Rules Tip of the Day: It is possible to play spells and abilities in the cleanup step, under certain unusual circumstances. The two situations when this is possible are: when a state-based effect does something in the cleanup step, or when a triggered ability is waiting to go on the stack at this point.

Q: Is Izzet Guildmage plus Lava Spike with Desperate Ritual spliced on an extraordinarily large combo, or is the timing wrong on it?

A: That works, as long as you have an additional 2R to spend after you play this spell. If you do, then the copy will resolve and give you three Red mana, which you can use to activate the Guildmage's ability again and make another copy of the original spell.

Q: I have Nightscape Familiar or Emerald Medaillon in play. Does the Replicate cost for Mimeofracture cost 3?.

A: Nightscape Familiar and Sapphire Medallion lower the total cost to play a spell by one. When you play a Replicate spell, you add the mana cost, and the cost for each time you replicate and then subtract one. If you choose to play Mimeofacture with either the Familiar or Medallion in play, and you pay the Replicate cost once, the total cost of this spell will be 5UU. If you choose to Replicate twice, the cost will be 8UUU.

Q: Can I play Withstand even if there is no damage to prevent, in order to draw a card?

A: Yes, but you still need to target a creature or player, so it is possible that Withstand will become countered on resolution if this target becomes illegal. If so, then you won't draw a card.

Q: I have a Forest, a Swamp and an artifact in play. If I play Tin Street Hooligan using the mana from those two lands, do I have to destroy my artifact?

A: Yes. The ability of Tin Street Hooligan is not optional. If you spent Green mana on this spell, then its coming into play ability will trigger. If there is an artifact in play, then you will have to target it with this ability.

Q: I have a 1/1 creature in my graveyard and it is now the beginning of my turn. Dawn of the Dead is in play, as well as Gleancrawler. I use the Dawn of the Dead's ability to revive the 1/1 creature, and I attack with it. It gets blocked, and dies. I believe it goes to the graveyard, as Dawn of the Dead does not state that if the creature is destroyed it is directly removed from the game. At the end of my turn, is the 1/1 creature removed from the game because of Dawn of the Dead, or will it come back to my hand because of Gleancrawler?

A: It will be returned to your hand by Gleancrawler's ability. The effect from Dawn of the Dead will only remove this creature card from the game if it is still in play at the end of turn, when this delayed triggered ability resolves.

Q: I have an Upwelling in play. My opponent and I have both accumulated a ridiculous amount of mana. My opponent has Mindslaver in play, which he activates at the end of my turn. On his turn, he destroys the Upwelling. Does he avoid taking mana burn, due to Mindslaver?

A: Yes. It is perfectly legal for a player to target himself with Mindslaver. Normally this does not do anything useful. But in this instance, it will prevent this player from receiving mana burn during this turn. However, you will receive mana burn at the end of the next phase.

Q: I play Volrath's Shapeshifter, with Callous Oppressor as the top card in the graveyard. Next turn, I use the Volrath's Shapeshifter's ability (from Callous Oppressor) to gain control of a creature. Within the turn, another creature is placed into my graveyard, changing the text on Volrath's Shapeshifter again. Does the creature return to it's owners control in any situation?

A: You won't lose control of this stolen creature, as least not right away. The only way for the control effect to end is if the Shapeshifter is untapped, as the effect from when the Shapeshifter was an Oppressor will still be applied. Keep in mind that as this Shapeshifter is not the Oppressor any longer, it does not have the ability that allows you to not untap it during your untap step.

Q: Extract says that you search target player's library for a card, and remove that card from the game. Does this mean that I must name the card first and then search for it, or can I just search through the library and choose one to remove from the game?

A: You do not have to name a card before searching. When Extract resolves, you search for and remove a card. If you had to name a card first, then the ability would instruct you to name a card and then search for a copy of that card.

Q: I was playing a Two-Headed Giant match, and my left head played and resolved a Beacon of Tomorrows. Do I get to play another turn too, or will the left head play alone?

A: You and your teammate share all turns, not just the normal ones. So you will also participate in this extra turn.