Rules Tip of the Day: RotD is taking today off in honor of Sheldon's last day.

Well, kinda.

Listed below are the last of the questions I'll be answering here on"Ask the Judge." It's time to turn over the reigns of the best Q&A on the 'net to the redoubtable Chris Richter (he of last week's"Feature Friday"). As of Monday, Chris will be answering your questions from Monday through Thursday. I'll still be appearing on"Feature Friday" and staying on to edit the"Ask the Judge" column.

Chris has entered into the same pact I did when I started doing"Ask the Judge" in the middle of 2000: he'll be answering every question that readers send him, and we'll be publishing the highlights. I have every faith that the service you expect from Star City will continue uninterrupted in Chris' most capable hands.

It's been a long, fun ride. I started up Star City's"Ask the Judge" back in 2000 at the behest of my then-neighbor in Anchorage (not to mention casual Magic buddy and RPG-group member) The Ferrett, the newly-dubbed editor of this here site. This site and I rose in notariety and popularity together. We were a casual outfit back then, and today I dare say that today we're the best independent site anywhere for Magic strategy, humor, and informational writing. We owe it all to the commitment of people like the Ferrett, Ted Knutson, our man at the top Pete"Darth Junior" Hoefling, and the best readership in the world.

I'm not leaving the world of Magic by any stretch. As I mentioned, I'll still be doing"Feature Friday" here and fulfilling my responsibilities as a Level 4 Judge, as well as continuing to write for Scrye magazine. You'll see me at Worlds in San Francisco, upcoming Pro Tours, Grands Prix (I'll be HJing GP Austin in October), and at our local events in Richmond and elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic Region. I'll still be reporting on the crazy world of the Pro Tour--in fact, tomorrow I'll tell you all about PT Seattle.

I'll be using the extra time to write a fantasy novel (tentatively titled"Zolan's Scar"), and shop for a publisher, enjoy being a man of leisure, and generally get my post-retirement life in order.

Doing this nearly every day for the last four years (thanks to Gis for the two breaks, one when I was deployed to Saudi Arabia and once when I was moving here to Virginia) has been a labor of love. In that time, I've answered nearly 50,000 questions and made scores of online friends. It's all been well worth it. Thanks again to Pete, Ted, and Ferrett for the responsibility and opportunity. Thanks to all of you for allowing me onto your computers so often. Feel free to drop me a line whenever you like at juggernt@charter.net.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.

Sheldon

Q. I play Animate Dead on my opponent's Scion of Darkness in his graveyard, but he has Dense Foliage in play. What happens?

A. Dense Foliage has no effect on this scenario because it only prevents creatures in play from being targeted. The target is the creature card in the graveyard. When Animate Dead comes into play, the triggered ability changes it into a local enchantment which then enchants the creature you put into play. At no time does Animate Dead target the creature in play.

Q. I have Endless Whispers in play and my opponent destroys my Visara the Dreadful and takes control of it at end of turn. Then next turn I play another Visara. What happens within the next couple of turns? Will we just keep exchanging control of Visara at the end of each turn until Endless Whispers is gone?

A. No. When you play the second Visara, it will be put immediately into the graveyard as a State-Based Effect, triggering Endless Whispers. At end of turn, that same one will come back into play, then once again be put immediately into the graveyard. It will again trigger Endless Whispers, but it won't come back until the next EOT. Your opponent will continue to control the original Visara, and the second one will come into play and go immediately to the graveyard at every end of turn.

Q: I want to play Quicksilver Elemental in conjunction with Cowardice. Can Quicksilver Elemental target a creature even if the targeted creature doesn't have an activated ability?

A: Yes, you can. There's no additional targeting restriction on Quicksilver Elemental; it targets a creature, not an ability. You check on resolution of the activated ability to see if it gains any abilities. Of course, with Cowardice in play, the ability will always be countered due to an invalid target.

Q: One of my opponents controls Confusion in the Ranks and Grip of Chaos (along with a couple of Mana Flares; we've since informed him that he will suffer injury if he ever plays this deck again. Fortunately someone Meddling Maged for Thieves Auction.) Another of my opponents plays Sleeper Agent and tries to send it to me. Where exactly does the Agent go?

A: When Sleeper Agent comes into play, both Confusion in the Ranks and Sleeper Agent trigger. You put them on the stack in APNAP order. In multiplayer, I suggest starting the NAP string immediately to the AP's left, and moving around the table. In this case, the active player has played the Sleeper Agent, so that'll go on the stack first, and then Confusion in the Ranks.

When you put Sleeper Agent's ability on the stack, Grip of Chaos triggers, but waits until you also put Confusion in the Ranks on the stack. Grip of Chaos will also trigger for that. The controller of Grip of Chaos would order the two triggers because he controls them both. Let's say that he puts the one for Sleeper Agent on first and then Confusion in the Ranks. The Grip of Chaos trigger for Confusion in the Ranks resolves, retargeting it (let's say to Opponent B). The one for Sleeper Agent retargets it (let's say to Opponent C).

Now Confusion in the Ranks resolves, and Player A exchanges control of Sleeper Agent with Opponent B. If Opponent B has no creatures, then nothing happens. Then Sleeper Agent's ability resolves, and Opponent C gains control of it. It doesn't matter if Sleeper Agent is currently controlled by someone other that its original controller. It will still move to Opponent C, because he's still the opponent of Player A, who controlled the triggered ability.

Q: Later, in the same game, somebody tried to play Boomerang on my Copperhoof Vorrac, which promptly got Radiated (with Grip of Chaos in play!). What happens here?

A: You put Boomerang on the stack, triggering Grip of Chaos. With Grip of Chaos on the stack, Radiate goes on the stack. Grip of Chaos triggers for Radiate, but there's no other target than the Boomerang, so nothing happens. Radiate resolves, putting a copy of Boomerang on the stack for each legal target (which is every permanent). Grip of Chaos triggers for each copy, retargeting it. When you resolve them all, you could end up with mulitple Radiate copies targeting the same permanent, and some not getting targeted at all. I'll leave to your group how you manage to keep track of all that.