Rules Tip of the Day: Know your state-based effects—If a permanent has both a +1/+1 counter on it and a -1/-1 counter on it, both will cease to exist. This state-based effect is really about accounting and making sure that the game state is clear. It is also the newest state-based effect, and was just introduced when Time Spiral came out. Keep in mind that this only applies to +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters. Any other counters are completely unaffected by this state-based effect.
Q: I have Greater Gargadon Suspended, Sword of the Meek in play, and a Mogg War Marshall in hand. Is it possible, by stacking things correctly, to "maximize" the use of Sword of the Meek? Can I sacrifice the Sword to Gargadon, play Mogg War Marshall, and do whatever is necessary to get Sword of the Meek back several times?
A: Yes, you can do what you want, you just need to know how the stack and triggered abilities work in order to maximize this combo. Before the War Marshal spell resolves, you will need to start off by sacrificing the Sword of the Meek to activate the Gargadon's ability. Then, when the War Marshal comes into play, there will be two triggered abilities that trigger at the same time: the War Marshal's comes-into-play ability and Sword of the Meek's triggered ability. In order to get the result you want, you'll want to put the War Marshal's ability on the stack first, followed by the Sword's ability. This way the Sword will return to play and attach to the War Marshal before the token creature enters play. At this point, you can sacrifice the Sword of the Meek before the War Marshal's triggered ability resolves. When the War Marshal's trigger does resolve, the Sword's ability will trigger again and it will return to play and attach itself to the token. You can then sacrifice the Sword yet again. Then, if you sacrifice the War Marshal, its leaves-play ability will trigger. When this triggered ability resolves, you'll get another token, and you can return the Sword again. You can then sacrifice the Sword and these two tokens in any order. In the end, you can activate the Gargadon's ability seven times.
Q: Does the mana produced by a Utopia Sprawl that is enchanting a Forest pass Imperiosaur's requirements of mana produced by a basic land?
A: The mana from the Forest does, but not the mana from the Utopia Sprawl. When you tap this land for mana, you will get one green mana and one mana of some other color. This second mana is from the Utopia Sprawl, not the enchanted land. Imperiosaur's can only be played with mana from basic lands, and the mana from the Sprawl does not count.
Q: If there is a Magus of the Moon in play and I play a Dryad Arbor, is it still a creature, is it still a Dryad, and can it tap for mana the turn it comes into play?
A: Yes, this Dryad Arbor is still a creature and a Dryad, but it will now have the land subtype of Mountain. It can be tapped for red mana, but not the turn it comes into play, as it is still a creature and affected by what used to be called 'summoning sickness.'
Q: If I play Hunting Wilds with Kicker, do either or both of the animated Forests get the bonus from Muraganda Petroglyphs?
A: No, these animated lands will have the ability to tap for mana, so they will not get the +2/+2 bonus from Muraganda Petroglyphs.
Q: Does Bitter Ordeal's Gravestorm only count permanent cards that went to the graveyard from play, or every permanent? If I can generate a large number of token creatures, then play Damnation, and follow up with Bitter Ordeal, can I remove all of my opponents' libraries from the game?
A: The Gravestorm ability counts all permanents that went to the graveyard that turn, regardless of whether they were represented by cards or not. Tokens that leave play are permanents that leave play and they will be counted by this ability.
Q: Can I play Angel's Grace to prevent the Pacts from Future Sight from causing me to lose the game?
A: Yes. You can respond to the delayed triggered ability from one of the Pacts by playing and resolving Angel's Grace. If you do, then when the Pact delayed triggered resolves, you can still pay the appropriate cost if you want, but if you do not, you will not lose the game.
Q: With the introduction of tribal cards in Future Sight would it now be possible to change a creature's type (with say a Mistform Mask) to make them count as a Shrine?
A: No. Shrine is an enchantment subtype, not a creature type. The existence of the tribal type does not change what you can choose when changing the creature subtype of a creature. Tribal subtypes are the same as creature subtypes. If an effect allows you to change a Tribal subtype, you can change it to any creature subtype, but you cannot change a tribal or creature subtype to an enchantment subtype.
Q: If I have Levitation and Gravity Sphere in play, what happens?
A: What happens depends on what order that these two permanents come into play. If the Levitation came into play last, then your creatures will have flying. If the Gravity Sphere did, then they will not. For you rules gurus, this situation may look like dependency is involved, but it is not. The effect from Gravity Sphere is not dependent on Levitation. It will cause all creatures to lose flying; this is applied to all creatures in play, regardless of whether they have flying or not. Changing the order that these two effects are applied does not increase the number of creatures that the Gravity Sphere effect applies to, it just changes what creatures end up with flying.
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