Rules Tip of the Day: In Magic, you always apply each individual effect separately. Sometime this leads to redundancy (if, for example, a creature has Flying twice), sometimes not (if a creature has the same triggered ability twice.).

Q: My opponent has Bottled Cloister in play and five cards that have been removed from the game by it. If I play Confiscate on it, what happens to these cards? Do they go to my hand? Do they stay removed from the game?

A: At the beginning of your next upkeep, the ability of Bottle Cloister that returns the removed cards to play will trigger. This text of this ability tells you to return these removed card to your hand. However, whenever an effect would put cards you do not own into your hand, they are put into their owner's hand instead. So these cards will end up back in your opponent's hand at the beginning of your next upkeep.

Q: I have Tidewater Minion with Peregrine Mask attached to it. How many times must I activate the "4: Tidewater Minion loses defender until end of turn" to be able to attack?

A: Just once. When an effect states that a permanent loses an ability, it will lose all copies of that ability.

Q: I play and resolve Flaring Pain, which will make it so damage can not be prevented until the end of the turn. Then I play Shock targeting my opponent's 1/1 Phytohydra. Will the Phytohydra receive lethal damage and go to the graveyard?

A: No. Phytohydra's ability does not create a prevention effect, it creates a replacement effect. When damage would be dealt to the Phytohydra, instead it is not, and it gets +1/+1 counters. While the end result is similar to what a prevention effect would do, it is not one, and therefore Flaring Pain will not prevent this effect from negating the damage from this Shock.

Q: My wife and I are having a rules dispute about Rally the Righteous. Can I target an untapped creature with it?

A: Yes. The word "untap" in the text of Rally the Righteous is an instruction to untap this targeted creature when the spell resolves. It is not a targeting restriction. If this targeted creature is untapped when Rally the Righteous resolves, then that part of the effect will be ignored. However, all creatures that share a color with it will become untapped and all of these creatures will get +2/+0.

Q: Does the Legendary permanent rule cause creatures to be sacrificed? Specifically, if I have one Savra, Queen of the Golgari in play, and I play another, will they be sacrificed when the second comes into play? Will their abilities trigger?

A: No. When two or more legendary permanents with the same name are in play at the same time, they are just put into their owner's graveyards. They are not sacrificed, so Savra's abilities will not trigger.

Q: My opponent plays Incite Hysteria and targets a Green creature I control. After he declares attacking creatures, I play Scatter the Seeds. Can I block with these Green token creatures? They weren't in play when Incite Hysteria resolved; are they affected?

A: These Green token creatures will be able to block this turn. Incite hysteria has received errata, so that how it works is functionally different from the printed version of the card. Its official Oracle text reads: "Radiance - Until end of turn, target creature and each other creature that shares a color with it gain "This creature can't block." Because of this change, Incite Hysteria gives an ability to appropriate creatures in play, and it will not affect creatures that come into play after it resolves.

Q: With Tunnel Vision, if the named card is not in the targeted player's deck, will that deck the opponent?

A: No. Tunnel Vision specifically states that you remove cards from the game only if the named card is revealed. If it is not, then all you do is shuffle the library of the targeted player.

Q: I have Enduring Renewal and Samurai of the Pale Curtain in play. If one of my creatures gets killed while the Samurai is in play, does that creature get removed from the game or back to my hand?

A: Both Enduring Renewal and Samurai of the Pale Curtain create replacement effects. Each time a creature would go to the graveyard, the controller of that creature gets to choose which replacement effect to apply first. In other words, this player will be able to choose whether it is returned to its owner's hand or if it is removed from the game.