Rules Tip of the Day: There are only five colors in Magic: white, blue, black, red, and green. Colorless is not a color. Artifact is not a color, nor are gold, silver, brown, and gray.

Q: I have Argothian Enchantress in play. When I succesfully cast Sterling Grove, can I use it's ability such that I can immediately draw the enchantment I tutor for? (i.e. by stacking it's ability on top of the Enchantress' )

A: No. There's no such thing any longer as"successfully cast." Argothian Enchantress triggers when you announce Sterling Grove (and that trigger will resolve even if Sterling Grove is countered). The trigger goes on the stack on top of the Sterling Grove spell, and will resolve first. Sterling Grove isn't yet in play, so you can't activate its ability.

Q: Do I have to sacrifice four creatures in order to play Hecatomb?

A: No. Hecatomb has a coming-into-play triggered ability. When that triggered ability resolves, you can decide to not sacrifice the creatures. You'd then sacrifice Hecatomb. It's tech to play Hecatomb, put the trigger on the stack, respond by activating Hecatomb for damage, then letting it go away when the trigger resolves.

Q: Will Pentad Prism stay in play after you've used all of the counters that were on it?

A: Yes. It doesn't say to do anything when it has 0 counters, so it just sits there. You can always get more counters onto it via Energy Chamber or Power Conduit.

Q: I have a question about using specific words when you are playing. For instance, if you were to attack someone, would you have to say"I will 'attack' you for X?". Could you also say"I BeatZ0r you for X?" Would this be allowed at a tournament? Also, how would this work with the card Censorship? If someone plays it and names"attack" could you actually attack your opponent without saying attack and taking damage?

A: As long as you're clearly communicating that you're moving from your Main Phase to your Combat Phase (and not violating any other rules, like using foul language), you're fine. If"attack" is censored, you can always say"I'd like to go to my Combat Phase." Note that you can still say the censored word, but if you do, Dana Carvey will come and whack you with his purse (and you'll take two damage).

Q: If I have Repentant Vampire in play with Darkest Hour before I have Threshold, would my Repentant Vampire become white whenever I get Threshold?

A: Excellent question. Your Vampire will still be black once you get Threshold. It's a normal case of timestamps, but the timestamp of the Vampire's Threshold is the same as the timestamp of the Vampire itself (rule 418.5e). Because Darkest Hour came into play after the Vampire, it will always be later, even though Threshold wasn't"on" until after Darkest Hour came into play. Note that if Darkest Hour were in play first and then the Vampire came into play and later achieved Threshold, the Vampire (and hence the Threshold ability) would have the later timestamp, so it would be white.

Q: I have a face down Voidmage Apprentice and Aphetto Runecaster in play. My opponent attacks me with a 5/5 and I block with the Apprentice. As it is going to die anyway, can I morph it to draw a card even though there is no spell to counter?

A: Yes, you can turn it face up to draw the card, because the act of turning it face up doesn't have a target; the target is in the Morph-triggered ability. When the Morph-triggered ability tries to go on the stack, it sees no valid target for the ability, nothing happens. Note this is different than trying to play a spell or activate an ability that has no legal target (rule 409.1a).

Q: I have Mycosynth Lattice and Veldaken Archmage in play. Will any permanent I play cause me to draw?

A: No, you don't draw a card on just any spell. Mycosynth Lattice only makes permanents into artifacts. Nonartifact spells that you're playing are still nonartifacts (despite the fact that Mycosynth Lattice makes them colorless), and won't trigger Vedalken Archmage, because the Archmage triggers when you play an artifact spell.

Q: If I had Eyes of the Watcher out and played Magma Jet, could I Scry for 2, then pay 1 for the Watcher and Scry for another 2?

A: No. Eyes of the Watcher triggers when you play Magma Jet. It goes on top of the stack and resolves first. When it resolves, you have to decide whether or not to pay. If you do, Scry. Then, during resolution of Magma Jet, you deal two damage and then Scry again.

Q: I witnessed an interesting game on Friday. Player A controlled Thieving Magpie and several Islands. Player B, also playing Blue, played Vedalken Shackles and activated it, targeting the Magpie. On his turn, Player A played his own Shackles and activated it, targeting the Magpie and passed the turn. On the next turn, player B untapped his Shackles, and destroyed his opponents Shackles. Who gets control of the magpie? My guess is that Player B gets control since Player A's Shackles remembered that it took control of the Magpie from Player B.

A: Unfortunately not. When A's Shackles' effect ends (when it gets destroyed), the creature will return to the control of the player who last controlled it whose control effect is still valid. That's not B, because he's untapped his Shackles, ending his claim to control of the Magpie. It will remain under A's control since he controlled it before B did, and his claim (being the player that put it into play originally) is still valid.

Q: My friend has Rorix Bladewing in play, and I have Goblin Sharpshooter. I want to kill it, so I play Humble on his fattie. I let it resolve and then activate the Sharpshooter. In response, he plays Humble of his own on my Sharpshooter. Will it still kill Rorix and untap my Sharpshooter?

A: Rorix will be put in the graveyard, but your Sharpshooter won't untap. Humbling the Sharpshooter after the ability has gone on the stack won't do anything to the ability (unless the ability were for some reason to count the creature's power, like Spikeshot Goblin). The one damage will still be dealt to Rorix. By the time the Sharpshooter's ability resolves, the Humble has already resolved, removing his triggered ability. It's not there to untap him.