Q: If I play Celestial Dawn and then my friend plays Contamination, does that kill my deck since all the land I tap is now black? Or would my the Dawn go on the bottom of the stack during my turn so I could play my instant spells?

A: There's no stacking here; we're talking about the interaction of continuous effects (rule 418.5). There are no dependencies, so they're applied in timestamp order. You're in trouble until your opponent runs out of creatures.

Q: My son wants to know if he has two Gratuitous Violence enchantment cards in play does that mean his Goblin Sharpshooter would deal four damage to a creature or player (doubling the double damage) - and it would then follow, if he had four Gratuitous Violence in play, then one Sharpshooter would deal sixteen damage with each shot?

A: Yes, that's correct. Double the double. The double.

Q: If I target a land with Wasteland, and my opponent cast's Teferi's Response, and in response I Strip Mine the land, does the Response become countered because the Wasteland is no longer a legal target for the Response to counter?

A: No. The Teferi's Response doesn't target the Wasteland; it targets the Wasteland's ability that's on the stack. The only time the Teferi's Response would be countered is if the ability itself was no longer on the stack.

- Sheldon

Q: My opponent has a Tangle Wire in play. During his upkeep, he taps the Tangle Wire as one of the three permanents he must tap. On my next upkeep, the Tangle Wire is therefore tapped. Does its effect work? I remember in the past, the effects of certain artifacts, such as Winter Orb, did not take effect if they were tapped. If the Tangle Wire's effect does work while tapped, do all continuous artifact effects now work even when they are tapped unless otherwise written on the card?

Thanks for the help,
Marc Gleason

A: Marc,

Under 7th Edition rules, artifacts still work if they're tapped unless they specifically say so. Tangle Wire works if it's tapped. Off the top of my head I can think of four which don't work when they're tapped (with the obvious exception of things that have tapping as part of their activation cost): Winter Orb, Static Orb, Howling Mine, and Storage Matrix.

- Sheldon

Q: If I have a Psychatog, Astral Slide, and seven lands in play; I cycle a Barren Moor (or any other cycling land) to slide out my Psychatog, then cast Upheaval. Does the Psychatog come back into play at the end of my turn?

Thank you for your help,
Alex

A: Alex,

Yes. The activation of the Slide sets up a delayed triggered ability that will happen even if the Slide itself is no longer in play.

Sheldon

Q: Engineered plague is in play naming"clerics." There is a Rotlung Reanimator in play. A player plays Shepherd of Rot, which immediately goes to the graveyard, since when state based effects are checked for, it is a 0/0 creature. Does the Rotlung Reanimator's ability trigger? I thought it did, because a cleric went into the graveyard from play, causing it to trigger.

Thanks, Melissa

A: Melissa,

Keep playing those Clerics! The Shepherd had to be in play to be affected by the Engineered Plague. That means it went from play to the graveyard, so the Rotlung will indeed trigger.

Sheldon

Q: If I have a Hidden Gibbons in play and my opponent casts Disenchant, do the gibbons become a creature or they go to my graveyard?

Thanks in advance,
Gerasimos Voulgaris

A: They become a creature. Disenchant goes on the stack. After announcement of Disenchant is done, the Gibbons' trigger goes on the stack. It resolves first, turning the Gibbons into a creature. When Disenchant goes to resolve, it's countered because the target is illegal (the Gibbons isn't either an enchantment or an artifact).

Q: Could I use Zombie Infestation with two Blinking Spirits to get infinite zombie tokens? I don't think you can, but I need to find out for sure.

-Kyle

A: Kyle,

No, you can't. Blinking Spirit only returns creatures to your hand from play.

Sheldon

Q: Do cards like Ill-gotten Gains and Time Spiral go to the graveyard before they are removed from the game?

A: No. They specifically instruct you to remove them from the game during the part of resolution where you're following the instructions on the card (rule 413.2b). Putting a spell card into the graveyard (or a permanent into play) is the last part of resolution (413.2h).

Q: When does an instant that is cast go to the graveyard - upon casting or upon resolution? in other words, if someone had an Energy Field in play and they cast Windfall, would I be able to burn them before Windfall resolves?

A: No, based on rule 413.2h.

Q: I put Venomous Fangs on Fire Ants - and then I tap the Fire Ants. Does every creature with no flying die because of the Venomous Fangs?

Also, because this ability from the Fire Ants is a global effect, does this mean that the Fire Ants don't target a specific creature when you tap them?? The reason I ask this is because of Mother of Runes. This creature can give a creature protection from a color - but because the Fire Ants' ability is a global effect and does not target Mother of Runes directly, Mother of Runes can't use the protection for example on itself and dies. Is this correct?

A: Yes, Fire Ants/Venomous Fangs is a working combo. Mother of Runes can still protect a creature, however. One thing that protection from a color means is that damage from a source of that color is prevented.

- Sheldon

Q: If I have Karmic Justice in play and my opponent activates his Pernicious Deed, destroying four of my other non-creature permanents and the Karmic Justice, how many permanents do I get to choose and destroy?

A: Five, because an ability he controlled destroyed five of your non-creature permanents. Karmic Justice triggers on itself leaving play and sees the other four permanents leave as well. Note that Karmic Justice can destroy your opponent's creatures if you like.

Sheldon

Q: If you have two Mogg Flunkies (and nothing else), can they both attack and block? The card states that they can only attack or block if another creature you control also blocks or attacks this turn. When you declare your attackers, then can you declare them both, and then you check to see if they're legal - or do they have to be legal to declare them?

A: They can both attack. You declare attackers, then check to see if it's legal (rule 308.2). They see each other attacking and go for it.

Q: If I were to take one of my opponents creatures by putting a Gilded Drake into play with Sneak Attack, does my opponent have to sacrifice the Gilded Drake at the end of the turn - or does the Gilded Drake lose its memory of the past when it comes under my opponents control?

Thanks,
Ralph

A: Ralph,

The Drake doesn't lose its memory - but since you don't control it any more, you can't sacrifice it. You can only sacrifice something you control (Glossary,"Sacrifice").

- Sheldon

Q: I was at a PTQ this previous weekend and I was playing 'Tog vs. Rock. The guy played a Planar Void; I then found out later that I can ignore the Planar Void by discarding and removing to pump the 'Tog in response to each Planar Void removal.

Is that correct? If not, then the Head Judge was totally wrong.

Thanks a lot,
Michael

A: Michael,

You activate the Psychatog, discarding the card. When you do, Planar Void triggers. While that trigger is on the stack, you can activate the Psychatog's second ability, removing the card you've just discarded and another; you must have two to activate that ability.

- Sheldon

Q: Can you tap five forests and funnel the green mana through the Skyshroud Elf and have five white or red mana?

A: Yes. You can wash any color mana into either red or white. Each activation of the Elf's ability washes only one mana (you can't do five at a time), so you could get any combination of white and/or red that you want.

Q: When you cycle Slice and Dice, it says that you may have it deal one damage to each creature; does this do damage to creatures with protection from red, or is it non targeted? We were confused.

Thanks for your time!
Ryan

A: Ryan,

It affects all creatures, but a creature with protection from red will have the damage prevented.

- Sheldon

Q: I have a question about Cursed Scroll. If I can't be the target of spells or abilities, say because of Solitary Confinement or Ivory Mask, can I be on the receiving end of a Scroll's activation? The card text says"target opponent," but the oracle text just says"an opponent." I'm not sure how to interpret this; could you help me out?

Jared

A: Jared,

It's worded like that so that Cursed Scroll doesn't target twice - but it does target. If you have Solitary Confinement/Ivory Mask in play, you can't be targeted by the Scroll.

Sheldon

Q: Can you tap and use an artifact's abilities the turn they come out? Obviously, if it is a creature with a tap ability you cannot, but I can't remember about normal artifacts like Predator, Flagship or Jayemdae's Tome.

Thanks,
Larry Jex