Rules Tip of the Day: Several years ago a few cards were printed with the type 'Mana Source.' These cards all have errata so they are now instants. These spells will use the stack when played.

Q: Darkest Hour and Faerie Conclave are in play. I activate the Conclave. What happens then? Is the Conclave now a black or a blue creature?

A: The Faerie Conclave will be black. This is because all parts of the Conclave's effect will be applied in the fourth layer when figuring out the Conclave's characteristics. Here is the relevant rule:

418.5b If an effect other than a type-, subtype-, and supertype-changing effect should be applied in different layers, the parts of the effect each apply in their appropriate layers. If a type-, subtype-, and supertype-changing effect should be applied in different layers, all are applied only in layer four (type-, subtype- and supertype changing effects).

So it will be made blue in the fourth layer and then black in layer five.

For more information on the different layers used when figuring out the characteristics of permanent see the rest of section 418.5. from the Comprehensive Rules titled 'Interaction of Continuous Effects'

Q: I recently read that Phasing into play doesn't trigger ANY coming into play abilities like Ankh of Mishra right? I recently read a rulings that even though it doesn't trigger any coming into play abilities you do have to repay any Echo costs every time it phases back in. Why is this?

A: Echo is not a coming into play ability. The Echo triggered ability reads as follows:"At the beginning of your upkeep, if this permanent came under your control since the beginning of your last upkeep, sacrifice it unless you pay its mana cost." While phasing into play will not trigger coming into play abilities, it does count as coming under your control for the purposes of the Echo triggered ability.

Q: Does activating Sworn Defender's ability override Crusade?

A: The effect of Sworn Defender will most likely have a later timestamp than the Crusade. Because of this the Sworn Defender's effect will be applied after the Crusade and 'override' the +1/+1 effect. The only way to give the Crusade a later timestamp is if it comes into play after the Sworn Defender's ability resolves, which is tough as the Defender's ability can only be played in combat.

Q: If I move Lingering Death off a creature with Crown of the Ages after its ability triggers, does the first creature still die? I know if you move Torture while its ability is on the stack, the -1/-1 counter goes on the new enchanted creature. If I Boomerang Torture instead of moving it, then, I suppose, the -1/-1 counter would go on the last known enchanted creature?

A: The triggered ability refers to the creature that was enchanted by the Lingering Death when the ability triggered, not the creature that is currently enchanted with the Lingering Death. If you do move the Lingering Death after the ability is triggered the creature that was enchanted when the ability triggered will be sacrificed.

You are also correct that if you Boomerang Torture after the ability has been played then the ability will use last know information regarding what the Torture enchanted.

Q: If I cast Disintegrate of 3 on my opponent's Darksteel Gargoyle, it receives lethal damage so it is removed from the game right?

A: No. Disintegrate only removes the creature it targeted if that creature would go to the graveyard that turn. Creatures with the Indestructible ability will not go to the graveyard when they receive lethal damage, so that alone will not remove Darksteel Gargoyle from the game However, if you resolve Disintegrate targeting the Gargoyle and cause your opponent to sacrifice it or lower it's toughness to zero or less, then the Disintegrate's replacement effect will remove it from the game as opposed to it going to the graveyard.

Q: If my opponent has Leonin Abunas in play and I play Vulshok Battlemaster, does the equipment my opponent controls attach to the Vulshok Battlemaster? Or does the Leonin Abunas ability prevent this from happening?

A: Vulshock Battlemaster's coming into play triggered ability does not target anything, so your opponent's equipment will become attached to the Battlemaster's when this ability resolves.

Q: If Damping Matrix is in play along with Fist of Suns, can I still use Fist of Suns ability? I don't think so, because it's an activation cost that does not add mana to your pool, but my friends disagree. Please define the specifics for me.

A: Fist of Suns has a static ability that is applied when you play spells. This ability allows you to pay WUBRG instead of the spells normal mana cost. That ability is not an activated ability, so it is unaffected by Damping Matrix.

Q: I'm playing a Pristine Angel deck, and my friend is playing B/R control. I attack with my Angel, and he plays Terror. In response to Terror, I play Thirst for Knowledge. In response to the Thirst, can he Shrapnel Blast to kill the Angel, or would the thirst untap the Angel immediately?

A: Pristine Angel has a triggered ability that triggers whenever you play a spell. This ability does use the stack and the Angel does not become untapped until it resolves. Your opponent can respond to this triggered ability that goes on the stack when you play Thirst for Knowledge by playing something else, like Shrapnel Blast, in an attempt to kill the Angel. If he does then the Shrapnel Blast will resolve before this triggered ability and the Angel will receive lethal damage and be destroyed.

Q: With Mycosynth Lattice in play, will a resolving Echoing Ruin targeting a Mountain also destroy all Snow-covered Mountains?

A: No, Mountains have different names from Snow-Coverd Mountains. They may both be basic lands and have the basic type of Mountain, but they still have different names. This would be true even if you remove the snow-covered ability from the snow-covered lands.

Q: My opponent enters the Worldgorger Dragon/Animate Dead loop with an Ambassador Laquatas in the graveyard. He declares that he plans to generate 3,000,060 mana, and finally have the Animate Dead target Ambassador Laquatas when it comes back into play. He then announces that he is activating Ambassador Laquatas 20 times. I mill my entire library, revealing a Gaea's Blessing. He pumps the remainder of his mana into the Laquatas after Blessing shuffles my library. At this point, how should we most accurately simulate the remaining 1 million Laquatas millings to determine what ends up in my graveyard, without actually having to go through the milling and shuffling process for hours on end?

A: First of all you won't actually mill your entire library. Gaea's Blessing has a triggered ability that will trigger whenever it goes from your library to your graveyard. This ability will trigger after an individual ability of the Ambassador mills the Blessing to your graveyard. This ability will go on the stack on top of the other mill abilities that are remaining on the stack and resolve before them.

If the first activation on the stack mills a Blessing, the stack will have 19 activations of Laquatas' abilities on the stack and the Blessing trigger on top of that. If your opponent then responds by activating Laquatas' ability 1 million more times, then the stack will have 19 copies Laquatas' ability on the stack, a Blessing ability on top of that and 1 million more Laquatas' abilities on top of that. If this is what your opponent does then he is pretty foolish, because the Blessing ability will still resolve eventually. In that case you don't have to deal with 1 million Laquata's abilities, but just the 19 left on the stack after that initial Blessing triggered ability. Your opponent would be much better off to activate Laquata's ability just once, wait to see what happens when it resolves and then activate it again.

So let's say that your opponent does activate this ability one at a time. In that case the simple fact of the matter is that there is no real way to accurately simulate the interaction of these cards without actually carrying out the instructions by milling and dealing with the Blessing's triggers when they occur. The only thing I can think of doing is to limit the number of Laquata's abilities that you resolve. For the most part, dealing with 100 of these activations will have a similar result as dealing with a million. However you can only do this if both players agree to.

Keep in mind that if this is a sanctioned event you really shouldn't bend the rules in this way unless the head judge also allows it. If he/she doesn't you can either agree to draw the game, one of you can concede, one of you needs to find some other way to win with all this stuff on the stack, or you can deal with a million activations of Laquatas' ability.