Rules Tip of the Day: There is no such thing as a universally banned or universally allowed sleeve. What is acceptable is up to the head judge / tournament organizer of an event.

Q: If a creature targeted by Magus of the Arena's ability is bounced prior to resolution, does the ability still resolve? Does the bounced creature deal damage?

A: No. If one of the targeted creatures is not in play when Magus of the Arena's ability resolves, no damage will be dealt. This is because any creature that is not in play at that point will be an illegal target. Spells and abilities cannot affect or cause illegal targets to do anything. Keep in mind that the creature that is still in play will become tapped.

Q: Could an Imp's Mischief redirect a Demonfire for 20 without causing 21 damage to the Imp's Mischief's controller? X=0 on a X spell, so whoever cast Imp's Mischief would take only one damage, right?

A: No, the value of X is not always zero when a spell is on the stack. When on the stack, the value of X in the mana cost is equal to whatever was chosen. X is only zero when the card is in any zone other than the stack. Imp's Mischief here will deal 21 points of damage to its controller.

Q: I attack with my Boros Swiftblade, who is a 3/4 from an Armadillo Cloak. My opponent blocks with his Troll Ascetic and regenerates it. So my Swiftblade deals his first strike damage to the Troll and then regular damage to my opponent?

A: Yes, but only because the Swiftblade has Trample due to the Armadillo Cloak. In this example, the Swiftblade will deal lethal damage to the Troll Ascetic in the first strike combat damage step. After this damage is dealt, the Troll will regenerate, as it has received lethal damage. When it does it, the Troll is removed from combat. The Swiftblade is still a blocked creature even though the Troll has been removed from combat. But because it has Trample, it will deal its normal combat damage to the defending player. If it did not have Trample, then it would not assign any damage in the normal combat damage step as is still blocked and there would be nothing to assign it to.

Q: I have a complete Urzatron and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play. When I tap my Urza's Tower for mana, will it produce three colorless mana, BBB, 2B, 3 or B, or something entirely different?

A: You can get either three colorless mana or one black mana. Urborg will give this land an additional mana ability. It does not affect the abilities that the land already has.

Q: The following situation happened on Magic Online, and I'm wondering if it's a bug. My opponent attacked me with a 4/2 creature that I had enchanted with Temporal Isolation. So I was confused why he would attack with it, because I didnt think he had enchantment removal. With damage on the stack, he killed his 4/2 and I ended up taking the damage! How can this be, if all damage is prevented with the Temporal Isolation?

A: Temporal Isolation only prevents damage when it would be dealt. In this example this 4/2 creature will assign 4 points of combat damage. Prevention effects do not prevent damage from being assigned, just from being dealt. Then, if Temporal Isolation is in play when combat damage would resolve, this combat damage will be prevented. However, in this example, the Isolation (and the creature) is not in play at this point. Because of this, combat damage will be dealt as assigned. In other words, Magic Online handled this situation correctly.

Q: What happens when I play Crookclaw Transmuter targeting an untapped Castle Raptors and why?

A: You'll have a 5/3 creature. This is because, when figuring out the power and toughness of a creature, you apply effects that switch power and toughness last. So you start with a 3/3 creature. It gets +0/+2 due to its own static ability to make it a 3/5. Then you apply the effect from the Crookclaw Transmuter to make it a 5/3.

Q: Will Razia's Purification remove Darksteel Citadel from play?

A: Yes, as long as it is not one of the three permanents chosen by its controller to keep. Razia's Purification causes players to sacrifice all of their non-chosen permanents. Indestructible permanents can be sacrificed. When they are, they go to the graveyard.

Q: Krosan Vorine's text says that it can't be blocked by more than one creature. If you enchant it with Lure, what happens? Is it unblockable?

A: No. There is a restriction on what can block, from Krosan Vorine's ability, and a requirement, created by Lure. When declaring blockers, the defending player must abide by all restrictions, and attempt to maximize the number of requirement met. In order to do this, he will have to block the Vorine with one creature.

Keep in mind that Krosan Vorine has Provoke, which creates another blocking requirement if you choose to use it. If you do, there will be an additional blocking requirement on the targeted creature. If that is the case then this creature, and only this creature, will have to block the Vorine.