Rules Tip of the Day: Sacrificing a permanent does not have timing restrictions; you either sacrifice a permanent to pay a cost or to satisfy an effect. If it is to pay a cost, then you can do this when you can play the spell or ability. If it is to satisfy an effect, then you perform the sacrifice when the effect is applied to the game.

Q: Is Vanishing cumulative? What happens when a creature with Vanishing is enchanted with Reality Acid?

A: Vanishing can be cumulative, but what you describe doesn't really do that, and as far as I know, there is currently no way to give a permanent multiple instances of Vanishing. Reality Acid has Vanishing; it does not give the creature it enchants Vanishing. At the beginning of each upkeep, you will deal with the Vanishing ability of this enchanted creature and Reality Acid separately. Each of these permanents will have their own time counters. When you take the last time counter off of either the creature or Reality Acid, the creature will end up being sacrificed.

If there were a way to give a single permanent Vanishing twice, then it would go through its stock of time counters twice as fast. Each upkeep, both Vanishing abilities would trigger, and you'd remove a time counter for each ability.

Q: I have a Frenetic Sliver in play and my opponent casts a Lightning Bolt to kill it. I play its ability and I lose the flip of the coin. Can I activate its ability again before I sacrifice it, to save it?

A: When the ability resolves, you flip a coin and either remove the Sliver from the game (to be returned later) or sacrifice it at that point. You will not get the opportunity to activate the ability again.

Q: I have a question about Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. If each land is a Swamp in addition to its other land types, does this mean you can Polluted Delta for your Stripmine, Wasteland, or Tolarian Academy.?

A: No, that does not work. Urborg only gives lands in play the additional subtype of Swamp. Land cards in any other zone are unaffected.

Q: If I put four Slivers into play with Hypergenesis and one of them is Dormant Sliver do I draw four cards, one, or none?

A: It depends on the order that these Slivers were put into play. If Dormant Sliver was the first one put into play, then you will draw four. However, the triggered abiltiy given by Dormant Sliver will not trigger for those Slivers that are put into play before it. It does not matter that all of these creatures are put into play during the resolution of one spell.

Q: With Dust Elemental, what if I don't control a creature (or just one or two) at the time I play the Elemental? Does the spell "fizzle" and thus send the Elemental right to the bin? Or will it come into play normally?

A: You don't return any creatures to your hand until Dust Elemental's comes-into-play triggered ability resolves. This will be after the Dust Elemental spell has resolved and the Elemental has entered play. When this ability resolves you have to return three creatures to your hand. Keep in mind that the Dust Elemental is in play at this point, so you will have to return it to your hand if you do not control three other creatures.

Also the term 'fizzle" refers to when a targeted spell or ability is countered on resolution due to having no legal targets. Creature spells do not target at all and Dust Elementa's comes-into-play ability does not target either.

Q: Can Wild Pair put creatures into play using Elvish Piper or Hypergenesis?

A: No. Wild Pair's ability only triggers when a creature comes into play that was played from your hand. Playing a card means to announce it, make any of the choices necessary when playing it and pay all necessary costs. To put a card into play is just putting it into play without playing it. Creatures that are put into play without being played will not trigger Wild Pair's ability.

Q: I have Kaervek the Merciless in play and my opponent casts Dragonstorm. Does he take nine damage plus nine damage for each of the Storm copies?

A: No. Kaervek's ability only triggers when an opponent plays a spell; this ability does not trigger for copies of spells that go on the stack without being played. In this example, you'll be able to deal nine points of damage to a single target.

Q: Do I ever gain priority during my opponent's draw step, before or after they draw?

A: Yes. At the beginning of each draw step the active player draws a card. This is a special action that does not use the stack and can not be responded to. Then each player will receive priority before advancing on to the first main phase.

Q: Does an untapped Maraxus of Keld get +1/+1 or +2/+2 if I have an untapped artifact creature?

A: Just +1/+1. Maraxus' ability counts the number of appropriate untapped permanents you control; it does not matter that a single permanent may be two of these types.