Rules Tip of the Day: There are no effects that can change the converted mana cost of a card. There are plenty or effects that change what you pay when you play a spell, but they do not change the converted mana cost of a card.

Q: My opponent casts Extirpate targeting a card in my graveyard. I respond by unmorphing Willbender, and changing the target to a creature from his graveyard. Is this possible, since I'm changing the target to my opponent's graveyard?

A: Yes. Extirpate can target any card, other than a basic land, in a graveyard; it does not matter whose graveyard it is. You can use an effect that changes the targets of a spell or ability to change the target of Extirpate from a card in your graveyard to one in your opponent's graveyard.

Q: My opponent has four Swamps and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth in play, and casts Tendrils of Corruption on my Spectral Force. He says that it deals nine points of damage, and he gains nine life. Is this true?

A: No. Your opponent only controls five swamps in this example, not nine. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth gives the basic land type of Swamp to each land its controller has, including itself. However, effects that count the number of Swamps in play will not count regular Swamps twice.

Q: Can I play Lotus Bloom via Mind's Desire? Can I Suspend it?

A: Yes, you can play it. The effect from Mind's Desire allows you to play the removed card without paying its mana cost. You can play cards without a mana cost as long as an effect allows you to play the card without paying its mana cost. However, you cannot Suspend it. The effect from Mind's Desire only allows you to play the removed card; you cannot perform any other actions that you could if the card were in your hand.

Q: Does playing a copy created by an Isochon Scepter trigger Counterbalance? If so, what is the converted mana cost of the copy? Let's say that Orim's Chant is Imprinted on the Isochron Scepter.

A: Yes, playing the copy of a card created by Isochron Scepter does trigger Counterbalance's ability, as you are playing a spell. The converted mana cost of the copy will be the same as the original. If the imprinted card is an Orim's Chant, the converted mana cost of the copy will be one—this is true even if the kicker cost is paid.

Q: My opponent plays Cabal Ritual with Threshold. With Cabal Ritual on the stack, I remove his graveyard with my Tormod's Crypt. Does he get three or five black mana?

A: Just three. Threshold abilities of spells check to see if their controller has Threshold when they resolve. In this example, your opponent will not have seven or more cards in his graveyard, so Cabal Ritual will only add three black mana to his mana pool.

Q: If I cast Retribution and target my opponent's Plaxcaster Frogling and Ohran Viper, and my opponent pays to activate the Frogling's ability (making it untargetable), what happens when the spell resolves?

A: Anytime a spell or ability affects two or more different targets in different ways, what happens to each is chosen when the spell is played. While you choose the targets of Retribution, your opponent chooses what happens to each of these targets. So what happens in this example depends on what choices your opponent made when you played Retribution. The most likely outcome is that your opponent chose to sacrifice the Plaxcaster Frogling and for the Ohran Viper to get the +1/+1 counter. Then as your opponent responded to Retribution by making the Frogling untargetable, it is not a legal target when Retribution resolves. Because of this, he will not be forced to sacrifice it. However, the Ohran Viper is still a legal target, so it will get a +1/+1 counter.

Q: Are Beatdown and Anthologies legal in Vintage or Legacy ?

A: Yes, though particular cards may be banned or restricted. They have the normal Magic card back and you can use them in any format that has copies of those cards printed in legal sets.

Q: In a multiplayer game, I steal control of an opponent's Kokusho, the Evening Star with Dominate. Later that player is killed and leaves the game. What happens to Kokusho? Does it go to the graveyard? Will I gain life and my opponent's lose life?

A: In a multiplayer game all objects owned by a player leave the game when that player does, so you will lose control of this Kokusho. However, it dos not go to the graveyard, it just leaves the game. This means that its leaves-play triggered ability does not trigger, so your other opponents will not lose any life, and you will not gain any.