Rules Tip of the Day: There's any easy way to tell the difference between triggered abilities and replacement effects. You'll know triggered abilities by their use of"when,""whenever" or"at <some time>." Replacement effects are identified by their use of the word"instead."

Q: If I animate my basic lands via Rude Awakening or Natural Affinity and I control a Coat of Arms, do the lands get the +1/+1 bonuses? Also, does it matter what type of lands bonus each other? ould basic Mountains only bonus other basic Mountains, etc.?

A: No. Mountain is a land type, not a creature type. They don't get a creature type unless the ability that animates them says so (like Ambush Commander does), so Coat of Arms doesn't apply if the ability doesn't give them a creature type..

Q: If I bring Solarion back from the graveyard somehow, can I tap it that turn to double any counters I place on it?

A: No for two reasons. First, if you bring Solarian back from the graveyard, it won't have any counters on it. You only get Sunburst counters when you play it as a spell. Second, if it somehow stayed in play (like you have Castle in play), you can't activate its ability because it still has what we used to call summoning sickness. You can't activate its ability that includes the tap cost until it's started your turn under your control and you've controlled it continuously since then.

Q: My opponent has in play Sacred Ground. On my turn, I play Molder Slug. During my opponent's turn, will his artifact land will come back into play if he sacrifices it to Molder Slug. We're not sure since we're aware that Sacred Ground does not save artifact lands when March of the Machines is in play. Could you please enlighten us on this?

A: It will save them. You control the Molder Slug ability that forces him to sacrifice the land (even if he chooses what to sacrifice), so Sacred Ground will trigger. It's different that March of the Machines because it's a game rule (the State-Based Effect of a creature having 0 toughness) that puts them in the graveyard, not the direct effect of March of the Machines.

Q: I was playing a game the other day and a little problem came up. I played Duplicant, targeting someone's Arc-Slogger. After it came into play, the person put Duplicants ability on the stack, and activated the Arc-Slogger twice, targeting the Duplicant. What happens? I decided that the Duplicant would die, it's ability would resolve, and the Arc-Slogger would be removed from the game.

A: You decided correctly. The Duplicant is 2/4 while it's waiting for its triggered ability to resolve. Once the ability has triggered, it will still resolve, even if the permanent that triggered it is no longer in play.

Q: I had Mycosynth Golem in play and had enough artifacts in play to play my Lunar Avenger for 0 mana. I then paid 5 (one of each color) for its Sunburst cost to get the 5 counters. Is this correct? Or should he have come into play for 0, with the 5 counters because I did have all 5 colors of mana in play and just because I did have all 5 colors to draw and not just 4/3/2/or 1?

A: No, that's not correct. Affinity isn't optional. You figure out the cost to play your spell, and then pay that much mana. If that amount is 0, you're out of luck when it comes to Sunburst. Sunburst isn't an additional cost to play the spell, it's an ability that looks at the mana you paid. You can't pay extra mana just because you want to.

Q: If my attacking Phantom Nishoba is blocked by 3 creatures who each have non-zero power, how many counters will my Nishoba lose 1 or 3 counters? How many times would a"whenever this creature is dealt damage" trigger trigger?

A: It would lose only one no matter how many creatures blocked it. Phantom Nishoba's ability isn't triggered, it's a replacement effect. Because combat damage is all dealt simultaneously, it's considered a single event. It replaces all the combat damage it would receive with preventing it and then removing a counter. Note that the damage prevention will still work even if there are no counters to remove (like if it were kept alive an enchantment or equipment that boosted its toughness).

Q: If I were in a tight spot and needed a few extra damage for the win, would I be able to Electrostatic Bolt a creature, and then before it resolves Shunt it at a player?

A: No, you can't. When Shunt resolves, you have to retarget to the original spell to a legal target. Because Electrostatic Bolt can only target a creature, you can't Shunt it to a player.

Q: That said, I was also wondering if the initial target was an artifact creature, could I Shunt it to another creature and have it still do 4 damage?

A: Electrostatic Bolt checks the target on resolution, regardless of the original target. If it's an artifact creature, it deals four damage to it. If it's a nonartifact creature, it deals two damage to it. If it's not a creature at all, the spell is countered due to an illegal target

Q: If I play Viashino Sandstalker, equip Grafted Wargear to it and attack, what happens at the end of turn when the Sandstalker returns to my hand ?

A: The Sandstalker bounces back to your hand, leaving the Wargear wondering what happened. Wargear will trigger because it became unattached (it knows it was attached to a creature but now is not), but then you'll have nothing to sacrifice on resolution.