Q: If I am attacked, but use a Simulacrum to redirect the combat damage to my Wall of Souls, does it still count as combat damage so Wall of Souls deals equal damage back to target opponent?

A: No, it's not combat damage. Simulacrum isn't damage prevention or redirection. The damage comes from the Simulacrum itself.

Q: If a Soul Warden is in the graveyard and someone plays a Twilight's Call, does the owner on the Soul Warden gain life for the other creatures in the graveyard coming into play

A: Yes. Soul Warden will trigger for each other creature coming into play the same time that it does.

Q: If I play Decree of Savagery while Ambush Commander is in play, then Ambush Commander leaves play, do the counters stay on the lands? Obviously they don't mean much on at that point, but if Ambush Commander is played again later the counters would be important.

A: Yes, they stay. Counters will stay on permanents when their type changes even if they are at the time meaningless (rule 212.1b).

Q: Let's say that I have three artifact lands in play and a Chromatic Sphere. I have Myr Enforcer and Skyhunter Patrol in my hand. Two of my lands in play produce white. I announce Myr Enforcer and xrack the Sphere for a card. I draw a land off of the sphere. Is there any way that I can change the Enforcer to the Skyhunter Patrol?

A: No. What you announced is already on the stack. You can't back up just because you want to.

Q: Can I cast Interdict to stop a Troll Ascetic from regenerating?

A: Yes, because once activated, the regeneration ability exists independently of the Troll. It doesn't have the Troll's abilities (like untargetability). Note that the"abilities cannot be played again this turn" text has been removed from Interdict. If your opponent has more mana, he can just activate the ability again.

Q: What is the exact mechanism on how Blinding Angel works? Does it put an ability on the stack at the beginning of your opponent's next turn after dealing damage (as Astral Slide in effect grants the targeted creature a"come into play" ability at end of turn), or does it operate through some other mechanism? If my Blinding Angel deals combat damage and I also have a Fatespinner in play, can my opponent still choose combat phase for the Fatespinner's ability?

A: Blinding Angel's triggered ability removes the player's next combat phase. He can still choose"combat phase" during the resolution of Fatespinner's triggered ability. Fatespinner makes no restrictions on what he can choose from draw step, main phase, or combat phase. It merely tells him to skip all of the chosen phases/steps during his turn, whether or not he actually has them.

Q: Can Standstill's trigger be Stifled? Example.... My opponent has a Standstill in play. He cycles Decree of Justice and I cast Stifle to counter the tokens. He sacrifices Standstill. I cast another Stifle to counter the Standstill ability. Does he draw three cards or not?

A: It doesn't work like that. Standstill isn't sacrificed until resolution of its triggered ability, just before he draws the cards. If you Stifle the first triggered ability, it will merely trigger another, and he'll sacrifice and draw the cards off that one.

Q: If I imprint a creature card with a kicker cost on Soul Foundry(i.e. Thicket Elemental), can I pay the kicker in addition to the converted mana cost when I activate Soul Foundry?

A: No. You only get a copy of the creature; you don't get the chance to pay additional costs. Note that unlike other tokens, which have a mana cost of zero, the token created by Soul Foundry has a mana cost of the Imprinted card.

Q: Does Recycle count the storm effect from Hunting Pack or Sprouting Vines?

A: Sorry, Recycle only triggers when a card is played, not when a spell is put on the stack. It will only trigger on the original Sprouting Vines and Hunting Pack.

Q: I play Replenish with an Opalescence and Lethal Vapors in my graveyard along with a bunch of other enchantments. I also have Damping Matrix in play. Would the enchantments be destroyed by the Lethal Vapors.

A: Yes, because they all come into play as creatures (except for the Opalescence itself), triggering Lethal Vapors. Note that because Damping Matrix is in play, Lethal Vapors' activated ability can't be played.

Q: I need clarification on the interaction between Blood Moon and a few Non-Basic Lands. Specifically, if a City of Brass becomes tapped while a Blood Moon is in play, does the City of Brass deal one point of damage to its controller? Also, if a Faerie Conclave comes into play while a Blood Moon is in play, does the Faerie Conclave come into play tapped? Finally, if a Saprazzan Skerry is tapped for mana while a Blood Moon is in play, does a counter get removed from the Saprazzan Skerry?

A: Blood Moon turns all non-basic lands into Mountains and takes away all their other abilities that exist while they're in play (rule 212.6e). Faerie Conclave still comes into play tapped because it has a static ability that modifies the way it comes into play. The depletion counters stay on the Skerry; they're only removed as part of the activation of the Skerry's now non-existent ability.

Q: I would like to know, can an Exalted Angel still be played facedown when a Meddling Mage is set on Exalted Angel?

A: Yes, because the face-down creature doesn't have a name. Meddling Mage has no idea what it is.

Q: I was wondering, if a phantom creature (say, a Phantom Centaur) has all three counters still on it, then gets Blood Lusted, and then Shocked (or takes any other damage), what happens? Does it lose one toughness along with a counter and go to the graveyard, or does it lose a counter but stay alive because of the two counters still remaining?

Also, I noticed that Crystal Keep has two contradictory rulings dealing with Blood Lust: one says that toughness is changed when Blood Lust is cast and then does not decrease again (the example is Giant Growthing a Blood Lusted 1/1 creature, making it an 8/4); the other says that the toughness change is a continuous effect (so that same creature becomes an 8/1). This second ruling is very recent and the first is several years old. Which one is right, and why?

A: Jeff Jordan's later ruling is correct. The -4 is a continuous effect.

The damage is prevented by the Phantom's native ability, and you remove a counter. It stays alive because the two counters are applied before the Blood Lust's continuous effect, which keeps recalculating how much of a minus it's giving the creature.

Q: I wanted to ask about using a Mishra's Workshop to activate my Illusionary Mask when putting artifact creatures into play. Is this legal? You could argue that this shouldn't be allowed, as you are not casting the artifact creature you are activating the Mask to put it into play. At the same time the Mask says you can spend the same mana while ignoring the colored mana requirement of the spell. It seems more likely that you can't do this, but I wanted to ask an expert to make sure.

A: You can't. Mishra's Workshop mana can only be used to play spells. Putting a creature into play with Illusionary Mask is activating an ability.