Rules Tip of the Day: Even if no blockers are declared at the beginning of he declaration of blockers step, both players will receive priority in that step.

Q: If I play Heat Shimmer, making a copy of a creature on the board that has Champion, do I have to Champion the appropriate creature or does it just make a copy of the creature?

A: The Champion ability of this copy will trigger when it comes into play, and when this ability resolves, you will have to remove an appropriate creature from the game or sacrifice the copy.

Q: I have a Thorn of Amethyst out. Will that increase Suspend costs by one mana?

A: No, the Thorn only affects what it costs to play noncreature spells. not what it costs to Suspend them. Keep in mind that when a spell unsuspends, you do play it, so you will end up having to pay one mana then, or have this card remain removed from the game.

Q: I have a Blood Speaker equipped with a Deathrender. During my upkeep, I decide to sacrifice the Blood Speaker to its triggered ability and search for a Demon. This will cause Deathrender's ability to trigger. I think I can put the Demon I'm searching for into play with Deathrender's ability, because it can't resolve until the Blood Speaker's ability finishes resolving, meaning I have the Demon in hand. Is this correct?

A: That is correct. You sacrifice the Blood Speaker when its upkeep triggered ability is resolving. When you do, Deathrender's ability will trigger, but this ability will not go on the stack until after you have completely resolved Blood Speaker's ability. When Deathrender's trigger resolves, you will have the Demon card you searched for in hand, and you can put it into play equipped by Deathrender. You didn't point it out, but this will also trigger the ability of the Blood Speaker in your graveyard and cause you to return it to your hand.

Q: Does a countered spell still "target" something? If I have a Gossamer Phantasm in play, and my opponent targets it with an Incinerate, and I counter his spell, does the Gossamer Phantasm remain in play?

A: No, it will not. When Incinerate is played, the Phantasm's ability triggers. This ability will then go on the stack on top of the Incinerate. The triggered ability will resolve even if the Incinerate is countered. The trigger will resolve before the Incinerate does and will cause the Phantasm to be sacrificed. In fact, countering the Incinerate is pointless, as the Incinerate will be countered on resolution anyway.

Q: My opponent had a Tradewind Rider, two other creatures, and an Intruder Alarm in play. I play Patriach's Bidding, and ten of my creatures come back from the graveyard. Can my opponent return a permanent for each creature?

A: Yes. Each of the creatures coming into play will trigger Intruder Alarm's ability. After Bidding has resolved and the creatures have entered play, ten separate Intruder Alarm triggers will go on the stack. Your opponent can activate Tradewind Rider's ability before each of these abilities untaps them.

Q: If I attack with a Thicket Basilisk and my opponent blocks it with an Archangel and uses Sorceress Queen to make the Thicket Basilisk a 0/2, does the Archangel still get destroyed at the end of combat?

A: Yes. Thicket Basilisk's ability triggers when the Basilisk blocks or becomes blocked. This ability will create another delayed triggered ability when it resolves. The delayed triggered ability will go on the stack at the beginning of the end of combat step and destroy the creatures blocking or blocked by the Basilisk. It does not matter if the Basilisk dealt any combat damage or if it is no longer in play when the delayed trigger goes on the stack; those blocked or blocking creatures will be destroyed.

Q: If Shimmer phases out all my opponents' Forests, and then the Shimmer is destroyed or sacrificed while they are phased out, do they return to play on my opponent's untap? Or are they permanently phased out, since the card giving them phasing is no longer in play?

A: Those Forests that have phased out will return to play under your opponent's control at the beginning of his untap step. The fact that Shimmer is no longer in play does not matter. All permanents that a player controls that have been phased out will return to play at the beginning of their turn. It does not matter if the ability that caused them to phase out still exists.

Q: In a multiplayer game, player A plays a Mindslaver and tries to take control of player B's turn. A couple turns go by before B's next turn, but A loses the game before then. Does he still get to take B's turn, since the Mindslaver ability has already resolved?

A: No. If a player loses the game, he or she is out of the game. Because the player that controlled the Mindslaver is no longer in the game, the effect from the Mindslaver will do nothing.