Rules Tip of the Day: Creatures in combat will only deal combat damage if they are still in play and still in combat when the combat damage step starts, which is when combat damage is assigned and goes on the stack.

Q: I try to cast a spell, and my opponent tries to counter it with Remand. I respond by casting the second half of Bound/Determined. What happens?

A: Determined will resolve and you will draw a card. For the rest of the turn, your spells can't be countered by spells and abilities. Remand will resolve, but—as your spells cannot be countered—the spell targeted by Remand will stay on the stack. However, as Remand does resolve (rather than being countered for lack of a legal target), your opponent will draw a card. Then your original spell will resolve and go to the graveyard as usual.

Q: I have Dark Confidant and Ivory Mask in play. Do I lose life when I draw a card from Confidant's ability, even when I can't be targeted?

A: Yes, Dark Confidant's ability does not target anything. You can still lose life from this ability, even though you control an Ivory Mask.

Q: I think I have figured out a way to use Demonfire (with Hellbent) to kill a creature with protection from red. A card with protection from red cannot be targeted by a red source, and all damage caused by red sources is prevented. Demonfire's Hellbent ability (damage can't be prevented) gets around the damage prevention. The combo I thought of uses Meddle to get around the targeting rule. Is this legal? It seems to me that it is Meddle that is doing the targeting of the pro-red creature.

A: No, that doesn't work. You can't use Meddle to change the target of Demonfire to a creature with protection from red. Any time you choose a target, whether it is when you play the spell or when you use an effect to change the target of another spell, you must make a legal choice. Meddle does not target this pro-red creature; it targets Demonfire. When Meddle resolve, you cannot choose to have Demonfire target a creature with protection from red.

Q: When Sky Swallower comes into play, you give all your permanents to an opponent. After you play the Sky Swallower, can you then play Cytoshape to turn one of your opponent's creatures into a Sky Swallower, and then make the opponent give all of his permanents to you?

A: No, that does not work. The Sky Swallower's ability only triggers when it come into play, not when a permanent in play becomes a copy of a Sky Swallower.

Q: A player casts Maga, Traitor to Mortals. If another player responds to the comes-into-play ability by putting Spike Cannibal into play with Aether Vial, will it prevent the loss of life?

A: Yes. Maga's ability counts the number of +1/+1 counters on it when the ability resolves. If Maga is no longer in play, the game will use last known information. In this situation, Maga will come into play with X counters. It will then lose those counters when Spike Cannibal's comes-into-play ability resolves. Unless there is some other effect that boosts Maga's toughness, Maga will go to the graveyard when state-based effects are checked. Then, when Maga's comes-into-play ability resolves, no life will be lost, as Maga had zero +1/+1 counters when it was last in play.

Q: If my opponent attacks with a Taunting Elf and a Craw Wurm, can I block the Craw Worm with Flash Foliage, or would Taunting Elf's effect override who Flash Foliage could block?

A: Taunting Elf's ability creates a requirement that affects how you are allowed to assign blocking creatures at the beginning of the declaration of blockers step. This effect does not affect anything else. It will not prevent you from playing Flash Foliage, or prevent the token creature created by Foliage from blocking the targeted creature.

Q: If there is a Furnace of Rath in play and I have a Samite Healer, can I prevent one point of the damage before it gets doubled?

A: Yes, as long as you or a creature you control would receive the damage. If a source would deal one point of damage to you or a creature you control, you can prevent it so nothing will be doubled.

Q: My question concerns Master Warcraft in a multi-player game. We often play in a 5-player "star" format, where the two people opposite each player are considered "opponents" and may be attacked with creatures. In this situation, where there are two potential defenders, when a player declares that his attack phase it to begin, exactly when does he designate which player he is attacking? If I play Master Warcraft on another player's turn, can I designate which opponent he will attack?

A: For your first question, I assume from your description that you use the option where a single player can only attack one other player in a given combat phase. If this is the case, then the attacking player will choose which other player is the defending player at the start of his combat phase. On your second question: no, you can only choose which creatures will attack. The active player will still choose who to attack; you can only choose which creatures will attack, and how creatures block that turn.