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Eradicating an Animated Forest Q: If I play Animate Land on my opponent's forest, then target it with Eradicate, do I get to search his library, hand, and graveyard for all of his Forests and remove them from the game? I briefly played a deck with this, but all of my comrades insisted that the Forests in the library and such were still lands and not legal targets for Eradicate. -Nick D. A: Eradicate If you Eradicate an animated Forest, you get to search the appropriate places for all cards named "Forest" and remove them from the game. So yes, you can remove all of his Forests. It does not matter what the cards named "Forest" are … you are only checking for cards with the same name. --- Q: If a Llanowar Elf attacks you and your opponent pumps it with a Giant Growth, then you respond with a Blazing Salvo would it die or would it take the 3 damage then have +3/+3 and be a 4/4 with 3 damage on it? A: The stack works last in, first out, so the Blazing Salvo will resolve first, and if your opponent doesn't take 5 damage, the Elves will be dealt 3 damage and die (since they are a 1/1 with 3 damage on them). Then the Giant Growth will be countered on resolution, since the Elves aren't there any more. --- Q: I use a Funeral Charm to let my opponent choose and discard a card with 3 cards in his hand, can he use a Guerrilla Tactics and let me take 4 damage or just have to discard a card? -Kish S. A: Yes, he can discard Guerrilla Tactics and have you take 4 damage. --- Q: It's my opponent's turn. I have a creature out enchanted with an enchant creature. He plays an instant and returns the creature to my hand. Does the enchantment return with the creature or is it sent to the graveyard? -Goronkid A: The enchantment goes to the graveyard. --- Q: I have asked this question to people around where I go to tournaments and I have gotten 2 separate answers for this. I have a deck based around Opposition and Squirrel Nest. It works well, but the problem is two of my Oppositions are Chinese. Are they still tourney legal? I say yes because it's the same card as the Urza's legacy and 7th edition card, and it's not one of the Deckmasters or pro tour type cards that aren't legal. -Phil C. A: Yes. The easiest way you can tell if a card is legal is if it (a) has the normal Magic back on it, and (b) has either a white or black border (without any alterations). If you can answer yes to both of those questions, and it is a genuine Magic card, then it is legal to use in a tournament. --- Q: Say I have a Sengir Vampire in my deck, but it is
from Beatdown. Can I use that one in a tournament
instead of one that was printed in a normal set (like
Revised or Torment)? -Dustin A: Yes. See above. (You wouldn't even have to provide one that was from a normal set.) --- Q: I have a Roar of the Wurm in my graveyard, and in
one of my main phases, I decide to cast it with
flashback. Then my opponent taps a swamp and casts
Coffin Purge on my Roar, so that it can't be cast. Can
he do this? A: No. Your opponent can't even target the Roar of the Wurm, as it is not in the graveyard any more. --- Q: I have a Diligent Farmhand in play, my opponent
has a Prodigal Sorcerer. I tap for 1G and sac my
Farmhand. In response, my opponent taps his Sorcerer,
and deals one damage to the Farmhand. Will I still get
my land? A: Yes. He can't target the Farmhand, as it is already gone. --- Q: I have a Nomad Decoy in play, have threshold and
two life left. My opponent has a 2/2 creature and a 3/3
with Arcane Teachings on it. He states, that he enters
his combat phase, I respond and taps his two creatures
with the decoy, in response to that, he taps his 3/3 to
deal one damage to me. Can he do this? -Tune C. A: Yes. --- Q: If I have 2 Price of Glorys in play and my opponent plays a Counterspell do 1 or both trigger to destroy 4 lands? -mike308 A: Price of Glory So they would both trigger, trying to destroy the 2 lands that he tapped. So he would only lose those 2 lands. --- Q: I've got a problem about Pernicious Deed's effect to Goblin Trenches. My opponent use Pernicious Deed's to destroy my Goblin Trenches. In response to that, I sac my lands for tokens, and he says the Deed will still kills those tokens, but I think the token will go thought the deed's effect because those tokens doesn't comes in until the deed's effect is finished? A: The tokens will enter play before the Deed's effect resolves, so the tokens will also be destroyed by that activation of Pernicious Deed. --- Q: At the end of my upkeep my friend casts Ice. He then casts Radiate, targeting Ice. He says the Ice will be forked by Radiate and tap everything on the table and he'll draw a card for each permanents in play. Is that true? -bahamut A: Your opponent is correct. --- Q: My friend had out a Faceless Butcher and a Petravark. I played Upheaval. Would my creature and land that his two cards took out, come back into play, and be Upheavaled, or would they stay in play? -ItalianStalionHT A: The creature and land would be in play once the leaves play triggers resolve. --- Q: Can you counter any spell on the stack, or can you only counter a spell as a response? A: You can counter any spell that is currently on the stack. --- Q: If you can counter any spell on the stack, has it always been this way? I seem to remember that you only had 1 opportunity to counter a spell (in response to it) back in the day, or were we just playing them wrong? -Jason S. A: Back in pre-Sixth Edition rules, spells had what were called "Interrupt Windows" and "Instant Windows." Once the Interrupt window for a given spell closed, you could respond to it with instants, but you could no longer counter that spell. This was done away with with the removal of interrupts from Sixth Edition rules. (Any card of type interrupt is now of type instant.) --- Q: I'm playing my friend's Psychatog deck with a BW Braids deck. I've played Mesmeric Fiend last turn, taking (removing from the game) a repulse he had in his hand. I have a Cabal Therapy in my graveyard. Now this turn, I play a Spectral Lynx and attack him for 1 with the Fiend. After that, I sacrifice Mesmeric Fiend to play the Cabal Therapy, naming Repulse as the card for its ability. He says that he can Repulse my Spectral Lynx in response. Can he? -Monger386 A: Time to set up the stack: -You play Cabal Therapy for its flashback cost,
sacrificing the Fiend. --- Q: Does Sacred Ground trigger from an opponent's Braids? How about Balancing Act? How about Wildfire? -Charles S. A: Sacred Ground Yes to all 3. They are all causing a land you control to be put into your graveyard from play, and your opponent controls them all, so Sacred Ground will return the lands in all 3 cases. --- Q: I have a beta Icy Manipulator, and as you know it
says mono artifact. Does that mean that it can only be
used once a turn or once until I get back to my turn? Josh A: Back in the early days, there were 3 types of artifacts. Mono Artifact was one of them. Mono artifact meant you had to tap the artifact to use its ability (today, that would be denoted by an ability with "Tap:" in its text box). [The other two types of artifact were Poly Artifact, which meant that you could use its ability multiple times, and Continuous Artifact, which had an ability that was always on.] --- Judge's Report - Mile High Comics - 7/14/2002 I arrive at the tournament venue at 11:30 for a 12 noon start. There are at least 20 people there already, and I hear the manager tell Johnny (an employee at the store that assists me when I run tournaments there) that there are 40 chairs set up currently. So I set out the sign up lists, and give Johnny the blank DCI cards for new members. I then go to install the current version of Reporter and DCI Tools on the store's computer. When I try to open DCI Tools, the computer freezes and has to be rebooted. So I grab the sheets, and note that a lot of people forgot their DCI numbers. I then manage to open the numbers part of DCI Tools, and when I try to sort by last name, I note that there are 1.4 million records, and the computer is taking 5 seconds to process 1000. So I hit cancel, and somehow manage to get to the main screen of DCI Tools (I hadn't tried to use it before). I then hit the "Player Information" button, and am amazed at the ease in which I can look up people's DCI numbers. (Note to self: Play with DCI Tools more before you do another tournament.) So I get the DCI numbers, and at about 12:15, I put up a list of players that were in the computer. This is so everyone is able to see whether or not they were in the computer. I put out one final sign up list for those who weren't in the computer, and tell Johnny to get 10 more chairs, as we are currently at 43 with 5 on the last sign up list. We end up with 50 players, which has me run 5 Swiss rounds with a cut to the top 8. (In premiere tournaments, this would just be into the 6 round range [at least the last time I checked]. However, in minor tournaments, I've found that taking log (base 2) of the number of players and rounding the result down typically provides sufficient play to cut to a top 8. However, I've never had a non-premiere tournament with 50 people.) So I print both a pairings list and start the computer running a set of Results Entry Slips. I grab the standings, and separate the 2 copies from each other (the paper at the store is a carbonless copy type of thing, and provides 2 copies of whatever you print out). I then go post and announce the pairings. I make the announcement of Johnny and myself as judges, and announce 5 50 minute rounds of Swiss with a cut to top 8. Play begins for round 1 at 12:39. I then go back to the computer and cut the results entry slips, which have finished printing by this time. (I highly recommend the use of results entry slips in any tournament with 20+ players. It saves me a lot of time, as I don't have players coming up to me every 2 seconds trying to report a result. It also helps the newer players get used to the slips for when they go to a PTQ that may use the slips.) I hand out the slips, and then start to wander the room. It's really hot in the room, even with a fan running. Johnny tells me the air conditioning broke yesterday. Sucky. Round 1 Questions: Q: Does Phantom Nomad take damage from a kicked Urza's Rage? A: Yes. Since the damage can't be prevented (can't always wins), the Nomad will take 10 damage and die. Q: Can we start our second game? A: Sure, you play best 2 out of 3, and can start the second game immediately after the first one ends. Q: Can I write down my opponent's hand after I Duress him? A: Yes, but only on your own time; meaning, resolve the Duress, pass the turn, and then write it down while your opponent is playing. (There are many views on the last question. I prefer to take the strict road, so the game isn't impacted much. Other judges may be more lenient. All judges should allow you to write the hand down, it's just a matter of how much game time they will allow.) I wander over to a table, and note them rolling a die. I ask what the roll was for, and they say to decide who goes first in the next game (game 3). I tell them the loser chooses, and off they go. I note 60% of the tables (15/25) are done in 30 minutes. Then a situation comes up. A player calls me over to a table, and he said he just lost the match and points out a pair of cards in the opponent's deck. The player in question is using the lighter blue Super Sleeves for most of his deck, but has 2 cards in the darker blue Super Sleeves (both Force Spikes). I take a look through his deck, and those are the only 2 Force Spikes in his deck. I also happen to notice one foil Careful Study. (There were other non-foil versions in the deck also.) The player is playing a U/G threshold deck. I note to the player that called me over that since the match is over, his opponent has a win for the round, but that I need to get Johnny's opinion on the penalty that should be given out. I go out the back door with Johnny (right outside the play area, in case we're needed), and explain the situation to him. I tell him I'm deciding between a match loss and disqualification, leaning toward the DQ. He looks at the player, and after a bit of discussion, also seems to be leaning toward a DQ. So I go in and inform the player of his disqualification. The player took it decently well, and had no argument. Only one match goes to time, and we start round 2 at 13:38. In round 2, I have one player not show up, probably thinking it was single elimination. I only had one question this round: Q: I attack with Pianna, Nomad Captain and other attackers. My opponent, after Pianna is declared as an attacker, bounces Pianna to my hand. Do my other creatures still get the bonus? A: Yes. Pianna's bonus triggers on her being declared as an attacker. If she is removed from combat after that time, the bonus will still be on the stack or resolved already, and the other creatures will still get the bonus. 14/24 tables were done 30 minutes in, and again, only 1 table goes to time, and that table ends up being 1-0. Round 3 starts at 14:41. Questions: Q: My opponent has Ensnaring Bridge out, and 2 cards in hand. Can I attack with my Psychatog, then pump it for the kill? A: Yes. Ensnaring Bridge only checks if a creature is a legal attacker when the attack is declared. It doesn't care about the creature's power afterwards. Q: Can I Confound my opponent's Flametongue Kavu? A: No. The Flametongue Kavu spell has no targets. Only the comes into play ability of the Kavu has a target, and that is a spell, not an ability. Q: My opponent attacks with an Arrogant Wurm. I block the Wurm with my Beloved Chaplain. Can my opponent do damage to me? A: Yes. Your opponent is required to assign 1 damage to the Beloved Chaplain ("lethal" damage). The other 3 damage can be assigned to you. We have 12/23 tables done after 30 minutes. Then comes my favorite question of all…. Q: What record do I need to make top 8? And my stock answer is: A: I don't know. Why do I give that answer? Two reasons: 1) I really don't know, since I can't predict draws. I can take a good guess, but… 2) If I make a guess and it turns out to be wrong, the players will come back to me and say, "But you said X record would make top 8, so I should get to play more, even though I didn't make it." Saying "I don't know" alleviates both problems. All games end shortly after time is called, and I post standings, then pairings for round 4. After I start round 4 at 15:41, I am notified that someone tried to get to their table, but there were 2 people already there. It turns out one person looked at the standings, saw the 23 by his name, and assumed he was at table 23. Other issues from Round 4: A player from table one comes up to me and tells me he just had Pain (from split card Pain/Suffering) casts on him and asks, "If I discard Circular Logic, can I make the phase end?" I tell the player I don't answer what if questions, and walk back to the table with him. He resolves the Pain by putting Circular Logic in his graveyard, and then tries to activate the madness mechanic. I disallow it. If there was one problem I noticed the most, it was people either putting madness cards in the grave, or casting spells directly to the graveyard. People, you should NEVER put a card into the graveyard unless it is a spell that has fully resolved, or a card you were forced to put there and can do nothing with. Put the cards in the middle of the table if something is being done with them. Q: Do I have to pay the mana cost of the spell I am bringing out through Hunting Grounds? A: No. I then am walking around and see a Worldgorger Dragon on the board, with a bunch of lands in play. Just a minute ago I saw those lands plus 2 creatures on that player's side of the board. So I walk up to the table and correct the situation. It is on a lower table, so I don't give a penalty for misrepresenting a card, as it was unintentional (the kid didn't know how his card worked). Then I have to make my obligatory wrong ruling of the day. I am called to a table, and player A is attacking with a Phantom Nantuko (with 2 counters on it) with 3 Armadillo Cloaks on it. His opponent is at 9, so going down to 1 life gives player A 24 life. They then ask what happens next turn. I take a long look at Armadillo Cloak, and the sentence, "Whenever enchanted creature deals damage, you gain that much life." I incorrectly think and rule that since the opponent's life total is not changing as a result of the attack, the Claok will give him no life. Turns out that the damage is still fully dealt, and Worship just modifies the adjustment of the opponent's life total. (Thanks to Matt Tabak and Rune Horvik of channel #mtgjudge [on EFNet on IRC] for setting me straight.) 14/23 tables are done in 30 minutes. Toward the end of the round, I am called over on the following: Q: Can I play Divert on my opponent's Duress? A: Sure. I then explain when Divert resolves, it tries to change the target of Duress, but since there are no other opponents, Divert fails to do anything. As we run up on the end of time, I see the two players on table 1 scooping up their cards. I assume that was the match, and go to watch the other remaining table and count down extra turns. I then check the box, see their slip hadn't been turned in yet, and walk over to find them still playing. Turns out that that was the end of the second game I saw, not the match. So I tell them time has expired, and resolve the 5 extra turns. The extra time turns out to be a non-factor, as the game doesn't finish, leaving us with no 4-0 players, and 6 3-0-1's. I post standings after round 4, and then pairings for round 5. Round 5 starts at 16:43. I get asked about the same discard Circular Logic type question, and again see the Circular Logic player put the Logic directly into the graveyard. =\ I see a player activate a CoP: Green in response to an Upheaval, and say, "The next green source is prevented." I remind the player he has to choose a specific source for the CoP. Then, in other Upheaval related matters, an Upheaval player asks, "Can I tap my lands for mana after my opponent has passed?" I tell him no, and walk through the Upheaval with him. He tries it anyway, and I disallow it. 11/20 tables were done after 30 minutes. We get toward the end of time, and go back to the computer to check provisional standings. We have 7 people at 12+ points, with three matches out. One of the matches has a pair of players at 9 points, so I go over to carefully watch that match, and send Johnny over to watch the other two tables (which have nobody with 9+ points) and call time. I call time, and table 6 ends in a 1-1 draw, knocking both players out. The top 8 consists of: 1st seed: Justin Zerwekh, 13 points, old school Tog 9th place, Michael Garten (U/W weenie), is knocked out on the second tiebreaker, player dual win %, 63.3-58.3%. There are 3 other 10 pointers. I give 1 hour for each of the top 8 matches, and start them at 17:43. Only question in the top 8 is as follows: Q: I have a Nightscape Familiar out. I want to cast Syncopate for 2. How much mana do I have to tap? A: {1}{U}. The value of X is determined before we determine how much mana we have to pay, so for x=2, you would normally pay {2}{U}, but the Familiar reduces that by 1. Results: Justin d. Sugrim 2-0 All of the top 8 matches are done within 30 minutes, and I immediately start them on their next matches. G. M. d. Justin 2-0 Again, these matches finish quickly, and the finals start immediately thereafter. Finals: Marshall d. G. M. 2-0 I run a booster draft during the top 8, and the only question that came up was as follows: Q: Can my opponent remove his graveyard for Grip of Amnesia if he has no cards in the graveyard? A: Sure. An empty graveyard is still a graveyard, and you can remove the 0 cards in there to satisfy Grip of Amnesia. The booster draft finishes up, I upload the tournaments to the DCI database, and I leave the tournament venue at about 20:45. Thanks to all who came and played. --- Unfortunately, the Friday Night Magic tournament wasn't held last week, so I won't have a tourney report for you on Friday. However, I will still be answering your questions, so keep sending them in! -Bill Guerin
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