Rules Tip of the Day: An individual replacement effect will only be applied to a single event once. It will not be applied repeatedly over and over again.

Q: If I put Oni Possession on my Villainous Ogre, can I use the regeneration ability of the Ogre, because it would also be a Demon Spirit?

A: Yes you can use that ability. The Villainous Ogre's ability does not require that you control another creature that is a Demon; the Villainous Ogre itself will count if it is a Demon.

Q: If I have Horobi, Death's Wail and another creature such as Wicked Akuba in play, can I play Devouring Rage sacrificing Horobi without the Akuba dying? I'm wondering because you have to pick targets for the Rage, but sacrificing Horobi would be part of the cost.

A: Horobi's ability triggers when the target for the Devouring Rage is chosen, which takes place before you pay costs. This means that Horobi's ability will trigger as it is in play at this time. This triggered ability will go on the stack on top of the Devouring Rage and resolve before it destroying the Akuba.

Q: If Shifting Sky is in play with White as the color, can I Terror an Artifact Creature?

A: No. Making an artifact creature white does not remove the permanent type of artifact from it. You won't be able to target this permanent with Terror, because it is still an artifact.

Q: I have Aluren in play, I play Screeching Harpy, and my opponent counters it. In response I play Gaea's Herald. Does the Herald counter the Counterspell or is my Harpy countered?

A: The Counterspell won't become countered, but you will get the result you want. Your opponent's Counterspell will still resolve but fail to do anything because the Herald is in play.

Q: I have a question about Lich's Tomb based on what the 'Ask the Judge' archives say about Platinum Angel/Yawgmoth's Bargain/Necropotence. The judge talked about how even with an Angel in play, Bargain/Necro can't draw cards if you're at 0 life, since you can't pay life you don't have. Lich's Tomb asks that you sacrifice a permanent whenever you lose life, of course, but my question is that if you are at 0 life (say, because of Necro) and you take damage (with a Lich's Tomb in play) then would you have to sacrifice anything? Wouldn't the same logic apply: that you can't lose life you don't have, just like you can't pay life you don't have?

A: While you can't pay life you don't have, your life total can still go down. Even if your life total is zero or below, you can still lose life and Lich's Tomb's ability will cause you to sacrifice permanents.

Q: Let's say that I have Kami of Ancient Law and Form of the Squirrel in play. My opponent plays a spell to kill my Squirrel, therefore making me lose the game. In response to the spell, I sacrifice my Kami to destroy my Form of the Squirrel. Would I lose since I lost the enchantment or is it only the Squirrel that has that drawback? If it is the Squirrel, and my enchantment gets destroyed, does the squirrel still have the lose game thing, or is it not in effect anymore?

A: You lose the game when the Squirrel token leaves play regardless of whether or not the Form of the Squirrel enchantment is in play. This is because the effect that creates the squirrel token has the 'lose the game' stipulation attached to it.

Q: If you have 4 S.N.O.T. stuck together, and you use Time Machine's ability, does it remove one S.N.O.T. or all four, and if it removes all 4 does it come back into play on turn one or turn four?

A: All four of those S.N.O.T. cards form one creature, so all of them will be removed from the game by Time Machine's ability, as it removes the entire creature. Then in the upkeep step of your first turn all of these cards are returned to play. Time Machines ability refers to 'both' cards, but it means itself and all cards removed by its ability. It uses the work 'both' for grammatical reasons.

However, as all four of these S.N.O.T. cards are coming into play at the same time, they will all come into play as individual creatures, not stuck together. This is because in order to 'stick' a S.N.O.T. onto another one, the first one must be in play when the second would enter play.

Q: I have a question about Su-Chi and Transmute Artifact. Can the mana from Su-Chi's ability be used to pay the difference in mana cost? For example, I sacrifice Su-Chi (costs 4) and search for Sundering Titan (costs 8).

A: Yes, because you sacrifice an artifact as an additional cost when you play Transmute Artifact. Su-Chi's ability is a normal triggered ability that goes on the stack on top of the Transmute Artifact spell. It will resolves before the Transmute Artifact does, and add the mana to your pool before you choose an artifact to put into play.

Q: In a five-proxy type one tournament, is it legal to proxy the card 1996 World Champion, and if so, would it be possible to put Oath of Druids trigger on the stack and then use it's ability to put it on top of my library?

A: No. The 1996 World Champion card is not printed in any set and it is not considered to be a promotional card, so it is not legal in Type I.

Q: I was wondering how worn, beat-up, creased, and mangled a card can be before it's rendered unplayable in a sanctioned tournament setting. Do sleeves alleviate all issues with damaged cards, or are some defects too great for sleeves to compensate?

I'm asking because I have a line on a creased Unlimited Black Lotus for "only" $500, but it's not much of a deal if the card can never see play.

A: I would allow you to use the card in sleeves if 1) the card was still legible and it is obvious what the card it and 2) when in your deck or on top of your library it is not obviously marked so that you can tell what it is. Keep in mind that the answers to those two questions depend on the individual judge doing the analysis. From your description, this card would most likely be OK if in sleeves.