Rules Tip of the Day: If a cumulative upkeep cost is not paid, then the permanent with cumulative upkeep is sacrificed.

Q: If I have a Leech Bonder in play at 3/3, and it is killed by a 2/1 and a 1/1 that each have wither, do all counters disappear if my opponent claims the Leech Bonder with Necroskitter?

A: It will come into play as a 'new' Leech Bonder, which means it will have the normal two -1/-1 counters on it. The number of counters on this card when it left play do not matter.

Q: If a player plays Mirrorweave targeting Kitchen Finks, and some of the copy Finks die, will they return to play as Kitchen Finks copies?

A: Any creatures that leaves play with Persist due to a copy effect will return to play as a new object and will not have the copy effect applied to it. This means that the creature will come back as it normally would, albeit with a -1/-1 counter on it.

Q: I played Lim-Dul's Vault, and in response, my opponent played Aven Mindcensor. Will the Mindcensor prevent me from resolving Lim-Dul's Vault normally?

A: No, you'll still be able to look at the top five cards of your library. Aven Mindcensor's ability is only applied when an effect would allow your opponent to search their library. Lim-Dul's Vault has its controller look at the top five cards of their library, put them on the bottom of their library or rearrange them in any order on the top of their library; this is not a search. Because of this, the Mindcensor's ability will not apply at all.

Q: If I activate Magus of the Bazaar, drawing and discarding Narcomoeba, will it come into play?

A: No. Tt did not go to the graveyard from your library; you discarded it from your hand.

Q: I play Lignify on my opponent's creature. He plays Infiltrator's Magemark on it. I argue that Lignify removes all abilities from the creature, regardless of the Infiltrator's Magemark. My opponent asserts that the creature is given a new ability by the Infiltrator's Magemark, which bypasses the Lignify. Who is right?

A: He is, but not for quite the right reasons. Infiltrator's Magemark does not give any abilities to enchanted creatures. It creates a continuous effect that makes enchanted creatures you control unblockable. Removing the abilities from a creature will not negate this effect. Let's imagine that this was a a different Magemark, like Fencer's Magemark. In this example, Magemark came into play last, so it would gain first strike from the Fencer's Magemark. This is because these two effects are applied in timestamp order.

Q: One player has a 14/14 Aeon Chronicler in play, and the other player plays Incinerate and Skred fori four damage, both targeting the Chronicler, during the player's end step. Does the Aeon Chronicler live or die?

A: It will remain in play. In the cleanup step of a turn, the active player discards down to his maximum hand size (usually seven), then all damage on creatures is removed, all effects that last until the end of turn end, and only then are state-based effects checked. This means that the Aeon Chronicler will be a 7/7 with no damage on it when state-based effects are checked, and it will not go to the graveyard.

Q: My opponent activates a Spawning Pool and attacks me with it. I lock it down with Ice Floe. On my opponent's next untap phase, will the locked-down Spawning Pool be able to untap, since it is no longer a creature?

A: This permanent will not untap. It does not matter that it is no longer a creature; Ice Floe's effect will keep it tapped. Ice Floe's ability only cares that the targeted permanent is a creature when the ability is played and when it resolves. Once an effect is generated, it will continue to apply to the targeted permanent, even if this permanent changes types.

Q: I am using Dingus Staff. My opponent uses Unmake to remove my creature from the game. Do graveyard-triggered effects, like the one on Dingus Staff, trigger? Would I take two damage?

A: No, that ability only triggers when a creature goes to the graveyard from play, not when one is removed from the game. Effects that remove objects from the game do not put them in the graveyard and then remove them from the game.