Rules Tip of the Day: Token creatures are creatures in every way. They will be counted by effects that count creatures. Any effects that are applied to creatures will be applied to them.

Q: I have a Shapeshifter of some kind—either Volrath's Shapeshifter or a Dimir Doppelganger. Currently it is a copy of a Raven Guild Master. This creature deals combat damage to my opponent and the top 10 cards from this player's deck are removed from the game. If this Shapeshifter later changed to become Circu, Dimir Lobotomist can my opponent play cards with the same namd as those that were removed by the Raven Guild Master? Basically, will the cards that were removed form the game when the Shapeshifter was a different form be used by Circu's ability?

A: No. When an ability refers to cards that were removed from the game, it means those cards that were removed by abilities that are inherent to that card. In other words Circu's static ability only refers to those cards that were removed from the game by the two triggered abilities on Circu. If a Shapeshifter removed some card from the game and then become Circu, the cards that were removed earlier will not be factored in when dealing with Circu's ability that prevents certain cards from being played.

Q: With Eye of the Storm, when I play a spell, can I make a copy of the cards that were removed by my opponents or just copies of the cards that I own that were removed from the game?

A: When Eye of the Storm's triggered ability resolves, the spell that triggered Eye of the Storm will go on the stack and copies of this card and all of the other cards removed from the game by Eye of the Storm will be created, including copies of the cards that were played by your opponents and removed from the game. You can choose to put any number of these copies on the stack, not just the copies of your cards.

Q: I play Hunted Horror. Is it possible to use Necroplasm to get rid of the Centaur tokens, created by Hunted Horror, as long as there are no +1/+1 counters on Necroplasm?

A: Yes, that works. Necroplasm's ability does not deal damage or target, so it will destroy creatures that have protection from black. And because the token creatures created by Hunted Horror's ability have a converted mana cost of zero, they will be destroyed at the end of the first turn that the Necroplasm is in play.

Q: I play Hunted Horror. The card says that I put 2 tokens controlled by my opponent into play. It only says 'controlled' - does this mean that I still own the tokens and that these may be destroyed using Tel-Jilad Stylus for example?

A: You are correct, you are still the owner of these tokens even though they are put into play under your opponent's control. You can use Tel-Jilad Stylus to put one of these tokens on the bottom of your library. Immediately after the Stylus' ability resolves the token will cease to exist.

Q: I have some questions about Phytohydra. If I Shock it when it is still a 1/1 creature, does it gain 1 counter or 2? Does it work the same way with combat damage? If it is a 1/1 and blocks a 5/5 (non-trampler), how many counters does it gain?

A: Phytohydra gets counter equal to the damage that would be dealt to it. It would get two +1/+1 counter when a Shock targeting it resolved. It if blocked a 5/5 creature, then when combat damage is dealt it will instead receive five +1/+1 counters.

Q: My opponent plays the Fire portion of Fire / Ice. Later in the turn I play Grim Reminder and search for a copy of Fire / Ice in my library. Will my opponent lose six life? The spell he played was Fire, as he can not play both Fire and Ice, but Grim Reminder refers to cards and not spells that a player has played.

A: Your opponent will lose the six life in this example. Your opponent played the card Fire / Ice when he played the spell Fire. Grim Reminder only cares about the name of the played card and not the name of the spell, it does not matter that a split card has the potential to have two different names when as a spell.

Q: I have Higure, the Still Wind in play, and I use its own ability, targeting itself to make it unblockable, and attack with it. My opponent then uses Trap Runner's ability targeting Higure. Is this legal? Can this unblockable creature become blocked by Trap Runner's ability?

A: Yes. When a creature is made unblockable, it means that it is unblockable by other creatures at the beginning of the declaration of blockers step. It can still be blocked by spells and abilities, like Trap Runners.

Q: I know that with Quicksilver Fountain that the lands in play with Flood counters will remain Islands even if the Fountain leaves play. What happens in a multi-player game when the player who controlled the Fountain loses and leaves the game? Will those lands revert back? Or will they still be Islands?

A: These lands will remain Islands. Quicksilver Fountain creates a continuous effect that lasts as long as these lands have counters on them, and even if this player leaves the game. When the controller of the Fountain left the game, all permanents he owned and spells and abilities on the stack he controlled will leave the game. However, continuous effects from sources he controlled will still be applied.