Q: I have a Tradewind Rider (1/4) and a Shaman en Kor (1/2, can redirect damage to and from itself). My opponent does a Drain Life of four to the Rider. I redirect the damage to the Shaman, letting it die (I know, I could also redirect three back to the Rider, but I want the Shaman dead for some reason). Does my opponent still get four life (as the original target sets the limit)?

A: Drain Life refers to"the creature's toughness" meaning the toughness of the creature it targeted . The only way to change the amount of life your opponent will gain is by retargetting Drain Life or by lowering that creature's toughness.

Q: If I have a Shaman en Kor and an Angelic Chorus (when a creature comes into play, gain life equal to its toughness) and I cast a Task Force, can I:

• Let the Task Force resolve
• Add the Chorus trigger to the stack
• Target the Task Force three times with the redirection ability of the Shaman

If this resolves, do I get twelve life from a 1/12 Task Force?

A: Yes, the triggered ability of the Angelic Chorus checks what the"new" creature's toughness is on resolution, and gives you life equal to that.

Q: If my opponent adds a Terror (target: TF) to the stack and I respond with four activations, do I get fifteen life from my dying Task Force (last known information rule)?

A: Correct. When the Terror resolves, there are still three Task Force triggers on the stack, they will resolve but won't change the last known information on the now-dead Task Force.

Q: If my assumptions were correct, then I assume that I can also easily save my creatures from Aether Flash (deals two damage to a creature coming into play) by giving them protection from Red with a Crimson Acolyte?

A: Your assumptions were correct and you are right about this one, too.

Have fun playing En-Kor's, Task Forces, Acolytes and Angelic Chorus in the same deck; your opponent will enjoy it as much as you, I bet.

Gis

Q: Does Cursed Totem shut down Glory and Genesis's graveyard abilities?

- JF

A: No, Cursed Totem only works on creatures; cards in graveyards are creature cards. It's slightly different, but Cursed Totem won't see them as creatures.

Gis

Q: Aquamoeba and Castle in play. I activate Aquamoeba and switch Power/Toughness. Then I attack. What happens?

Yours Afbeer

A: There are huge discusions about this card right now, so the ruling I present here is not the final word on it and may change in the future. The 1/5 Aquamoeba switches is power and toughness and becomes 5/1 continious effects (like Castle's) only apply once. It stays 5/1. Then you attack with the Aquamoeba, it will lose its +0/+2 from the Castle because it is tapped, so it will become 5/-1, and die.

It's better to attack first and switch power and toughness later,

Gis

Q: Would you be so kind as to provide me with tips on properly shuffling a Battle of Wits-based deck? I primarily play online, so the click of a button suffices for shuffling. However, I have intentions of building and playing the deck in a tournament, and would like to be prepared for the large shuffling task. Also, the thought of being disqualified as a result of insufficient deck shuffling frightens me, as it would be unintentional.

Thank you for your time,
Steve Maitlen

A: Hi Steven,

This is a tough question, you have three minutes for shuffling at the beginning of a game; this includes sideboarding when you are in between games of the same match.

The first thing is to take little time sideboarding. Make sure you know what to put in, what to take out and try and find it quickly. Hopefully, that leaves you with two minutes' shuffling time. Where to start?

Then divide the deck into three piles give each pile two shuffles, then halve each pile and combine it with a new pile; two shuffles again, halve and switch again; then shuffle last, get a clean cut, and I think you should be set.

Hopefully, you'll be able to do this in under two minutes, but I advise you to practice your shuffling techniques in advance. Between rounds, it is probably best to do a (facedown) pile shuffle (or two).

Have fun playing that deck,
Gis

Q: I have a question about using Riftstone Portal with Cabal Coffers. Can you use the activated mana ability of the Coffers to give you green or white mana as well as black from the amount of swamps you control? I am wondering because I have put Crush of Wurms into mono black control with Entombs to get the portal into the graveyard.....

A: Actually, it works slightly differently. Riftstone Portal says:

{tap}: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. As long as Riftstone Portal is in your graveyard, lands you control have"{tap}: Add G or W to your mana pool."

The only thing it does is give each land you control the mana ability to tap for white or green. Cabal Coffers has three abilities with the Portal in the grave:

1) Tap: add one green mana
2) Tap: add one white mana
3) 2, tap: add one black mana for each swamp you control

Hope this clears things up,

Gis

Q: Can the Wishes be used to get another restricted card (like using four red wishes to grab four Balances in a deck that already has Balance)? What about grabing a fifth Wrath of God in a deck with four already? And if the Wishes really do allow you to make a five-Balance containing deck, are they going to be restricted in Type One?

A: The wishes work slightly differently as stated on the cards when used in DCI-sanctioned tournaments. The only cards you can then, legally, get with the wishes are sideboard cards or cards that have been removed from the game by some effect (Flashback, for instance). For casual games, you can use whatever rule you want; it's up to you.

Q: My opponent has a Rack and a Black Vise on me. I then play Ivory Mask. What happens?

A: Both The Rack and Black Vise have received errata; for instance, Black Vise now reads:

As Black Vise comes into play, choose an opponent. At the beginning of the chosen player's upkeep step, Black Vise deals X damage to that player, where X is the number of cards greater than four in his or her hand.

As you can see the card doesn't use the word target anymore, Ivory Masks doesn't do anything for either The Rack or Black Vise.

take care,
Gis