Rules Tip of the Day: Abilities that trigger on combat damage being dealt will not trigger when damage from spells and abilities is dealt in the combat phase.

Q: I have two Pendelhavens in play and a Llanowar Elf. I attack with the Elf and tap Pendelhaven to give it +1/+1. I then tap another Pendelhaven in response to tapping my other one. Is the Elf a legal target for both activations, since I am placing them on the stack? Or does the one further down the stack fizzle, since the Elf is no longer a 1/1?

A: No, that does not work, for two reasons. Pendelhaven is a legendary land, and unless you have something like Mirror Gallery in play, you can't have two of them in play at the same time. But assuming that both are legally in play, you can target a 1/1 creature with the ability of one, and then before the first ability resolves, target this creature with the ability of the other. When this second activation resolves, the creature will become a 2/3. However, when the first activation resolves, this creature is not a 1/1 any longer and is therefore not a legal target for Pendelhaven's ability. Because of this, this activation will be countered on resolution due to the fact that there is no legal target.

Q: Can Pull from Eternity be used on creatures removed from the game with Astral Slide?

A: Yes, it can target any card that had been removed from the game face up.

Q: If I play Angel's Grace while Phyrexian Etching's life loss is on the stack, and if that amount would take me below zero, does this set my life to 1? Damage causes loss of life, but is loss of life the same as damage as far as this card is concerned? If it were Worship, I would lose, but since the card says "you can't lose", what happens to my life total?

A: Angel's Grace does not change how loss of life affects your life total, just how damage affects it. Loss of life is applied normally. In this example, your life total will go below zero, but you won't lose the game immediately, because the continuous effect from Angel's Grace says that you can't. In the cleanup step of this turn, after the effect from Angel's Grace has ended and state-based effects are checked, you will lose the game.

Q: If I control two Screeching Slivers can I tap one to mill two cards off of my opponent's deck?

A: No. These Slivers will each have the ability to mill a single card twice. You can activate one ability or the other by tapping the Sliver, but not both.

Q: My opponent played a turn one Birds of Paradise and I was holding Gelid Shackles. Now, I didn't enchant the Bird, since I'm not sure if Shackles prevents the mana ability from being played. But according to my logic, it's an activated ability, and since Shackles, like Null Rod, lacks the usually included 'does not affect mana abilities' clause, I'd figure I could prevent the Bird from tapping for mana with the Shackles. Is this right?

A: You are correct. Gelid Shackles does not specify that mana abilities of the enchanted permanent can still be played, like other similar abilities. Because of this, if you were to enchant this Bird of Paradise, it would not be able to tap for mana.

Q: An opponent controls a Kilnmouth Dragon with 6 +1/+1 counters from Amplify. He enchants it with Alpha Status and controls three other dragons. I understand that If I Humble the Kilnmouth, it is going to be a 6/7 non-flyer, because it doesn't lose the subtype Dragon, and there are other Dragons in play. My opponent believes that it is a 12/13 non-flyer, because I should include the +1/+1 counters after Humbling the creature. And a friend believes that it'll stay a 0/1 until end of turn, because it is no longer a Dragon, and there are no other creatures of no-type in play to give it bonuses from Alpha Status. Who is correct?

A: The first friend. It'll be a 12/13; you apply the effects from the Alpha Status and the +1/+1 counters after you apply the effect from Humble. For the rules gurus out there, you apply the effect from Humble in layer 6b, the effect from the counters in 6c and the effect from Alpha Status in layer 6d. (See section 418.5 of the comprehensive rules for more information.) Also, Humble may remove abilities, but it does not affect a creature's subtypes.

Q: How does Magus of the Mirror work in Two-Headed Giant?

A: In a Two-Headed Giant game, anytime an effect tries to do something to your life total, it takes one half of your team's shared total, rounded up, and uses that number. So you do not exchange the two teams' combined life totals, you only exchange the individual life totals of two players. If your team has 40 life, you, individually, have 20 life. If your opponents have 23 life total, each member on that opposing team has 12 life. If you were to exchange life totals with one member on the opposing team, the combined life totals will become 32. One interesting thing about this interaction is that effect from Magic of the Mirror's ability will equalize the teams' life totals. And if each team has an even life total before you resolve this ability, each team will end up with a life total equal to the average of the two starting totals.