Rules Tip of the Day: All instances of the words 'you' and 'your' in an ability refer to the controller of the ability. The controller of an ability is the player who controlled the ability when the ability was played and went on the stack, so this refers to him, even if the source of the ability changes controllers before the ability resolves.
Q: My friend has Merrow Reejerey in play. He plays Grimoire Thief and uses Merrow Reejerey's ability to tap he same Grimoire Thief. Is this a legal move?
A: No. Merrow Reejerey's ability triggers when the Grimorie Thief is played. This triggered ability will go on the stack on top of the Reejerey spell. When it goes on the stack, you must choose a permanent in play. As the Thief spell is on the stack and not yet a permanent, it cannot be targeted. This triggered ability will then resolve before the Thief spell resolves and the Thief enters play.
Q: My friend has a Search for Tomorrow suspended and it is on its last time counter. He plays Slaughter Pact on my turn. Can he use the land from Search for Tomorrow to pay Slaughter Pact's cost at the beginning of his upkeep?
A: Yes, as he controls both the 'lose the game' trigger and the Search for Tomorrow triggered abilities. He can put the Pact trigger on the stack first, so it resolves last. This will allow him to unsuspend the Search for Tomorrow, play it, and put a land from his library into play. All of that will happen before he has to pay 2B or lose the game.
Q: I have a Greater Gargadon suspended and I play Sky Swallower. I respond to the Sky Swallower by sacrificing all of my permanents to Greater Gargadon. If I no longer have any counters on Gargadon, does he come into play after the Sky Swallower's effect resolves, or does he go to my opponent?
A: You will end up playing the Greater Gargadon when it unsuspends. This will happen before the Sky Swallower ability resolves, so your opponent will gain control of the Gargadon.
Q: If my opponent has shroud and I have a Shepherd of Rot, will the Shepard's activated ability still cause life loss for both of us?
A: Yes, Shepherd of Rot's ability does not target. It will affect a player that cannot be targeted.
Q: A creature is equipped with Scythe Of The Wretched, and my opponent has Chamber of Manipulation. My opponent uses Chamber Of Manipulation to gain control of the creature, and uses this creature to kill one of my creatures. Does Scythe Of The Wretched give my opponent the creature that Scythe Of The Wretched returns to play?
A: No, you will have control of this creature. The ability of Scythe of the Wretched that returns a creature to play is an ability of the Scythe itself. This ability is not given to the equipped creature. Your opponent controls the equipped creature, but you are still the controller of the Scythe. This means that you will control this triggered ability when the damaged creature goes to the graveyard and this creature will return to play under your control and have the Scythe attached to it.
Q: Noxious Ghoul enters play, and after it has resolved, my opponent plays a 1/1 creature with flash in my turn. Does it still die to Noxious Ghoul's ability?
A: No, Noxious Ghoul's ability only affects those creatures that are in play when its comes-into-play ability resolves. Creatures that enter play after this ability has resolved will not be affected.
Q: I have a Dream Halls in play, and I play five spells through Dream Halls by discarding five cards. I play Brain Freezei. Is the storm count zero, or five?
A: You played these other five spells; it does not matter that you did not pay their mana costs. Because these spells were played, your Brain Freeze will count them when it calculatees the number of storm copies to make.
Q: I have Richard Garfield, Ph.D. and Fist of Suns in play. Since Fist of Suns changes the the cost of spells I play to WUBRG, can I play any card I have for WUBRG, and say that it is any card I want, since all of my spells cost WUBRG? For instance, can my Terror become a Time Stretch? Or can I only play cards that cost WUBRG to begin with, like Bringer of the Black Dawn or Sliver Legion?
A: Fist of Suns gives cards an alternate play cost of WUBRG; it does not change their mana cost or their converted mana cost. The mana cost of Terror is still 1B, whether or not you pay 1B to play it. Fist of Suns does not change the mana cost of spells, it just changes what you pay, so it doesn't change the effect of Dr. Garfield.
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