Rules Tip of the Day: You only discard down to your maximum hand size (usually seven) during the cleanup step of your turn. At any other time, you can have more cards in your hand.

Q: Dosan the Falling Leaf says that players can only play spells on their own turn, but the ruling says that triggered and activated abilities can still be played. Would the ability of Sunforger or Kaho, Minamo Historian still resolve?

A: Yes, these abilities will resolve if you play them during your opponent's turn. However, when these abilities resolve, you will not be able to play anything, due to the effect from Dosan's static ability.

Q: I have an Ink-Treader Nephilim in play, and my opponent has a Dovescape. Each of us has about a dozen creatures, mostly Birds from the Dovescape. It is my turn. I target my own Nephilim with Lightning Helix. What is the result?

A: In this example there are two abilities that are trying to go on the stack: Dovescape's and the Nephilim's. The order that they resolve depends on whose turn it is. If it is your turn, the Nephilim's ability will resolve last; if it is your opponent's turn, it will resolve first.

When the Dovescape ability resolves, the original Helix will be countered and you will get two tokens. Dovescape will not counter the copies of Lightning Helix that the Nephilim puts on the stack, as it only triggers when spells are played, not when copies of spells are put on the stack.

When the Nephilim's ability resolves a copy of the Helix will go on the stack for each other creature in play. If the Dovescape ability has already resolved (when it is your turn), a copy of Lightning Helix will go on the stack for these two new Bird tokens. If it has not (when it is your opponent's turn), you will end up with two surviving Bird tokens.

Q: I have Muse Vessel in play, and I successfully cast Neverending Torment. Can I still use the Vessel's ability to play a card removed from the game, even though Torment's effect says I can't play spells for the rest of the game? Is there a difference between "playing a card" and "playing a spell"?

A: The reason Muse Vessel the word "cards" as opposed to "spells" is that land cards are not spells. Because of the Epic effect generated by the Neverending Torment you cannot play any of the spell cards that have been removed from the game by Muse Vessel, but you can still play the land cards.

Q: When I play Aethermage's Touch and one of the revealed cards is Izzet Cronarch, can I put him into play and choose to return the Aethermage's Touch to my hand?

A: Yes. By the time that Izzet Chronarch's comes-into-play trigger goes on the stack, the Aethermage's Touch will have resolved, and will be in your graveyard, making it a legal target for the Chronarch's ability.

Q: I have Myojin of Night's Reach in play, and I play Sakashima the Imposter. Sakashima comes into play as a copy of Myojin. Does Sakashima get the divinity counter? And if so, is it indestructible? Does it have the discard ability

A: Yes to all of the above. When the Sakashima spell resolves, you choose a creature in play and the Saksahima will come into play as a copy of that creature, except for the fact that Sakashima will keep its name. This means that—since you played Sakashima from your hand—it will get a divinity counter; it will remain indestructible as long as it has that counter; and it is a copy of the Myojin, and it will have the Myojin activated ability.

Q: I have Price of Glory and War's Toll in play. If they tap during my turn, does War's Toll trigger to destroy all land? If not, with only Price of Glory in play, would it work with Drain Power or Piracy to tap their lands during my turn and destroy them?

A: Price of Glory's ability only triggers when a land is tapped for mana, not when lands are tapped for some other reason. So it will not trigger when a land is tapped by War's Toll's ability. Price of Glory's ability also only triggers when the non-active player plays the mana ability. So if a player uses the mana ability of an opponent due to Piracy, it will not trigger unless you have somehow resolved Piracy during another player's turn. However, when you resolve Drain Power, Price of Glory's ability will trigger and destroy the lands that your opponent taps for mana. This is because your opponent is playing these mana abilities and it is not during his turn.

Q: I have Necropotence in play and a Firestorm in hand. I choose to draw ten cards. Is there any way I can Firestorm these cards away before having to discard them?

A: Yes. Necropotence puts cards into your hand in the end of turn step. After each of these cards goes to your hand, each player will receive priority. You can wait until you put all of these cards into your hand and then play Firestorm.

Q: My friend has Dueling Grounds in play. I attack with a creature, which goes unblocked. I then announce that I will use a Ninja's Ninjitsu ability. Is this legal? My friend says that Dueling Grounds restricts me, as another creature was already attacking that turn, and I don't get another. I believe that Dueling Grounds can only restrict how many creatures I'm allowed to declare as attackers, and that using Ninjitsu is an ability, much like the way Elvish Piper could circumvent a restriction on playing spells. Who is correct?

A: You are correct. The effects from Dueling Grounds are only applied to the game when attackers and blockers are declared. Dueling Grounds does not prevent an effect from putting a creature into play attacking or blocking. So you can use a Ninjutsu ability to put an attacking Ninja into play, even thought Dueling Grounds is in play.