Rules Tip of the Day: When an effect instructs you to choose a type, you can only choose a single type. For example, when you need to choose a creature type, you can choose Goblin, but not Goblin Wizard.

Q: I read that Bound in Silence could be used on Calciderm if it is put into play by a Rebel card, like Blight Speaker. How is this possible?

A: Auras target the permanent they become attached to when they are played. However, when they are put into play without being played, they do not target. When you use a Rebel search ability, you search for a Rebel card and put it into play; you do not play these cards. If you put a Bound in Silence into play with a Rebel searching ability, it will not target the permanent that it would become attached to, so you can choose to have Bound in Silence become attached to a Calciderm.

Q: If I have Vesuvan Shapeshifter face up during my upkeep. It is a copy of Jodah's Avenger. If the Shapeshifter's triggered ability is on the stack, and I use the Avenger's ability to give it Shadow until end of turn, will the Shapeshifter still have Shadow after it is turned face-down?

A: Yes. The effect will be applied to this permanent even if it is no longer a copy of Jodah's Avenger. Changing the characteristics of this permanent will not cause the ability to become countered or prevent the effect from being applied. So later it will have -1/-1 and Shadow, regardless of whether it remains face-down or is turned face-up to copy another creature.

Q: You have a Chronozoa in play and a Suspended Greater Gargadon. When the third time token comes off the Chronozoa, can you sac it to take a counter off of Gargadon and still get your Chronozoa's effect of getting two copies?

A: Yes that does work. Vanishing is really two triggered abilities: one has you remove time coutners from the card each upkeep and the other triggers when you remove the last time counter from the card. When the last time counter is removed, this second ability will trigger and go on the stack. It is when this ability resolves that you sacrifice this permanent. However, you can respond to this trigger by sacrificing the Chronozoa. At this point, the Chronozoa does not have any time counters on it, so if you do sacrifice it, its ability will trigger and you will get two more Chronozoa copies.

Q: My opponent has a Griffin Guide on his Savannah Lions. On my turn, I cast Threaten on the Lions. I attack him with the Lions and my Scorched Rusalka. In my second main phase, I activate the Rusalka, sacrificing the Savannah Lions. Who gets the token from the Griffin Guide?

A: You may have had control of the Savannah Lions when it left play, but the ability that puts a 2/2 Flying Griffin into play is an ability of Griffin Guide. Griffin Guide does not give this ability to the enchanted creature. And your opponent is the controller of the Griffin Guide. You did not gain control of it when you gained control of the enchanted creature. Because of this, your opponent will control this leaves-play triggered ability, and he will get the 2/2 Griffin when this ability resolves.

Q: If I play either half of Rise / Fall, can I copy the spell with Izzet Guildmage, even though Rise / Fall's converted mana cost is 4?

A: The converted mana cost of a Rise or a Fall on the stack is two, not four. When on the stack, a split card has only the characteristics of the half that is played. So you can target either of those spells with Izzet Guildmage's ability to make a copy. (Also, when not on the stack, a split card has two sets of characteristics. These characteristics are not combined. So a Rise / Fall card has the converted mana cost of two and two, not four.)

Q: If I have Ambush Commander and Primordial Sage, does playing a Forest trigger Primordial Sage's effect and allow me to draw a card?

A: No. Primordial Sage's ability triggers when you play a creature spell. It does not matter that Forests you play will be creatures in play, you did not play a creature spell.

Q: I have Rain of Gore in play, three life, and four creatures. If I play Biorhythm, what will my new life total be?

A: You will end up with a life total of two. When Biorhythm resolves, your life total will go from three to four. This counts as gaining life, as your life total is increasing. As you would be gaining life due to a spell or ability you control, Rain of Gore's will replace this life gain with loss of life.

Q: With Ghostly Flame in play, can black creatures block a creature with protection from black?

A: No, they are still black. Ghostly Flame creates an effect so the damage from these black creatures is colorless, but they are still black creatures. Because of this they cannot block a creature with protection from black.

Q: Can you only play in the Regionals tournament that is located in the state you live in? For Champs, you could only play in your state's Regionals but it didn't say on the Regionals website if it was like that for Regionals. My playtest partners live in one state and I live in another (there is a Regionals in each of our states) and we were wanting to all play at the same Regionals and none of us know if we can or not.

A: As long as you are a resident of a country, you can play in any Regionals tournament that feeds into that country's Nationals event. You and your playtest group can all go to the same event.