Rules Tip of the Day: Effects that have you draw multiple cards should be treated as reading 'Draw a card' repeatedly. For example 'Draw 3 cards' is treated as 'Draw a card, draw a card, draw a card.' This is because the act of drawing a card in Magic is defined as taking a single card from the top of a library and putting it into your hand.

Q: When Orzhov Pontiff comes into play, it sets up a trigger for its comes-into-play effect. Do I choose which effect is triggered and give my opponent an opportunity to respond to my choice? Or does the opponent need to respond to the comes-into-play effect, allowing me to choose?

A: Orzhov Pontiff's ability is modal, and you choose the mode of all modal spells and abilities when they go on the stack. This means that you choose at the time when the ability goes on the stack, and your opponent can respond by playing other spells and abilities after this choice is made.

Q: If I have Debtors' Knell in play and bring back a creature with Echo, do I have to pay the Echo cost?

A: Yes, the Echo ability will trigger at the beginning of any upkeep in which you have not controlled the creature since the beginning of your last upkeep. However, in some cases it might be beneficial to have this Echo creature go to the graveyard so you can bring it back with Debtors' Knell again. Keep in mind that you can't sacrifice a creature by not paying its Echo cost and also bring it back into play that same turn with Debtors' Knell's ability, as you have to target a creature in your graveyard when Debtors' Knell's ability goes on the stack at the beginning of your upkeep.

Q: If one player controls a Honden of Night's Reach, and a second player controls a Bottled Cloister, does the player controlling the Cloister discard on the upkeep of the Honden, or is his hand removed from the game before he must discard?

A: At the beginning of the upkeep of the Honden player both of these abilities will trigger. When multiple abilities trigger at the same time they go on the stack in APNAP (Active Player, Non-Active Player) order. This means that those controlled by the active player go on the stack in whatever order he wants, followed by those controlled by the non-active player in whatever order he wants. Then these triggered abilities will resolve in LIFO (Last In, First Out) order. In other words, the last item added to the stack will resolve first. This means that the controller of the Cloister will remove his hand from the game first and will not have to discard a card to the Honden's ability.

Q: If I had a Djinn Illuminatus in play and then played Commune with Nature, paying G and then an additional GGGGG to replicate it five times, would I be able to search through twenty-five of my cards, taking a creature out of every five cards?

A: Yes, each individual Commune with Nature will resolve separately. When each resolves, you will look at the top five cards of your library; choose one creature card; reveal it; and put the non-chosen cards on the bottom of your library. As five copies of Commune with Nature are resolving, you will eventually look at the top 25 cards of your library.

Q: If I have out Joiner Adept and Heartbeat of Spring, do my lands tap for two of any one color, or can I tap them for two mana of different colors?

A: Each of your lands will tap for two mana of one color. Heartbeat of Spring's ability adds mana to your mana pool that is the same as the mana generated by the land.

Q: Regarding Probe, when the kicker cost is payed, how many targets does Probe have? If I assume that Probe has only one target, is it possible to play Rebound and change the target back to the spell-caster of Probe?

A: Probe with the kicker cost paid has just one target: the player you want to discard two cards. You can change the target of Probe so it targets the player that played it. If you do, that player will end up drawing three cards and discarding four.

Q: Does a colorless spell count toward Mana Maze's ability. Say you cast a Brainstorm, then cast a Mox Pearl. Would you then be able to play another blue spell?

A: Yes. The last spell played in this example is colorless, so no spell you play will be able to share a color with this spell and therefore any spell can be played at this point.

Q: For the longest time I've wondered how Gravity Sphere and Moat interact. I always thought that Gravity Sphere would ignore flying and then Moat would see a creature without flying and forbid it from attacking.

A: You are correct. Barring any other effects, no creature will be able to attack. However, if a creature were to gain flying by due to a effect that is generated after Gravity Sphere came into play, then it would be able to attack.