Rules Tip of the Day: It is impossible for two players to do something at the same time. Magic has a set of rules that govern when a player has priority to play spells and abilities.

Q: My opponent had a Miren, the Moaning Well and a Yosei, the Morning Star with a [Followed Footsteps]] on it. In response to the Followed Footsteps, she sacked Yosei. Does this work and what is the order everything resolves?

A: No, I do not think that this works as your opponent expects. The first thing to resolve will be Yosei's triggered ability, which will cause the targeted player to skip his or her next untap step and will also tap five target permanents the targeted player controls. Then Miren's activated ability will resolve and cause your opponent to gain 5 life. Finally, the Followed Footsteps ability will resolve. However, as Followed Footsteps is no longer in play and enchanting a creature, nothing will happen. Your opponent will not get a token copy of Yosei.

Q: In a Mirage draft, I attacked, and my opponent made a Wall token with Tidal Wave. After the token was created, I targeted it with Ray of Command. At the end of the turn, the token had to be sacrificed. However, the contoller of the effect that generated the sacrifice effect no longer controlled the Wave token. Should I have had to sacrifice the token?

A: No. Your opponent is instructed to sacrifice the Wall token during the end of turn step of this turn as he played the Tidal Wave. However, a player can only sacrifice permanents he or she controls, and your opponent will not regain control of this token until after that delayed triggered ability resolves. In the end, the Wall will not be sacrificed at all, and once this turn ends your opponent will regain control of it and it will remain in play.

Q: I play Tooth and Nail, entwined, for Clone and Darksteel Colossus. If there are no other creatures in play, will my Clone die?

A: Yes, your Clone and Colossus will come into play at the same time, and you need to choose a creature in play for the Clone to copy just before it enters play. This means that you cannot choose to have the Clone copy the Colossus. So your Clone will come into play as a 0/0 Clone and go to the graveyard immediately after the Tooth and Nail finishes resolving.

Q: I have Rancor enchanting one of my creatures. I attack, and my opponent casts Devouring Light removing my creature from the game. Does Rancor come back to my hand, even though my creature was removed from the game?

A: Yes, it does not matter where the enchanted creature goes, Rancor's ability will trigger.

Q: I have an Unstable Shapeshifter (and no other creatures are in play) and play Clone. What happens?

A: Either both will remain in play as Unstable Shapeshifters, or both will go to the graveyard; it is your choice. When the Clone spell resolves, it'll come into play as an Unstable Shapeshifter, unless you choose not to have it copy anything. If the Clone copies the Shapeshifter, then the Shapeshifter's triggered ability will make the Shapeshifter become a copy of a copy of itself. (Did you follow that?) If the Clone copies nothing, then it will go to the graveyard after it enters play. Then the Shapeshifter will use last known information about the Clone, become a 0/0 and also go to the graveyard.

Q: In play I have Matopi Golem with Animate Dead and Flickerform attached to it. In my graveyard is Marjhan. I use the Flickerform's ability to remove Matopi, Animate Dead and Flickerform from the game. Matopi Golem is removed from the game at the same time as Animate Dead, so the requirement to sacrifice the Golem fails. At the end of the turn when everything comes back, what happens?

Here is what I think (or maybe hope) will happen: everything comes back in, Flickerform attaches to Matopi Golem. Animate Dead comes in but can't immediately attach because it's not an Aura with enchant creature. So that portion of Flickerform's ability fails to perform. Now Animate Dead triggers allowing it to become an Aura with Enchant Creature and you pull the Marjhan from the graveyard into play attaching Animate Dead to it.

A: This is close, but not quite correct. The Matopi Golem will return to play with Flickerform and Animate Dead attached to it. Animate Dead's trigger will trigger and be placed on the stack. State-based effects will be checked, and the game will see that Animate Dead is attached to a creature, but is not an Aura or Equipment, so it will be unattached, but remain in play (see rule 420.5m). When the trigger resolves, Marjhan will come into play with Animate Dead attached.

Q: By the rules, paying the costs for a spell is the last step of the announcement of the spell. However, most players tap their lands before playing the spell, sometimes backing up several times and tapping different lands until a spell is actually cast. To what extend is such a practice acceptable?

A: As long as this player is not trying to cheat, and this activity does not confuse any of the other players in the game, and the player does not take too long doing this, there is no problem. This practice is acceptable at any level of play, from Friday Night Magic to the Pro Tour. While we do want and encourage players to follow proper procedure, we do not require that they follow the procedure for announcing a spell or ability so strictly. We want the result of a game to be decided on strategic decisions more than on procedural technicalities.