Rules Tip of the Day: There is a combat phase in every in a turn even if no attackers are declared.

Q: If Engineered Explosives is put back into play directly from the graveyard (with Bringer of the White Dawn, for example), will it have any charge counters? If not, is there a way to put more charge counters on it?

A: No, it will not have any charge counters on it. No colored mana was spent to play it so it will come into play with zero charge counters on it. Keep in mind that you can still use it to destroy all non-land permanents with a converted mana cost of zero. You could put charge counters on it with something like Energy Chamber, Power Conduit, or Coretapper.

Q: If Orim's Chant resolves on a target player, can that player play spells at the end of turn (after end of turn effects nullify), or can they not since Chant says"cannot play spells this turn."

A: Normally after 'end of turn' effects wear off no player will receive priority. However, if during the cleanup step a condition for one of the state-based effects is met or an ability triggers, then both players will receive priority and this person targeted by the Orim's Chant will be able to play spells. This is very rare situation that almost never happens. The most common way I can think of is if a player discards down to 7 cards in the cleanup step and discards a spell with Madness.

Q: If my opponent attacks me with Scion of Darkness and I block it with a Celestial Gatekeeper, which one of us gets the Commander Eesha in my graveyard? Don't both the trample damage to myself and the death of my Gatekeeper happen at the same time?

A: You will. Because he is the active player the triggered ability of his Scion will go on the stack first, followed by the triggered ability from your Gatekeeper. Because his ability goes on the stack first he will have to choose a target for his ability before you do for yours. The Gatekeeper's ability will resolve first and return the Eesha to play under your control. If he targeted the Eesha with the Scion's ability then that ability will become countered on resolution.

Q: If I used Yavimaya's Embrace on Essence Sliver, for every Sliver that hits me I gain that much life, right?

A: Wrong. The Essence Sliver's ability gives life to the controller of each Sliver that deals damage. It does not give this life to the controller of the Essence Sliver unless it is the Essence Sliver that deals damage.

Q: Lets say I have Voltaic Key (or any restricted card) in my deck. Can I have another Voltaic Key in my sideboard so I can use Ring of Ma'ruf's ability to grab the second key?

A: Not in any sanctioned tournament play. You are only allowed to have a single copy of any restricted card in your main deck and sideboard combined.

Q: When playing Diminishing Returns, where does it go after resolution? Does it go to a new graveyard, shuffle into the deck, or does it get removed from the game?

A: For the last part of a spell's resolution it will either enter play, if it is an Artifact, Creature etc., or if it is a Sorcery or Instant it will go to the graveyard. When Diminishing Returns finishes resolving it will be the lone card in this recently-cleared graveyard.

Q: If Tempting Licid was activated into becoming a creature enchantment this turn, if G is paid to make the Licid an creature again, would it still be tapped from the first use, or since it is a creature entering play, it would return untapped?

A: Turning a Licid into an enchantment and then back into a creature will not untap it. it will remain tapped from when you activated the ability to turn it into a creature enchantment. It does not leave play and then reenter it as the new permanent type, it stays in play and has its type changed.

Q: If I attack with Fangren Firstborn what happens to the counters after damage is dealt?

A: They stay on the creatures they were put on. The Firstborn's effect does not put a duration on these counters, so they stay on those creatures permanently or until some other effect removes them.

Q: In a recent column you stated:"As a judge I would step in and rule that the game is a draw". I have been through the rules, floor rules and penalty guidelines and have not been able to find anywhere that actually states that a judge can do this. Can you point me to the relevant place? Clearly I could use moral persuasion and threaten penalties for slow play or stalling to get player agreement, but I am curious to know if there is actually a rule that gives the judge this power.

A: There is no rule anywhere that states that judge can decide when a game is a draw. You are correct that the power you do have is to give out penalties for slow play if a draw is not agreed to. So if a player disagrees and continues to argue, and yet can not advance the game or change the game state, he is guilty of slow play. This will eventually elevate to a game loss if the draw is not agreed to.

Q: What happens when there is 1 Chains of Mestopheles and 2 Anvil of Bogarden in play? My understanding is you draw your normal draw, then discard one (Chains), draw one (Anvil), discard one (Anvil) discard one (Chains) draw one (Anvil) discard one (Anvil), is this the correct (and utterly confusing) discard procedure?

Also, a little side question, can I get around all the discarding myself by using Island Sanctuary more than once by denying myself all the Anvil draws, or can the Island's ability be only used once a draw step?

A: Your double Anvil single/Chains example is correct (you must have read Chris' most excellent article on Chains--Sheldon).

Yes you can take advantage of Island Sanctuary's replacement effect to skip any and all draws in your draw step. If you choose to skip all of the Anvil Draws then you won't end up discarding any cards due to the Chains / Anvil combo.