Rules Tip of the Day: Gaining control of a permanent that is already in play and under the control of another player does not count as this permanent leaving play and then reentering play. This means that any leaves-play or comes-into-play triggered abilities will not trigger.

Q: Does Cloud Key, naming creatures, reduce the cost of playing creatures face-down?

A: Yes, with this Cloud Key in play, it will only cost you two mana to play a face-down creature spell. When you play this Morph spell, you dermine the cost by taking the Morph's alternate play cost of three mana. Then you subtract from this cost for Cloud Key's effect.

Q: If I have Scion of the Ur-Dragon in play and one Tarox Bladewing in my hand and one in my deck, is it safe to assume that if I copy the Tarox Bladewing in my deck, I can use the Grandeur ability on my new Tarox Bladewing/Scion of the Ur-Dragon?

A: Yes, that works. When Scion of the Ur-Dragon copies another Dragon card, it becomes an exact copy. It will gain Tarox Bladewing's Grandeur ability, and you can discard another Tarox Bladwing card to increase the power and toughness of this Scion / Tarox in play.

Q: Can I play either of the two cards drawn with Wistful Thinking prior to having to discard four cards?

A: No, no one gets priority during the resolution of a spell or ability. When Wistful Thinking resolves, the targeted player will draw two cards and then discard four cards. He or she will not receive priority in between these two actions to play any spells or abilities.

Q: My friend is playing a Sliver Deck against my other friend, who has Mono Black. It is the Mono-Black player's turn, and he plays Treacherous Urge to gain control of a Pulmonic Sliver. At the end of the turn, where does the Sliver go? To the Sliver player's graveyard? To the Mono-Black player's graveyard or top of his library? Or does the Sliver player have the option to put it on the top of his graveyard? They ended up putting it in the Mono-Black player's graveyard, deciding that he did not want it on the top of his library. Who was right ?

A: None of those options are correct. Cards can never go to the graveyard or library or anyone other than their owner. If an effect tries to do this, then the card goes to the library or graveyard of its owner instead. This Pulmonic Sliver leaves play under the control of the Mono-Black player, so he can choose whether it goes to its owner's graveyard or on top of its owner's library.

Q: I have Nomad Mythmaker and Celestial Ancient in play. Does an Aura card taken from the graveyard by Nomad Mythmaker trigger Celestrial Ancient?

A: To play a card means to announce it, put it on the stack, make all the necessary choices, and pay for it. Nomad Mythmaker's ability puts an Aura into play; it does not cause you to play one. Because of this, the ability of your Celestial Ancient will not trigger. Not all spells that are played, however, are played from a player's hand. There are other effects that allow you to play spells from the removed from game zone, graveyard, and even your library.

Q: If my opponent has Glitterfang and waits for the ability to trigger at end of turn before sacrificing it, can he keep reusing it, since the ability is independent of its source?

A: No. If Glitterfang is not in play when the ability resolves, the Glitterfang will stay in the zone it is currently in. You are correct that the ability is independent of its source, but the source of this ability was a Glitterfang in play. When it leaves play, it becomes a new object with no connection to the Glitterfang that was in play. So the ability on the stack will not return this card to its owner's hand unless it is the same permanent in play.

Q: If I have two Stormscape Familiars in play, may I play Transguild Courier for free?

A: No. A single Stormscape Familiar can only lower the cost of a spell by one mana, even if the spell is both black and white. Your Transguild Courier will cost two in this example.

Q: I have one creature in play, enchanted by Favorable Destiny. I have a Chimeric Idol that has not been activated this turn. My opponent plays Shock on my enchanted creature. If I activate the Idol after he plays Shock, does it make my other creature an illegal target and counter the spell?

A: Yes, that works as you describe. Favorable Destiny's ability can cause a spell to become countered on resolution if, when this spell would resolve, you do control another creature. This will make the enchanted creature untargetable and, therefore, an illegal target for this spell. If this enchanted creature was the lone target of this spell, then the targeted spell will become countered on resolution.

Q: My opponent wants to attack himself and then play Blessed Reversal. Is this possible? Can a player attack himself?

A: No, he cannot attack himself. In Magic, if you are the active player, you are the attacking player. In a one-on-one game, the non-active player is the defending player. Attacking creatures can only attack the defending player, not the attacking player.