Ask the Judge, 7/24/2008
Rules Tip of the Day: Colorless is not a color; you cannot choose colorless if an effect has you choose a color. Also, a card or permanent being colorless does not make it an artifact, and an object being an artifact does not make it colorless.
Q: Can I use Flamekin Harbinger to search for Ball Lightning?
A: Yes, while all printed copies of Ball Lightning have the printed creature type of Ball-Lightning, it is now an Elemental.
Q: If Prison Term is in play on a creature, and your opponent plays Drove of Elves, does the Drove's ability prevent the Prison Term from becoming attached to the Drove?
A: No. When Prison Term is initially played as a spell on the stack, it targets the creature it will become attached to. Once in play, when it moves from creature to creature, it does not target. You can choose to have your Prison Term in play become attached to a Drove of Elves that just came into play under an opponent's control.
Q: If I Donate a Phage the Untouchable, then use Turn to Mist on it, will my opponent lose the game?
A: No, you will. Turn to Mist returns the targeted creature to play under its owner's control. This means that Phage will return to play under your control, and her comes-into-play ability will cause you to lose the game.
Q: If I enchant my Akki Underminer with Power of Fire, and then tap Akki Underminer to deal one damage to my opponent, does this trigger Akki Underminer's ability? Does my opponent now have to sacrifice a permanent?
A: No, Akki Underminer's ability triggers when it deals combat damage to a player, not damage from an ability. Combat damage is the damage that creatures in combat assign in the beginning of the combat damage step only.
Q: Are the Treefolk that Fendeep Summoner turns lands into colorless?
A: Yes. The effect does not give them a color, so they will remain colorless.
Q: What is the difference between changeling and Shapeshifter?
A: Shapeshifter is a creature type; changeling is a keyword ability. Creatures and tribal cards with changeling have all creature subtypes. Shapeshifters in Lorwyn and Morningtide have the changeling ability, but Shapeshifters in other sets do not.
Q: I have an animated Phyrexian Totem and a Shapesharer in play. The Shapesharer is a copy of the animated Totem. Now the Shapesharer gets hit by Lightning Bolt. Do I have to sacrifice three permanents or not?
A: If Shapesharer copied the animated Totem, then it would become an unanimated Totem. It will not become a creature unless you use the animation ability that it now has. This is because effects that are applied to the original are not (generally) applied to copies. If you do animate it, and it is dealt damage by a Lightning Bolt, then yes, you would have to sacrifice three permanents.
Q: If I have a creature equipped with Deathrender and I use an Alter of Bone to sacrifice the equipped creature, will the creature fetched with the Alter of Bone be in my hand when the ability of Deathrender resolves?
A: No. The triggered ability from Deathrender will trigger and go on the stack on top of the Altar of Bone spell. This triggered ability will resolve first, before Altar of Bone does, and before you will search your library for a creature card.
Q: Can I play Odds / Ends if the other player attacks with just one creature? Should they sacrifice it?
A: Yes. In fact, there do not need to be any attacking creatures at all to play the Odds half of Odds / Ends. All that matters is that you target a player. Then when Odds resolves, that player will sacrifice two attacking creatures if he has any.
Q: What happens to a Devouring Strossus if its controller has no other creatures in play?
A: They will be forced to sacrifice it when its upkeep triggered ability resolves. It is a creature they control, so if thy do not have any others, it will be sacrificed.
Q: If I bring Balduvian Horde into play, am I able to cast Fling, sacrificing the Balduvian Horde, before I discard a card at random?
A: Yes, Balduvian Horde's comes-into-play ability is a triggered ability that uses the stack; you can respond to this by playing the Fling in your hand.





Friday, July 25th - Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’ll take a closer look at Eventide and detail its impact on...
Friday, July 25th - With just one last Pro Tour Qualifier to go before Eventide rotated into the Block Constructed format, my mission (should I choose to accept it) was to drive myself and four compatriots to Boston for the...
Friday, July 25th - This week, let’s try talking about something a little different, away from the usual Faeries du jour, or even... 
Friday, July 25th - U.S. Nationals is coming, and Magic’s great and good are beavering away in the search for super-crazy Standard tech. With Eventide firmly...
Monday, July 28th - The Kentucky Open was a week or so ago, and I decided to make a weekend of it. Originally, I was planning on going to ‘double dip’ on...
Monday, July 28th - Christopher Coppola analyzes the Top 8 results of fourteen large tournaments and discusses the current state of the
Monday, July 28th - U.S Nationals approaches, and people are tight-lipped regarding their Standard technology. As a break of pace from his usual high strategy,...
Wednesday, July 23rd - While I rarely do “set reviews” in the strictest sense, taking each card line-by-line and spouting such wisdom as “It’s cool that Mogg Fanatic and Incinerate were reprinted; those cards might find a...
Wednesday, July 23rd - When last we left our hero, he’d dug into the White and Blue cards of interest in Eventide. Let’s move on and try to finish things...
Wednesday, July 23rd - In his debut article for StarCityGames, Level 4 pro David Irvine brings us not one, not two, but three interesting Standard decks for the...
Thursday, July 24th - I ran a PTQ last weekend. The Top 8 happened - Faeries and Faeries and Merfolk and Faeries and some Elementals and – who cares? That...
Thursday, July 24th - Eventide's nearing the shelves, so it's time to look through the cards and find those "necessities" that the budget player should be...
Thursday, July 24th - Welcome to the Thursday column dedicated to bringing you topics pertinent to the largest chunk of Magic players out there, the casual... 









