Rules Tip of the Day: In the draw step, after the normal draw has occurred, each player will receive priority. You can use a spell or ability to cause your opponent to discard at this time.

Q: I have a table full of Elves and I play Surge of Zeal to give them all haste. Does Surge last until the end of turn, effecting all creatures that come into play, or does it give a one-time benefit to only the creatures that were in play at the time the spell was cast?

A: Only those creatures that were in play when Surge of Zeal resolves will receive haste. Creatures that come into play after it resolves will not get haste.

Q: I have Toshiro Umezawa in play with Aluren out. Aluren allows me to play creatures as instants, and Toshiro lets me play instants from my graveyard. If I kill one of my opponent's creatures, can I play a creature card with casting cost 3 or less from my graveyard without paying its casting cost?

A: No. While you can play creature cards with the converted mana cost of 3 or less when you can play an instant, that does not make them instants. You will only be able to play actual instant card from your graveyard with Toshiro's ability.

Q: If I play Azusa, Lost but Seeking. She comes into play, and my opponent responds by playing Last Gasp on her. Can I play lands "in response" since I have priority and playing lands doesn't use the stack (as far as I understand)? Can I play two more lands in my hand before she dies?

A: First of all, after Azusa comes into play, you will gain priority, as you are the active player. Your opponent will not be able to play Last Gasp until after you pass priority to him. Playing a land does not use the stack and cannot be responded to. Your opponent cannot respond to your playing a land by destroying Azusa. So after Azusa comes into play, you can choose to play these two extra lands before your opponent can do anything.

If you do pass priority and your opponent played Last Gasp first, then you cannot respond by playing lands, as you can only play lands during one of the main phases of your turn when the stack is empty.

Q: My opponent plays Thought Prison and removes a blue card from my hand. On my turn I Transmute a Muddle the Mixture into Umezawa's Jitte. Does Transmuting trigger the Prison's effect, causing me to lose two life?

A: No. Playing a Transmute ability is not playing a spell. Transmuting this Muddle the Mixture will not trigger Thought Prison's ability.

Q: In a multiplayer game, I had Goblin Piledriver and two other Goblins in play. I wanted to attack one player with the two Goblins, an the other one with the Piledriver. My question: Does the Piledriver get the power boost and become a 5/2, or is he still 1/2?

A: The Piledriver will get +4/+0. It does not matter that these other Goblins are attacking a different player. All that matters is that they are attacking at the same time as the Piledriver.

Q: I have Equipose in play; do the phased out permanents come into play on my next turn, or in my opponent's turn?

A: They will phase back into play at the beginning of their controller's next untap step. Phased out cards always come back into play at the beginning of their controller's untap step, it doesn't matter when they phased out.

Q: Does Fatespinner's effect work if there is no upkeep step? If, for example, an Eon Hub is in play? In such case, are they free from the effects of Fatespinner, or is it the case that, as a friend of mine maintains, all three phases skipped?

A: If there is no upkeep step, then Fatespinner's ability cannot trigger, and the opponents of Fatespinner's controller will not have to skip any steps or phases.

Q: What happens to your artifact lands when you play a Humility and then March of the Machines?

A: Your artifact lands will remain in play as 1/1 creatures. If Humility were not in play, they would be 0/0 creatures and go to the graveyard, but the Humility makes them 1/1s, so they stay in play.

Q: I have Endless Whispers and Spawning Pit in play. I play Leveler, remove my library from the game, and sac Leveler to my Spawning Pit. I then choose a target to recieve my Leveler at the end of my turn, bringing Leveler into play on their side and removing their library. This player loses due to Leveler's ability at their next draw step. When that player loses, they choose where to send Leveler next, and essentially, every player loses except me, because my turn is last. Is this correct?

A: No, when this player loses the game, the Leveler will leave the game and not go to a graveyard. Because of this Endless Whisper's ability will not trigger.