Rules Tip of the Day: There are five phases in a turn. Some of these phases are broken down into smaller steps. At the beginning of most steps and phases, the active player receives priority.

Q: Can I use mana from Smokebraider to pay for the reinforce cost of Brighthearth Banneret?

A: No. Reinforce is an activated ability of a card in your hand, and you can only use the mana from Smokebraider's ability to play Elemental spells or to pay the cost of activated abilities of Elemental permanents in play. This is because Smokebraider's ability spcifically refers to the 'activated abilities of Elementals' and does not specify activated abilities of Elemental cards.

Q: Does Cairn Wanderer gain multiple instances of lifelink if there are multiple creatures with lifelink in graveyards? For example, if there is a Knight of Meadowgrain and a Mistmeadow Skulk in my graveyard, will my Cairn Wanderer get two seperate lifelink triggers?

A: No, it does not work like that. Cairn Wanderer's ability does not give Cairn Wanderer a single keyword more than once. As long as there is one card with lifelink in a graveyard, the Wanderer will have lifelink. Having more than one card with this ability in a graveyard does not grant lifelink to the Wanderer more than once.

Q: When Grimoire Thief is sacrificed to counter spells, is that the only time that that spell is countered, or do all following copies of that spell get countered as well?

A: Spells only exist on the stack. Grimoire Thief's ability only counters spells that are on currently on the stack, it cannot counter any spells that are played later in the game.

Q: If I cast Graceful Reprieve on a token, and then it dies, will it return to play or not?

A: No, token creatures that leave play cannon be returned to play, and further, cease to exist when state-based effects are checked. This check will happen before the delayed triggered ability created by Graceful Reprieve's delayed triggered ability even goes on the stack, let alone resolves.

Q: When countering a spell using Rune Snag or Broken Ambitions while Guile is in play, does the opponent get a chance to pay mana so the spell is not countered? Or, since those spells would counter a spell, does Guile's ability automatically kick in?

A: Guile's ability is only applied to events when a spell is actually countered by an effect from a source you control. If mana is paid so that Rune Snag does not counter the targeted spell, then the effect from Guile's ability is not applied.

Q: I deal damage with Intet, the Dreamer, and use its ability to remove a Molder from the top of my library. Would I need to pay the X cost to destroy an artifact or enchantment, or would Intet cover it?

A: You can play this Molder that has been removed from the game, but only to target an artifact that has a converted mana cost of zero. When an effect allows you to play a spell with an X in its mana cost without paying the mana cost, then the value of X is zero. You are not given the option of making another choice.

Q: If I have a card like Sunscape Familiar in play and I flip a Brine Elemental, is the cost reduced?

A: No. Effects that lower the cost to play a spell do not lower the cost to end the morph effect and turn a face-down creature face up.

Q: If I have a Pendelhaven in play and my opponent plays a Pendelhaven during his main phase, can I respond by pumping a 1/1 before both lands are destroyed by the legend rule?

A: No. Playing a land does not use the stack and cannot be responded to. The Legend rule is a state-based effect that will be checked as soon this second Pendelhaven enters play.

Q: What happens if I use a Magus of the Unseen's ability on my opponent's tapped Time Vault?

A: One of two things. When The Magus' ability starts to resolve, the first thing it'll try to do is untap the Time Vault. However, Time Vault's modal replacement effect will have to be dealt with. At this point your opponent controls it, so he can choose whether Time Vault untaps and he skips his next turn, or whether Time Vault remains tapped. Then you will gain control of it. So either your opponent will skip his next turn and you will gain an additional turn (good for you) or you will gain control of a tapped Time Vault (not so good for you). Considering that the only choice involved in this situation is up to your opponent, I don't think you'll be taking a bunch of turns in a row.