Rules Tip of the Day: Spells and abilities cannot target themselves.

Q: If I have a Simic Initiate and I play Caller of the Claw, moving the Initiate's counter to the Caller, does the Initiate die in time to get a bear token for him?

A: It can, depending on how you put the Graft ability and Caller of the Claw's triggered ability on the stack. To get the result you want, when Caller of the Claw enters play, put the Caller's ability on the stack first, followed by the triggered Graft ability of the Initiate. This way, the Graft ability will resolve first and put the +1/+1 counter from the Initiate on the Caller. State-based effects will be checked after this ability resolves, and the Initiate will go to the graveyard. Then when the Caller's comes-into-play ability resolves, the Simic Initiate will be counted as a creature that you controlled that went to the graveyard that turn, and you will get a 2/2 Bear token for it.

Q: I have Pride of the Clouds attacking. It is blocked by Lantern Kami and they are the only cretures on the table. Will my Pride of the Clouds die?

A: Yes, just not at the same time as the Kami. When combat damage is dealt, the Lantern Kami will receive two points of damage and the Pride of the Clouds will receive one. Immediately after this damage is dealt, the Lantern Kami will go to the graveyard, as it has lethal damage. Then state-based effects are checked again and the Pride of the Clouds will be a 1/1 creature with one point of damage and it to will go to the graveyard.

Q: If I use Aethermage's Touch to put Sprouting Phytohydra into play, and I copy it that turn, will the tokens also have the "return to hand at end of turn" clause?

A: No. The token copies will not have that triggered ability granted by Aethermage's Touch. When a copy of an object is put into play, it does not copy the effect that were applied to the original, except for other copy effects. These token copies will remain in play.

Q: What happens if my opponent gains control of Psychic Possession that he was the target of when I played it? Say for example, using Sky Swallower.

A: Then the Psychic Possession will "fall off" of your opponent and go to your graveyard, as it is no longer enchanting an opponent.

Q: Engineered Plague is in play, with Clerics as the specified creature type. I play a Monk Realist—can I target the Engineered Plague with the comes-into-play ability of the Monk Realist? If yes, does the Monk Realist survive now that the Engineered Plague is removed?

A: You can play Monk Realist in this example and it will come into play as a 0/0 creature. When it does, its ability will trigger. However, before this ability can go on the stack and you can choose the Engineered Plague as a target, the Realist will go to the graveyard. Then immediately after state-based effects are done being checked, the Realist's ability will go on the stack and you can choose the Plague as the target. So the Realist will not survive, but it will eventually take out the Plague.

Q: May I sneak attack Hoverguard Sweepers to return one creature and the Sweepers to their owner's hand? And if so, is my opponent able to kill Hoverguard Sweepers as a response to the comes-into-play ability with a Swords to Plowshares or a Terror, preventing them from returning to my hand when the ability resolves?

A: Yes, you can choose to target the Hoverguard Sweepers with their own comes-into-play triggered ability. And yes, your opponent can respond to this by playing a spell or ability that would destroy the Sweepers. If he does, then the triggered ability will resolve and return the other targeted creature to its owner's hand.

Q: I have False Prophet and some other creatures in play. Can I play Scapegoat to sacrifice the False Prophet and to remove all other creatures to my hand, or does the Prophet trigger first?

A: Because you sacrifice False Prophet when you pay Scapegoat, the False Prophet's triggered ability will go on the stack on top of the Scapegoat spell. This triggered ability will resolve first and remove all creatures in play from the game before the Scapegoat can resolve and return them to your hand.

Q: My playgroup is trying to figure out how Banding works in Two-Headed-Giant. After investigating the rules, we concluded that Banding had no benefit on offense (all creatures in a band need to have the same controller). On defense, though, a team can gang block a creature and, assuming that among the blocking creatures there is a guy with Banding, distribute the damage among creatures of different controllers in the band. Are we correct?

A: You are somewhat correct; a single player on a team can choose to form an attacking band amongst creatures he controls with Banding. Banding is not completely useless when attacking; you just cannot form an attacking band with creature controlled by your teammate. However, you are correct that Banding can be beneficial on defense, as the controller of the blocking creature with Banding can choose how to assign combat damage from the attacking creature.