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Rules Tip of the Day: State-based effects are checked whenever a player would receive priority. Then, if any state-based effects occurred, they are checked again.
Q: My opponent has Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in play, and I play Take Possession on it. He wants to respond by Suspending a creature. Can he do this?
A: No. The Split Second ability of Take Possession will prevent this. Teferi will allow him to play creature cards whenever he could play an instant, and you can Suspend a card any time you could play it, but right now he can't play any spells or non-mana abilities. Because of this, he can't play or Suspend anything.
Q: I have Wild Pair in play. If I discard a Basking Rootwalla to pay for Wild Mongrel's ability and then play the Rootwalla, does Wild Pair trigger?
A: No. When a card is played via its Madness ability, it is played from the removed from game zone. This Basking Rootwalla will not trigger Wild Pair's ability when it comes into play.
Q: Suppose you have two untapped Weathered Bodyguards in play and your opponent is attacking you for 15 damage. How will the damage be distributed when the Bodyguards' abilities trigger? Is it divided, or would they each take 15 damage?
A: First of all, Weathered Bodyguards does not have a triggered ability; it has a static ability that generates a replacement effect. When combat damage from unblocked creatures is dealt, the effects from these two abilities will each try to be applied. As the affected player, you can choose which replacement effect to apply first, then if the other is still applicable you'll apply that one. This means that you would choose one of the Bodyguards and it would receive all 15 points of damage.
Q: If a Phantom Wurm gets blocked by multiple creatures, does it lose a +1/+1 counter for each creature blocking it? For example, if a new Wurm were blocked by 4 1/1's, or 2 double strikers, would the Wurm die that turn?
A: Phantom Wurm's ability prevents all damage that is dealt to it at one time. If it were blocked by four different 1/1 creatures, then it will only lose one counter. However, creatures with double strike deal damage twice. So a double strike creature can cause a Phantom Wurm to lose two +1/+1 counters in combat. This is true regardless of the number of creatures with double strike blocking the Phantom Wurm.
Q: Is Snow considered a supertype? Does it count for Tarmogoyf?
A: Snow is a supertype, not permanent type. Having a card with the Snow supertype in a graveyard will not raise the power and toughness of a Tarmogoyf in play.
Q: Llanowar Mentor produces tokens named "Llanowar Elves". What if you already have four "real ones" in play?
A: You can make any number of Llanowar Elves tokens. The 'four of' rule applies to deck construction for constructed formats; it does not affect game play at all. You can have more than four of a given permanent in play at one time.
Q: I have two life. My opponent attacks with Throat Slitter, who is unblocked. I have a Fortune Thief in play, which my opponent targets with Throat Slitter's ability. Does Fortune Thief's ability save me before he's destroyed?
A: Yes. When combat damage is dealt in this situation, the Throat Slitter will deal two points of damage to you, but your life total will go to one, because of the Fortune Thief. When this happens, Throat Slitter's ability will trigger. This triggered ability may eventually destroy your Fortune Thief, but that does not change your life total. When combat damage was dealt your life total was lowered to one, and nothing will change that now.
Q: How does Phasing work with Orb of Dreams?
A: As normal. Effects that alter what happens when a permanent comes into play are not applied to when a permanent phases into play.
Q: Does Pithing Needle stop the untap effect of Forsaken City?
A: No, that is a triggered ability. You discard a card when this triggered ability resolves, but that does not make it an activated ability.
Q: Will Kird Ape get its +1/+2 bonus if you control a Karplusan Forest? It is, after all, a "Forest" in name.
A: No, that does not work. Karplusan Forest has "Forest" in its name, but it is not a Forest. Only lands that have the subtype of Forest count as Forests.
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