Rules Tip of the Day: When an effect has you choose a creature type, you can only choose a single type.

Q: If I Imprinted an Arcane Instant such as Ethereal Haze on Isochron Scepter, can I Splice a spell (e.g. Glacial Ray) onto the copy created by the Scepter? Also, does playing the copy of the spell trigger Soilshaper, Kodama of the South Tree, Thief of Hope, and etc?

A: Yes to both questions. When you play this copy created by Isochron Scepter you can splice additional text onto this spell. Because it is an exact copy, it will trigger abilities that trigger when an Arcane spell is played.

Q: Does the power and toughness of the creature created by Budoka Gardener change when the number of lands changes?

A: The power and toughness of this token creature is set when the token comes into play; it does not change as the number of lands you control changes.

Q: I have Task Force and Shaman en-Kor in play and my opponent has Horobi Death's Wail. Can I use the Shaman en-Kor's ability targeting the Task Force (as active player), let the Task Force ability resolve, then before Horobi's effect resolves repeat this process? Basically, if I'm active player can I get my Task Force pumped many times and then use Worthy Cause to gain mass life with Horobi in play?

A: This trick only works if you do this during your opponent's turn, not yours as you mentioned. This is because when you announce the en-Kor ability two abilities will trigger; Horobi's and Task Force's. When multiple abilities trigger at the same time they go on the stack in APNAP (Active Player, Non-Active Player) order. This means that those controlled by the active player go on the stack in whatever order he wants, followed by those controlled by the non-active player in whatever order he wants. Then these triggered abilities will resolve in LIFO (Last In, First Out) order. In other words the last item added to the stack will resolve first. So in order to get the Task Force's ability to resolve before Horobi's ability it must be your opponent's turn. If you are the active player, then Horobi's ability will destroy the Task Force before it gets pumped.

Q: I hear that with Sensei's Divining Top you can stack it just right so you will be able look at the top three draw a card and bury the Top on one of the top remaining two cards. If this does work, please explain how you can manipulate the stack to get the Top under one of the cards you look at.

A: Yes that does work, but not quite in the order you described. First activate the Top's first ability that allows you to look at and rearrange the top three cards in your library. Then without passing priority activate the top's second ability that has you draw a card and put the Top on top of your library.

These abilities will resolve in LIFO (Last In, First Out) order. This means that first you will draw a card and put the Top on top of your library, and then you will rearrange the top three cards of your library. At this point Sensei's Divining Top is one of those cards, so you can 'bury' it at least three cards deep.

Q: I have a Kaldra token in play created by Helm of Kaldra's ability and it is Equipped with Fireshrieker. I declare an attack. My opponent declares Darksteel Colossus as a blocker. I assumed that the First Strike damage provided by the Double Strike from the Fireshrieker would remove the Darksteel Colossus from the game and then the second strike of the Double Strike ability would get through unchallenged. So my opponent would take 9 damage from the Kaldra token? Is this correct if not please explain.

A: First of all I assume that this Kaldra token is equipped with all 3 pieces of Kaldra equipment. If so, then you are correct. While the Colossus can not be destroyed by receiving lethal damage, it can be removed from the game by Sword of Kaldra's triggered ability. Because it is removed form the game before normal combat damage goes on the stack, and because this Kaldra token has trample due to the Helm of Kaldra, you can assign the normal combat damage from this attacking Kaldra token to the defending player.

Q: I have Vedalken Shackles in play that's controlling my opponent's Disciple of the Vault. He Oxidizes my Shackles. Who loses a life in this situation (if anyone), and why?

A: Your opponent will lose the life. Just prior to when the Shackles leaves play you control the Disciple so you control the triggered ability. This is because leaves play triggered abilities look at the game state to just before a permanent leaves play to see if any leaves play abilities have triggered.

Q: If I have Form of the Dragon in play and it deals damage to Tephraderm, what it happens?

A: Apart from the Tephraderm receive lethal damage, nothing. Tephraderm has two triggered abilities that trigger when Tephraderm is dealt damage by either a spell or a creature. Neither of those abilities will trigger when Tephraderm is dealt damage by the triggered ability of an enchantment.

Q: If I attack with my Metathran Soldier, which is equipped with Fireshrieker and enchanted by Curiosity, do I get to draw two cards due to the double strike ability?

A: Yes. Curiosity ability will trigger twice, once each time damage is dealt by this enchanted creature.

Q: Can you Stifle the mana part of Mana Drain?

A: Yes you can stifle the delayed triggered ability created by Mana Drain. If you do then the controller of the Mana Drain will not get any mana from this ability.

Q: I noticed that most DCI sanctioned tournaments ban the use of sleeves that have artwork on the back or a heavily reflective back. I can understand the reflective backed sleeves because it is very easy to cheat with them. I however cannot understand the banning of artwork sleeves like the Jeff Easley Ultra Pro sleeves. Is there any way you can clear this up for me?

A: First of all, it is up to an individual tournament organizer or head judge to ban certain sleeves or styles of sleeves. The type of sleeves you mentioned are have been disallowed at Premier Events, like certain Nationals, Grand Prix and Pro Tours. Other organizers may allow them at their sanctioned events, so check with the organizer before the event starts.

The reason those sleeves are often not allowed is that these sleeves vary, especially if you use sleeves from two different packs. They are often cut differently so that the art is slightly to the side or up and down. Also, because these sleeves use so many colors in the art the individual color may vary as well. In other words it is possible to use these sleeves to mark your deck. A player could put all of his lands in sleeves where the art is shifted to the right, or where the green is different shade. This person would then be able to know, or at least gain information, about what the top card of you deck is or isn't. You can also use this information to stack your deck when performing what looks like a random pile shuffle.

Having said all of that, it does not mean that everyone using these sleeves is cheating. I can only assume that most people buy and use them because they think they look cool. However they are not allowed at certain events simply because of the potential for misuse.