Rules Tip of the Day: Removing a blocking creature after blockers have been legally declared does not make the attacking creature unblocked; it will still be blocked. The attacking creature will not deal any damage to the defending player unless it has trample.

Q: I have Thoughtweft Trio, Preeminent Captain, and Wizened Cenn in play, and my opponent has Lurebound Scarecrow and Plumeveil in play. I attack with the Trio and Captain, which allows me to put a second Thoughtweft Trio play attacking. The second Trio Champions the Captain. My opponent plays Mirrorweave targeting the Lurebound Scarecrow. He follows this up by playing a Zealous Guardian. He says that because I do not have any colored permanents, all my creatures are sacrificed, and since he still has a permanent of the chosen color in play, he keeps his creatures. Is this correct?

A: Not quite. He is correct that you will have to sacrifice your creatures. The fact that you do not control any colored permanents does not matter; even if you did, you would have to sacrifice your creatures that have been turned into Lurebound Scarecrows. This is because these permanents did not come into play as Lurebound Scarecrows, so you did not choose a color. As there was no color chosen for each of these creatures, you cannot control a creature of this non-chosen color.

The good news for you it that your opponent's creatures will also be sacrificed. If he plays Zealous Guardian while his own Mirrorweave is on the stack, then the Guardian will enter play and also be turned into a Lurebound Scarecrow. If he plays Zealous Guardian after Mirrorweave has resolved, then it will be too late, as the abilities of his Lurebound Scarecrows will have triggered.

Q: I control an attacking Paladin en-Vec. Mirrorweave is played after first strike damage has resolved, but before normal damage is stacked, turning all creatures into Grizzly Bears. Will my Paladin en-Vec be able to deal normal damage as it is now no longer a first striking creature and we haven't progressed beyond first strike damage?

A: No. Creatures that dealt damage in the first strike combat damage step do not deal damage in the normal combat damage step unless they have double strike. It does not matter if they lose first strike after first strike combat damage has resolved.

Q: What happens if, during their upkeep, my opponent has four Midnight Banshees in play and three one-toughness nonblack creature cards? I have Flourishing Defenses, seven 1/1 green Elf tokens, and three various X/1 green creature cards in play.

A: Each of the Midnight Banshee abilities will resolve one at a time. When each does, all nonblack creatures in play will get -1/-1 counters. Each counter that is put on a creature will cause Flourishing Defenses' ability to trigger. These triggers will go on the stack and resolve before the ability of the next Midnight Banshee resolves, This means that these 1/1 Elf tokens will then receive -1/-1 counters when the next Midnight Banshee ability resolves. When the first Midnight Banshee ability resolved 13 -1/-1 counters were put into play and all nonblack creatures ended up having their toughness lowered so zero. So in the end you will have 13 1/1 Elves.

Q: If I chose Changeling as the creature type for Conspiracyi, will my creatures be treated as having every other creature type, like regular Changeling cards?

A: Changeling is not a creature type, it is a keyword ability. You cannot choose Changeling when Conspiracy comes into play or any other time that you choose a single creature type.

Q: My opponent attacks me with an animated Treetop Village, and I Terror it. He responds by sacrificing Saffi Eriksdotter targeting the Treetop Village. Will the Village return to play, even if he has played a land for the turn? If so, does it come into play tapped or untapped?

A: Yes, it will return to play. The Treetop Village that is returned to play is not played, so the limit on playing just one land a turn is not applied to it. And it will come into play tapped, as that is how Treetop Village normally enters play.

Q: My opponent has an Adarkar Windform in play, and I have a Stalking Yeti in my hand. I play the Stalking Yeti and deal three damage to the Adarkar Windform. In return, the Adarkar Windform deals three damage to my Stalking Yeti. Is it possible for me to use my Stalking Yeti's returni-to-hand ability to prevent it from going to my graveyard?

A: No. Immediately after the Yeti's ability resolves, state-based effects are checked. At this time, the Yeti will have received lethal damage and will go to the graveyard. This will happen before anyone can play any spells or abilities.

Q: With two Ambush Commanders in play, my Forests are still just 1/1 creatures, right?

A: Correct. Multiple Ambush Commanders in play do not create a cumulative effect. The effect from the first makes your Forests into 1/1 green Elf creatures, and the effect from the second does the exact same thing. This does not combine to create a larger result.

Q: Can I splice four copies of Overblaze together and then imprint them on a Panoptic Mirror for the combined effect?

A: No, you can only imprint a single card onto Panoptic mirror. Splice is an additional cost you can pay when you play a spell, not when you imprint a card onto a permanent.