Rules Tip of the Day: When a permanent in play becomes a creature, it does not count as a creature coming into play.

Q: Are you able to use Smokebraider's mana to play an Elemental through Fist of Suns?

A: Yes. You are still using that mana to play an Elemental spell. It does not matter that you are using it to pay an alternate cost.

Q: I had a Black Poplar Shaman in play. My opponent had a 5/7 Treefolk, which was enchanted by a Lignify. He attempted to Naturalize Lignify. In response, I used the Shaman to put a regeneration shield on it. My opponent claims that enchantments cannot be regenerated, is he correct?

A: No. Any permanent can be regenerated. This means that you can use the ability from Black Poplar Shaman to regenerate a Lignify in play. This is because Black Poplar Shaman's ability refers to a Treefolk, which means any permanent in play with the subtype of Treefolk, not just creatures with that subtype.

Q: If I control no other Faeries, can I counter a Birds of Paradise with a Spellstutter Sprite?

A: Yes, as Spellstutter Faerie's ability will count itself when its comes-into-play ability resolves, provided that it is still in play at this point.

Q: Do creatures with Changeling count as every creature type while being cast? If I have an Elvish Handservant, and an opponent casts a creature with Changeling, does it count as a Giant while coming into play, giving the Handservant a counter?

A: Yes. In fact, the ability of Elvish Handservant triggers when your opponent plays a Giant spell, not when one comes into play. So the Handservent will get the +1/+1 counter before the Giant comes into play, or even if the Giant spell is countered and does not come into play at all.

Q: If there two Avatars of the same kind in play, are they both sent to the graveyard following the same principal as the legend rule?

A: There are no special rules that affect any creature type, including Avatars. There is no rule that cares about creature subtypes that works like the Legend rule does. You can have any number of creatures with the same name and subtype of Avatar in play at the same time.

Q: If you have multiple Gemstove Caverns in your hand at the start of the game, do they all go into play with a luck counter, or only one of them?

A: You can take advantage of the ability of any Gemstone Caverns in your hand at the beginning of a game, if you're not going first. Just keep in mind that you will have to remove a card in your hand from the game for each land that you choose to start in play. So at most you'd be able to have three in play, as your starting hand will be seven cards.

Q: I have Kaervek the Merciless in play. If my opponent casts a spell, and I Counterspell or Remand it, does my opponent still take damage from Kaervek's ability?

A: Yes. Kaervek's ability triggers whenever a spell is played. This triggered ability will go on the stack on top of the played spell. A spell that is countered was still played. So even if you counter the original spell before Kaervek's ability resolves, the targeted creature or player will receive damage.

Q: I have an Epochrasite in play. I play Pongify on it and get a 3/3 Ape token. Do I end up having a suspended Epochrasite after the spell resolves, or does it go into the graveyard, bypassing its trigger ability?

A: The Epochrasite will be removed from the game and Suspended. The effect from Pongify does not alter Epochrasite's ability at all. The fact that you received another 3/3 creature does not mean that the Epochrasite will not come back into play.

Q: If I play Valor Made Real in concordance with Loyal Sentry, will that allow Loyal Sentry to use his ability on each attacking creature?

A: Yes. Loyal Sentry's ability will trigger once for each creature it blocks. Normally, it can only block a single attacking creature, but Valor Made Real allows him to block any number. All of the creatures blocked by the Sentry will end up being destroyed by the Sentry's ability.

Q: I am at 11 life and my opponent is attacking with a Rhox enchanted with Wurmweaver Coil. I block with Cromat and use his ability to destroy Rhox. Do I lose?

A: No, provided you use that ability before combat damage goes on the stack. If the Rhox is destroyed before the combat damage step, then it will not be able to assign or deal any combat damage.