Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Judge's Corner

Q: Can Divert and Deflection counter a Counterspell??? For example, I cast Disenchant on my
opponent's Mirari, and he responds with a Counterspell, can I use Divert or Deflection to have my opponent's
Counterspell target itself or my Divert/Deflection?

A: I was wondering when I was going to get this question. Yes, you can use Divert or Deflection to counter a Counterspell as follows (I will use Deflection for the example) -

· You - Disenchant the Mirari?
· Opponent - Counterspell the Disenchant
· You - Cast Deflection, targeting the Counterspell.

I have to go into the game minutiae here … Deflection (and Divert) only has one target - the spell you are Deflecting. When Deflection resolves, you choose the new target for the Deflected spell.

So in this example, assuming no other spells or abilities are played, Deflection resolves. Now you have to choose a new target for the Counterspell. So, you make the Counterspell target the Deflection (that is resolving). You can do this because spells don't leave the stack until they have fully resolved.

Then, when their Counterspell resolves, it is countered because it doesn't have a legal target. (Deflection's long gone, so Counterspell can't counter it.)

Q: What's the deal with Devouring Strossus??? Me and my friends are wondering what to do during upkeep.
It says, "At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice a creature". Does it mean if that I could totally ignore this upkeep because it doesn't have the usual "or bury it" if you cannot sac a creature. What we usually do is to sac creatures only if there are other creatures with Devouring Strossus (controlled by the same person of course) and ignore it if Devouring Strossus is the only creature controlled by the player, is this right???

A: Unfortunately, no. Devouring Strossus is a creature itself, and therefore it can be sacrificed to fulfill it's own effect.

Q: Also when does floating mana burn out? At the end of every step or at the end of every phase?

A: Your mana pool clears (and you take mana burn) at the end of every phase.

Q: Do I lose the game if I don't have a single card in my library, or do I lose the game if I cannot draw a card from my library? I ask this because I have a Browse/(Soldevi) Digger deck which I revived last month (I stopped playing for two years) … new players are arguing about my Vision Charm/Digger /Browse combo, especially if I don't have any cards left in my library.

-Jester

A: You only lose the game if you cannot draw a card when you are required to. You can have an empty library and still be in the game.

Q: I was wondering, if you sacrifice a creature, can you regenerate it? And can you bring it back from your graveyard? Thank you

-George Chin

A: No, you cannot regenerate a creature if it is sacrificed … it goes straight to the graveyard. You can only regenerate from a "destroy" effect (either lethal damage or an effect that says, "destroy [foo]."

Regenerate
Regeneration is a destruction-replacement effect. "Regenerate [permanent]" means "The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage from it, tap it, and (if it's in combat) remove it from combat."

When a sacrificed creature reaches the graveyard, it is just like any other card, and may be returned to your hand if an effect allows you to return it to your hand.

Q: If I have a Nightscape Familiar, and my opponent has a Shivan Wurm, when he attacks, I block and regenerate the Familiar, does 6 trample damage come through?

A: If your opponent has assigned 1 damage from the Wurm to the Familiar and 6 to you, yes. Trample is now assigned when you assign other damage … it is no longer automatic like it was in 5th Edition.

Q: If a gating creature comes into play, trying to gate the Flametongue Kavu, can I destroy the Flametongue Kavu and make it gate itself?

-will chen

A: If the Flametongue Kavu was the only other eligible creature to be gated, yes. The creature for gating is chosen on resolution of the gating ability, so if the gating ability resolves and your opponent chooses Flametongue Kavu, then you can't destroy it to make him gate something else.

Q: I'm going to play some of the older sets so I need to know:
What do 1) Summon ___ 2) Interrupt 3) Cumulative upkeep mean?

-Hunter
PS. Are you related to a hockey player in Boston?

A: Heh … I'm not related to the hockey player, at least not that I know of :) .

1) Summon _____ would be written as Creature - ____ under 7th edition rules.
2) Interrupt was a card type that was changed to Instant. Before 6th edition, you had interrupts and instants, and the timing rules for each were a little different. So, Wizards decided to eliminate interrupts and make all old interrupts instants.
3) "Cumulative Upkeep: X" means …
· At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent.
· Then, pay X times however many age counters are on this permanent.

-Bill Guerin
Pojomagicjudge@hotmail.com
DCI Level 2 Judge