Rules Tip of the Day: When a permanent regenerates (meaning when its regeneration shield kicks in), it doesn't leave play and come back. It stays in play. You can't regenerate something that's already in the graveyard.
Q: What happens if a card with a negative power deals damage to a player? Does he gain life?
A: No, he won't gain life. Values that are less than 0 are treated as 0 for all purposes other than changing the value.
Q: If I have Raksha, Golden Cub in play and play Skyhunter Skirmisher, will it have two instances of Double Strike? Will it deal combat damage three times?
A: It will have two instances of Double Strike, but just like multiple instances of First Strike, they're redundant. It will deal damage during the First Strike combat damage step and the normal combat damage step.
Q: I have an Advanced Hoverhaurd in play, my opponent has Goblin Cannon. He activates the Goblin Cannon twice pointing both activations at my Hovergaurd and passes. I activate the Hovergaurd's ability so it cannot be the target of spells or abilities. What I want to know is, when does the Cannon get sacrificed?
A: The abilities are countered on resolution due to an invalid target (rule 413.2a). That means you won't follow any instructions on the ability, including the sacrifice.
Q: I attack with two 2/2 creatures and neither is blocked. My opponent creates a damage prevention shield with his Loxodon Anchorite. After damage resolves he plays a Retaliate. What happens?
A: Your opponent was responsible for declaring which two damage that he was preventing. Because all four damage is being dealt at the same time, he can decide which two to prevent. Obviously, his optimal play is to prevent one from each creature so that each will be destroyed when he plays Retaliate. If he didn't clearly announce which he was preventing, I would ask some pointed questions first (like what damage did he think he was preventing), but because he knows that he has Retaliate in his hand, I'm betting that he'd say that he prevented one from each (so knew how to play it and was just being sloppy). I'd Warn him for creating an unclear game state, put your two guys in the graveyard, and continue on. If he said that he prevented all the damage from one creature but that it doesn't matter because it's still considered dealt (even though it was later prevented), I'd educate him on what"prevented" means, then we'd only put one of your creatures into the graveyard, and I'd still Warn him.
Q: I have a friend who plays this deck with several combos in it. One of these combos involves a Hydra and Monkey Cage. He says that if he pays 14 for X he's going to get 28+ monkeys. Now does this work, and if so, could you please explain why?
A: You're either talking about Rock Hydra or Balduvian Hydra, and it doesn't work in either case. When Monkey Cage resolves, it looks at the converted mana cost of the creature as it exists in play, not when it was on the stack. It will always give him two Monkeys, regardless of what he paid for X. The mana cost of both creatures is XRR, and X in any zone other than on the stack is 0.
Q: My friend plays Oracle en-Vec and after he taps during his next turn, he strongly believes that this card's ability affects creatures I played during my next turn, but I disagree. If a creature has summoning sickness and is not able to attack, it should not be destroyed.
A: You're both misunderstanding the Oracle en-Vec a bit, but you're closer to correct. The way the card works is that the target player chooses which creatures will attack on their next turn. Creatures which are chosen to attack, but do not attack, are destroyed at the end of that turn. Creatures which are not chosen to be attackers are not affected in any way other than being unable to attack. Obviously, if a creature wasn't under your control when your opponent activated the Oracle, then you couldn't have chosen it, and it's therefore unaffected by the Oracle's ability.
Q: If a 1/1 creature deals one damage to my Darksteel Gargoyle and after combat my opponent plays Irradiate to give it -2/-2 (he's got only two artifacts in play), does my Darksteel Gargoyle go to the graveyard?
A: No. Damage does not lower the toughness of a creature. Your Gargoyle is now a 1/1 creature with one damage on it. Indestructible will keep it from being destroyed. He'd have to lower the toughness one more in order to have it put in the graveyard.
Q: My opponent has a Kaldra creature in play and has equipped it with the entire Kaldra set (Sword of Kaldra, Shield of Kaldra, Helm of Kaldra). I target it with Murderous Spoils. Do I destroy it and get the cool set of toys?
A: No. When Murderous Spoils resolves, you follow the instructions in the order they're written on the card. First, you try to destroy the creature but can't because it's Indestructible. Then, you gain control of the equipment. Control of the equipment isn't contingent on the creature actually getting destroyed. Look at the bright side: now at least the Kaldra creature won't be so huge (and tramply and indestructible) after you've moved the equipment onto one of your creatures.
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