Rules Tip of the Day: Regeneration only replaces destruction from an effect or destruction due to lethal damage. It cannot keep in play a creature that has had its toughness lowered to zero or below.

Q: I have a question about the legend rule and the stack. I have in play Higure, the Still Wind. My opponent attacks me, and after I declare no blockers, he plays out his own Higurevia Ninjitsu. Would it deal damage and trigger Higure’s ability?

A: No. State-based effects will be checked as soon as your opponent's ninjutsu ability has resolved and his Higure is put into play. Both will go to the graveyard at this point, which is before the combat damage step and its ability will not be able to trigger.

Q: Do you have to pay the mana cost of the targeted instant when Toshiro Umezawa’s ability triggers?

A: No, you pay to play the targeted instant and pay all costs associated with playing this card when Toshiro's triggered ability resolves.

Q: I'm attacking with Ink-Eyes and Yukora. My opponent blocks my Yukora with Eternal Witness and Ink-Eyes goes through unblocked. Will state based effects kill the Witness before I have to choose a target for Ink-Eyes's ability, so that I can take it?

A: Yes, the creatures that are destroyed by combat damage will go to the graveyard before Ink-Eye's triggered ability goes on the stack so you will be able to target a creature card that was just destroyed.

Q: I have Goblin Cohort in play. I play a creature spell but it's countered. Can my cohort attack because i've 'played' a spell? It doesnt say anything about the creature coming into play.

A: You are correct, Goblin Cohort can attack as long as have played a creature spell that turn. It does not matter if this creature spell is countered, you still played it.

Q: If I have Ghostly Prison in play and my opponent pays 2 to attack with Godo, Bandit Warlord, will he have to pay again for the second combat phase?

A: Yes. The cost associated with Ghostly Prison is a cost that must be paid each time a creature attack. A player cannot pay that cost just once a in a turn and have a creature attack more than once if there are multiple combat phases in a turn.

Q: I have Lich in play, less than 20 cards in my library, and my opponent is at 20 life. I play Tendrils of Agony (Storm 10 or more). Is there a winner?

A: Yes, assuming that you have 18 or fewer cards in your library, then you will lose the game and your opponent will win. This is due to the fact that a Tendrils copy will cause you to draw a card from your empty library (due to Lich's replacement effect) before your opponent's life total is lowered to zero. If you had 19 cards in your library then the game would be a draw as your opponent's life total will go to zero during the same event that you are forced to draw from an empty library.

Q: Can any part of Shahrazad’s post-subgame effects be Stifled, i.e. can the text that says "when the subgame is over..." be Stifled, and if so what would happen?

A: No. No portion of Shahrazad is an activated or triggered ability so there is nothing to Stifle. The Oracle text of Shahrazad reads differently now, so the phrase ' when the subgame is over,' is not there anymore. I can only assume that one of the reasons for this change is denote that this is not a triggered ability.

Q: Vesuvan Doppelganger is copying some flip card, like Akki Lavarunner. It meets the flip condition (deals damage to an opponent) and flips. Next it copies a Quicksilver Elemental and gains the activated ability of an unflipped Nezumi Graverobber. Finally, it meets this new flip condition (removes last card from opponent's graveyard). It can't flip back, can it?

A: You are correct. While under these circumstances it is possible to flip a card more than once, doing so does not do anything or change the game state.