[It is a fine tradition of this site for an editor to post content unedited on his birthday. Today I am 28. Please be aware that neither Chris nor the folks asking questions were aware that their writing would be posted untouched; be nice in the forums. These questions will be edited and added to the ATJ database after I return from my current vacation in France. Bon soir! -Seamus]

Rules Tip of the Day: When assigning damage from an attacking creature with Trample, its controller must assign what would normally be lethal damage to all blocking creatures; he can then assign the remainder to the defending player. In this case you still need to assign what would normally be lethal damage to the defending creature. It does not matter that this damage will be prevented, you do not take that into account when assigning combat damage.

Q: I attack with a Giant Sulifuge and my opponent does not block, is he able to prevent the damage using a Shining Shoal?

A: Yes he can choose to redirect (not prevent) the damage from your Giant Solifuge to another targeted creature or player. This is because choosing the source of damage that you want to redirect does not target it. However he can not choose to redirect this damage to the Solifuge itself.

Q: if I have Putrid Imp in play and a Golgari Grave-Troll in the yard and I cast Brainstorm, can I dredge the first draw from Brainstorm then respond by discarding the Troll to the imp in response to the next draw and so on.

A: No. You are in the middle or resolving this Brainstorm at this time and no player will receive priority to play other spells and abilities when one is resolving.

Q: If my opponent has 2 Ivory Crane Netsuke, seven cards in hand and has 4 points of life, and I have Ebony Owl Netsuke, what happens during his upkeep? What order will these abilities go on the stack?

A: Your opponent will lose the game. When multiple abilities trigger at the same time they go on the stack in APNAP (Active Player, Non-Active Player) order. This means that those controlled by the active player go on the stack in whatever order he wants, followed by those controlled by the non-active player in whatever order he wants. Then these triggered abilities will resolve in LIFO (Last In, First Out) order. In other words the last item added to the stack will resolve first.

As you are the non-active player, the fo your Ebony Owl Netsuke will go on the stack and resolve first. After this ability resolves state-based effects will be checked and your opponent will lose the game before the abilities of his Ivory Crane Netsuke's will cause him to gain life.'

Q: My opponent has out Horobi, Death's Wail and I have out Petrahydrox and he targets Petahydrox with Kodama's Might. Would Petahydrox be destroyed or would it go back to my hand?

A: It depends on whose turn it is. (See the question above for additional information) If it is your turn then Horobi's ability will resolve first and destroy the Petrahydrox before it is returned to your hand. However if it is your opponent's turn then the Petrahydrox ability will go on the stack last and resolve first. This means that it'll be returned to your hand before Horobi's ability can destroy it.

Q: I was just wondering if I could transmute Drift of Phantasms to find Maga, Traitor to Mortals?

A: Yes you can. The value of X in the mana cost of cards that are not on the stack is zero. When in your library Maga has a converted mana cost of three.

Q: If I have a flipped Erayo, Soratami Ascendant in play, play Chain of Vapor, and my opponent chooses to copy the spell; is that copy countered?

A: No. When Chain of Vapor resolves the controller of the targeted permanent is allowed to make a copy of Chain of Vapor. This copy s not played, so Erayo's ability will not affect it at all.

Q: Can I play a Blazing Shoal without removing anything or paying anything and splice onto it?

A: Not quite. If you are not paying for this Shoal via its alternate cost you will still have to pay RR even if the value of X is zero. You will also have to choose a target creature for this spell.

Q: If Copy Artifact copies an indestructible artifact can it then still be destroyed with things that destroys enchantments? Or does the indestructible part of the artifacts copy also protect it against effects that destroys enchantments ?

A: This permanent will be indestructible. It does not matter that it continues to be an enchantment after it has copies this indestructible artifact.

Q: I play Squee's Revenge and decide to flip three times. I win the first two flips and lose the 3rd. Does my Chance Encounter still get two counters even though I failed at gaining the card's effect?

A: Yes the Chance Encounter will get three counters. You may not have won all of the flips when Squee's Revenge resolved and therefore not drawn any cards, but you did win two flips so the Chance Encounter will get the counters.