Rules Tip of the Day: Later today, I am leaving for US Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, so I won't be as responsive answering emails until next Monday at the earliest. If you happen to be at US Nationals this weekend, feel free to say "hi" to myself, Ask the Judge editor Seamus Campbell [Hi! -Seamus, editing ahead for that very reason] or frequent Feature Friday contributor Lee Sharpe.

Q: When Ghostway's end-of-turn trigger resolves, returning my creatures to play, and one of the creatures returning to play is a Juniper Order Ranger, will this trigger the Ranger's ability?

A: Yes, that ability will trigger for each other creature that comes into play under your control, when Juniper Order Ranger and other creatures come into play at the same time.

Q: Does Rune Snag count itself when it is cast? If I play a Rune Snag, and have one in my graveyard, does my opponent pay four or six mana?

A: Just four. A spell does not go to the graveyard until it has completely resolved. When this Rune Snag is resolving, it is still on the stack.

Q: Regarding Herald of Leshrac, I'm not sure how its leaves-play ability works. I'm not sure if it only affects lands I took control of, or all of my lands.

A: Herald of Leshrac's leaves-play triggered ability will only return those lands that you "stole" from their owners. Any lands that you own and control will remain under your control.

Q: With Adarkar Valkyrie, can I target a creature that I discarded into my graveyard this turn, and bring it into play?

A: No. Creatures only exist in play; in any other zone they are creature cards. Adarkar Valkyrie's ability can only target creatures in play. When the targeted creature goes to to a graveyard, it will be returned to play under your control.

Q: I've got a Djinn Illuminatus in play. I want to play Angelic Favor several times. Can I Replicate the spell by tapping an untapped creature, or does it have to be by paying the mana cost?

A: What you want to do does not work. Angelic Favor's alternate play cost allows you to play it via an alternate means; it does not change what the converted mana cost of this spell is. The Replicate cost granted by Djinn Illuminatus is based on the converted mana cost of the spell. It does not matter that you can play the spell via an alternate means; in order to Replicate it, you must pay the converted mana cost.

Q: My friend has a ton of mana and uses Psychic Drain to deck me. I have 43 cards in my deck and my opponent sets X to 60. Does he gain 43 life or 60?

A: When a spell resolves, it does as much as possible. Your deck may only be 43 cards, so Psychic Drain will "mill" those 43 cards as it can not mill any more than that. However, the size of your deck does not prevent your opponent from gaining life equal to the chosen value of X, so your opponent will gain 60 life.

Q: I have four Shadow creatures and one Dauthi Ghoul in play. It is my opponent's turn and he plays a Cleansing Beam, targeting my Dauthi Ghoul. This would kill all of my one toughness Shadow creatures. He believes that he targets the Ghoul, so therefore the Ghoul is dealt the damage first, and goes to the graveyard first. I believe that the damage is simultaneous, and therefore I get to choose in which order my creatures go to the graveyard, so I can send all my other creatures to the graveyard first, making the Ghoul a 5/5 creature, so that the Beam's two damage will be nonlethal.

A: Neither of you are quite correct. When Cleansing Beam resolves, two points of damage will be dealt to the Dauthi Ghoul and all creatures that share a color with the Ghoul. All of these creatures that receive lethal damage, including the Ghoul, will go to the graveyard at one time after Cleansing Beam resolves. You may be able to determine the order that these cards are arranged in your graveyard, but that does not mean that you can decide the order that they leave play.

Q: How do Flashback cards interact with Richard Garfield, Ph.D.? Can you flashback Moment's Peace as Farseek, or do you flashback Farseek as Moment's Peace?

A: Richard Garfield, Ph.D.'s ability allows you to play any card as though it were any other card with the same mana cost as the original. The only limiting factor is that you can not choose to play the same spell more than once with this ability. But in order to play a card you must have a means of playing it; normally this means that the card is in your hand. In the examples given, you can choose to pay the Flashback cost of a Moment's Peace card in your graveyard and have the spell be Farseek. However you cannot the play the Farseek in your graveyard, as the card does not have Flashback.