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Rules Tip of the Day: Unless they specifically say so (like Howling Mine), artifacts still"work" if they're tapped. Obviously, if they have activated abilities that include tapping as part of the activation cost, you can't use them until they're untapped.
Weird Fact of the Day: Other than articles such as"a" and"the," and pronouns such as"I" and"you," the most commonly-used word throughout the nearly four year run of"Ask the Judge" has been"no."
Q: This Equipment stuff is still stumping me. If my opponent has an Equipped creature and I steal the creature, do I get the Equipment as well?
A: No. The equipment stays attached to the creature, but you don't gain control of it, just like if it was a local enchantment. Your opponent can equip it onto something he controls on his next turn.
Q: If my opponent has Leonin Abunas and Darksteel Colossus in play, could I play Sculpting Steel and copy the Colossus? I always thought I couldn't and then I realized that the card didnt say copy"target creature," it just says choose an artifact in play and copy it.
A: You can copy the Colossus. As you point out, Sculpting Steel doesn't use the word"target," and as has been mentioned ad nauseum here on"Ask the Judge," that means it isn't targeted.
Q: If you block with a 0/2 Spincrusher, will it do damage to the attacker?
A: Yes. Spincrusher's ability triggers on it being declared as a blocker, which means the ability will resolve before the combat damage step. When you go to assign damage, it'll be 1/3.
Q: I just don't get Cultural Exchange. Who chooses what?
A: The player that plays Cultural Exchange chooses all the creatures to be exchanged. These choices don't happen until resolution, so there's no way to stop an exchange of some sort from happening by sacrificing one of your creatures because the spell targets two players, not the creatures. Obviously, if you sacrifice ALL your creatures, no exchange can take place.
Q: If I have Confusion in the Ranks in play and play Tempting Wurm, can I switch it with an opponent's creature and then have everyone but him benefit from the Wurm?
A: No. You were the controller of Tempting Wurm when the ability triggered, so it means each of your opponents. It doesn't matter who controls the Wurm when the ability resolves.
Q: What happens if I Imprint Crookshank Kobolds on Chrome Mox? Will it produce mana? I know Kobolds are red when in play and on the stack, but what about the other zones?
A: It will produce red mana. The 0-mana Kobolds are red in all zones. The characteristic-setting text isn't an ability, which would only apply if the creature was in play.
Q: If I use Mindlaver's ability to control someone else's turn can I choose to not do things such as untapping mana and creatures or drawing a card?
A: No. Those are mandatory actions; the player must still perform them. You can only control his choices.
Q: I have Skirk Prospector and Goblin Warchief in play. I then play Spikeshot Goblin. Can I announce Spikeshot Goblin's activated ability and pay for it by sacrificing Goblin Warchief to Skirk Prospector, or would Spikeshot losing haste prevent this?
A: Yes, you can do that. It's legal to announce the ability of the Spikeshot because it knows that it doesn't have summoning sickness at the moment. The first thing you do during announcement of a spell or ability is put it on the stack. The only times you'll remove it from the stack are a) when it resolves, or b) when it's countered. If the announcement itself was illegal, you back up to the moment before you announced it. It's not really"removed from the stack." As far as the game knows, it was never there in the first place.
