Rules Tip of the Day: It used to be that players were not allowed to rewind mana abilities there generated the payment for an illegal action if the mana was generated before the announcement. How this is treated has changed and players are often given the opportunity to untap the relevant lands and empty their mana pools of the mana generated by these lands if a spell or ability was illegally played.
Q: Can I remove a charge counter even if Umezawa's Jitte is not equipped to a creature for activated ability like "you gain 2 life" or "target creature gets -1/-1 until end of turn" ?
A: Yes you can. The Jitte does not have to be equipped to a creature in order to use its activated ability. In fact you can choose the 'equipped creature gets +2/+2' mode as well even if the Jitte is not attached to a creature. However if you do, no creature will get this bonus.
Q: I was wondering about the new flip cards, namely the spirit ones, (Callow Jushi and Cunning Bandit.) When their ability is triggered, does that count as playing a Spirit or Arcane spell?
A: No, flipping a permanent and changing its creature type so it is now a Spirit does not count as playing a Spirit spell.
Q: In the semi-final match of Pro Tour Philadelphia, Gadiel Szleifer used Horobi's Whisper to pay the alternate cost for Sickening Shoal, but also used it as a Splice on the same Shoal. Could you explain exactly how that spell would be announced and paid for?
A: Sure. In the announcement process you choose additional and alternate play costs before paying any costs. One of the first things you do when playing this spell is to announce the 'main' spell and then reveal any Splice card in your hand that you wish to Splice onto it. It is also at this time that you choose to take advantage ot any alternate costs, like Sickening Shoal's. This means that you can play Sickening Shoal, reveal Horobi's Whisper in your hand to splice on the Whisper and then discard the Whisper to pay the alternate play cost of the Shoal.
Q: My opponent dealt me damage with Somnophore and targets my Raven Guild Master enchanted with Dance of the Dead. May I untap the Raven Guildmaster for [1][B] at the end of my upkeep?
A: Yes. The effect from Somnophore and Dance of the Dead will both prevent this creature from untapping in your untap step. However nothing will prevent the you from paying 1B when Dance of the Dead's upkeep triggered ability resolves and untapping this creature.
Q: I have two Iridescent Angel in play and someone plays Blinding Light to tap them. I would think it wouldn’t be able to do it because Blinding Light says ‘tap all non white creatures’ and even though my Angel is a blue creature, it's also a white creature. How does this work?
A: Iridescent Angel is not a non-white creature. It may be a blue creature, but that does not make it non-white. Because of this it will not become tapped by Blinding Light.
Q: I have Rowen in play and reveal the card I draw to be Forest. Do I reveal the card I draw due to Rowen’s triggered ability? And if it is a basic land do I draw again?
A: No, Rowen's effect is only applied to the first card you draw a turn, it does not apply to any other draws including ones you made due to Rowen’s triggered ability.
Q: If I have two Fluctuator in play, and then cycle Decree of Justice for 1W would I get one soldier token, or would I get three? I had been playing it as though I would only get one, but then I noticed a recent ruling that effects that lower the cost of spells can also lower the amount of mana paid in an X cost, is this similar?
A: You will only get one soldier token. Fluctuator lowers the cycling cost of Decree of Justice. However the 'X' you pay when cycling Decree of Justice is not part of the cycling cost. It is a cost that you have the option of paying when Decree of Justice's cycling triggered ability resolves. This is different from paying the 'X' cost in a spell's mana cost. This payment is completely unaffected by Fluctuator. In this example when you cycle Fluctuator, you will pay just W, and then later when the cycling triggered ability resolves you can pay any additional amount of mana to get that many Soldier tokens.
Q: Player 1 has Platinum Angel in play and his opponent has no way of destroying it. Player 2 has an infinite source of life (and his opponent cannot deal infinite damage) and has a way to prevent himself from being decked by moving cards from his graveyard to his library (and can put cards in his graveyard at will) Right now, the game has reached about turn 200 or so, and neither player can make any progress against the other. Who wins, or is it a draw?)
A: First of all there is no such thing as infinite in Magic. When a player can perform an action an unlimited number of times they must choose a number and they are considered to perform that action that number of times. However for the remainder of this answer I'm going to assume that the player who does not control the Platinum Angel has a a way to continually gain additional life. If this were to happen at a sanctioned event, I would rule the game a draw, as the game does not appear to be advancing or changing in any discernible way.
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