Rules Tip of the Day: When Twincast, and (its predecessor Fork) resolves it does not become a copy of the targeted spell, it creates a copy of the targeted spell. Twincast will go to the graveyard when it resolves; it does not matter if the targeted spell it copies goes to a different zone when it resolves.

Q: Will Pithing Needle prevent the use of activated abilities by a token copy of the named card? For example, if I name Arc-Slogger and my opponent copies his Arc-Slogger with Kiki-Jiki, can the copy shoot things?

A: No, Pithing Needle will not prevent the activated abilities of non-cards. In this example the token copy of Arc-Slogger will be able to use its activated ability. This similar to the fact that Meddling Mage will not prevent copies of the named card form being played, only actual cards with the chosen name are prohibited from being played.

Q: I have Planar Void in play and play Distress on my opponent. Can he respond by playing Pure Intentions to obtain get the card that was discarded back?

A: Yes, because Distress is a sorcery and can only be played during your turn. When you resolve the Distress the abilities of Planar Void and the delayed triggered ability created by Pure Intentions will trigger. As you are the active player the ability of your Planar Void will go on the stack first, followed by the Pure Intentions ability. He will end up getting the discarded card back as the Pure Intentions ability will resolves before Planar Void can remove it from the game.

Q: Since Pain's Reward tells me to bid an/ amount of life, can I start the bidding at a negative number? If I can do so, and the bidding stops below zero, will I gain life instead of losing it?

A: No. When instructed to choose a number in Magic, you must choose a whole positive integer. In other words you can't choose a negative number, a fraction an imaginary number, or an irrational number like pi.

Q: If I sac Copperhoof Vorrac to Altar of Dementia after my opponent untaps, can he tap out in response to make the Vorrac smaller and therefore less effective?

A: No. You sacrifice a creature to pay the cost of Altar of Dementia's ability. When Altar of Dementia's ability resolves the last known information regarding the sacrificed creature will determine the number of milled cards. This last known information about Copperhoof Vorrac is not lowered if your opponent taps more of he permanents before the Altar's ability resolves.

Q: Can I discard Darksteel Colossus to Survival of the Fittest, use its ability to be shuffled back into my deck, and find the Colossus with the Survival ability?

A: Yes that is possible, but other than spending one green mana and shuffling your deck the game state does not change.

Q: If I have Oath of Druids in play and reveal Darksteel Colossus, does it come into play or get shuffled back into the library?

A: It will come into play. When you resolve the Oath's ability you reveal cards in your library; they are still technically in your library and are not put in the graveyard. It is only when the Oath ability finishes resolving that the non-creature cards are put into your graveyard. So if you reveal a Darksteel Colossus, it never goes to your graveyard, it will go directly from your library to play. Then the revealed non-creature cards will go to your graveyard.

Q: My friend has Veiled Sentry in play and I play Starstorm for two. Does his guy live and become a 4/4 or die and be a 2/2? I was sure he would only be a 2/2 because Starstorm's mana cost was only two.

A: Veiled Sentry will become a 4/4 creature and survive the Starstorm. The value of X is treated as zero in the converted mana cost of a card, except when that card is on the stack as a spell. When on the stack the value of x is equal to whatever was chosen when the spell was played. Because of this the converted mana cost of the Starstorm spell on the stack is 4 and the Sentry will become a 4/4 creature.

Q: I have Volrath's Shapeshifter in play and Merieke Ri Berit as the top card of my graveyard. I tap the Shapeshifter to steal a creature, then my graveyard gets reordered due to an effect and Grizzly Bears gets put on top. The Bears untap and the stolen creature remains in play on my side. My graveyard gets reordered again and Merieke ends up on top. I tap the Shapeshifter to steal another creature. When my Shapeshifter-Merieke becomes untapped, are both stolen creatures destroyed, or just the second one?

A: This situation does not occur as you have described. When the Shapeshifter / Grizzly Bear becomes untapped, you will lose control of the first stolen creature. When a permanent refers to itself in it's rules text it means [this permanent]. When the Shapefhiter is Merieke Ri Berit the duration of the continuous effect from its ability is as long as you control that permanent or whenever it become untapped. It does not matter that the name of the Shapefhifter changes, you will still lose control of the stolen creature when the Shapeshifter untaps.