Rules Tip of the Day: Effects that allow you to play a card that is in a zone other than your hand only allow you to play them. These cards are not in your hand, and you cannot discard them or do anything else with them that you could with a card that is actually in your hand.
Q: If I attack with Zur the Enchanter, can I use him to pull Kuon's Essence (the flipped portion of Kuon, Ogre Ascendant) out of my library and put it directly into play?
A: No. Except when in play and flipped, a flip card has the characteristics of the unflipped version. This Kuon card in your library will be named Kuon, Ogre Ascendant and will be a creature card, so you can't search for it with Zur's ability.
Q: Can a Meddling Mage prevent Haakon, the Scourge of Stromgald from being played?
A: Yes, if Haakon is the named card, then Haakon can not be played from its owner's graveyard. It does not matter that Haakon has an ability that states it can be played form its owner's graveyard; in Magic "can't" beats "can."
Q: What happens if I activate two Scrying Sheets at the same time? Do I get to see the two top cards of my deck, or do I only see one card?
A: First of all, you can never activate two abilities at the same time; you can only activate one, and then the other. These individual abilities will resolve one at a time. When the first resolves, you will look at the top card of your library. If it is a snow card, you can reveal it and put it in your hand. If you do, when you resolve the ability of the second, you will be able to look at a new card. If the first revealed card was not a snow card, then you will end up looking at the same card again when the second ability resolves.
Q: I am having a hard time figuring out what happens in this situation: I have Tibor and Lumia in play, and I play a 1/1 red creature, triggering its ability to deal one damage to each creature without flying. My problem is determining whether the 1/1 red creature takes damage from the ability or not.
A: No, it will not receive the damage. Tibor and Lumia's abilities trigger when you play a spell. The triggered ability will go on the stack on top of the red creature spell, and it will resolve before this red spell does.
Q: In a recent game, I had Ulasht, the Hate Seed come into play with six counters on it. It was targeted by Mortify, and I saved it with Ghostway. When Ulasht comes back into play, will it return a 6/6, because of the six previous counters, or does it gain six new counters from the other red and green creatures on the field, becoming a 12/12?
A: It will most likely come back into play as a 0/0 and go to the graveyard. When Ghostway's delayed triggered ability resolves, Ulasht and all of the other creature that were removed from the game will return at the same time. Ulasht will come into play with counters equal to the number of red creatures you control and the number of green creatures you control. However, you will not count those creatures that are coming into play at the same time as Ulasht. So, unless you have gained control of a red or green creature since Ghostway resolved, Ulasht will return to play with zero counters on it.
Q: If I use Dimir Doppleganger to copy a Hunted Horror in the graveyard, does my opponent get the two token creatures?
A: No. When Dimir Doppelganger copies the removed card, it is not coming into play. It is a permanent that is already in play; its characteristics just change.
Q: Player A plays Erratic Explosion targeting player B, who controls a Circle of Protection: Red. Player B uses CoP's ability once, choosing Explosion as the source of damage to prevent. Player A starts revealing, and the first non-land card happens to be Crime/Punishment. What happens? We have come up with two possible solutions: 1) Erratic Explosion would deal damage in two separate portions (five and two) as two events, so CoP would prevent only the first portion, and 2) Player A as a controller can choose in which order the damage would be dealt, so he can cause two damage to be prevented, with five getting through. Which is correct?
A: Neither of those two options is correct. All of the damage from Erratic Explosion is dealt as one event. It does not matter that a split card is revealed and you end up dealing X and Y damage; all of this damage is dealt at one time. The lone Circle of Protection prevention shield will prevent all of this damage.
Q: Can you pay for Skirk Drill Sergeant's effect more then once when only one Goblin goes into the graveyard, to reveal more then one card from the top of your library?
A: No. Skirk Drill Sergeant's ability is a triggered ability. When this triggered ability resolves, you can only pay 2R once.
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