Q: If I kill, sack, or otherwise rid myself of the Goblin Pyromancer before the end of turn, I assume that I will not have to sacrifice all my goblins in play. Is this a correct assumption?

- Philip Newsome

A: Philip,

That is indeed correct. You only sacrifice them if it's in play at EOT.

- Sheldon

Q: If the Blistering Firecat that I played this turn goes to the graveyard at the end of turn, then it triggers the untap effect of my tapped Goblin Sharpshooter. But can I use the Sharpshooter right after it untaps, during my end step before we move into my opponent's turn?

Thanks for your help,
Mike

A: Hey Mike,

Yes, you can. There's no restriction on when you can use it. Additionally if multiple creatures go to the graveyard, you can stack all the Sharpshooter's triggers. After each resolves, you can activate the ability; if you use it on other creatures, you can really pile up the damage.

- Sheldon

Q: My opponent has a Vampire Hounds in play and uses its ability to put a Hypnox on top of his graveyard. He then plays a Volrath's Shapeshifter and claims he can remove my hand from the game permanently. Is this possible - and if so, how?

A: Volrath's Shapeshifter, when played from the hand, will come into play as a copy of whatever the top card of the graveyard is. If it's Hypnox, it'll copy the Hypnox's coming-into-play ability.

Q: I have the following in play: Altar of Dementia, Dawn of the Dead, Grave Pact, and some basic land. My opponent only has an Ascendant Evincar and some Swamps into play.

During my upkeep, I use the Dawn of the Dead to return my Symbiotic Wurm back to play. I attack, he doesn't block, and I sacrifice the Wurm to my Altar.

Now this is where the problem kicks in: The Wurm says I get seven 1/1 tokens when it dies - but since the Evincar gives them -1/-1, they are 0/0 and thus they die.

Can I still sacrifice them to my Altar of Dementia? Do they trigger the Grave Pact or not? My friends say that they can't be sacrificed and won't trigger the Pact because the tokens don't enter play because they're 0/0. I find this strange because they have to enter play in order to become 0/0 - could you please explain what happens and why?

A: You can't sacrifice them because before you get priority to do so, the game sees that they're creatures with zero toughness and puts them in the graveyard as a State-Based Effect. They will, however, trigger Grave Pact because they went from play to the graveyard.

Q: I am a true fan of your site, and although I am probably not as half as serious about Magic as you guys, was wondering if you could answer a question of mine. I was just wondering if I played a Yavimaya's Embrace on a creature that I didn't control, can I attack with it the first turn I controlled it (assuming it doesn't have haste)?

Thanks for your time,
ZoomZoom

A: No, you can't. You have to wait until it starts your turn under your control.

Q: Can I play a Meddle and target another player's creature summoning spell and cause it to bring one of my own creatures out instead of the creature he originally summoned?

Thanks,
Courtney Grimland

A: Courtney,

No. Creature spells don't have a target and are off limits to Meddle. The type of spell that Meddle works on is something that's going to kill one of yours, like Dark Banishing (killing one of his instead) or something that's going to enchant one of his (like Armadillo Cloak), enchanting instead yours.

Q: If I Clone a 'Volver, I realise that any kickers paid for by the volver's caster will not be copied - but do I get the option to pay the kickers myself?

A: No. The choice for what to choice to copy with Clone is made during the part of resolution of the spell that puts Clone in play (rule 413). Choices like Kicker are made during announcement (rule 409.1b).

Sheldon

Q: If I have a Blistering Firecat in my graveyard and I bring it back with Dawn of the Dead, will it be sacrificed at end of turn to itself, or to the Dawn? And if the answer is"either," then can I stack it so that when the Dawn of the Dead's ability of removing it from the game doesn't happen because the Blistering Firecat is in the graveyard thanks to its own ability? If I could, then I could attack every turn with a 7/1 trampler for a measly one life.

Please Help! I may be using this in a JSS soon!

-David Cooper

A: David,

Yes, you can stack the end of turn triggers to your advantage. Stack the Dawn trigger first, and then the Firecat's sacrifice. The sacrifice will resolve first, and then there won't be anything to remove for the Dawn's trigger.

- Sheldon