Rules Tip of the Day: When a permanent with a static ability leaves play, the continuous effect from this ability will end.

Q: I have Yore-Tiller Nephilim in play and I declare it as an attacker. I target Souls of the Faultless, and it returns to play tapped and attacking. When an opponent blocks the Souls of the Faultless with a 3/3 creature, do I then both gain and lose three life, keeping me even?

A: Yes. You are the attacking player, so you will both gain and lose life when this Souls of the Faultless is dealt combat damage.

Q: Here's the situation: there are five creatures in play, including an Ink-Treader Nephilim. If I cast Undying Flames, targeting the Nephilim, it will copy the spell for each of the other four creatures. Do I have to remove cards from my library for each of the copies? Also, do I get five copies of Undying Flames at the beginning of each of my subsequent upkeeps?

A: What happens depends on who controls the Ink-Treader Nephilim. When you target the Nephilim, four copies of Undying Flames will go on the stack, one targeting each of the other four creatures in play. The controller of the Nephilim will be the controller of these copies of Undying Flames. When each of these copies resolves, that player will be the one who removes cards from the top of his library. These copies will have the Epic ability, so that player will also be prohibited from playing any further spells that game. And he or she will have four copies of Undying Flames put on the stack at the beginning of his or her upkeep. After the copies resolve, the original Undying Flames will resolve and you will remove the top card of your library from the game.

Q: If I equip Pariah's Shield to Souls of the Faultless, does damage from attacking creatures or other sources (such as sorceries) trigger Souls of the Faultless's life drain ability?

A: All damage that would be dealt to you will be redirected to the Souls of the Faultless. However, only damage from attacking creatures that is dealt to the Souls of the Faultless will cause its ability to trigger, and cause the controller of these attacking creatures to lose life.

Q: I was attacking with Wild Cantor, equipped with Sunforger. Is it possible to announce Sunforger's ability and then use the Cantor's ability to generate mana? It seems like you could do the unequip first and then pay the costs by saccing the unequipped wild Cantor for white mana.

A: No, that does not work. During the announcement of a spell or ability, you must generate all the necessary mana before you pay any costs. This means that if you sacrifice the Cantor to generate the mana to pay for the Sunforger's ability, you will be unable to unattach the Sunforger from the Cantor as the Cantor is no longer in play. Because you are unable to pay all of the costs of this ability, you cannot legally complete the announcement. You would then need to rewind the game back to just before this announcement was attempted and return the Cantor to play, equipped by the Sunforger.

Q: When Szadek, Lord of Secrets would deal damage to my opponent, and he gains counters and Doubling Season's effect is applied, does my opponent mill cards just for the original counters put on Szadek, or for the total counters put on after Doubling Season resolves?

A: Both instances of the phrase "that many" in the text of Szadek refer to the amount of combat damage that Szadek would deal to a player. This means that even if the number of +1/+1 counters put on Szadek is doubled, the number of milled cards remains the same.

Q: I use Dimir Doppelganger's ability to make it a copy of Stinkweed Imp. When the Doppelganger goes to the graveyard, may I Dredge for it?

A: No, the Doppelganger is only a copy of the removed card when the Doppelganger is in play. When this Doppelganger leaves play, it is a regular Dimir Doppelganger, with no copy effects applied to it.

Q: If I tap my Dominating Licid to gain control of my opponent's Apprentice Wizard, could I then pay U to turn it back to a creature, and—before that resolves—sacrifice my opponent's Wizard to an Ashnod's Altar?

A: No. Paying U and ending the Licid effect does not use the stack, and cannot be responded to. This is not an activated ability; it is paying a cost to end a continuous effect. As soon as this cost is paid you will lose control of the "stolen" creature, and you will not be able to sacrifice it.

Q: Will cards put into play via Manabond trigger Horn of Greed's draw ability?

A: No. Horn of Greed's ability triggers when a player plays a land. With Mana bond's ability you are putting lands into play without playing them.