Rules Tip of the Day: What use to be called "summoning sickness" does not prevent a creature from being tapped to pay a cost; it prevents them from being tapped to pay the costs of its own abilities that use the tap symbol.

Q: It's my opponent's main phase and he's got two copies of Opalescence in hand, neither of which I want to see in play. I've got a Counterspell and an Extirpate with which I'd like to get rid of his Opalescences. He plays one, and I counter it. Is there any way I could play Extirpate before he can play the second one?

A: No, not in this situation. After the Counterspell resolves, your opponent will receive priority, since he is the active player. At this point, he can play the second Opalescence, as the stack will be empty. However, you could have snagged his Opalescence if you had played some other spell or ability before you played your Counterspell. This way, after your Counterspell resolved, there would have been something on the stack preventing your opponent from playing the second Opalescence when he receives priority after the Counterspell resolves. Then after he passed priority back to you, you could have played the Extirpate and stripped the Opalescence from his hand.

Q: Do you have to reveal the card you remove for Gemstone Caverns? The card doesn't say what card type is needed and it can be anything.

A: Yes, you do need to reveal what card you remove from the game. Gemstone Cavern's ability has you remove this card from the game without specifying that it will be face-down. This means that it will be face-up and viewable by all players in the game.

Q: If I Twincast a Recollect, can I target the Twincast with the copy of Recollect that is put on the stack by the Twincast?

A: No. When this Twincast resolves, it will put a copy of Recollect on the stack and you will choose if you want this copy to target something other than what the original Recollect does. All of this happens as Twincast is resolving, so Twincast will still be on the stack. Because of this, you will not be able to target the Twincast card with this copy.

Q: If I try to play a Sunburst card while Celestial Dawn is in play, can the white mana be used as any color, making a Sunburst card that costs 5 gain five counters, or will it only gain one counter?

A: The effect from Celestial Dawn allows you can spend this mana to pay any cost that requires mana of another color, but that does not mean that it is another color. With respect to Sunburst, you are only spending white mana. So if you were to play a Skyreach Manta in this situation, it would only get one +1/+1 counter.

Q: My opponent has Wurmweaver Coil enchanting Gatherer of Graces. I play Reprisal, targeting the Gatherer. Can my opponent use Wurmweaver Coil's sacrifice ability to bring a 6/6 green Wurm creature into play to drop the Gatherer's power down to save her from the spell?

A: Yes. He can sacrifice the Coil to activate its own ability. When he does, the power of Gatherer of Grace's will be lowered, presumably to something below four. This means that the Reprisal will be countered on resolution, as it will not have a legal target when it attempts to resolve.

Q: If I cast Ill-Gotten Gains and I have Tormod's Crypt in play, can I remove my opponent's graveyard after he discards his hand so he can't pick any cards from his graveyard?

A: No. You can use Tormod's Crypt's ability before the Ill-Gotten Gains resolves, but you can not use it while Ill-Gotten Gains is resolving.

Q: If two Junk Divers are going to the graveyard at the same time, may I elect to return both to my hand by having them target each other?

A: Yes. When each Junk Diver goes to the graveyard, its ability will trigger and go on the stack. You an choose to target each of these Junk Diver cards with the ability of the other Junk Diver that left play when it did.

Q: I am wondering whether the effect of Defense Grid is cumulative. If I have two Defense Grids in play, during my turn, does my opponent need to pay 6 to play his spells?

A: Yes, the effect from multiple Defense Grids in play is cumulative. Each one in play will raise the cost of spells that are not played during their controller's turn by an additional three mana.

Q: What happens when a "manland" or an artifact like Phyrexian Totem is activated when Tainted Aether is in play? If the land or the artifact was already in play before it was animated, would it avoid the Tainted Aether trigger?

A: Apart from these permanents becoming creatures, nothing will happen. These permanents are already in play and only become creatures; this is not the same thing as a creature coming into play.