Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Judge's Corner

No tournament report this week, since I didn't play in a tournament this weekend. Sorry.

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Short Answers:

-You just can't discard cards "because you want to." Either a spell or ability has to tell you to do so, or you have to end your turn with too many cards in your hand.

-All cards are played by their latest Oracle wording in tournaments. This means a Homelands Anaba Bodyguard would be a Minotaur, not a Bodyguard as is printed on the card.

-If a Phantom creature somehow has its toughness increased, it will live.

-Nobody can target you if you have a Solitary Confinement on the board. In the last sentence, "nobody" includes you.

-Lands are colorless, since they have a mana cost of 0 (203.1,2).

-Removing the source of an ability will not stop that ability from happening. Removing the ability from the source of that ability will also not stop that ability from happening.

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Long answers:

Q: I have a Drudge Skeleton in play. You attack me with a Thicket Basilisk. I declare the Skeleton as a blocker. Before damage goes on the stack, you Lightning Bolt the Drudge Skeleton. The question is, with the Bolt still on the stack, and assuming nothing else unexpected happens during combat, how many regeneration shields will my Drudge Skeleton have to go through to stay alive.

A: 2 - One for the Lightning Bolt, and one for the Basilisk's triggered ability. Since damage has not gone on the stack yet, the Basilisk won't damage the Skeletons.

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Q: Part 2 - Let's assume my Thicket Basilisk is enchanted with Primal Frenzy. How much trample damage do I receive from the Basilisk?

-SomeDude

A: You will take 2 damage from the Basilisk. When the Drudge Skeletons regenerate, they are removed from combat. When you get to the combat damage step, nobody is blocking the Basilisk. Since the Basilisk has trample, the 2 damage is assigned to the defending player (502.9c).

-Bill Guerin PojoMagicJudge@hotmail.com DCI Level 2 judge