Q: If I move to the declare blockers step, and then bounce, does that in any way return him to his declare attackers step? Is there any point where bounce would cause him to take mana burn (presuming no other use for the mana)? (A real injury to insult.) This is where the"new" combat timing rules get labyrinthine for me.

A: No. There is no way that legal actions take the game back to place earlier in the turn. You will just take damage from one less creature.

Q: Say I have Infernal Genesis out and I use it correctly by taking the top card of my library and putting it into my graveyard. Now, say the card is Draco. I also have two different types of basic lands out. Will the converted mana cost of Draco be 16 or 12?

A: Nothing can change the mana cost or the converted mana cost of a card. You will get sixteen tokens.

Q: Say that my opponent only has one card left in his hand. Does he have to take the four damage from Skullscorch because he can't discard two cards? Or can he just discard one card and avoid the four damage?

A: He can just discard the one card to avoid the damage.

Q: If I have Land Equilibrium in play. I have only two lands in play and several artifacts which produce mana. My opponent has six lands. I play Parallax Tide and remove four of his lands from the game. When the Parallax Tide"fades," does he return his lands to play or will they be sacrificed due to the effect of Land Equilibrium?

A: They will be returned to play and then he has to choose six lands to sacrifice because of the Equilibrium.

Q: I played at a DCI Sanctioned Tournament last night, and we had some controversy concerning Phage. What happened was that a player brought Phage into play using Elvish Piper's ability which states,"put a creature card from your hand into play." Other players there said that there was either clarification or errata on this. So I guess my question is this..... Is it a legal play for Elvish Piper to bring Phage into play?

A: It is legal to do it - but you will lose the game because you didn't actually play her from your hand. You put her into play because you played the Piper's ability.

Q: If I have a forest with a Wild Growth on it and an island out, and I play a Frantic Search, do I get to untap the forest with the Wild Growth on it three times - thus generating six mana - or do I actually have to untap three separate lands? Is the same true for Cloud of Faeries and other free cards like Palinchron?

A: You must untap separate lands.

Q: Suppose my opponent has a Werebear and a elephant token and I have a Bereavement in play. If I Mutilate the board, will he discard two cards? In other words, will the Bereavement trigger when the token goes to the graveyard?

A: Yes. He will discard two cards. Removing the token from the graveyard happens as a state-based effect, it does go to the graveyard (very shortly) so the Bereavement does trigger.

Q: Can a face-down morph creature enchanted with Stupefying Touch turn face up (i.e., is morph an activated ability?)

A: No. Morph is a static ability that allows you to pay the morph cost to turn a card face up.

Q: I have a Doomed Necromancer in play, and my opponent has a Withered Wretch. I think you can see the point here: I want to reanimate something. My graveyard is empty (surprise), but I have a Sickening Dreams in my hand. If I play the Sickening Dreams, discarding a fattie, what could happen? Can my opponent remove it before I reanimate it? What happens if I discard two cards, giving both creatures lethal damage?

A: In this case, the person who acts first doesn't get what he wants. You need to have your opponent tap out in order to get the fattie. Otherwise, he can always remove the creature you target in response.

Q: I play a Plagiarize during the upkeep of my opponent. My opponent has a Words of War in play. When his draw step begins, he skips the draw in his draw step in order to do two damage to a Creature or Player. I think he can't do that because the draw is replaced by the effect of the Plagiarize. Help me!

A: There are two replacement effects trying to replace the draw, Plagiarize and Words of War: In cases like this, the active player can choose in which order he want to apply them. He can choose to first apply the Words of War and the Plagiarize. By the time the Words of War is applied, there is no draw left to replace for the Plagiarize.

Q: If Braids, Cabal Minion is tapped in the beginning of the upkeep, do I have to sacrifice a permanent?

A: Yes. It doesn't matter if Braids is tapped or untapped, the ability still triggers.

Q: Can a creature with protection from white be removed as a result of the effect of Astral Slide? It seems a little ambiguous because the slide says"...you may remove target creature from the game." So is Astral Slide affecting the player, who is then able to remove a creature, or is it directly targeting a creature (whereupon it couldn't target a creature with protection from white)?

A: You get to choose if you want to remove the creature; if you do it, is the Slide that removes it. The Slide, being a white source, cannot target creatures with protection from white.

Q: If I play Innocent Blood with a Festering Goblin out and my opponent has any two random creatures, do I sac the goblin then choose the -1/-1 before my opponent sacrifices, or does it go on the stack after my opponent sacs a creature?

A: Your opponent chooses which creature he will sacrifice first, then you choose. Then both creatures are put into the graveyard simultaneously. That is when the Festering Goblin triggers; you can target the other creature of the opponent.

Q: If a Roar of the Wurm is dumped into the yard via Careful Study, can it be cast right away - or can Withered Wretch's ability be activated to remove it from the game first?

A: When a spell or ability resolves priority goes to the active player. You can cast the Roar before your opponent can remove it with the Wretch.

Q: What happens when you try to Reverse Damage an unpreventable source, like Lava Burst or Kicked Urza's Rage?

A: The damage is not prevented; you gain no life.

Q: I have a Dreamborn Muse in play and my opponent has a Graveborn Muse in play. Since both abilities trigger at the beginning of his upkeep, which will happen first: Will he draw first, or will he dump cards from his library into the graveyard first?

A: First the active players triggered abilities are put on the stack, then the non-active players. The non-active player's abilities resolve first, so he will have to put cards into his graveyard first.

Q: Does a Star Compass generate any color of mana if the only land I have in play is an Archeological Dig?

A: Star Compass only looks at basic lands you control; if you control no basic lands, it doesn't produce any mana.

Q: Ravenous Baloth is on the table, along with Anurid Scavenger and Verdant Succession. In my upkeep, I have to put a graveyard card under my library - but instead, I want to sack Scavenger to my Baloth, fetch a new one, let this one put the graveyard Scavenger under my library, then still during in my upkeep sack the newly-fetched Scavenger to Baloth, get a new one (or the first) out, let its graveyard ability trigger (the second Scavenger now in my graveyard), then sack again and again and again...

A: There is just one Scavenger in play at the beginning of upkeep. There will be only one triggered ability. If a new one comes into play, it doesn't create a new trigger for that upkeep. There is no way this is possible.

Q: If I have a Phantom Nishoba in play enchanted with an Armadillo Cloak, do I gain life for both cards when the Nishoba deals damage? My friends say no, but I think that I'm right. Also, what happens if I put two or three Armadillo Cloaks on the Nishoba?

A: They are all separate triggered abilities. You will gain life for each of them, so you will get 2X life (X is the amount of damage dealt) when there is one Cloak. 3X with two cloaks and 4X with three cloaks.

Q: If someone plays Shauku, Endbringer can they put Spirit Link on her to essentially negate the loss of life? I don't think so but please let me know or could they prevent the damage with Circle of Protection: Black?

A: No. Shauku causes life loss, it doesn't deal damage. You can't prevent it by a CoP: black or negate it with a Spirit Link.

Q: What would happen if I control a Nefarious Lich, my opponent controls a Crumbling Sanctuary, and I take damage?

A: They are both replacement effects. You are the effected player, so you can choose which one to apply first. The other has then nothing to replace.