Rules Tip of the Day: The ability of the Shards of Alara card Sphinx's Herald instructs you to sacrifice three different creatures. This means that you cannot sacrifice just one creature that is white, blue, and black to search for Sphinx Sovereign. You can sacrifice a multicolored creature, but you will still have to sacrifice two other creatures as well.

Q: I'm playing against an opponent with a Stoic Angel in play. Is there any way for me to play a Snakeform on his Stoic Angel so that I can untap my creatures during my untap step?

A: No. If you play and resolve Snakeform in your opponent's turn, then the effect will wear off at the end of his turn, and the Angel will have its ability in the untap step of your turn. And the first time that a player receives priority in an turn is in the upkeep step, which is after the untap step.

Q: If I have two copies of Lich's Mirror in play, and I would lose the game, do I draw 7 or 14 cards? And what does my life total end up as?

A: Having two of more Lich's Mirror does not do anything more than having one in play will. If you would lose the game, then the replacement effects from these two static abilities will each try to change what happens. If you would lose, you choose to apply one of these effects first. Then, because you are no longer losing this game, the replacement effect from the other is not applied. So you'll end up with just seven cards in hand and a life total of 20.

Q: With regards to the card Death Baron: if I have a changeling in play, does it receive +2/+2 for being both a Zombie and a Skeleton?

A: No. Death Baron's ability will only give a single creature +1/+1, even if it is both a Skeleton and a Zombie.

Q: At the release tournament, my opponent played Soul's Fire, and in response, I killed the creature he was targeting. Since Soul's Fire says 'target creature in play' on it, will it fizzle on resolution, since its target is not in play?

A: Sort of. Technically speaking this spell will resolve, since it still has a legal target, but as the creature that was the first target is not in play when Soul's Fire attempts to resolve, it will not be able to deal any damage. So the spell will resolve, but nothing will happen.

Q: I have a Deft Duelist and a Guardian of Arkasa in play. When I attack with the Dualist, does it get the exalted bonus?

A: Yes; the Exalted ability does not target anything. It will affect a creature that cannot be targeted.

Q: I have a Mycoloth with four +1/+1 counters on it. My friend plays Scar on it. Do I get three or four Saprolings?

A: In your upkeep, when Mycoloth's ability resolves, you will get just three Saproling tokens. When an object has both +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on it, they will cease to exist in equal numbers when state-based effects are checked.

Q: So me and a friend were playing some magic. I had a Sarkhan Vol in play with six loyalty counters on it. I removed all the counters to make a Dragon token, and put Sarkhan Vol in the graveyard. I then played another Sarkhan Vol from my hand and used his first ability. My friend argued that I couldn't do that because I already used an ability from my previous Sarkhan Vol. I argued I could, because it was a different one that came into play. Who is right?

A: You are correct. You can only use the ability of each planeswalker you control once during each of your turns. This Sarkhan Vol in play is not the same one that was in play earlier, so you can play its ability.

Q: My question is regarding Ashling, the Extinguisher. The wording on the effect is "Choose target creature"; the "choose" part confuses me. Is the origin of the target me, or Ashling. In other words, can it kill a creature with protection from black?

A: The source of the ability is Ashling. You are never the source of an ability. This means that you cannot choose to target a creature that has protection from black with this ability.

Q: If I have two Bottled Cloisters in play at the same time, and one gets Disenchanted on my opponent's turn, do I still get my cards back on my turn?

A: It depends on which Bottled Cloister was destroyed. Only one can remove your hand from the game in your opponent's upkeep: the one whose ability resolves first. Basically it was up to your opponent; did he destroy that Cloister?

Q: I played AEther Storm on one turn, then played Dovescape on the next. On my opponent's turn, he played a spell. I know the spell would be countered but because of AEther Storm, would the Bird tokens be countered as well?

A: No. Aether Storm prevents creature spells from being played; it does not prevent creatures from being put into play. These Bird tokens will enter play.