Rules Tip of the Day: If there is a first strike combat damage step, after first strike combat damage resolves, each player will receive priority before the normal combat damage step, when non-first-striking creatures assign combat damage.

Q: My opponent has Porphyry Nodes in play. At the beginning of his upkeep, I chose one of his creature and turned it into a 1/1 creature, making it the smallest creature in play. Will he have to destroy it?

A: Yes. Porphyry Nodes' ability does not target; you simply choose a creature with the least power in play and destroy it. So after this ability goes on the stack, you can lower the power of a creature in play in order to make it an eligible—or perhaps the only—choice.

Q: I play Glare of Subdual from my hand, and my opponent responds with a Counterspell. Since the Counterspell is targeting an enchantment, which is a permenant, can I use Rebuff the Wicked to counter the Counterspell?

A: Permanents are cards that are in play. In this example the Glare of Subdual is not a permanent; it is a spell on the stack. It does not matter that if it were to resolve, it would become a permanent. So no, you cannot target the Counterspell that is targeting your enchantment spell with Rebuff the Wicked.

Q: My friend used Pendelhaven Elder's ability to pump up his tokens. He then cast Armadillo Cloak to pump up a token. I was thinking that the Elder's ability wouldn't apply after the Armadillo Cloak came into play, because the creature would no longer be a 1/1 creature. Could you please clear this up for me?

A: Pendelhaven Elder's ability is applied to all creatures controlled by the abilities controller when the ability resolves. Any creatures that this player has that are 1/1s will get +1/+2 and become 2/3s at this point. This also means that a 1/1 creature that comes into play later will be completely unaffected. This effect will continue to be applied, even if a creature has its power and toughness boosted further. So this creature that becomes enchanted by an Armadillo Cloak will be a 4/5 until the end of the current turn.

Q: Can I sacrifice Mogg War Marshall and the tokens it creates to pay for Delraich?

A: No. Mogg War Marshall isn't black. Even if it were, the triggered ability that puts tokens into play will not go onto the stack until you have finished playing Delraich, so you won't have the tokens available to sacrifice as you play Delraich.

Q: I enchant a creature with Pentarch Ward, choosing red, and enchant the same creature with Pentarch Ward again, choosing white this time. Does the previous Pentarch Ward have to be removed, or does the text on the card that says "this effect doesn't remove Pentarch Ward" apply to both enchantments?

A: When a permanent refers to itself, it means "this permanent." The text on the second Pentarch Ward will not cause itself to become removed, but it will cause the other Pentarch Ward to go to the graveyard when state-based effects are checked. In the end, this permanent will only have protection from white.

Q: Does Shielding Plax stop a Stuffy Doll from dealing one damage to itself? Also, would it keep Stuffy Doll's "deal damage to target player" ability from working?

A: No. None of Stuffy Doll's abilities target. Making Stuffy Doll untargetable will not prevent it from dealing damage to itself or prevent it from dealing damage to the targeted player.

Q: If I have two Scryb Rangers in play, can I use the 'return a Forest to your hand...' ability twice?

A: Yes, you can use the ability of each Scryb Ranger once per turn. When that ability refers to itself, it means that instance of the ability only, not duplicate abilities of permanents in play.

Q: Can you use Mirari to make a copy of a Spilt Second spell that you play?

A: Yes, you can. Split Second does not prevent triggered abilities from going on the stack (like Mirari's) or spells or copies of spells from being placed on the stack without being played.

Q: Does Trade Routes and Crucible of Worlds let you draw cards for one mana indefinitely?

A: Sort of. This does not create a loop that you can perform as many times as you want. Crucible of Worlds may allow you to play land cards from your graveyard, but it does not allow you to play more than one land a turn.

Q: My opponent plays a creature without haste and has a Fires of Yavimaya out. He attacks with this creature. Then he plays Relentless Assault to untap and attack again, but I respond by playing Naturalize on his Fires of Yavimaya. Can the creature legally attack again since it attacked once already this turn?

A: No, it cannot attack. When attackers are declared in the second combat phase, your opponent will not have controlled this creature since the beginning of his most recent turn and it does not have haste. It does not matter that it already attacked once this turn, he cannot choose it as an attacking creature.