Rules Tip of the Day: All attacking creatures are declared at a single time. The same is true of blocking creatures. You can not declare some creature as attacking or blocking, then play spells or abilities that put a creature or token into play, and then attack or block with these new creatures.
Q: I have a Dovescape in play. How many tokens will be put into play if I play a Convoked Scatter the Seeds, tapping two creatures to pay the cost?
A: Five. It does not matter how you play Scatter the Seeds; the converted mana cost will remain the same. When Dovescape's ability resolves, you will put five Bird tokens into play.
Q: I have a Plague Boiler with two plague counters in play. At the beginning of my upkeep, the first ability of Plague Boiler triggers, and I put the third plague counter on it. Then the third ability of Plague Boiler triggers. In response to the third ability, my opponent plays Voidslime, countering the Plague Boiler's ability. Since its third ability is countered, will Plague Boiler stay in play?
A: For a short time, yes. When that triggered ability is countered, the entire ability is countered, so you will not sacrifice the Boiler. However, after this ability leaves the stack, Plague Boiler will still have three counters on it. Because of this, the triggered ability will then trigger again. When it resolves, you will have to sacrifice the Boiler, and all non-land permanents will be destroyed.
Q: Can I sacrifice nothing to Sanguine Praetor, and destroy creatures (and creature tokens) that have a converted mana cost of zero?
A: No. In order to activate that ability, you must actually sacrifice a creature. Sacrificing nothing is not the same as sacrificing a creature with a converted mana cost of zero. In order to do what you want, you need to sacrifice a creature with a converted mana cost of zero.
Q: If you use the mana produce by Boseiju, Who Shelters All to activate Initiates of the Ebon Hand, Farrelite Priest or Bog Initiate, and use that mana to cast a spell, can the spell still be countered?
A: Yes, the spell you play with the mana generated by those creature abilities can be countered. In these situations, you are spending the mana from Bosejiu's ability to activate another mana ability. The mana generated by these secondary mana abilities will not have the quality associated with the mana generated by Bosejiu. You won't get the uncounterability effect by washing this mana though another ability.
Q: If an Aphetto Runecaster is turned face down somehow, and then turned face up (like with Illusionary Mask, or a complicated use of Cytoshape, Backslide, and Ixidor, Reality Sculptor), does his ability trigger when it is turned face up?
A: Yes. The Runecaster's ability will trigger when it turns face up.
Q: If a player has Mindmoil in play and casts Capsize with Buyback, does Capsize go to their hand or to the bottom of their library?
A: It will go back to their hand. When Capsize is played Mindmoil's ability will trigger. When Mindmoil's ability resolves the Capsize will be on the stack, so it won't go to bottom of your library. Later, when Capsize resolves it will be returned to its owner's hand.
Q: My opponent attacked with a Trained Armadon enchanted with Fists of Ironwood, and I declared my Zephyr Spirit as its blocker. Does my Zephyr Spirit return to my hand before it absorbs Trained Armadon's damage or does it return before, leaving me to take the trample damage.
A: Zephyr Spirit's ability triggers when it becomes a blocking creature, so it resolves before the combat damage step. This means that your opponent can choose to assign all damage from the attacking Armodon to you, as the Spirit is not in play when combat damage is assigned.
Q: If I am forced to sacrifice a Swamp, can I sacrifice a Snow-Covered Swamp instead?
A: Yes, Snow-Covered Swamps have the subtype Swamp and can be sacrificed when paying a cost or when an effect instructs you to sacrifice a Swamp.
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