Rules Tip of the Day: Mana abilities can only be played when you have priority, during the announcement of a spell or ability you are playing, or when a spell or ability that is resolving asks for a payment of mana.

Q: If I have Suspended a Greater Gargadon, and I sacrifice a permanent and remove the last time counter, can I respond to the triggered ability of it being played and still sacrifice permanents to it while it's still suspended? Also, can I do this without passing priority?

A: No, you cannot do this. While the Greater Gargadon may still be removed from the game at this point, cards (by definition) are only suspended when they have a time counter on them. However, you can get the result you want if you sacrifice a permanent to activate Greater Gargadon's activated ability, and then—before the ability resolves—sacrifice another permanent. You can keep responding to these activations by activating it again and again, as long as the last time counter is still on the Gargadon. (I hope that you have some strategic reason for doing this, like a Living End that is about to unsuspend?)

Q: With Mangara of Corondor, can I use Momentary Blink on it after stacking the removal effect, and then tap Mangara again to remove a second creature, then Blink again with Flashback in response, and remove a third?

A: That only works if you find a way to give Mangara of Corondor haste each time it returns to play. When this Mangara card returns to play, it is a new object and you will not have controlled it since the beginning of your most recent turn, so you will be unable to use its activated ability, which has the tap symbol as part of the activation cost.

Q: I was wondering if Sudden Spoiling could be used to stop the comes-into-play ability of Bogardan Hellkite?

A: No, it cannot. If you play Sudden Spoiling before the Bogarden Hellkite comes into play, then it will not be affected by Sudden Spoiling at all, and it will come into play as a 5/5 with its triggered ability. If you wait until after the Hellkite has come into play and its ability has triggered and gone on the stack, then removing abilities from the Hellkite will not affect the ability that is already on the stack.

Q: When I use Truth or Tale do I have to reveal to my oppenent which card I take or the order in which I put the cards on the bottom of my library?

A: You will reveal which card you take, as all of the cards that are used in this process are still revealed when you choose a card. But you do not have to show your opponent the order that these unchosen cards go to the bottom of your library.

Q: Can I use Clockspinning to increase the number of poison counters on an opponent?

A: No, Clockspinning can only target a permanent or a Suspended card, it cannot target players.

Q: I have Tamanoa and Pandemonium in play. Will creatures brought into play trigger life gain from Tamanoa via Pandemonium triggered abilities, or will the creature be the source of damage, implying no life gain?

A: Pandemonium's ability states that the creatures that come into play are the sources of the damage, so Tamonoa's ability will not trigger. It does not matter that Pandemonium is the source of the ability.

Q: I know that when Pandemonium's ability resolves, the creature is the source of the damage. Does this mean that protection from red will not prevent Pandemonium damage if the creature brought into play is not red? For example; My opponent has Akroma, Angel of Wrath in play. I have Pandemonium in play. I play Watchwolf, and Pandemonium triggers. The trigger resolves, Watchwolf can target Akroma, since source Watchwolf is GW, not R or B.

A: No, that does not work. Creatures with protection from red cannot be targeted by spells and abilities from red permanents, so a creature that is Pro-Red cannot be targeted by Pandemonium's ability. It does not matter what the color of the creature that came into play is. In this example, the source of the damage will be the Watchwolf, but the source of the ability is Pandemonium, so Akroma cannot be targeted.

Q: My opponent has a 2/2 Grizzly Bears. I play Orzhov Pontiff and choose "creatures you don't control get -1/-1 until end of turn." Can I play Otherworldly Journey on my Pontiff and give the Bears another -1/-1 in order to kill it? My opponent disagrees.

A: Yes, that works. Otherworldly Journey creates a delayed triggered ability that brings the targeted creature back into play in the end of turn step. When it does, you can choose to have your opponent's creatures get an additional -1/-1 until the end of the current turn. At this point the effect created when the Pontiff came into play earlier will still apply, as it does not end until the cleanup step of the turn, which is after the end of turn step.

Q: I have a Primordial Ooze and it is my upkeep step. The Ooze is equipped with Lavamancer's Skill. Can I avoid the Primordial Ooze damage by tapping him and dealing a point of damage with my Lavamancer's Skill?

A: No. When Primordial Ooze's upkeep triggered ability resolves you can either pay mana equal to the number of +1/+1 counter on the Ooze, or you can tap it and receive damage equal to the number of these counters. It does not matter if the Ooze is tapped when the ability resolves, you will still receive damage if you do not pay the necessary mana. This is because tapping the Ooze is not a cost, it is part of an effect. If you cannot tap it, then that portion of the effect is ignored, but the rest is applied.