Q: My opponent attacks me with a Pristine Angel. In the Declare Attackers step, I morph up my Skinthinner and target the Angel with the morph trigger. My opponent plays a Raise the Alarm, causing the Angel to untap and regain its protections. If I Backslide my Skinthinner before its triggered ability resolves, is it now coming from a colorless source and can it still take down the Angel? Thanks for your time.

A: Yes, it will destroy the Angel. The triggered ability rechecks legality when it goes to resolve. The source is colorless and will destroy the Angel.

Q:"They can be stupid enough to admit to gambling on a sanctioned match, for example." - Sheldon Menery

I recently read this quote from you (so long as this is Sheldon) in the StarCityGames forums. And this made me wonder:

1. Like in the example, player A and player B make a side bet on their match in a DCI sanctioned tournament. If this is against the DCI rules, what is it breaking and what is the penalty?

2. Does this change if player A were to bet that player B is going to win their match (possibly a weird form of bribery)?

3. Would things change if player A and spectator C had the bet?

4. I'm doubtful of this, but what if the bet is between spectator C and spectator D? Would the DCI have reason to try to punish them? For the sake of non-interference with the game, assume C and D cannot see any of the cards in the hands of A and B.

A: Right from the DCI Universal Tournament Rules, Section 5:

"Players and tournament officials may not wager, ante, or bet on the outcome of any portion of a tournament."

That answers 1-3. If Spectator C and D were also players in the tournament (or in the case of a larger event, like a GP, in any tournament), then they'd be in violation. If they were just spectators, we couldn't hold them to any penalties, but we could certainly remove them from the site.

Q: Hi, what happens if before I play a game in a tournament I get a warning and the score is 1-0 before playing. Can I sideboard after the sanction for the first game we play?

A: If you get a *game loss* the score will be 1-0. You will choose who goes first in game 2, but neither player may sideboard (Magic Floor Rules, section 122).

Q: If I Skullclamp an Auriok Glaivemaster, what happens?

A: The Glaivemaster simultaneously gets the +1/+1 from its own ability and the +1/-1 from Skullclamp. It's a 3/1 First Striker.

Q: I play a Karma and before my opponent's turn he Mind Bends it to say Artifacts... Can he do that?.

A: No. Mind Bend changes a color or a basic land word. Artifact is neither a color nor a basic land type.

Q: I have two Arcbounds out, and an Arcbound Reclaimer. My opponent plays Wrath of God, and I begin putting the arcbound creatures in my graveyard. As I do this, I put the Arcbound counters on the Reclaimer, which I then remove those counters from Reclaimer to put the now-dead Arcbounds on the top of my library (but not the Reclaimer itself, of course).

A few people called foul, which doesn't make sense to me - when something happens at the same game-time (in this case all my creatures being destroyed), I thought the player that the spell is affecting chooses in which order the effects happen. As long as I can destroy creature X, Y, and then Z in that order, I should be able to transfer Arcbound counters from creatures X and Y to Z before Z is destroyed. As such, I should be able to remove Arcbound counters from the Reclaimer - creature Z in this example - before its destroyed.

A: During resolution of Wrath of God, all creatures are put into the graveyard simultaneously. That triggers all the Arcbounds' Modular abilities; you can put them on the stack in any order. When you go to put those abilities on the stack, however, there are no artifact creatures to target, so the triggered abilities do nothing.

Q: If I have a creature out, for instance Bane of the Living, with Skullclamp equipped to it. While equipped your opponent casts Akroma's Vengeance, do I get to draw two cards from the Skullclamp triggering?

A: All the creatures, artifacts, and enchantments go to the graveyard at the same time. Skullclamp will trigger and you'll draw the cards.

Q: If my opponent plays an Unforge on my Skullclamp, and the two damage would kill the equipped creature, would I draw two cards?

A: No. The Skullclamp isn't equipping the creature when it takes the damage.