Q: If I have multiple Rowens in play and reveal a land, do I draw one card or cards equal to the number of Rowens?

A: It's equal to the number of Rowens; they'll all trigger.

Q: If there are no legal targets in play, can I cast my Nekrataal? What happens when he comes into play?

A: Nothing. There are no play restrictions. Nekrataal isn't a legal target for his own trigger because he's Black, so you've just played an expensive 2/1 creature.

Q: If my Flesh Reaver is blocked by a Repentant Blacksmith, do I take four or two points of damage from my Flesh Reaver?

A: Four. It deals four damage no matter what the toughness of the defending creature is.

Q: If I have a Swamp and a Phyrexian Negator in play and my friend Lightning Bolts my Negator, can I save my swamp by sacrificing my Negator first - or do I need to sacrifice three permanents if there are legal targets?

A: You need to sacrifice three permanents no matter what. If you only have two, you have to sacrifice both of them.

Q: Planar Void is in play and I cast Cabal Therapy - on my turn, of course. In response to that, can I sacrifice a creature to use Cabal Therapy's flashback ability, or will Planar Void remove it from the game before I can attempt that maneuver?

Also, does sacrificing a permanent go on the stack and thereby make it fair for stacking tricks, or is it just gone to the graveyard?

Thanks,
Steve Bates.

Q: Planar Void will remove the Therapy before you can play its Flashback.

The Void triggers during the resolution of the Therapy (when, as the last step of resolution, you put the Therapy in the graveyard) and goes on the stack as soon as a player gets priority. Because there's something on the stack, you can't add a Sorcery to it. By the time you can play the Therapy again, it's already gone.

Sacrifice doesn't have a"speed." It's simply an instruction you follow out. Sometimes it's a cost (like with playing the Therapy flashback), sometimes it's done on resolution (like Innocent Blood). The reason some people think it's"fast" is that it's generally done at times (like those listed) which can't be responded to because players won't get priority until after the sacrifice is completed. Very rarely does a sacrifice involve any"tricks."

- Sheldon

Q: If a red Wild Mongrel hits the 'yard, does it trigger Verdant Succession? I think not.

- Ken

A: Ken,

You think right. Verdant Succession sees a red creature hit the graveyard and goes,"whatever."

Q: When a creature is cast with Aluren, can the creature be countered?

A: Yes. Aluren just provides an alternate cost to play the creature. It's still counterable.

Q: I have two clerics, which I'd like to use to prevent damage. Can I tap them in response to my friend's Insurrection, even though Insurrection says that he gains control of them?

A: As long as you still have control, you can. You can respond to his playing Insurrection by activating their abilities, which are still in place after Insurrection resolves. You obviously can't activate them after he takes control.

Q: At a game I saw today, a rules question came up that no one could definitively answer. One player has Engineered Plague on the board with squirrel named. His opponent has Squirrel Nest and a Fallen Angel. Is it possible for him to create a squirrel token and sac it to pump the angel before it dies?

A: No. The squirrel comes into play as a 0/0 and dies to a State-Based Effect before the Angel's player gets priority to activate the ability.

Q: If a player plays Control Magic on a Mishra's Factory, does the Control Magic remain in play when the factory stops being a creature?

A: No. Control Magic is an Enchant Creature. As soon as the Factory stops being a Creature, the enchantment will fall off due to a State-Based Effect.

Q: If Ascendant Evincar is in play and another player plays Mogg Fanatic, is it possible to sac the fanatic to deal one damage to Ascendant Evincar before it dies?

A: No. The Fanatic comes into play as a 0/0 and dies to a State-Based Effect before he gets priority to activate the ability.

Q: I have a creature enchanted with Sandskin. I attack with this creature; my opponent doesn't block. Combat damage is put on the stack and then I sacrifice this creature to a Nantuko Husk. As Sandskin is no longer in play, the damage should be dealt. Correct?

Thanks for the service,
Christian

A: Christian,

You're right. The damage doesn't care what's going to happen to it when it goes on the stack. If the creature is sacrificed before the damage is resolved, then there's nothing around to prevent it. It would be just like Disenchanting it. Very tricky!

Q: Can False Cure stack? if I cast two False Cures and then Life Burst my opponent, do they gain four life and lose sixteen, or gain four and lose eight?

A: You can play multiple False Cures in a single turn. Each will set up a triggered ability. If you play two, then Life Burst, they gain four, lose eight, and then lose eight again.

Q: Does Harrow trigger Horn of Greed?

A: No. Horn of Greed only triggers when you play a land, not when a land is put into play by a spell or ability.

Q: I read that when a Riptide Replicator makes 0/0 tokens, that these tokens activate the ability of Soul Warden and gain you one life for each token - even when they die immediately when they come into play. This makes me curious about the following situation:

I have an Unstable Shapeshifter in play and play a Phyrexian Dreadnought. Does the Dreadnought, like the 0/0 tokens, activate the Shapeshifter's ability, even though it leaves play almost immediately? I read the errata on Phyrexian Dreadnought, but this still isn't clear to me. I hope you can help me out.

Willem Groothedde

A: Willem,

The Shapeshifter becomes a 12/12 trampler. The Dreadnought's"if this would come into play" ability doesn't apply, because the Shapeshifter is already in play.