because I revived Phage directly from the graveyard. I contested that, since Phage came into play while the Angel was still in play.

A: Phage's ability will trigger and go on the stack when you bring it into play via Beacon of Unrest. It does not matter that you control Platinum Angel at that point, the ability will still trigger. From the description, your opponent played the Disenchant after this ability had triggered and before it had resolved. If you continued to control the Platinum Angel when Phage's triggered ability resolved, then you would not lose the game. But because the Angel was not in play at that point, you will lose the game.

Q: If I have Desecration Elemental in play and I play Grab the Reins, will I be able to sacrifice the Elemental to deal his power in damage, or will I have to sacrifice it because to its own ability?

A: Desecration Elemental's ability triggers when you play Grab The Reins, or any other spell, and it goes on the stack on top of the Grab the Reins. Because it is the top object on the stack, it will resolve first. This means that you will have to sacrifice a creature before the Grab the Reins resolves. If the Desecration Elemental is the only creature you control then you will have to sacrifice it to its own ability and will not be able to sacrifice it when Grab the Reins resolves.

Q: In a recent game, I played first, and played Flooded Strand and Lotus Petal and passed the turn. My opponent went nuts with two Dark Rituals and Goblin Charbelcher, finishing up with Lion's Eye Diamond. At this point, I want him to activate the Diamond because I believe that I can respond to the Diamond's activated ability by breaking my Fetchland (finding a Plains or Island) and casting Abeyance, targeting him to prevent him from activating the Belcher. Is this correct or should I have Abeyanced in response to the second Ritual?

A: What you want to do is not possible. While Lion's Eye Diamond's ability does have a restriction on when the ability can be used, it is still a mana ability and it does not use the stack. As you pointed out, you should have played Abeyance earlier in the turn.

Q: If a player controls Uba Mask and activates Bazaar of Baghdad to draw two cards, the draw effect is replaced by the Uba Mask. Since the draw never happened, is the player still required to discard three cards?

A: Discarding cards when the second half Bazaar of Baghdad's ability resolves is not contingent on actually drawing cards when the first part resolved. This means that even if one of both of these draws are replaced by some effect, you will still have to discard three cards.

Q: When I cast Gerrard's Command, may I target an untapped creature?

A: Yes. The only targeting restriction is that you target a creature. The word "untap" is an instruction to untap this targeted creature when Gerrard's Command resolves. if you could only target a tapped creature it would read, "Untap target tapped creature..."