Rules Tip of the Day: Gaining control of a permanent does not grant you control of the enchantments or equipment attached to it.
One additional note: Ask the Judge columns this week will be a bit shorter than usual. I've been working side events at Pro Tour Charleston this weekend and all of Monday through Wednesday's articles were written a week ago, before I left. Due to the time crunch, the columns will be shorter.
Also, as I will be staying in Charleston a few extra days after the PT, I won't be able to answer questions as quickly as I normally do. Don't worry; I will get to your questions later this week.
Q: I control two Rain of Gore and my opponent plays Faith's Fetters. Will he lose eight life?
A: No. Having more than one Rain of Gore in play is not cumulative. When the life-gain triggered ability of Faith's Fetters resolves, the replacement effect from each Rain of Gore will try to change what happens. After you apply the first replacement effect from one Rain of Gore, there is no life gain involved in this event anymore, so the second replacement effect will not do anything.
Q: If I use Isochron Scepter and Djinn Illuminatus, can I Replicate the instant imprinted on Scepter?
A: Yes, that works. Isochron Scepter makes a copy of the imprinted card, but you still play the copy. Djinn Illuminatus' ability applies to all instants and sorceries you play, even those that are copies. When Isochron Scepter's ability resolves and you choose to play the copy of the imprinted card, you can pay the mana cost of the card to make Replicate copies.
Q: There is a Dovescape in play and I want to get a bunch of Bird tokens, so I play Heat Ray and target a creature controlled by my opponent. He responds by giving this creature protection from Red with his Mother of Runes. He says that the Heat Ray is countered by the protection ability, and I will not get the Bird tokens. Is this right?
A: No. First of all, a spell or ability that is countered due to the fact that all of its targets are illegal is not actually countered until the spell begins to resolve. However, before the Heat Ray goes to resolve, the triggered ability of Dovescape will counter the Heat Ray and put Bird tokens into play. And even if your opponent does manage to counter the Heat Ray before Dovescape's ability counters it, you would still get the token creatures. This is because Dovescape's ability does not care whether it actually counters the spell that triggered it. When Dovescape's ability resolves, the appropriate number of token creature will be put into play, even if the ability does not counter the spell.
Q: If I use Chord of Calling to fetch a Plaxmanta, will the Plaxmanta go to the graveyard or not? The card states that if no green mana was paid to play it, it will go to the graveyard, but Chord of Calling puts it into play, so I didn't actually play it.
A: You will have to sacrifice the Plaxmanta. Both of Plaxmanta's comes-into-play abilities will trigger; it does not matter that you did not play it. And as you did not play the Plaxmanta at all, there is no way you could have spent green mana on it. It does not matter that Chord of Calling is a green spell and that you most likely spent green mana when playing it.
Q: When a Minotaur Illusionist is equipped with Loxodon Warhammer, and uses his sacrifice ability to deal damage to a creature, does the effect deal three or six damage, and does its controller gain life for it?
A: When this ability resolves, it will deal six damage, as the power of the Minotaur was six when it was last in play. And when the ability resolves the Minotaur is not equipped, as it left play a while ago. Because of this, the ability granted by the Warhammer will not exist any more and cannot trigger, so its controller will not gain any life.
Q: I'm playing Two-Headed Giant, and I attack with Xantid Swarm. Does the "can't play spells this turn" triggered ability apply to both my opponents ?
A: Yes. In Two-Headed Giant, you do not attack a single player; you attack a team. So the defending player in Xantid Swarm's ability refers to both players on the opposing team. Once Xantid Swarm's ability has resolved, neither player on the opposing team will be able to play spells or abilities for the remainder of the turn.
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