Rules Tip of the Day: Some triggered abilities allow for the payment of mana when they resolves. Unless specified, you can only pay the given costs once. In other words you cannot pay this cost multiple times in order to get the effect multiple times.

Q: I control a Murderous Redcap without a -1/-1 counter on it, and a Scarblade Elite. My Redcap is put into my graveyard; with the persist trigger on the stack, I use Scarblade Elite's activated ability and remove Redcap from the game. Will the persist trigger still return the Redcap to play, even though it has changed zones?

A: No, the persist ability only looks for the creature card in the graveyard. If it goes to another zone, the persist ability will not return it to play.

Q: If I have a tapped Nettle Sentinel in play, and I play a green spell that is countered, will my Nettle Sentinel remain tapped, or will it untap, even though my spell never resolved.

A: It will untap. Its ability triggers when you play a green spell. It does not matter if this spell is countered.

Q: If my opponent plays a Runed Halo, can I wait until she names a card before I decide to counter it?

A: No, the card is named when the spell resolves. At that point, it is too late to counter it.

Q: When using Brion Stoutarm's ability, I choose to sacrifice Hearthfire Hobgoblin. Does it deal two or four damage to the target player?

A: Just two. It may have double strike, but that does not affect Brion's ability at all. Double strike only affects the assignment of combat damage; it does not change how damage is dealt or the amount of damage dealt in other ways.

Q: I play Makeshift Mannequin targeting a Troll Ascetic in my graveyard. After that resolves, my opponent casts Terror, announcing Troll Ascetic as the target. Obviously, the Troll can't be targeted, and Terror cannot directly affect it, but even as an illegal target, does the Mannequin ability still trigger?

A: No. He cannot legally play this Terror targeting your Troll. The entire action is rewound, and the ability give to the Troll by Makeshift Mannequin will not trigger.

Q: I have a Hamletback Goliath in play that hasn't received any counters yet, and I play a Borderland Behemoth. Doe the Goliath receive four or eight counters?

A: It will receive eight counters. Borderland Behemoth's ability is not a triggered ability; it is a static ability. This means that it will come into play an 8/8. It will be an 8/8 when it comes into play, and more importantly, an 8/8 when Hamletback Goliath's ability resolves.

Q: If I control two black creatures, does my Ashenmoor Cohort get +1/+1 from each black creature in the play, or +1/+1 total?

A: Just +1/+1 total. ÊThe number of other black creature you control does not matter; just that you control at least one.

Q: Will the effect of Golgari Guildmage work when a creature token is sacrificed?

A: That ability works if you activate it and sacrifice a creature to pay part of the activation cost. You can choose to sacrifice a token creature.

Q: If I have multiple copies of Enduring Renewal in play, do I get to reveal and potentially draw a card for each copy each turn?

A: No. Even with two in play, you will only end up drawing one card. This is because each card has a static ability that generates a replacement effect that tries to change what happens when you draw a card. If it is a creature card, you put it into your graveyard and nothing else happens. If it is not a creature card, then you will technically apply both effects but will only end up drawing the one card.

Q: I have a question about a recent ruling I was given at a Friday Night Magic. My opponent was at two life and had three creatures in play: two 2/2s and a Merrow Levitator. I attacked my opponent with a 2/2 and another 2/2 with flying. He started by saying he was blocking the non-flying 2/2 with one creature and then gave his other 2/2 flying with the Levitator's ability and then blocked the other creature. Is this legal? The judge at the time said that it was fine, but I thought all blocking creatures had to be declared at one time.

A: It is technically correct that all blocking creature are declared at one time. However, at Regular and Competitive RELs, is is acceptable to perform some actions out of order as long as a legal outcome it reached. FNM is run at regular REL. This is a new concept that was included in the latest version of the DCI Penalty Guide. An example given in that new section details a player choosing one blocker, animating a Treetop Village, and then blocking with it. Your example, where where a creature is given flying and then blocks a flying creature after a different block was made, is similar.