Rules Tip of the Day: When resolving a spell or ability you must follow the instructions in the order written.
Q: Suppose I'm running a tournament with 9-15 people. I can't run single elimination, so I decide on Swiss for 4 rounds. Should I conduct those 4 rounds, then cut to top 8 and do single elimination? This seems a bit silly to run 7 rounds total, and cut only 1 person before the top 8. Furthermore, if the tournament starts at 7 or 8 in the evening (as with FNM) a 7 round tournament could go all night! What is the simplest, fairest way to run a small tournament like this?
A: In situations with 9-15 people I would cut to top 4 and play single elimination after the necessary Swiss rounds.
Q: Can I play a Threshold spell and choose to not have use the Threshold ability even thought I have seven cards in my graveyard?
A: Threshold is not an option. If the spell you are playing is a threshold spell and you have seven cards in your graveyard you will get the threshold result. There are a few permanents (like Chainflinger) that gained an additional ability when you gained threshold. In those instances you could choose to use the 'regular' or Threshold ability.
Q: If I play Engineered Explosives with Sunburst of 2 with March of the Machines in play, will it be a 2/2 creature or a 0/0 and die? also if it is a 0/0, before it dies can I make it destroy all things that have a 2 casting cost?
A: It will be a 0/0 creature and go to the graveyard. An 'X' in a mana cost is treated as zero in every zone except the stack. You won't get priority to activate it before it goes to the graveyard, so you can't destroy anything.
Q: I play Hidden Stag, and there is Humility in play. When my opponent plays a land, the Hidden Stag becomes a 1/1 Beast, because of Humility. Was the ability of the Hidden Stag (in enchantment form) to become an enchantment when I play a land a delayed triggered ability, or will my Hidden Stag remain a 1/1 creature when I play a land?
A: That is not a delayed triggered ability; it is a normal triggered ability. Because of this, Humility will remove it and the Stag will remain a 1/1 creature even when you play a land.
Q: One player played Memnarch was then turned virtually everything in play into an artifact and then used control of the board. One of the cards he gained control of was Mischievous Quanar. On that player's end of turn step, another person cast a Dismantling Blow on the Quanar, taking advantage of the fact that it is an artifact. In response, the Quanar's controller turned it face down. We got into a bit of an argument as to whether turning the Quanar back into a morphed creature removed the fact that is an artifact or not.
A: Turning the Quanar face down will not end Memnarch's effect that is turning it into an artifact this turn. It will still be an artifact and the Dismantling Blow will destroy it.
Q: Debt of Loyalty was played on one of my creatures and it was not dealt any damage whatsoever, but my brother-in-law still took control of it. My question is, wouldn't my creature need to be put into the graveyard in order for it to be taken, or can it be regenerated without having died, and subsequently being taken?
A: You are correct. In order for a player to gain control of a creature targeted by Debt of Loyalty the targeted creature must actually regenerate.
Q: My boyfriend has Mistform Stalker in play, and I use the ability of Contested Cliffs to target it and pit it against my 4/4 Ravenous Baloth. In response, he activates the Stalker's 2UU ability twice, arguing that it gives his creature +4/+4. Now, I find it difficult to believe that the ability would only apply half the effect, the +2/+2 half, without the other half (flying). It's also inconceivable that his creature could somehow"fly higher" for having its ability activated twice. Thus, I submit that he cannot activate the ability more than once. Who is correct?
A: He is. There is nothing to prevent him from using that ability more than once. Each time it resolves the Stalker will get +2/+2 and gain flying. Also there is nothing to prevent a creature from having flying more than once. Having flying more than once is redundant and does nothing, but that doesn't mean he can't play the ability more than once.
Q: If I sacrifice a Snow-Covered Forest to my Excavator, does the target creature get Forestwalk or Snow-Covered-Forestwalk?
A: The Excavator will gain Forestwalk. Excavator gains the walk of the type of the sacrificed land. Snow-Covered Forests have the basic land type of Forest, not Snow Covered Forest. It just has the snow-covered ability.
Q: I have in play Grave Pact and Zuran Orb. If all lands in play are creatures (due to either Nature's Revolt or Natural Affinity) and I use Pestilence to do 2 points of damage to all creatures, including the animated lands, is there anyway I can sacrifice all my lands to my Zuran Orb that will still have his lands die due to the Pestilence and not be sacrificed to the demands of the Grave Pact?
A: No. In order for you to sacrifice these lands to the Zuran Orb you must sacrifice them before the second Pestilence ability resolves. If you do this then the Grave Pact will trigger once for each of these sacrificed land / creatures. These triggered abilities will go on the stack on top of this Pestilence ability and resolve before it. You opponent can then sacrifice his lands to satisfy the Grave Pact before they receive lethal damage.
Q: I remember reading somewhere or hearing somewhere that a deck sporting all foil lands is a big no-no. Is this correct? In a tournament, what is the proscribed penalty for a deck with all foil lands if it is indeed a transgression?
A: It is somewhat of a 'no-no' and not recommended, at least by me. Foil cards can often warp or bend in different ways than non-foil cards. You can start an event with an unmarked deck and later in the tournament have a marked deck due to the curvature of your foil cards.
The penalty for this varies depends on whether of not the presiding judge notices this, if can pick out the land card from and non-land cards and thinks it is an accident or cheating. If he thinks you are intentionally cheating the proscribed penalty is a DQ at all RELs (Rules Enforcement Levels). If he thinks it is accidental you will most likely get a match loss at a high level event (REL 3 and above) but only a game loss at low level events (RELs 1 and 2).
I'll add a point of clarification here: having all foil lands in and of itself is not an infraction, and don't let anyone tell you it is. It's only an infraction if the lands are identifiably different from the other cards in your deck. That being said, if you have all foil lands, many judges will most likely at least take a look at your deck to make sure it's not marked, which is the source of Chris' non-recommendation. I'll agree with Chris that earlier-produced foil cards had a tendency to warp, but those produced later are much better at holding their shape.--Sheldon
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