About 35% of the questions we get here in the Ask The Judge deal with the same basic problems over and over again - questions on the fundamentals of the game. Before you ask the judge, check these ten most-confusing questions to see if you can get an answer right here and now!
Removing The Source Of An Effect Will Not Prevent The Effect
It doesn't matter whether you destroy a Birds of Paradise in response to your opponent tapping it for mana, or whether you destroy a Prodigal Sorcerer in response to him tapping for one damage - the effect is already on the stack, and it's too late to do anything about it. Think of me, throwing a hand grenade at you; sure, you can shoot me, but that grenade is still coming towards you.
(You can do something to neutralize the ability on the stack - for example, you can cast a Healing Salve to prevent the damage - but you can't stop the spell or ability from going there in the first place.)
Protection From A Color Means Four Things
All damage dealt to the protected card by sources of that color is reduced to zero, no matter where that damage came from. Pilgrim of Justice can block a 12/12 creature and the 12 damage will be reduced to zero, and the damage dealt to the Pilgrim by an Earthquake for 12 will also be reduced to zero.
You cannot target the card with any effects or cards of the protected color
. You can't even start to point a Shock at a Pilgrim of Justice; doing so is illegal. You can't target it with a Goblin Sharpshooter's ability. You can't play a Custody Battle on it, since playing a creature enchantment involves targeting it. Likewise, if you have a Words of War, you can't target that Pilgrim to do two damage to it. You just can't touch it.
You cannot block a protected creature with a creature that is of the protected color
. The Pilgrim of Justice can block that 12/12 red fattie all day long, since its damage will be reduced to zero, but the 12/12 red creature can't block the Justice.
You cannot enchant a creature with a card of the protected color
. As stated in the last rule, you can't even target a protected creature with an enchantment of the protected color... But if a creature suddenly gains protection from a color, all enchantments of that color will "fall off" and go to the graveyard.
Global, Non-Damage Effects Will Still Destroy Protected Creatures
Protection from white will not protect a creature from a Wrath of God, nor will being untargetable like Blastoderm. Protection from blue will not keep a creature on the table once Upheaval resolves. Protection from black means bupkiss if the Mutilate is large enough.
You Can't Tap Someone's Lands "In Response" To Prevent Them From Playing A Spell
Part of playing a spell is paying all of its costs - one of which is paying the mana. You cannot use any effects or cast any spells when someone is in the "paying costs" stage of a spell - and as such, by the time you get priority to do anything that would tap their lands, the mana is already in their pool. Jon Kaus wrote an excellent article that discusses costs and priority, and explains this in more detail.
(Opposition decks do a tricky thing - they tap someone's lands during their draw phase. Since sorcery and creature spells can only be cast played during one of the two main phases, and you can't carry mana over from one phase to the next, this effectively prevents their opponent from casting playing sorcery spells or creatures. However, there's nothing to stop a clever player from playing an instant like Naturalize in response.)
You Can't Destroy A Creature In Response To Someone Sacrificing It
If a player plays a spell like Culling the Weak or Cabal Therapy where sacrificing a creature is a part of the cost of the spell, you won't get priority to do anything in response. It's the same reason as the one given above.
You Can't Tap A Creature In Response To It Being Declared As An Attacker
By the time you've tapped it, it's already too late; it's attacking, and the only thing you've accomplished is giving your opponent an untapped creature that's still going to smash your face in.
What you want to do is tap it in the Beginning of Combat Step, before your opponent chooses what he's attacking with. (Combat has five steps: Beginning of Combat, Declare Attackers, Declare Blockers, Combat Damage, and End of Combat; read this article for a step-by-step explanation of Combat.) If you wait until he's declared it, tough luck for you.
Keep in mind that your opponent must give you a chance to respond during the Beginning of Combat. He can't say, "IattackwithaShivanDragonnotakebacks!" and pound on you. On the other hand, you can't wait to see what he's attacking with and then tap the biggest thing he sends your way; you have to choose which creature to tap before he chooses the creatures he'll be attacking with. (And yes, if you tap his big creature, he can choose not to attack with anything.)
You Cannot Sacrifice One Thing To Two Separate Effects
Each effect requires its own sacrifice. If you have a Mogg Fanatic and someone plays a Chainer's Edict on you, you can sacrifice your Fanatic to do a point of damage... But that won't count as a creature that you sacrificed to the Edict. You canot get double-duty out of a creature you sacrifice to an Edict (or Braids, Cabal Minion, or Innocent Blood) by sacrificing it to something else in response.
You Cannot Discard A Card To Two Separate Things
No, you can't use a card that your opponent forced you to discard via Duress to pump up your Wild Mongrel. Nor can you discard a land card to fuel both a Seismic Assault and a Patrol Hound.
(There is a distinct difference between cards where discarding is a cost you pay in order to get a benefit - like Wild Mongrel - and cards like Megrim, which do things whenever cards are discarded. As a rule, if the card says something like, "Discard a card: Do x," that's a cost and you must pay it.)
Token Creatures Go To The Graveyard Long Enough To Trigger Any Graveyard Effects
Tokens do not exist anywhere but in play; the minute they are removed from the game for any reason (bounce, Astral Slide, et cetera), they cease to exist and will not come back. However, a card that's watching for just such an effect will "see" the token hit the graveyard just before it vanishes forever.
(Note, however, that some cards say "cards" and not tokens, like Compost. Compost will not care if a token hits the graveyard; it's waiting for cards. The wording on the card is very important!)
"Loss Of Life" Gets Around Circles Of Protection And Worship
...And you can't prevent it, either. It's different from damage.
An Important Announcement About Ask The Judge
With over 10,000 questions and a constant stream of Oracle updates/rules changes that constantly
rendered old answers obsolete, maintaining an accurate database was becoming impossible -
and two cleanup efforts failed. Rather than allow inaccurate questions to remain online,
we've instead opted to no longer offer the "Ask the Judge" utility.
StarCityGames.com
5728 Williamson Road
N.W, Roanoke, VA, 24012
Phone: (540) 767-GAME (4263) Monday-Friday 10am-6pm EST
Fax: (540) b
265-0544 Contact
Us!
All content on this page (c) 2009 StarCityGames and may not
be reproduced whole without
consent.
If it's happening in Magic: the Gathering, it's being talked about in our forums! Join, and share your thoughts with the rest of the Magic: the Gathering community!
