Ask The Judge, 08/04/2003
Q: If I am playing with a Weatherseed Treefolk and my opponent casts Shade's Form on it, who will get the creature once it dies?
A: It depends on whose turn it is. Both the Treefolk and the Shade's Form have abilities that will trigger when the Treefolk goes to the graveyard. The active player's triggers go on the stack first, and then the non-active.
If it's your turn, your opponent will get the Treefolk. If it's your opponent's turn, you'll get it.
Q: Just a quick question about Eternal Dragon. If you want to return him to your hand from the graveyard, when do you have to pay the 3WW - is it before or after you draw your cards for that turn?
A: Before. It's a beginning-of-upkeep triggered ability. The upkeep step is before the draw step.
Q: My opponent casts Patriarch's Bidding. He calls Zombie, and I call Goblins. In my graveyard I have a Siege-Gang Commander and a Skirk Fire Marshal. In his graveyard he has Noxious Ghoul and two Undead Warchiefs. Is there any way I can activate the Fire Marshal's ability in response to he Ghoul's ability and deal ten damage to all creatures and all players?
A: Yes. The Bidding puts everything into play simultaneously. The Ghoul triggers three times and the Siege-Gang Commander triggers. He's the active player, so his Ghoul triggers go on the stack first, then your SGC. The SGC trigger resolves, putting three Goblin tokens into play. After that resolves, players get back priority. You can then activate the Skirk Fire Marshall.
Q: Bill has Tormod's Crypt in play. He then Millstone's two cards form Mike's library into the graveyard, one of which is Gaea's Blessing. In response to the Blessing hitting the graveyard, can Bill Tormod's Crypt Mike's graveyard out of the game, taking Blessing out before Mike can shuffle his graveyard into his library?
A: Yes. The Millstone resolves, putting the Blessing and something else in the 'yard. Blessing triggers. The trigger goes on the stack, and Bill responds by activating Tormod's Crypt. The Crypt resolves first, removing the graveyard. When the Blessing resolves, there's nothing to put back, but Mike still shuffles his library.
Q: What happens with two or more Teferi's Puzzle Boxes in play?
A: They each trigger at the beginning of the draw step, and are resolved one at a time. It looks like this:
Draw your normal card, giving you X.
TPB #1 resolves.
Put X cards on bottom of library, draw X cards.
TPB #2 resolves.
Put X cards on bottom of library, draw X cards.
Q: What is the usefulness of the storm ability on a Counterspell? When would more than one spell be available to counter simultaneously, when all spells must go through the priority-response-stack process?
If Hindering Touch is only useful to counter a Storm spell and all its copies, is it possible to use the extra copy of Hindering Touch to target one of the copies of the spell being countered, in the process requiring that spell's controller to pay four to prevent it? If Hindering Touch is also useful besides just countering storm spells, what other uses does it have?
A: Hindering Touch seems most useful in countering all the copies of a Storm spell, because the Storm trigger goes on the stack before priority is passed.
Let's say I've played three spells this turn. I then play Brain Freeze, targeting you. After I'm done announcing Brain Freeze, and before you get priority, its Storm trigger goes on the stack. You get priority. You pass. The Brain Freeze Storm trigger resolves, creating three copies of itself and putting them on the stack (I choose to not change the target - I want to mill you into submission). I get priority back and pass to you, with four spells on the stack.
You play Hindering Touch, targeting my original Brain Freeze. Hindering Touch's trigger goes on the stack and resolves, creating four copies (the first three spells and your Brain Freeze). You choose to target each of my Brain Freeze copies with one of your Hindering Touch copies, leaving one of them targeting the original. Now the stack looks like this bottom to top:
Brain Freeze Original (target you)
BF Copy1 (target you)
BF Copy2 (target you)
BF Copy3 (target you)
Hindering Touch (target BF original)
HT Copy1 (target BF original)
HT Copy2 (target BF1)
HT Copy3 (target BF2)
HT Copy4 (target BF3)
HT Copy4 resolves, and I have to pay two; if I don't, BF3 is countered. The rest of the stack resolves like that.
The other use is to make someone pay four to keep their spell from being countered. If I play a spell and you play Hindering Touch, you'll get one copy; if I want the spell to resolve, I'll have to pay two twice.
Q: I have a question concerning the true errata of the card Tetravus. On the Oracle version, the sentence concerning the tokens being turned back into counters reads,"At the beginning of your upkeep, you may remove any number of Tetravites created with ~this~ from the game. For each Tetravite removed this way, put a +1/+1 counter on ~this~."
Are the tokens actually removed from the game to create the +1/+1 counter to the Tetravus, or is it worded like that because token creatures are removed from the game when they are destroyed? I ask because if they are still truly sacrificed, as the card reads it could effectively by paired with a Sadistic Glee in order to double the Tetravites you can make each turn....
A: It's worded that way because the Tetravites are actually removed from the game during the resolution of the triggered ability. It won't trigger Sadistic Glee because they never hit the graveyard (so it's like Swords to Plowshares, not Phyrexian Plaguelord).
Q: I have a Future Sight in play and I'm attacking with two creatures with Curiosity. They both deal their damage, so I'm going to be drawing two cards. My question is this: When I draw the first card, the second is revealed before I draw it - but can I play it off Future Sight (assuming it's an instant) then draw whatever's revealed next?
A: Yes. Both Curiosities trigger, and you resolve them one at a time. You draw a card, revealing the top card. With the second trigger still on the stack, you can play the revealed card (assuming, as you said, that it's an Instant).
Q: If I have Sliver Queen, at least one other sliver, and Mana Echoes out at the same time, can I create an infinite combo?
A: Yes, you can create huge piles of mana this way. When you use Sliver Queen's ability to put the first Sliver token into play, you get three mana. You use two to create another token, leaving you with one mana left over - and then you get four mana when the new one arrives, then five mana, then six mana... Things explode quickly.
Q: My opponent has a tapped Goblin Sharpshooter in play. I cast Infest to kill his creature. He claims that he can untap the sharpshooter as it will be put in to a graveyard and then shoot me for one point of damage prior to it leaving play. My interpretation is that since the Sharpshooter is already on its way to the graveyard, it has left play and therefore does not untap.
A: You're right (except there's no such thing as"on the way to the graveyard"). The Sharpshooter's untap ability can't trigger, because it's already in the graveyard after Infest resolves.
Q: If I control a tapped Mana Vault and there is a Null Rod in play, may I untap the Vault during my upkeep? I think so, because I believe the untapping to be an ability triggered at the beginning of my upkeep. This came up in a tournament, and our local DCI judge said I could not untap it and I still took one damage. I am 75% sure the judge was wrong and I am right...
A: You're right and the local judge was wrong. Mana Vault's beginning of upkeep ability is triggered, not activated. The payment comes during resolution of that ability. Of course, you can't tap it for mana, but at least you're not taking damage.
Q: When a Dimensional Breach is played, do tokens get removed from the game? Do your lands come back tapped or untapped?
A: Tokens get removed; they're permanents (rule 200.6). They then cease to exist as a State-Based Effect. Cards come back into play as a completely new version of that card. They'll come into play untapped, unless the card says otherwise.
Q: Can you sacrifice a Carrion Feeder to itself?
A: Yes, you can, because the ability doesn't say you can't (like Lord of the Pit does).
















