Rules Tip of the Day: Unless specified, an effect that removes a card from the game will remove it face up.

Q: Three of my friends and I were in a multiplayer game when I cast Warp World. One of the creatures that came out of the deck of the player to my immediate left was Loxodon Gatekeeper. I was wondering whose artifacts, creatures and lands put into play from Warp World would come into play tapped. I thought that we should follow the order on the card in turn order.

A: Loxodon Gatekeeper's ability is only applied once it is in play, and doesn't apply to enchantments, so there is little interaction here. All the non-enchantment permanents are put into play at the same time, so the Gatekeeper's ability cannot affect them. Turn order does not matter in this situation. It only matters when players have to make choices at the same time, not when they perform actions at the same time.

Q: I had a 1/1 flying Spirit token, a Trophy Hunter and a Twilight Drover in play. My opponent attacked with three creatures, one of them being Sunhome Enforcer. Could I block the Enforcer with the token, block the other creatures with Drover and Hunter, then shoot the token with the Hunter before combat damage is put on the stack, to make Hunter and Drover get a +1/+1 counter? Would the Enforcer be considered blocked? Will it deal damage, causing my opponent to gain life?

A: Yes, that is perfectly legal. If you destroy your token blocking creature, the Enforcer will still be blocked. Your opponent will not gain any life, because the Enforcer will not deal any damage, due to the fact that the creature blocking it is not in play and cannot receive damage.

Q: When should the ability of the Thundersong Trumpeter be used? I have a friend that uses the Trumpeter in this way; she waits for the declaration of blockers, then point at the creature blocking his most effective attacker and say, "OK, that creature can't block." She thinks this will make her attacking creature unblocked. I think that tapping the Trumpeter after declaration of blocker or attacker has no effect.

A: In order to prevent a creature from attacking or blocking, a player would need to resolve the ability of Thundersong Trumpeter before it is declared as an attacker or blocker. Your opponent cannot wait until after you have declared attackers or blockers and then remove one of these creature from combat with Thundersong Trumpeter's ability. Having said that, make sure that you give your opponent the opportunity to use this ability before you declare attackers or blockers, and that you do not rush ahead. If you do, then you need to back up the game to just prior to this declaration and give your opponent the opportunity to use this ability.

Q: I attack with Szadek, Lord of Secrets, and my opponent doesn't block. However, they do have a creature equipped with Pariah's Shield. What happens here? Does my opponent get milled? Does the equipped creature get damaged?

A: The defending player gets to choose. When the combat damage from this Szadek would be dealt, two replacement effects will try to affect what happens at thee same time. When this happens the affected player or controller of the affected permanent can choose to apply one first, and then apply the second if it is still applicable. So he can choose to have the damage redirected to the creature equipped by the Pariah's Shield first. If he does, then Szadek's ability will not be applied as this damage is not being dealt to a player, so no cards will be milled and Szadek will not get the counters.

Q: Player A casts Gaea's Blessing targeting player B. Who gets to choose which 3 cards from player B's graveyard get shuffled back to the library?

A: Gaea's Blessing targets a player and three cards in this targeted player's graveyard. Because these three cards are targeted, the controller of Gaea's Blessing—the person who played it—will choose these three cards.

Q: Can I find zero cards while resolving Gifts Ungiven? I think the answer is no, because Gifts for one is always possible with a library with at least one card.

A: Actually, you can search for and find zero cards when resolving Gifts Ungiven. You are only forced to find a card or cards when searching a public zone (such as the graveyard), or when there is not a restriction on what you can find. Gifts Ungiven has you search for differently named cards, and that qualifies as a restriction. While you are correct that you should be able to find at least one card in a library, even if all cards in it have the same name, you do not have to.

Q: I recently ran across someone who claimed that it was possible to set a Vesuvian Doppelganger copying Meddling Mage to "Island", and have it prevent Islands (or any other named basic land) from being played. The way it was supposed to work was this: Play Pithing Needle, naming anything you want. Play Meddling Mage, naming anything you want. Play March of the Machines, to animate the Needle. Next, play a Vesuvian Doppelganger, copying the Pithing Needle. Name Island—this won't prevent Islands from tapping for mana, although it does set the "named card" on the Doppelganger to Island. However, during the next turn, have the Doppelganger turn into a copy of the Meddling Mage that you've got in play. The nonland restriction would only apply to a CIP ability, and "named card"—in this case, Island—wouldn't be a copiable variable. You'd wind up with a "Meddling Mage" that was actually set to Island. My question is, quite obviously, does this work?

A: No, that does not work. While the actions performed are all legal, this will not prevent Islands from being played. When a permanent copies one permanent, and then another, it will use all choices previously made if applicable. When this Vesuvian Doppelganger came into play, you chose a card. This card could have been any card as it was copying a Pithing Needle, so you can choose Island. When this Doppleganger becomes a Meddling Mage it cannot use that information, as Meddling Mage's coming into play ability specifically states that you choose a nonland card. Therefore the choice that was made when the Doppelganger / Needle came into play is not applicable to the Doppelganger / Meddling Mage.