Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Judge's Corner

Regeneration & Another Report

Q: Thanks for clearing up my little problem with the Spiritmonger (grumble), the way we played it, we had 2 Spiritmongers blocking each other until they were 23/23's. But I have another question … Regeneration: When do you use it, and EXACTLY what happens, and can you do it before the damage is dealt, i.e. I have an extra mana from a mana flare so I use that extra mana to activate my regeneration shield on my Spiritmonger. Is that legal or what? Thank you.

-Dusty

A: First, let's let the rulebook tell us exactly what regeneration is and does:

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." Because it's a replacement effect, it must be active before the attempted destruction event. Note that if destruction is caused by lethal damage, any abilities that trigger from that damage being dealt still trigger even if the permanent regenerates.

So you have to have a regeneration shield in place before the damage is actually dealt. You can put as many regeneration shields on a creature as you like … they will stay there until they are used, until the cleanup step of the current turn, or when the creature leaves play, whichever comes first.

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Q: Is an ability like Ball Lightning's checked every turn, or just at the end of turn nearest to the one in which it came into play? For example, could I play it and Liberate it to get around the end of turn and never worry about it again or would it get sacrificed at the end of the next turn?

-Fred

A: Ball Lightning
{R}{R}{R}
Creature -- Ball-Lightning
6/1
Trample; haste #(This creature may attack and #{T}# the turn it comes under your control.)#
At end of turn, sacrifice Ball Lightning.

The phrase "At end of turn" means when you reach an end step. It doesn't matter which end step. So if you Liberate a Ball Lightning, it will live until your opponent's end step, then it will be sacrificed.

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Q: My opponent begins the game by playing and tapping a mountain to play Rites of Initiation, discarding four Basking Rootwallas and an Anger giving his madness casted Rootwallas all +5/+5. He then attacks with all four of his Rootwallas (now 6/6's) for 24 damage total. Is this a legal first turn kill? Thank you for your time and response.

-rollo

A: Rites of Initiation
{R}
Instant
Discard any number of cards at random from your hand. Creatures you control get +1/+0 until end of turn for each card discarded this way.

The discard for all of the Rites happens on resolution. Then, you cast the Rootwallas via madness. Therefore, the Rootwallas won't be in play when the bonus is given. Therefore, if he attacks in the above scenario, you will take 4.

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Q: Thorn Elemental has the ability to deal its combat damage to the player, which my opponent did. But I used a Metamorphic Wurm (7/7 due to threshold) and said I could block the Elemental, but the damage would hit me instead of destroying the Wurm. He said the Elemental can't be blocked so his Elemental would live. Who is right?

-Joe A.

A: You can block the Thorn Elemental just fine. When it comes time for combat damage to be put on the stack, if Thorn Elemental is blocked, it can either do its 7 damage to the defending player or to the creatures blocking it, whichever the controller of the Thorn Elemental chooses.

As a side note, you cannot split the 7 damage … it either all has to go to the creatures blocking it or all to the defending player.

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Q: I have some Fledging Djinn, Sylvan Hierophant, and a Pernicious Deed out. If I sac the Deed for enough to kill all my creatures (and all my opponents'), can I use the Sylvan's ability to return the Djinn to my hand, or can I only use it to return a creature already in my graveyard?

-Andrew

A: Sylvan Hierophant
{1}{G}
Creature -- Cleric
1/2
When Sylvan Hierophant is put into a graveyard from play, remove Sylvan Hierophant from the game, then return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

All of the creatures will go to the graveyard at the same time, so by the time the Hierophant is in the graveyard and its triggered ability is about to go on the stack, the Djinn will also be in the graveyard, and therefore you can target the Djinn for returning to your hand.

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Q: Can a Legend such as a Chainer, Dementia Master block a Beloved Chaplain or any other creature with Protection from Creatures?

-PaulMorphy737

A: No. Chainer is a creature. Therefore, it can't block any creature with protection from creatures.

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Q: If I play a Petradon, targeting a land enchanted with a Squirrel Nest, what happens to the Squirrel Nest when Petradon's comes-into-play ability resolves? Does the Squirrel Nest get removed with the land or is it put into the graveyard as a state-based effect?

A: The Squirrel Nest is put into the graveyard. Petradon only removes the land … it doesn't also remove any enchantments on the land.

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Q: What happens if you target a token with Faceless Butcher's ability? Does the token get removed permanently?

A: Correct. Since the token is in a zone other than the in play zone, it ceases to exists as a state based effect.

420.5f A token in a zone other than the in-play zone ceases to exist.

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Q: Can I use Spurnmage Advocate's ability even though my opponent has less than 2 cards in his/her graveyard?

A: No. Your opponent must have 2 cards in his or her graveyard, otherwise, you can't target everything you need to, and so you won't be able to play Spurnmage's effect.

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Q: My opponent is on 2 life and I am on 1. I have a Barbarian Ring in play with the threshold ability active. During my opponent's main phase, he plays a Steam Vines on my Barbarian Ring. During my upkeep, I tap my Barbarian Ring to deal 2 damage to my opponent, but he says the Barbarian Ring is destroyed, I get dealt the 1 damage and choose another land for Steam Vines to enchant first. I disagree as the cost of
Barbarian Ring's ability requires its sacrifice, therefore when Steam Vines' trigger resolves, the Barbarian Ring would be gone, Steam Vines is put into the graveyard as a state-based effect and I would not be dealt the lethal 1 damage. So who is correct and
wins the game?

-Tom Kok

A: Steam Vines
{1}{R}{R}
Enchant Land
When enchanted land becomes tapped, destroy it and Steam Vines deals 1 damage to that land's controller. That player moves Steam Vines to a land of his or her choice.

Part of the activation cost of Barbarian Ring is tapping it. Therefore, Steam Vines will trigger, and go on top of the Ring's ability. When Steam Vines' triggered ability resolves, it will destroy the land and deal 1 damage to you, then you can move it to another land. Even though the land is not there to be destroyed, and Steam Vines is in the graveyard, so you can't move it, you will still take the damage, losing the game.

404.2. Triggered abilities aren't played. Instead, a triggered ability automatically "triggers" each time its trigger event occurs. Once an ability has triggered, it goes on the stack the next time a player would receive priority.

410.1. Because they aren't played, triggered abilities can trigger even when it isn't legal to play spells and abilities, and effects that prevent abilities from being played don't affect them.

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Tournament Report - FNM - Brea, CA - 9th

I had given some thought to which deck I wanted to play, and finally decided to give this deck one last spin before it has to be rebuilt for Judgment:

Female Dog, aka The Most hated deck in Southern California
<ed note:  Bill has enough class to know this is a family-oriented site and not give the deck it's proper name, but I'm the editor, so I'll do it.  The deck is actuallythe "New-Age Bitch", named from a very old Mirage/Tempest T2 era deck centered around Gaea's Blessing, Wrath of God, and Nev's Disk called "This Bitch Ain't Even Nice" a.k.a. "The Bitch"  An old Abilene, Texas creation from a little more than 4 years back.  Well, enough silly history lessons. -Scott>
By: Scott Gerhardt

4 Life Burst
4 Absorb
4 Wrath of God
2 Rout
1 Kirtar's Wrath
4 Repulse
4 Counterspell
4 Fact or Fiction
3 Treasure Trove
3 Dwell on the Past
1 Disenchant

13 Island
5 Plains
4 Coastal Tower
2 Elfhame Palace
2 Treva's Ruins

Sideboard:
3 Aura Blast
2 Circle of Protection: Black
3 Force Spike
4 Gainsay
3 Sacred Ground

I have the main deck about 90% "special:" either foil, Asian, or Portal.

... And besides, it was life gain week on the Sideboard, and I wanted to show those guys just how effective life gain can be :).

Most people, when they look at the deck without seeing it being played, ask how it wins. The deck has 2 paths to victory:

Path 1 (quicker): Spirit tokens

You Kirtar's Wrath at threshold, and attack their life total with the Spirit tokens you get.

If that plan fails, you go into...

Plan 2 (painfully slow): Deck them

With the Dwells on the Past, you can recur the Dwells and counterspells to make sure nothing happens until they run out of cards. If you can avoid it, don't do it this way. It'll take you like 45+ minutes to finish a game this way against all but the quickest players.

So I get to the tourney location about a half hour early, and do some trades.

We then go to sign up, and they only have room for 21 (10 tables plus a bye), so 3 people have to be turned away. Sucky.

Round 1 - Tony Vu - Tog

Game 1 - I roll 13, he rolls 8, and I play first. I get early control of the board, and Wrath a couple times, but I run out of cards. He then drops a Shadowmage, and it beats on me for 5 turns before it's joined by a Tog, and they go the distance a couple of turns later.

Sideboard: In: 4 Gainsay, 2 CoP: Black, 2 Force Spike (couldn't find room for the third). Out: 2 Rout, 2 Life Burst, 1 Disenchant, 1 Repulse, 1 Dwell on the Past, 1 Island.

Game 2: He says he has no land, and draws 7. I remind him he has to go to 5 now, as the no land rule left a long time ago.

He tries to cast an early Familiar, which I counter. I then untap and drop a CoP: Black. He drops a couple of dorks, but once I prevent the damage once, he fails to keep attacking (to tie up my mana). I Wrath a couple of times, then finally drop the Kirtar's Wrath on his head and go to town with the Spirit tokens. Ending life: 40 (4 Absorb + 1 Burst for 8 (the first got countered)).

Game 3: A seesaw battle. He burns a couple of times from paying too much for spells when he has a Familiar out. I get an early couple of Spirit tokens, but he rebuilds quickly, and I have to Wrath again. He also makes them mistake of immediately trying to counter the Wrath instead of letting Standstill's trigger resolve first, so I get the 3 cards off his Standstill. Time runs out, making the match a draw. Ending life totals: Me 19 - Him 12.

Games: 1-1
Matches: 0-0-1

No rest for the weary, as we head straight into...

Round 2 - Joshua Heger - B/U Opposition

Game 1 - I roll 4, he rolls 17, and chooses to play. Joshua mulligans once. During that time, I really think about my hand (6 land + Treasure Trove). I end up mulliganing as well, into 2 lands, and 4 other spells. I don't draw another land until turn 5, and by that time, he has the Opposition lock down. I try the last gasp Disenchant, backed by an Absorb, but he has 2 counters, and we're off to game 2.

Sideboard - In: 3 Aura Blast, 3 Force Spike, 4 Gainsay. Out: 4 Repulse, 3 Life Burst, 1 Rout, 1 Treasure Trove, 1 Dwell on the Past.

Game 2 - I mulligan a no-land hand into 2 land and 4 counterspells (2 Absorb, 1 Counterspell, 1 Gainsay). He mulligans twice. I take early control of the board, as he takes pain down to 13. He gets a Finkel out though, and with the card advantage it provides, it gets him 2 Looters and a Possessed Aven. He Lobotomies late, taking out my 3 Aura Blasts (one in hand and 2 in library). After he takes them out, I remind him he doesn't have to find the cards, as it might have been better to leave them in the library (to give me less chance of drawing a Wrath). I end up having 3 turns to find a Wrath, but I draw Counterspell, Force Spike, and Absorb to take the fatal loss for the night. I look through the deck, and there wasn't a Wrath even close to the top.

Games: 1-3
Matches: 0-1-1

Ah well, you can't win every time. We have about 5-10 minutes before the next round starts, so I take some time to walk outside briefly and suggest a deck for someone in the post-Judgment Standard, as the other games still playing finish. I give him a deck list, and then we head into...

Round 3 - Rowland - Sligh/Stupid Red Burn Hybrid

I'm down on table 9 (of 10).

Game 1 - I roll 5, he rolls 18. He plays and opens with Mountain, Raging Goblin. I end up taking 2 Shocks and a Firebolt, and he keeps forgetting to attack. I stabilize at 15, and send the Kirtar's Wrath into the stack to get me the Spirit tokens I need. I end the game at 36 life.

Sideboard: Nothing.

Game 2 - He lets me go first for some reason, and he hits me a few times with a couple of Raging Goblins and a Goblin Digging Team. I finally get tired of taking it, and Wrath. I Kirtar's Wrath eventually, and start recurring Life Bursts as I attack him. Here's my life total for this game (Ab= Absorb, B= Life Burst):

19 Attack
18 "
15 Volcanic Hammer
13 Attack
10 "
7 "
15 B (my first Burst was lost in a Fact or Fiction split)
13 Shock
12 Attack
11 "
10 Blaze for 1 (he was mana short both games)
9 Attack
8 Blaze for 1
11 Ab
23 B
26 Ab
29 "
41 B
57 B
60 Ab
72 B
88 B
(I switch to a new column here)
91 Ab
103 B
119 B
131 B
147 B
150 Ab
162 B
178 B
190 B
206 B

... which is where I ended the second game.

Games: 3-3
Matches: 1-1-1

Time was called as I finished him off, so we quickly head into...

Round 4 - Justin - R/B

Justin would be classified as a "Timmy" style player. He had a lot of big creatures in his deck.

Game 1 - I roll 9, he rolls 7, and I play first. My life total is never in danger, as most of his creatures cost 5+ mana. I never drop below 20, and end this game at 271 life, with the same Life Burst recursion.

Sideboard: Nothing.

Game 2 - He plays first and applies a bit of early burn with a Shock and Fiery Temper, but my life didn't stray below 15, as I counter all of his big creatures and try to beat him as fast as I can, as we are again the last match to finish.

Games: 5-3
Matches: 2-1-1

I end up in 9th place, at the bottom of the people with 7 points.

Join the tourney report section again next week, where I play a Booster Draft tournament.