Rules Tip of the Day: If a Cumulative Upkeep cost is not paid, then the permanent with Cumulative Upkeep is sacrificed.
Q: What will happen if player A plays Wrath of God and Player B plays Scout's Warning and Gaddok Teeg in response?
A: Gaddok will come into play and end up begin destroyed by the Wrath of God. Gaddok Teeg's ability prevents spells with converted mana costs of four or more from being played. That ability does not do anything to spells with converted mana costs of four or more that have already been played and are waiting on the stack to resolve.
Q: If I have a Deathrender, Enduring Renewal, and Mogg Fanatic in play, can I equip the Deathrender to the Mogg Fanatic, sacrifice it, and somehow get the same Mogg Fanatic in play using the Deathrender's ability and therefore deal infinite damage to the opponent?
A: Yes, that works. When you sacrifice the Mogg Fanatic to activate its ability, the triggered abilities of Enduring Renewal and Deathrender will trigger and go on the stack. As you are the controller of these two abilities you can choose the order that the go on the stack and, therefore, the order that these triggers resolve. To get the result you want, you'd need to put Deathrender's ability on the stack first, followed by Enduring Renewal's ability. This way Enduring Renewal's ability will resolve first and put the Mogg Fanatic back into your hand before Deathrender's ability allows you to put a creature card in your hand into play. (Keep in mind that there is no infinite anything in Magic.)
Q: If my opponent casts Flames of the Blood Hand and I have Purity in play, what happens?
A: You will be dealt four points of damage. The damage from Flames of the Blood Hand cannot be prevented, so the Purity's ability will not do anything. As Puritys ability does not prevent any damage, you will not gain any life. (You wouldn't anyway, as the effect from Flames of the Blood Hand prevents you from gaining life, too.)
Q: Can I use Rings of Brighthearth to copy a planeswalker ability?
A: Yes, Rings of Brighthearth's ability will trigger when you play the activated ability of a planeswalker. Keep in mind that this copy will not change the number of loyalty counters on the planeswalker at all.
Q: If I use Incandescent Soulstoke's ability to put an Elemental into play, and then Champion that creature in my second main phase, would I need to sacrifice this creature when it returns to play after the Champion leaves play?
A: No. This creature that is returned to play when the Champion leaves play is a new creature with no connection to the one that was put into play via Incandescent Soulstroke's ability. It does not matter that it is represented by the same card. When this creature comes into play, it will remain in play, as the effect from the Soulstroke's ability will not apply to it at all. This is true regardless of when it returns to play.
Q: Will a Pithing Needle in play and naming Dodecapod stop my opponent from using the Dodecapod's ability when I make him discard a card with Stupor?
A: No. Dodecapod's ability that puts it into play when the effect from a spell or ability you control causes your opponent to discard it is a static ability that creates a replacement effect, it is not an activated ability.
Q: I have Merieke Ri Berit in play. I gain control of a Haakon, Stromgald Scourge. Now due to Merieke's text, I do not lose control of the creature if Merieke becomes untapped, but the creature is destroyed, so in this instance, I assume I would lose two life when the Haakon hits the graveyard. But what would happen if Merieke were to be destroyed?
A: First of all, you are correct that you will be the one to lose two life in the first example. In that situation, you controlled Haakon when he left play, so you will control his leaves-play triggered ability. In the second situation, when Merieke is destroyed, the control effect generated by her ability will end and your opponent will regain control of Haakon. Then, the next time a player receives priority, the triggered ability associated with losing control of this creature will go on the stack. When this trigger resolves, your opponent will control the Haakon, so he will control its leaves-play triggeri, and he will lose two life.
Q: If I play Bounty of the Hunt with Doubling Season in play, do I have to remove all six counters at the end of the turn or just three of them?
A: Bounty of the Hunt has errata so it does not give any counters at all, it just creates three different +1/+1 continuous effects that last until the end of the turn. (Keep in mind that you can choose to target the same creature more than once with Bounty of the Hunt.) There is no interaction between it and Doubling Season.
Q: I have a Heartstone and a Crypt Rats in play. May I activate the Crypt Rats ability without paying any mana, or does X count as zero in this instance, meaning it cannot be reduced in cost for Heartstone?
A: When you play a spell or ability with X in the cost you choose a value of X and then figure out the cost. So what you pay depends on what value of X you choose. Keep in mind that Heartstone's ability will not allow you to lower the cost of an activated ability to below one. Even if you choose X=1, you'll still have to spend one black mana on this ability; it will not be free.
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