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Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Judge's Corner
Mirrodin Prerelease Rulings
Questions:7
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First off, a thank you goes out to all of you who sought
me out at the San Diego Pre-Release on Saturday, just to
say hi.
The one card that I had to make multiple rulings on all
day was ...
Grab the Reins
{3}{R}
Instant
Choose one - Until end of turn, you gain control of
target creature and it gains haste; or sacrifice a
creature, then Grab the Reins deals damage equal to that
creature's power to target creature or player.
Entwine {2}{R} (Choose both if you pay the Entwine cost)
502.32b If the entwine cost was paid, follow the text of
each of the modes in the order written on the card when
the spell resolves.
*If you pay the entwine cost, you can sacrifice the
creature you gain control of with Grab the Reins.
(Mirrodin FAQ)
-If you follow 502.32b, you will never have a question
about both modes when you pay Entwine. Just do it in the
order on the card. They are in that order for a reason.
:)
-You have to declare what you're taking and what you're
doing damage to when you play Grab the Reins.
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And the other mechanic that caused a bit of a problem
was Equip.
502.33a Equip is an activated ability of artifact
Equipment cards. The phrase "Equip [cost]" means
"[cost]: Move this Equipment onto target creature you
control. Play this ability only any time you could play
a sorcery."
-Note the colon. This will help you tell that it is an
activated ability. Thus, if Damping Matrix is in play,
you can't Equip.
-Equip can be played only when you can play a sorcery.
This means that it has to be one of your main phases,
and the stack has to be empty. This DOES NOT mean you
have to play a sorcery before you can play an Equip
ability.
-You can only play the Equip ability to equip creatures
you control. However, other cards may allow equipment
you control to be put on a creature you do not control.
-Don't try to Equip Needlebug. Or any permanent with
protection from artifacts for that matter...
502.7d A permanent with protection can't be equipped by
Equipment that have the stated quality. Such an
Equipment stops equipping that permanent, but remains in
play. (See rule 420, "State-Based Effects.")
-You can move the same Equipment card between multiple
creatures in the same turn, provided you can pay the
Equip cost for each time you want to move it.
For example, let's say you have a Viridian Longbow on an
Alpha Myr. You can do one damage to something, and pay 3
mana to move it to another creature (let's say a Copper
Myr). You can then do one damage with the Copper Myr,
and if you have 3 more mana, you can move it and shoot
something again.
-You can't "unequip" a creature using just the abilities
of the Equipment. You can move the Equipment to another
creature by paying the Equip cost, but you can't just
make it "fall off" on its own.
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Well, that about sums up the major rulings I had to make
from Saturday involving cards. So on to my questions
from my mailbox ...
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Q: If a Goblin sharpshooter is used to kill a token,
will the Sharpshooter untap? When tokens are destroyed
do they go to the graveyard then become removed from the
game?
-Walter T.
A: Correct. Tokens do hit the graveyard, then are
removed from the game as a state-based effect. So the
Sharpshooter will untap.
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Q: Platinum Angel
{7}
Artifact Creature - Angel
Flying
You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the
game.
4/4
Would you still lose if you "deck" yourself? Would you
win?
-Mike P.
A: Neither. If you would lose due to a game rule, you
don't. So ....
*If you would draw a card from an empty library, nothing
happens.
*If you go below 0 life, you continue playing.
*if you play Final Fortune, and don't win in the extra
turn, the game goes on.
*If you have 10 poison counters, you just keep playing.
Note that in the second and fourth points, though, you
still keep track of your negative life and the number of
poison counters you have. So if Platinum Angel leaves
play, the game will then see you have 0 or less life, or
have 10+ poison counters, and you will immediately lose
once Platinum Angle leaves play.
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Q: I have a question about phasing. Let's say I play
Cloak of Invisibility on an Angel of Mercy. If it phases
out, then phases back in do I get an additional 3 life?
-Neal
A: No. Phasing in does not trigger comes into play
abilities.
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Q: If I play a Gold Myr, am I able to use its tap
ability even though it is affected by summoning
sickness?
A: Gold Myr is a creature. Therefore, on the turn he
comes into play (unless you give him haste), he can't
attack or use an activated ability on Gold Myr with the
tap symbol as a cost. Since the latter applies, you
can't tap him for mana.
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Q: If I play Smother targeting my opponents face down
creature, can he, in response to me playing Smother,
play Orim's Chant and make the Smother fizzle/resolve
without an effect?
-Bob
A: No. Orim's Chant is not a counterspell.
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Q: If I have a Dragon Tyrant and I play a Diplomatic
Immunity on it, will I still have to pay Dragon Tyrant's
upkeep cost?
-Kevin
A: Yes.
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Q: What is the errata for older cards that deal with
interrupts, such as Sirocco and Burnout?
-Colin K.
A: Check the Oracle. Most cards that affected
"interrupts" have been errataed to affect "instants"
instead.
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Since I had the prerelease on Saturday, I ended up
having to go to bed early on Friday since I had to wake
up really early on Saturday. So unfortunately, there
will be no tournament report this week.
See you Thursday.
Bill Guerin
DCI Level 2 Judge
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