Rules Tip of the Day: The controller of a leaves-play triggered ability is the person who controlled the source of the ability when it left play.
Q: I have Viridian Joiner equipped with Sword of the Paruns. When I tap the Joiner how much mana would that make?
A: Mana abilities may not use the stack, but they are played and resolve, just like those that do use the stack. This means that when you use the Joiner's ability, you announce it, and then pay the cost of tapping it. Then, when this ability resolves, the Joiner is tapped, so you will add GGG to your mana pool.
Q: I have a Halcyon Glaze in play, enchanted by my opponent's Faith's Fetters and a Cloudstone Curio. When I play a creature spell, can I return the Glaze to my hand, so I can get rid of the Fetters and replay the Glaze? How do I stack these abilities to do so?
A: Yes, you can do what you want, and there is no stack trickery involved. Halycon Glaze's ability triggers when you play a creature spell; the ability of Cloudstone Curio triggers when a non-artifact comes into play. As these two abilities trigger at two different times, you can't determine the order that they resolve.
When you play a creature spell, the Glaze's ability will trigger. This ability will resolve before the creature spell does. When the creature enters play and triggers the Curio's ability, you can target the Glaze, as it is now a creature.
Q: If I have Ivory Mask in play, can my opponent use Rakdos Augermage's ability against me?
A: No. Rakdos Augermage's ability targets an opponent. If you are untargetable, your opponent cannot use this ability on you.
Q: How does Rain of Gore work with Form of the Dragon? Does Form gain life, or just replace your life total with five life?
A: If your life total is below five, then Form of the Dragon's ability is treated as life gain, as your life total is increasing. In other words, if just before Form of the Dragon's end-of-turn triggered ability resolves, you have a life total of two, you will end up losing three life, instead of having your life total go to five.
Q: I was playing a casual game with a friend when I played the Forecast ability of Pride of Clouds and—in response—my friend played Stifle. I get that this should prevent the Pride of Clouds from creating a Bird token, but my friend says that the Pride is considered countered and would leave my hand. I argued that the ability was countered but the spell was never played, so it should stay in my hand. Who is right here?
A: You are correct. The Pride of the Clouds card never left your hand, as you were just playing the Forecast ability of the card. The ability may be countered, but the Pride of the Clouds card will remain in your hand.
Q: I cast Maga, Traitor to Mortals for twenty, and my opponent responds by playing Parallectric Feedback on it. Is this game a tie, or does he win? I know the stack operates on a first-in, last-out basis, but I am not sure if state-based effects will be checked upon announcement of the feedback, or if they will check upon resolution of the spell.
A: Assuming that your life total is less then twenty-three, then you will lose the game; it will not be a draw. State-based effects are checked any time a player would receive priority. After a spell or ability resolves, the active player would receive priority, so SBEs will be checked after the Feedback resolves. At this point, your life total will be below zero and you will lose the game. This will be before the Maga spell resolves, and well before Maga's triggered ability causes your opponent to lose life.
Q: I have Pandemonium in play. I play Hunted Horror, and then play Brand. Can I stack the effects such I can do thirteen points of damage to my opponent?
A: No, at most you'll be able to deal seven points of damage to a single target, and your opponent will be able to deal three damage to two different targets or six to one target. It does not matter who controls the Centaur tokens when the Pandemonium triggered ability resolves; your opponent controlled them when they came into play, and he will get to choose the targets for these triggered abilities.
Q: If there are two Impulsive Maneuvers in play, and I win one flip, and lose the other, does the attacking creature do any damage?
A: No, it will not. If you lose either of the flips, then that attacking creature will not deal any damage. With two copies of Impulsive Maneuvers in play, an attacking creature will either deal damage equal to four times its power, or it will not deal any at all.
Q: I have Zur's Weirding in play, and I play another. Do the Weirdings' "pay two life" option stack, so you would have to pay four life to make them discard?
A: No, having two Zur's Weirding's in play is redundant. Each Zur's Weirding's static ability creates a replacement effect that is applied when a player would draw a card. If, when a card would be drawn and the first replacement effect is applied, no player chooses to pay two life, then you apply the effect from the second and repeat the process, where each player is given the option of paying two life. So a player can choose to pay just two life to have any revealed card put into its owner's graveyard instead of being drawn.
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