Hello, and welcome to my semi-annual rules article. In this article I hope to cover most of rules questions that have come up relating to the final set of Mirrodin block, Fifth Dawn. A couple of reference links first off: the Comp Rules, the Oracle, the Fifth Dawn FAQ, and my articles on Darksteel and Mirrodin. Remember: some of this stuff may seem obvious to most players, but people still ask. And you never know, you might learn something from this article too.

Attach
Attaching is different from equipping. When you equip something, you can only equip when you could play a sorcery. But you can attach whenever you could play an instant (so you can attach something on your opponent's turn, but you can't equip it).

The Beacons
The Beacons will only be shuffled into your library if they resolve successfully. If they're countered, they'll go to the graveyard.

Scry
You follow the instructions in the order written on the card. For instance, with Serum Visions, you'll draw the card, then you'll use the scry ability.

Sunburst
An artifact with Sunburst comes into play with X +1/+1 counters (if it's an artifact creature) or X charge counters (if it is not an artifact creature), where X represents how many different colors of mana used to play that spell. Since there are only five colors of mana, you can't get a sunburst effect bigger than five.

The type of counters depends on if it is an artifact creature or a noncreature artifact. For instance, if you play an Engineered Explosives with a March of the Machines in play, you'll still put charge counters on it, not +1/+1. Using something like Mycosynth Lattice that lets you use mana as mana of any color won't help with sunburst, since the Lattice doesn't change the color of the mana, just lets you use it as though it were mana of another color. If something like Clone or Sculpting Steel copies a card with sunburst, it will get the number of counter equal to the number of colored used in its cost.

Avarice Totem
There is a combo with the Totem that works the same way as the Phyrexian Infiltrator combo. It requires you to control the Totem, a permanent you don't want (for example, Birds of Paradise), and a permanent that your opponent controls that you want (for example, Darksteel Colossus). First, activate the Totem's ability targeting the Birds, then in response activating the Totem's ability targeting the Colossus. The end result is that you control the Totem and the Colossus while your opponent controls the Birds. Note this combo won't work if your opponent has five mana available (since they'll be able to use the Totem's ability to exchange control of it and negate the effect of the ability targeting the Birds)

Chimeric Coils
If you play the Coils and activate it the same turn, it will be affected by summoning sickness and won't be able to attack.

Conjurer's Bauble
Since targets are chosen before costs are paid, you cannot use the Bauble's ability and put itself on the bottom of your library.

Crucible of Worlds
You can only play the cards in your graveyard as though they were in your hand. They're not actually in your hand, so you can't discard them, cycle them, etc.

Dawn's Reflection
You get the mana in addition to whatever else the land would produce (so a Forest enchanted with the Reflection would add one Green mana and two mana of any color to your mana pool).

Desecration Elemental
The triggered ability will resolve before spell, so if you play a creature and the only creature you control is the Elemental, you'll have to sac the Elemental.

Doubling Cube
This is a mana ability, so your opponent cannot respond to you using it.

Endless Whisper
There is no infinite loop here. The triggered ability will go on the stack at the beginning of the end of turn step. If a creature dies at this point, it won't return until the next end of turn step.

Engineered Explosives
The converted mana cost of the Explosives is always zero while it's in play, no matter how many charge counters are on it. So if there's a March of the Machines in play, there's no way to play the Explosives and use its ability before it dies due to having zero toughness.

Ensouled Scimitar
An animated Equipment cannot be attached to a creature. So if you use its ability to animate itself, it will become unattached if it was attached to a creature and you won't be able to equip it to a creature for the rest of the turn.

Eon Hub
If you have a Masticore and the Hub in play, the Masticore will remain in play and you won't have to discard anything. Because there's no upkeep, you won't need to pay the upkeep cost of the Masticore or any other card that has an upkeep trigger.

Fists of the Sun
Since you're playing the spell via an alternate cost, any X in the cost will be considered zero. Since you're playing the spell with all five colors, it will count fully for sunburst (so if you choose to play a Pentad Prism via the Sun's alternate casting cost, you'll get five charge counters on it)

Fold into Aether
You can use this to counter your own spells and put a creature from your hand into play.

Goblin Cannon
Since the Cannon is not sacrificed until the ability resolves, you can activate it multiple times before any trigger resolves to get multiple activations out of it (so if you had ten mana available, you could activate the Cannon's ability five times).

Grafted Wargear
If the Wargear is attached to a creature and the Wargear is destroyed, the Wargear's ability will trigger and cause you to sacrifice the creature since it became unattached from the creature. The Wargear will cause you to sacrifice the permanent even if it not a creature when the trigger resolves. If you control the Wargear and it ends up on a creature you don't control and you move it off, the creature will remain in play because you cannot sacrifice something you don't control.

Helm of Kaldra
It's not recommended that you activate the ability to make a token if you already have a token in play. What will happen is that the token will come into play and the Equipment will become attached to it, then state based effects are checked and the token dies, and the equipment remain in play unattached to anything.

Joiner Adept
This lets lands that don't normally have mana abilities (like Maze of Ith) tap for mana.

Mycosynth Golem
Multiple instances of affinity are cumulative. If you have four artifacts in play (including the Golem), a second Golem will cost you three mana.

Myr Servitor
The Servitor's ability will only do something if the original Myr is in play when the ability resolves. If it goes to the graveyard and comes back before the trigger resolves, the game sees it as a different creature and the trigger won't do anything.

Relentless Rats
Just like it says, you can have as many copies of the Rats in your deck as you want. You can even have fifteen in your sideboard. Since the legality of the deck isn't checked in the middle of the game, having the Rats out and Humility won't cause you to lose the game.

Rite of Passage
The damage is dealt before the counter is added. So if a 2/2 is dealt two damage, it will die before it gets the counter from the Passage.

Spectral Shift
If you entwine this, you must target two different spells or permanents (you can't target the same permanent with both halves).

Stasis Cocoon
If played on an artifact land, it will prevent it from tapping for mana.

Summoning Station
The token it puts into play is not an artifact. Just because the token is colorless does not make it an artifact.

Tangle Asp
The Asp's ability does not target, so having protection from Green won't save the other creature from being destroyed.

Vedalken Orrery
The Orrery only affects your spells. It has no effect on abilities, so you can still only equip on your turn.

Finally, please do not e-mail rules-related questions to me. You'll get an answer a lot faster (and probably from me) if you post on the boards.

Nathan Long
DCI Level 1 Judge
Moderator - MTNews.com
n_long at hotmail dot com