Rules Tip of the Day: The value of X in the mana cost of a spell or ability is treated as zero in any zone except when the spell or ability is on the stack. When on the stack, the X is treated as being equal to whatever was chosen and paid.

Q: Is Oona's Blackguard's counter-gaining cumulative? For example, if I have two in play, will a Rogue I control enter play with two +1/+1 counters?

A: Yes. The effect from the static ability of each Oona's Blackguard will be applied individually when a Rogue comes into play under your control. A Rogue that enters play under your control will get a +1/+1 counter for each Oona's Blackguard you control.

Q: I control Stenchskipper and a Raging Goblin and I end my turn. During my opponent's turn, he uses Terror on my Raging Goblin and it is destroyed. At the end of his turn, will I have to sacrifice Stenchskipper if I have no other Goblins in play, or does Stenchskipper's effect only apply during my turn?

A: Stenchskipper's ability triggers at the end of all turns, not just your own. So you will have to sacrifice it at the end of your opponent's turn if you have no other Goblins.

Q: I have Door of Destinies in play (naming Treefolk) with counters on it and an Orchard Warden in play. Does the life-gaining triggered ability of Orchard Warden check the printed toughness of a Treefolk being played, or does it include the additional +1/+1 for each counter on Door of Destinies?

A: Orchard Warden's ability looks at the current toughness of the Treefolk that just came into play when the ability resolves. This means that you will factor in other effects that raise and lower power and toughness; you do not just look at the printed characteristics on the card. So you will apply the effect from the Door of Destinies when figuring out how much life you gain.

Q: My opponent has Grave Pact in play and we each have a creature; mine is a Sengir Nosferatu. When his creature goes to the graveyard, will Sengir's activated ability allow me to work around the Grave Pact trigger, or do I still have to sacrifice the Bat token that is produced?

A: You have to sacrifice one of whatever creatures you control when Grave Pact's ability resolves. If you respond to this ability by activating Sengir Nosferatu's ability, then you will control a Bat token when Grave Pact resolves and end up having to sacrifice that.

Q: If I were to play Neverending Torment and Energy Field in the same turn (Energy Field first, obviously), how would the Energy Field's ability interact with the epic ability? Basically what I am asking is: does the Neverending Torment copy each turn go to the graveyard, much like creature tokens do? Or do they not go to the graveyard?

A: The copy does resolve and go to the graveyard, but this copy is not a card, so it would not trigger Energy Field's ability. However, it will never progress that far because the original Neverending Torment is a card, and it will resolve and go to your graveyard. When it does, Energy Field's ability will trigger.

Q: I have a Lifeline and an Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder in play. I play a second Endrek Sahr. I think the in-play Endrek's effect will trigger giving me five Thrulls, and then they will both die. Now when Lifeline triggers at the end of my turn, will they both come into play at the same time (creating no Thrulls) or will one come into play before the other, giving me five more Thrulls before they both die again for good?

A: You are correct that the ability of the Endrek Sahr in play will trigger when you play the second Endrek Sahr. This ability will resolve before the second Endrek enters play. After it does, and state-based effects are checked, both copies will go to the graveyard.

However, the rest is not correct. These two Endrek Sahrs will both come into play one at a time, but you will not get any Thrulls. This is because Endrek's ability triggers when you play a creature spell, not when a creature comes into play. Also, they will not 'die again for good.' Assuming that there are other creatures in play, then both these Endrek Sahrs will return to play, over and over. This happens as long as there is another creature in play when these Endrek Sahrs leave play.

Q: If a Treetop Village is activated and, in response, the Treetop Village was turned into an Island (via Tidal Warrior, perhaps), will the land still become a 3/3? What would happen if the above was done in reverse order?

A: Changing the type of the land will not prevent the ability that is on the stack from animating the Village. In the first example, the Treetop Village will be a green land creature with the creature subtype Ape and the land subtype Island. If the order that these abilities are played is reversed, then the result is the same, as long the effect that turns the Treetop Village into an Island does not resolve. When the land-type-changing ability resolves, the Village will lose the animation ability. Keep in mind that it does not need this ability in order to be a creature.

Q: If you put a Viashino Sandstalker into play with Sneak Attack, can you return the Sandstalker to your hand before the Sneak Attack sacrifice happens, or is there no option, and you have to put the creature in the graveyard?

A: You can get the result that you want. As you are the controller of both the Sandstalker's triggered ability and the delayed triggered ability created by Sneak Attack's ability, you can choose the order that they go on the stack and, therefore, the order that they resolve. To get the result you want, you'd need to put the Sandstalker's ability on the stack last, so it resolves first.