Rules Tip of the Day: You can identify replacement abilities by their use of the word 'instead.'

Q: I controlled only a single creature, and my opponent played Cannibalize. He declared that he can choose the one creature I control to be removed from the game and that he then doesn't have a chance to choose another creature and so doesn't have to, then everything resolves and my creature gets removed from the game. Can only a single creature be Cannibalized?

A: Your opponent cannot play Cannibalize unless you control at least two creatures. Cannibalize specifically states that you must choose two target creatures controlled by the chosen player. If he can't specify two target creatures you control, then he can't play it.

Q: If I attack with Shisato, Whispering Hunter equipped with Fireshrieker and it is not blocked does that mean my opponent has to skip two of his untap steps?

A: Yes. Shisato's ability will trigger when it deals first strike combat damage and regular combat damage. This will cause your opponent to skip his next 2 untap steps

Q: I have Night of Souls' Betrayal in play and my opponent plays Beacon of Creation. Do all of his tokens die immediately or can he still do the Blasting Station combo on me?

A: These token creatures will all go to the graveyard immediately after they come into play. Blasting Station's ability will still trigger once for each that came into play. He can still carry out the combo if he has other creatures in play to sacrifice as a payment for Blasting Station's ability.

Q: I controlled Nezumi Graverobber and Quicksilver Elemental. I used the Elemental's ability to copy the copy the Graverobber's ability, and then use this ability to remove the last card in my opponent's graveyard. How do I flip the Elemental? If it flips, does it have the ability to resurrect creatures? My club merely came to the conclusion that I now had an upside down 3/4.

A: The Elemental will be flipped, but that doesn't really mean anything. You don't even really have to turn it upside down. Turning a flip card upside down is just the mechanic used to help you remember that this card has new characteristics. The Elemental won't have new characteristics so there is really no reason to turn it upside down. There might be some situation in which the flipped status of this Elemental may matter, but I can't think of one.

Q: If I have two Moonring Mirror in play, I assume that whenever I draw a card, I put two triggers on the stack and resolve them? So each time two cards will be removed from the game, right? Do I need to monitor which card is removed from the game by Moonring Mirror, or will all the cards removed by both Mirrors come into my hand if I activate the upkeep ability of any one Mirror?

A: You will have to keep track of which Moonring Mirror removed which cards. When you take advantage of Moonring Mirror's second triggered ability you are only swapping the cards in your hand for those removed from the game by one Moonring Mirror, not any cards removed from the game by any other card named Moonring Mirror. Keep in mind that you can swap your hand with the cards removed from the game by one Moonring Mirror, and then if you don't like that hand you can swap this new hand with the cards removed from the game by the second Moonring Mirror.

Q: Let's say (for whatever reason) I want to enchant another player's creature with Quicksilver Dagger (for Emperor, Two-headed giant, or whatever). When the player uses the enchanted creature to ping someone, who gets to draw the card? Would it be the creature's controller because the creature is granted the ability, or would I, with it being my enchantment?

A: He does. Quicksilver Dagger gives the ability to the enchanted creature, so the controller of this creature is the only one who can play this ability and the one who will draw a card when the ability resolves.

Q: What happens if I have Celestial Dawn and Quicksilver Fountain in play? Do my Plains become Islands and then Plains again or will they most likely turn into Islands?

A: It depends on which happened first. If the Celestial Dawn was in play before the Quicksilver Fountain put a Flood counter on a land, that land will be an Island. If the Celestial Dawn came into play after a land received a Flood counter that land will be a Plains.

Q: From the archives I found the question that if a creature is brought into play with Animate Dead, then the Animate Dead is moved (via Enchantment Alteration) to another creature, the original creature stays in play with no strings attached.

My question is, under who's control? If I brought a creature into play from my opponent's graveyard with Animate Dead, and then altered the Animate Dead to be on another creature my opponent controls, do I get to keep the creature I animated? Or does it return to its owner? And who controls the creature that Animate Dead is currently attached to?

A: You will maintain control of the creature that you put into play from your opponent's graveyard when Animate Dead's triggered ability resolved. Additionally, your opponent will keep control of the creature that he controlled when you moved the Animate Dead to it. This is because Animate Dead does not change the control of any creature it enchants. You will have control of the creature that it brings into play, but this creature was not in play, so you opponent did not lose control of it. For this reason you will not gain control of this new creature that the Animate Dead enchants now.

Q: If I have Nevinyrral's Disk in my graveyard and one of my opponents plays Roar of Reclamation, would Nevinyrral's Disk come back into play tapped or untapped?

A: It will come back into play as it normally would--in other words, tapped. Some permanents, like Nevinyrral's Disk or Cloudpost, have abilities that determine how they come into play, and those abilities apply no matter how they get into play in the first place.

Q: If you play Hallow on an Avarax spell, it prevents all the damage the Avarax would deal this turn as a creature. This matters because the Avarax has Haste. So does that mean that if you have Sulfuric Vapors in play, Avarax does one more damage the turn it was played?

A: No. Continuous effects from static abilities are different from continuous effects created by a spell or ability. Hallow creates a continuous effect that applies to the targeted spell, and this continuous effect 'follows' the spell if it resolves and enters play. This is because it is a continuous effect created by a spell or ability and his continuous effect has a duration of 'this turn.' Sulfuric Vapors also makes a continuous effect, however it is one created by a static ability. Continuous Effects from static abilities can not follow an object from one zone to another. They are applied only when relevant. Sulfuric Vapor's continuous effect only affects damage dealt by spells, so once a spell resolves this continuous effect can not be applied.

Here is the relevant rule:

418.4a A continuous effect generated by a static ability isn't "locked in"; it applies at any given moment to whatever its text indicates.