Rules Tip of the Day: If a creature deals no damage, either because it's power is zero when damage is assigned, or because the damage is prevented, then abilities that trigger when this creature deals damage will not trigger.

Q: Can Demonfire be redirected if Hellbent is enabled?

A: You are asking one of two questions—I'm not sure which—and the answer to both is yes. You are either checking if the damage from Demonfire can be redirected, or if the target of Demonfire can be changed. As I mentioned, regardless of what your actual question is, the answer is yes. The damage from Demonfire cannot be prevented, but it can be redirected. And while it cannot be countered, it can have its target changed by spells and abilities.

Q: I Vindicate (as the first spell of my turn) an opponent's Erayo, Sorotami Ascendant. Then my opponent plays a Force of Will (the second spell of the turn), to which I respond with my own Force (the third spell). My opponent plays a Brainstorm (fourth spell). At this point, Erayo flips. He is no longer a creature, but is still a valid target for Vindicate. Some of my friends argue that—since the name of Erayo has changed—it is no longer the same permanent, so the target for Vindicate is no longer in play and gets countered, leaving intact the flipped Erayo. What happens

A: When a permanent changes its characteristics by any means—for example, by flipping—it remains the same permanent. This permanent is the same permanent that was originally targeted by your Vindicate; it does not matter that it has flipped. As Errayo's Essence is a legal target for Vindicate, the Vindicate will resolve and destroy it.

Q: If I play Read the Runes and replace one of the cards drawn with it with a Dredge ability, does that also reduce the number of cards I have to discard or sacrifice by one?

A: Yes, you only have to discard cards or sacrifice permanents for those cards you actually draw when Read the Runes resolves.

Q: I Chain of Vapor an artifact of mine. Can I, during the resolution of the Chain of Vapor, still tap a land for mana and sac the same land to Chain of Vapor to make a copy? Or is the only time I can tap the land for mana before the Chain starts resolving?

A: You need to tap this land for mana before Chain of Vapor starts resolving. You only get the opportunity to use mana abilities during the resolution of a spell or ability if you are given the opportunity to pay mana.

Q: Can the creature which is affected by Vedalken Shackles attack or use its habilities that require tapping during the turn it comes under Vedalken Shackles' controller's control?

A: No, you cannot attack or use a creature's activated ability that uses the tap symbol unless you have controlled the creature since the beginning of your most recent turn.

Q: Can I use the triggered ability of Defense of the Heart to put a morph creature into play face-down?

A: You can only take advantage of a morph ability when you play the spell; you cannot use an effect to put a creature into play and choose to have it put into play face down. In other words, what you want to do does not work.

Q: If I play my Avatar of Hope with three life, so it cost me six mana less. My opponent plays a Spell Blast to counter it. Does he need to pay 2U, since it cost two to play, or does he need to pay the normal casting cost, which means 8U?

A: The converted mana cost of Avatar of Hope is always eight; it does not matter if you play it via its alternate play cost or not. In order to play Spell Blast and target the Avatar of Hope spell, your opponent would have to pay 8U.

Q: Recently I was in a tournament, and we were playing the last round. Both my opponent and myself needed to win the match to make top 8. We played until it was 1-1, and there were 5 minutes left in the round, so we decided to roll a die to decide who would win the last game. Then the judge showed up and told us that we're not allowed to do that (I've since looked it up and he was right). Knowing that, I asked if I could drop from the tournament to give the other player the victory. Even though this was randomly decided at first, I wanted to withdraw from the whole tournament, instead of just randomly deciding a game or match. But could I drop so my opponent would get the win and we wouldn't be violating the rules? The judge said, "It's too late to drop; I saw you roll a die. Fill in 1-1, or you are both disqualified." Is this statement true, or does that only work when I stay in the tournament?

A: The appropriate ruling here is a DQ, whether or not you want to continue playing in the tournament. While it appears that you rolled a die without realizing that it was illegal to do so, the judge has no real choice other than to disqualify you both. To allow you to choose to drop would be to allow you to avoid the penalty that was originally assessed, and it is not possible to avoid a penalty by dropping out of the tournament. Additionally, if you were allowed to do this, your opponent would have received absolutely no penalty for attempting to randomly determine the outcome of this match. Unfortunately, far too many players do not realize that rolling a die or flipping a coin to determine who will win a match is cheating and not allowed.

[I have edited Chris's opening for this question slightly; it seems that he did not realize that a DQ was not issued here. I don't think I've altered his meaning at all. I think there are a couple extra points here worth mentioning. First, an issue of some debate here is whether a judge should prevent players from taking an action which would result in a DQ. That question doesn't appear to apply here, as the players (as I read it) have already attempted to randomly determine the outcome of the match. However, if I overheard someone suggest something like that, I would likely stop the illegal action from taking place, issue a Warning (so the incident would be recorded for the DCI, and explain the potential consequences). There's a judgement call to make there; I would still DQ a player for making a bribery attempt. Second, if a judge feels that the integrity of a result may be in question—as in a case where they have stopped players from rolling a die—it is often reasonable and appropriate for them to disallow the match from ending by agreement. If a judge suspects that an implicit offer has been made, and a concession is an attempt to accept that offer, watching the match finish is probably a good idea -Seamus]