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Artifact Moon As a side note, expect all of my columns on a Tuesday/Friday schedule from now on. The last couple of Sundays, I've been out late, so I haven't been able to get my columns in for Mondays. --- Q: If an artifact land is subjected to Blood Moon, is it still an artifact as well as a "basic mountain" or does it lose the "artifact-ness" as well? -Glen B. A: It is still an artifact, and it is NOT a basic land. Blood Moon (and other cards that change land types) do two things: removes all rules text (so it can't tap for what it tapped for before) and makes the land subtype of the card in question to be the subtype in question. So, let's take Tree of Tales as an example. Its type line reads: Artifact Land. If a Blood Moon comes into play, its type line would now "read": Artifact Land - Mountain. It would also lose the ability to tap for green mana. (212.6e) --- Q: How does Lifeline interact with Innocent Blood? Let's say both players have two creatures each. Player A plays Innocent Blood. Do both creatures come back? -Mark D. A: Yes. Whenever a creature goes to the graveyard from play and there was another creature in play at the time it did so (even if that creature went to the graveyard at the same time), it will return to play at end of turn. So even if the two creatures sacrificed for Innocent Blood were the only two creatures on the board, they would both return at end of turn. --- Q: If you get creatures from your opponent's graveyard through Scion of Darkness's effect and Scion of Darkness is destroyed, would those creatures go back to your opponent's graveyard or would your opponent gain control of those monsters? -Super A: Neither. The control effect ("control effect" was discussed in a question last column) that allows you to control your opponent's creatures was the triggered ability generated by Scion of Darkness. Since the control effect is not directly linked to the Scion of Darkness (the triggered ability exists independent of the Scion), when the Scion leaves play, you will still control the creatures you brought back using his ability until they leave play. --- Q: My friend has a card that doesn't let him go below 0 life points. It's an enchantment, and we have been trying to figure out if we can give his creature like 500 power and 500 toughness, since he can't go below 0, and we figured we could give him negative life points. Does this theory work or no? -Shorty A: I will assume you are talking about the card named "Worship." Here is the text of Worship... Worship {3}{W} Enchantment If you control a creature, damage that would reduce your life total to less than 1 reduces it to 1 instead. Worship changes what happens to your life total. The best way to think of Worship is that Worship is really bad at math. Let's go through a few examples, and hopefully this card will become clear to you. 1. You are at 2 life, and control a Grizzly Bears. Your opponent attacks with a Grizzly Bears with Flight on it. You take 2 damage from the flying Grizzly Bears. Normally 2-2=0, but Worship says, "Wait, my controller has a creature, and 0<1, so 2-2=1." Your new life total is 1. 2. You are at 4 life, and control a Grizzly Bears. Your opponent plays Inferno (does 6 damage to all creatures and players). Normally, 4-6=(-2), but Worship says, "Wait, my controller has a creature, and (-2)<1, so 4-6=1." Your new life total is 1. (Note in this example that your creature doesn't die until all the damage is dealt, and someone would receive priority; so at the time damage is dealt, you still have a creature out.) 3. You are at 3 life, and control a Grizzly Bears. Your opponent is at 5 life, and attacks you with an Exalted Angel (4/5, flying, Whenever Exalted Angel deals damage, you gain that much life). You take 4 damage from the Exalted Angel. Normally 3-4=(-1), but Worship says, "Wait, my controller has a creature, and (-1)<1, so 3-4=1." Your new life total is 1. Your opponent gains 4 life from Exalted Angel's ability, since Exalted Angel dealt 4 damage, putting him at 9 life. --- Q: If I have out any one of the Mirrodin artifacts that require an imprint and then use Sculpting Steel on it does the Artifact and the imprinted card get copied or just the artifact and if so can you then imprint something new on it? -John A: Sculpting Steel only copies the base values of the artifact. An imprinted card is not a "base value," so it does not copy what was imprinted on the original artifact. When the Sculpted Steel comes into play, it will have the Imprint ability, so Imprint will trigger, and you will be allowed to imprint a new card for the Sculpting Steel. --- Q: Russell activates his Predator, Flagship's destroy ability targeting Michelle's Voice of Truth. In response, Michelle uses her Distorting Lens to make the Predator, Flagship white. The ability of the Distorting Lens resolves. Russell then plays Disenchant targeting the Predator, Flagship. The Disenchant destroys the Predator, Flagship, then what happens? Is the Voice of Truth destroyed? A: No. When something references a permanent that is no longer in play, you have to look back and see what it was just before it left play. The Predator, Flagship was white just before it left play, so it is a white ability targeting the Voice of Truth. So Predator, Flagship's ability will be countered, and the Voice of Truth will stay in play. --- Q: Russell controls a Worship, a 1/1 creature, and has 1 life. Can Michelle play a Shower of Sparks targeting the creature and Russell to kill Russell? -Darren N. A: No. See example 2 in the other Worship question above. --- Q: Do counters from cards like Contagion and Spike Feeder placed on "transforming permanents" like Mishra's Factory or Treetop Village stay on them even after they revert back to their original state? -Allan E. A: Yes. They won't do anything while the permanent isn't a creature, but when the permanent turns back into a creature, it will affect it again. (212.2b) --- Q: Player A had on the field a card by the name of Mana Barbs and a COP: Red. If he plays a spell with a converted cost of 3, taps 4 lands, and states he is using 1 of the mana for COP Red, does he ignore the 3 points of damage for tapping the other 3 lands? -Chris D. A: No. Each of the tapped lands is a separate one point of damage. He would have to pay 4 mana to prevent the damage from tapping 4 lands (one for each land). --- Clarification: C: I just read "Dueling Unbounded Armies," and I noticed a mistake in one of your rulings on the interaction between storm and Forgotten Ancient. >>>Q: Does Isochron Scepter's ability count for storm? A: Yes, the copy is played, so it counts toward storm. If you Imprint a spell with Storm (for example, Brain Freeze), the Storm will trigger on the copy, since you are playing the copy. --- Q: How about Forgotten Ancient? A: Yes, the copy is played, so Forgotten Ancient will get a counter. <<< This is incorrect. Forgotten Ancient does not get a counter for each copy of the spell placed on the stack via storm. -Andy A: He's not asking about storm, he's asking about the Isochron Scepter copy. If he were asking about storm, you would be correct. (The questions were right next to each other in the email, so he was talking about the Scepter and not storm.) --- Tournament Report - FNM - Diamond Bar, CA "The Red Army" by: Zvi Mowshowitz, played at GP Atlanta 2 City of Brass 2 Swamp 11 Mountain 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Shadowblood Ridge 1 Goblin Grappler 4 Goblin Sledder 4 Skirk Prospector 2 Sparksmith 4 Goblin Piledriver 4 Goblin Warchief 4 Goblin Sharpshooter 4 Siege-Gang Commander 4 Gempalm Incinerator 2 Cabal Therapy 4 Burning Wish Sideboard: 3 Patriarch's Bidding 1 Chainer's Edict 1 Decompose 1 Firebolt 2 Hammer of Bogardan 1 Tendrils of Agony 2 Cabal Therapy 1 Sparksmith 3 Flaring Pain Round 1 - Greg H. Game 1 - I allow him to go first. He does no damage to me, while I get out 2 Sharpshooters to deal with his creatures, and eventually, with him after I play a Siege-Gang. Sideboard: Nothing. Game 2 - He actually gets an attack in for 4 this game, but double Sharpshooter and Siege-Gang seal the day again. Games: 2-0, Matches: 1-0 Round 2 - Jonathan D. - WW/u (or, "I hate goblins.") Game 1 - He goes first. I mulligan a 1 land, no Sledder/Prospector hand into a 2 land hand. Unfortunately, I draw no more land, and he plays a couple of Mystic Crusaders. I scoop on the second Crusader, because I could have dealt with the first with a Wished for Edict. Sideboard: In: 2 Cabal Therapy, 1 Sparksmith (he had a Master Decoy in addition to the Crusaders). Out: 1 Siege-Gang, 1 Goblin Grappler, 1 Gempalm Incinerator. Game 2 - He plays turn 1 Foothill Guide, turn 2 Silver Knight, turn 3 Foothill Guide. I manage to get a last ditch attack in, but he correctly blocks the Siege-Gang with his Silver Knight, and there is no way to do 18 to him. I went through the motions of an incorrect block after I conceded, and still could only do 17 to him. Games: 2-2, Matches: 1-1 Round 3 - Raymond C. - WW Boy, is Bidding getting hated out of here or what? It seems like everyone is either playing Goblin Bidding or White Weenie tonight. Game 1 - Game 1 - He wins the roll. He plays out a total of 3 Silver Knights during the game, but between my Edict and him having to Wrath when my side got out of hand, I eventually Sharpshooter him and fling a bunch of Siege-Gang tokens. Sideboard: In: 1 Cabal Therapy. Out: Goblin Grappler. Game 2 - I again get stuck on 2 land, and he has 2 Silver Knight and a Dawn Elemental out. I scoop. Sideboard: In: 2 Flaring Pain. Out: 2 Cabal Therapy. Game 3 - He sets up his board well, and decides to send his only Silver Knight. I use Goblin Sharpshooter and Gempalm Incinerator to clear his side of the board, and play a hasted Siege-Gang and Piledriver to attack for 24. Games: 4-3, Matches: 2-1 Round 4 - April E. - G/B with Death Pit Offering Game 1 - She goes first and plays turn 4 and 5 Death Pit Offering. I have her on the ropes by then, and Sparksmith away her 6/6 Gravedigger and 7/6 Carrion Wall to attack for the win. Sideboard: Nothing. Game 2 - She gets 3 regenerators early, but I clear them off the board before they have mana to regenerate. A few smaller attacks seal the match. Games: 6-3, Matches: 3-1 Round 5 - Kjell E. (April's brother) - MBC (Creature removal++++++++++++++++++, Withered Wretch) Game 1 - I win my first "roll", and go first. He has plenty of creature removal for my creatures, but his Phyrexian Arena, combined with my Hammer of Bogardan, does enough to kill him. Sideboard: In: Firebolt, 2 Hammer of Bogardan, 2 Cabal Therapy, Edict, Sparksmith. Out: 4 Burning Wish, Goblin Grappler, 2 Goblin Sledder. With his Withered Wretches, I figured the Bidding avenue to victory was closed, so I just brought in the Wish targets and got rid of the Wishes. Game 2 - His creature removal suite more than takes care of my creatures, and after he Wretches my grave, he plays a Plaguelord and starts sending the team. Sideboard: In: 3 Patriarch's Bidding, 2 Burning Wish. Out: 1 Goblin Sledder, 1 Sparksmith, 1 Hammer, 2x? Game 3 - His Plaguelord and Royal Assassin keeps my side of the board clear, and a Wretch clears my grave. a couple of attacks, and I scoop. Games: 7-5, Matches: 3-2 I check my previous round's tiebreakers, and they are really bad, so I decide to go home rather than wait to see if I make top 8. I wish Kjell luck, and leave. Comments: Wow, this is about as tilted a field can get against Goblin Bidding. So it's time to put that deck away, and pick up my U/W control deck for the last 2 weeks. I'll even give any of you that are normally there my decklist for the final 2 weeks of Odyssey Type 2: 1 Akroma's Vengeance 4 Circular Logic 4 Compulsion 4 Concentrate 2 Decree of Justice 2 Decree of Silence 2 Future Sight 4 Mana Leak 3 Reminisce 3 Stifle 2 Wipe Clean 4 Wrath of God 4 Coastal Tower 11 Island 7 Plains 4 Temple of the False God Sideboard: 4 Sacred Ground 4 Sphere of Law 4 Stabilizer 3 Steamclaw See you Friday. Bill Guerin DCI Level 2 Judge
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