Rules Tip of the Day: This weekend, Seamus Campbell (the esteemed Ask the Judge editor) and I will be at GP Massachusetts. If you are there, feel free to have you and your other head (it is a Two-Headed Giant event) say hi.

Q: When attacking an opponent with Keen Sense on Birds of Paradise, is the Bird considered to have dealt damage, even though its power is zero? In other words: may I draw a card?

A: No, dealing zero damage does not count as dealing damage. Keen Sense's ability will not trigger and you will not draw a card.

Q: In a recent Rules Tip you said that you can fail to find a card while searching a hidden zone. My question is, what about with Duress, Ostracize, orsimilar? If I Duress someone and they're holding cards that I can make them discard, do I have to, or can I fail to find a card?

A: You will have to choose and force them to discard a card. This is because Duress does not have you search a zone. You choose a revealed card when Duress resolves. The option to search and not find only applies to abilities that use the word "search."

Q: I attacked with my Hedge Troll and my opponent blocked with a 6/1 Insect token. After blockers were declared, he Ovinized my Troll. With Ovinize still on the stack, I used the Troll's ability to give the Troll a regeneration shield. However, someone said that once the Ovinized resolved the shield would leave and my Troll would die. Is this correct?

A: No, it is not. Removing the abilities from the Troll will not remove any effects that are applied to the Troll. The regeneration shield that was generated earlier will still be applied. So this Troll will still regenerate; it does not matter that it does not have the regeneration ability any longer.

Q: Can Willbender's ability target Auras?

A: Yes, they are spells that target when played. Keep in mind that this ability cannot target Auras when they are in play.

Q: I have a question about how Chalice of the Void and Shattering Spree interact. If Chalice of the Void is in play and set at 1 and there is one artifact in play in addition to Chalice of the Void, can I pay RR to destroy Chalice of the Void and an additional artifact?

A: No. The original Shattering Spree spell will be countered and only one of the artifacts will be destroyed. The one targeted by the copy of Shattering Spree that is put on the stack by the Replicate ability will be the one that is destroyed. However, if you play Shattering Spree and Replicate it twice paying RRR, then you can destroy both of these artifacts.

Q: I have Nomads en-Kor and Cephalid Illusionist in play. Can i target the Illusionist using Nomad's ability 100 times, then—without resolving any of it—Donate the Illusionist to my opponent so that when the ability of Illusionist resolves, they put the top 300 cards of their library into their graveyard?

A: No. You controlled the Illusionist when its ability triggered each time, so you control these triggered abilities. This means that you will be the one to put the top 300 cards in your graveyard. It does not matter that you do not control the Illusionist when these triggered abilities resolve.

Q: I play an Isochron Scepter and then, before I place the Imprinted card on it, I play Quicken. Can I imprint a sorcery with coverted mana cost 2 or less on the Isochron Scepter?

A: No. Quicken does not change the type of a card, it changes when you can play the next sorcery you play.

Q: Can you explain how Trinisphere interacts with Tendrils of Agony? Here is a situation: I have a Trinisphere in play and my opponent somehow plays 10 spells this turn and has exactly 4 black mana left in his mana pool to play the Tendrils of Agony. Does he hit me for 22 life (gets to use the Storm copies for free) or 2 life (because he can't spend the 3 mana for each copy of the spell that Storm makes)?

A: Trinisphere only affects spells that are played; it does not affect copies of spells that are put on the stack without being played. So Trinisphere has no interaction in this situation, as the original Tendrils of Agony costs four mana, and Trinisphere's ability is not applied to any of the Storm copies.

Q: I have a Shifting Sky in play turning all permanents red. My opponent has a Douse in play and says he can counter my Stasis with it since it's red. My guess is that the Stasis is blue until it is actually in play and therefore is not a legal target for Douse, correct?

A: You are correct. Shifting Sky only affects permanents in play, it does not affect spells on the stack. When on the stack, your Stasis is a blue spell, and it cannot be targeted by Douse's activated ability.