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1(102092 Mar 26  1994 official.answers.thru.12.3)
2
3<------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
4                      
5N O T I C E ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
6
7  This is NOT the FAQ list. This is a compilation of other answers from the 
8  Snark (David Howell) and other persons of note, and are more of less official.
9  Use at you own risk. 
10  
11                                         Darrell Budic 
12                                         (budic@macc.wisc.edu)
13                                         Network Archivist for
14                                         Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
15<------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
16
17
18Date: Wed, 15 Sep 93 16:25:36 -0700
19From: David Howell <snark@omnigroup.com>
20
21to avalent:
22
23The FAQ makes no mention of the Black Vise in any form. It does
24indeed apply to all players except the owner.
25
26>Also, there's my still-unanswered question about, if I have a creature
27>(such as frozen shade) which gains toughness for mana that I pump in,
28>and that creature is currently tapped, and my opponent does damage to
29>the creature in some manner, can I still pump mana into the creature
30>so that it can survive the damage, even if it is tapped?
31
32Yes.
33
34Anytime you clear unused mana from your pool, you take a point of
35damage.
36
37>I had a good chuckle when this reminded me of something.  I heard of a
38>really inventive/unusual technique for defending against the Chaos Orb.
39>BLOW it back onto the 'dropper's' cards....which ain't against the rules
40>either.
41
42I'm afraid it is. This will be in the next FAQ.
43
44>Does the use of a card that allows you to draw extra cards invalidate
45>the conditions on the "Island Sanctuary" card?
46
47Yes.
48
49What follows is the text of a reply of one of our expert playtesters
50to phadrus's questions.
51
52==============================================================
53
54>>cast Instill Energy on the resulting artifact creature, and use
55>>that extra untap to untap the Time Vault in the middle of each turn,
56>>do I really get infinite turns?  [Ouch.]
57
58Yes.  Now they are on to Joel.
59
60>>When a multi-land (Tundra, etc.) is altered by Phantasmal Terrain,
61>>Gaea's Liege, etc., is the entire card affected (so it changes from a
62>>multi-land into a regular single land), or is only one "aspect" of the
63>>card affected (and if so, who determines which aspect)?  [Entire card
64>>is affected.]  If the latter, then if both aspects of the card are
65>>changed into the same land type (for example, if Gaea's Liege changes a
66>>Tundra to forest/forest over the course of two turns), does it count as
67>>one or two lands of that type for the purposes of cards whose effect
68>>varies with the number of lands of that type in play?  [Counts as one.]
69
70I know that the original intention was to have phantasmal terrain,
71etc. turn just one half of the land, but I'm not sure the current
72wording on the card does that.  In ICE AGE, we are planning to fix
73the wording to make it clear that you could turn a Tropical Island
74into a Forest and mountain card, for example.  I think he is right
75that a forest/forest card just counts as one forest, just as a
76forest/swamp card still just counts as one land in play.
77
78>>If a Rock Hydra is Animated, does it get a new set of counters?  [No 
79idea.]
80>>(In general, what happens if a variable-cost creature is Animated?)
81>>[No idea.]
82
83I believe that if a Rock Hydra is animated, it immediately dies since
84it starts off as a 0/0 creature that you pay to put extra counters on
85for more toughness and power.  Cards in the graveyard have no memory,
86so you don't remember how many counters the Rock Hydra had on it.  In
87general, variable cost creatures start off as if the X was 0.
88
89>>For Sacrifice, what happens if you sacrifice a creature with an "X"
90>>casting cost?  Do you get back the mana that was actually spent for "X"
91>>(and what if no one remembers what "X" is?), or just the base casting
92>>cost (1 for a 1X creature)?  [No idea.]
93
94I'm not sure on this one, but I think you need to remember what X was.
95
96>>Are Basilisk's and Cockatrice's stoning abilities considered
97>>"damage" for the purposes of Fog?  [No.]
98
99I'm sure the intention was that the Basilisk and Cockatrice would NOT
100kill other creatures after Fog, but I'm not sure what the card exactly
101reads, so I'm not sure what the wording actually does.  If it doesn't
102prevent, I think we'll change it for Ice Age.
103
104>>Do multiple Raging Rivers have any additional effect?  (If you have
105>>two Raging Rivers in play, for example, does the defender ave to divide
106>>his blockers into three or four groups instead of two?)  [No idea.]
107
108I think the Raging Rivers spell says specifically, "Divide into two" so
109multiple Raging Rivers wouldn't have any effect.
110
111>>Does spending one R negate all head losses from damage to Hydra, or
112>>does one R have to be spent for each R that would have been lost?
113>>[No idea.]
114
115I haven't seen the actual card recently, but I believe it says "R to
116regenerate a head" meaning you would have to pay R for each damage.
117
118>>Does using Circle of Protection once against a source in a particular 
119turn
120>>mandate that you use it again (and thus pay the cost) if the source tries
121>>to damage you again, as the "must" in "you must pay 1 mana each time"
122>>might imply?  [No.]
123
124I'm not sure about the exact nature of the question, so I'll answer:  1)
125If you want to block the second use of the source you DO have to pay
126again.  2)  You are NOT REQUIRED to block the second use of the source.
127
128When I first read the question, I thought he was asking about 1) but a
129second reading seemed to suggest 2).
130
131>>Does Clockwork Beast have to pay 1 counter for each _creature_ it
132>>blocks, or just once for each _time_ it blocks?  (In other words, if
133>>Blaze of Glory is used to let a Beast block three creatures, does it
134>>lose three counters or one?)  [No idea.]
135I believe it is each TIME he blocks.  i.e. if he blocks a band with 100
136creatures in it, he still loses 1 counter.  Same with blaze of glory.
137
138>>If Jade Statue is activated for an attack, can it be activated
139>>again for a block before the player's next turn, or does the artifact
140>>stay "tapped" the way a creature would?  [Can be activated again.]
141The artifact is definitely tapped by the attack and unless it is
142untapped by some mechanism such as twiddle, it can not defend.  First,
143you can't use a tapped artifact, so you can't turn it into a creature.
144Second, even if you could turn it into a creature, it would be tapped,
145so it couldn't block.
146
147>>Can a player choose in what order to perform tasks during the untap
148>>and upkeep phases?  For example, a player entering the upkeep phase with
149>>1 life point has a Warped Artifact, which costs 1 life point, and a
150>>Living Artifact, from which 1 life point can be retrieved.  Does the
151>>player get to retrieve the point from the Living Artifact before paying
152>>for the Warped one?  [Player whose turn it is chooses.]
153
154This is a very good question.  Many of the actions are simultaneous
155(i.e. all lands untap together), but in confusing questions like this, I
156think it should be player chooses, and I think that should be in the
157rules explicitly.
158
159>>What is Gaea's Liege's power and toughness when it is neither
160>>attacking nor defending~~~ [The number of forests its owner has in play.]
161
162Bleah!  Obviously the Gaea's Liege wording shoudl change to:  Power and
163toughness are equal to number of forests opponent has in play when the
164Gaea's Liege attacks, and equal to the number of forests you have in
165play at all other times.
166
167>>If Creature Bond is played on Gaea's Liege, then an effect is played
168>>that destroys Gaea's Liege as well as some forests in play, how does
169>>this affect the damage the controller takes from the Creature Bond?
170>>(Which number of forests in play is used, the one before or the one
171>>after the effect?  [No idea.]  And do non-forests changed into forests
172>>by Gaea's Liege count as forests for determining the damage done
173>>by the Bond?  [No idea.]  And what if Gaea's Liege has Aspect of Wolf
174>>cast on it as well?  [I go out and shoot myself. :) ] )
175
176If it is the same effect (say a magical hacked volcanic eruption), then
177the damage done to opponent would reflect the stats of the Gaea's Liege
178before anything was destroyed.  Aspect of the Wolf would definitely
179increase the stats of Gaea's liege, so would also count towards the
180damage.
181
182--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
183
184
185Date: Wed, 15 Sep 93 23:12:53 -0700
186From: David Howell <snark@wizards.com>
187
188>> > Say I use the Llanowood elves to get a green mana early in the round 
189(or
190>> > I tap Geia's Liege to make a Forest), and my opponent later plays 
191Siren Song
192>> > which forces all units to attack, or are destroyed
193>>
194>> > Are both pieces destroyed?  Can the Nettling Imp nettle a creature 
195after
196>> > it has already been tapped to do something else?  (I know about the 
197case
198>> > of the Tapping for special after a character is Nettled)
199
200Both would be destroyed by Siren's Call. The Nettling Imp can nettle
201a tapped creature. Ick!
202
203>From: Jim Geldmacher <JamesG@asymetrix.com> <jamesg/daemon>
204>Once my opponent has declared that they are tapping my Time Vault, 
205couldn't
206>I say I want to tap it. Tapping an artifact is a fast effect isn't it?
207>Therefore as the one declaring later, I can say that I tapped it first. Or
208>have I misunderstood the timing rules again?
209
210You've misunderstood the timing rules, but you've found the right
211result. You using the Vault, causing it to tap, and your opponent
212tapping it, are not contradictory. You both twist the card at the
213same time, and you get to use it. There's no paradox, so the timing
214rules don't apply.
215
216>On a related note can I use Twiddle to untap the Vault without skipping 
217the
218>turn?
219
220You bet.
221
222--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
223
224Date: Sun, 19 Sep 93 07:27:10 -0700
225From: David Howell <snark@wizards.com>
226
227>From: Peter Sarrett <peter@hebron.connected.com> <peter/daemon>
228>
229>We'd like an official answer from David for these questions:
230>
231>1) If two Paralyze spells are cast on the same creature, must 8
232>mana be spent to untap that creature?  
233
234Yes.
235
236>2) If I have Pestilence in play and am attacked by, say, a Juggernaut, can
237>I tap 4 black mana and cause 4 points of Pestilence damage to everyone,
238>killing the Juggernaut before it can do its damage?  
239
240Yes. Ick.
241
242>3) In Team Magic, if my teammate dies, what happens to the creatures which
243>I've moved in front of him?  Do they immediately come back to me
244
245Yes.
246
247>4) If I have more than seven cards in my hand and have the Library of Leng
248>in play, can I still choose to discard down to seven?  
249
250No.
251
252--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
253
254
255Date: Wed, 22 Sep 93 20:23:43 -0700
256From: David Howell <snark@wizards.com>
257
258>From: diplomacy-3@genie.geis.com <diplomacy-3/daemon>
259>
260>5) Do the Zombie Master, Lord of Atlantis, Goblin King, etc, count as 
261their
262>type (Zombie, Merman and Goblin respectively) for use of the powers that 
263they
264>bestow?
265
266Nope. Life is odd.
267
268>From: npfluger@cs.tamu.edu (Nathan J Pfluger) <npfluger/daemon>
269>
270>[Correctly states banding rules]
271>
272>On a side note, do the cards that transform lands count as enchantments 
273(this
274>is for Disenchant, Consecrate Land and Tranquility).  IE if the Tomb turns
275>a land into a swamp and later Tranquility is played, is the land reverted
276>to its original state?
277
278No. You have to Disenchant or Shatter the artifact.
279
280>From: David.Katleman@Corp.Sun.COM (David Katleman) <david.katleman/daemon>
281>
282>Question about the tapping ability of the Icy Manipulator:
283>
284>I understand that if I were to tap one of my opponent's
285>lands, he/she will have one point of mana to use and will
286>lose a life point if the mana can't be used.
287
288This is not correct. Tapping their land won't give them any mana.
289
290--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
291
292
293Date: Thu, 30 Sep 93 17:54:22 -0700
294From: David Howell <snark@wizards.com>
295
296>What the #*%&^ does it mean to PHYSICALLY INTEFERE WITH CASTING A
297>SPELL??   "No you con't do thot, I will not allow it you small man."
298
299It means you can't blow on the Chaos Orb, or rearrange your cards
300after it comes into play. I don't know if you can rearrange them
301before, either, but clearly, now, you can't after. There may be other
302cards in the future that use this.
303
304>"This restriction only applies when the enchantment is first played on
305>the card" ???  What??  What restriction?  What does this mean??
306
307The restriction that you must play an enchant creature on a creature.
308This means that the rules specifically state if the creature becomes
309an artifact (because Animate Artifact was removed, for example), then
310people don't stand around wondering what to do about the enchantment
311that appears to now be illegal.
312
313>You need to say WHO is the controller of the enchantment.
314>The caster.
315
316Not necessarily. One day we may see "control enchantment."
317
318>"Toughness is how much damage a creature can take before it is removed
319>from play."  Why "removed from play"?  Why not just dies, or better
320>yet is destroyed.  Remove from play vs. remove from the game.
321
322What about Swords to Plowshares? That's not 'die,' and it's not
323'destroyed.'
324
325--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
326
327Date: Fri, 8 Oct 93 19:24:29 -0700
328From: David Howell <snark@wizards.com>
329
330>Here's the story: A red/black deck player throws a disintigrate at a
331>black/white/blue player who simulacrums the 11 points to a Bog Wrath with
332>Red Ward on it.
333>
334>Here's the problem: The r/b player tried to convince us that after 
335bouncing
336>though the simulactrum, the damage was now colorless. We (the b/w/u player
337>& I) were convinced that the damage still retained its red coloration.
338
339The damage was red. The r/b player gets shafted.
340
341>ps: another question: if you use fork to duplicate a spell, do you still
342>have to provide mana to power the newly duplicated spell, or is it
343
344IT's amazingly cheap. You don't buy the new spell, you just pay the
345fork.
346
347------------------------------
348>From: pbm@wdl.loral.com (Paul Melville) <pbm/daemon>
349>1)      My spell was met with "power sink" (which says that I cannot 
350choose to
351>let it "be sunk" and must spend all mana from lands and my mana pool).  
352Can I
353>hold back mana that is available (but not yet in my mana pool) from an 
354artifact
355>such as Mana Vault or Sol Ring?
356
357You sure can.
358
359>2)      Creature Bond refers to the toughness of a creature.  The Rules 
360seem to
361>indicate that this does *NOT* include any enchantments or enhancement.  
362
363No, no. Rules, bad. FAQ, good. Unless specifically told otherwise,
364toughness is always *current* toughness.
365
366>Now,
367>about Drain Life---it also refers to creatures toughness---but I get the 
368feeling
369>that I *AM* allowed to drain life of a creature up to the amount of its
370>_enhanced_ toughness....Comments?
371
372------------------
373>From: "MR. AL M.D." <aamaral@topcat.bsc.mass.edu> <aamaral/daemon>
374>
375>        When something has a landwalking ability, like forestwalk, if 
376their
377>land of that color is destroyed yet their opponet still has the land type
378>is the creature able to use his landwalking ability? In the rules it 
379states
380>that your opponet needs the land type not the caster. That is why I 
381believe
382>that it would be possable. My friend states that if you do not have the
383>land type then you do not have a starting place to do this ability from.
384>So would the creature be able to use it's landwalking abilities even 
385though
386>it does not have the land needed to do it from yet the opponed does. I 
387think
388>so since the rules state it's ok , but please help explain this to him.
389
390You don't need a land to start from.
391
392---------------------------
393From: geoff@omg.org (Geoffrey Speare) <geoff/daemon>
3942nd ed rules question...
395
396No, you should not be using 2nd ed. rules to play. First of all,
397they're in fifth draft, where things like "Yes, you can regenerate a
398tapped creature." are spelled out, and 2nd, because they're dependent
399on things like the new def. of destroy and the tap symbol. 1st ed.
400and FAQ are the way to go for now. 
401----------------------
402Intuitive rules from Tim.
403
404Yes, the idea was if you imagined two wizards on mountains with
405creatures between them, that should usually work. However, some of
406the ways the rules interact will specifically contradict this image.
407You have been warned. :)
408
409=================================
410
411Jeremy York:
412
413>So generalizations of this question would be, could I interrupt a
414>Tim in the middle of his poke, with a red elemental blast, and
415>destroy him before the poke goes off?  Could I cast a blue elemental
416>blast on a Firebreathing enchantment during the fast effects phase,
417>interrupting the powering-up of the enchantment by my opponent,
418>eliminating the card *and* resulting in the creature *not* being
419>pumped up?
420
421Yes. That's an interrupt.
422
423>More elemental question -- is tapping a creature to use a special
424>ability an interrupt (like tapping land)?
425
426Nononono. The special ability is an instant unless other wise stated.
427Drawing mana from land is like an interrupt. After these unrelated
428actions, in both cases you tap the card to indicate you've used the
429card's ability. You don't tap to use the ability, you use the ability
430and tap to show it.
431
432--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
433
434Date: Mon, 11 Oct 93 08:57:21 -0700
435From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
436
437Power sink only requires you tap land. I think I said this already,
438but I'll say it again.
439
440This business of what people do is fascinating. Around here, we also
441do the "tap" and tap card when we use mana, and "untap untap untap
442untap" during that phase, sometimes. Also, "Poke" when we do a single
443point of damage, and "ow" to acknowledge damage. I'm in the habit of
444counting off damage that way, "ow ow ow" is three points.
445
446By the way, the "text" of a card is indeed *only* the part enclosed
447in the box on the lower half.
448
449--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
450
451
452Date: Tue, 12 Oct 93 22:54:15 -0700
453From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
454
455>Question for the WOTC people:  Does using the NI or the blue spell "Siren 
456Call"
457>force a player to do an attack that turn, or may the player just let the
458>affected creatures die without attacking? (I believe that you are forced 
459to
460>attack if any of the affect creature is able to.)
461
462You have to attack unless you can prevent the ensorceled creatures
463from attacking, like perhaps tapping or killing them.
464
465--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
466
467Date: Tue, 12 Oct 93 22:38:35 -0700
468From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
469
470>A friend of mine has noticed that some of the new cards have (gasp!) new
471>casting costs.  Does that mean that the earlier versions of the cards 
472(which
473>had lower costs) are now more useful to have in your deck?  :-)  Or are 
474they
475>supposed to be treated as having the same casting cost as the new ones?
476>Some examples are:
477>        Orcish Oriflamme
478>        was:  1R, now 3R
479>and
480>        Orcish Artillery
481>        was:  1R, now 1RR
482>
483>I also heard the new Elvish Archers are 2/1 instead of 1/2, but I haven't
484>actually seen a new one yet.
485
486Oh, dear. We did that? I didn't know we changed the Artillery. Well,
487in a perfect world, you'd play the old cards as they were new, but I
488can't see any possible way to enforce that. For now, play cards as
489written. We may Officially Change Our Minds, but do that for now.
490
491--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
492
493Date: Tue, 12 Oct 93 22:47:32 -0700
494From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
495
496>Ok, on one side you have someone with a Nettling Imp, and on the other,
497>you have someone with a Prodigal Sorcerer. The guy with the PS begins his
498>turn, and when he untaps the PS, the guy with the NI uses the NI to tap
499>the PS and do damage to the owner. 
500
501Excuse me? The Imp forces a creature to attack. Sometime during the
502turn, the Sorcerer must march over at attack, with 1/1, the opponent.
503Attack is specifically defined, and does not involve the use of
504special abilities.
505
506>Ok. Right after the NI guy says that,
507>the PS guy says he'll use the PS to attack the NI before the NI guy can
508>use it to do damage to him.
509>
510>What happens.
511
512If the Imp zaps Tim, Tim can either respond by poking the Imp or it's
513owner, which taps him, which prevents him from attacking this turn,
514so he dies at the end of the turn, or he doesn't, so he has to march
515into battle before the end of the turn, hopefully accompanied by
516friends or wearing good armor.
517
518It's not a paradox/timing issue.
519
520--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
521
522Date: Tue, 12 Oct 93 23:01:48 -0700
523From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
524
525It's an Infrequently Asked Question!
526
527>When you summon a Clone, it takes on all the characteristics of the
528>creature you're copying, minus all enchantments.  So, if you have a
529>Sera Angel, and I weakness it and then clone it, you've got a 2/3 Sera
530>Angel and I've got a 4/4 one.  This all seems clear and makes sense.
531>
532>Let's say I'm fighting a black opponant and they've got "Animate
533>Dead".  This is an "Enchant Dead Creature" spell.  If you cast it on a
534>dead Sera Angel, you get a 3/4 creature that's the animated corpse of
535>a Sera Angel.  What happens if I try to clone this?  Do I get a 3/4
536>Angel?  A 4/4 Angel?  A dead Clone?
537
538A dead Clone. If you dispell the Enchantment, the creature dies.
539
540>Now let's say you've got a nice Artifact that I like.  Then you
541>Animate it.  The resulting creature is only a creature as long as it's
542>got an enchantment on it.  But the Clone can only copy the attributes
543>of a creature without the enchantments.  What happens if I try to
544>Clone your artifact, or shift my Doppleganger over to match it?
545
546Officially, you can't. For a while the designer was letting clones
547turn into artifacts, but it's just too hard to explain on the card.
548
549>Now let's say my Clone was killed.  My foe Animates it, bringing it
550>out of my graveyard.  What characteristics are had by the animated
551>corpse of a Clone?  Is it still a copy of the creature originally
552>copied, 
553
554Cards back from the graveyard NEVER have any knowledge of their past
555lives.
556
557>or does he get to re-declare it?  This bears some similarity
558>to Unsummoning a Clone.
559
560Re-declare.
561
562--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
563
564
565Date: Tue, 19 Oct 93 00:57:34 -0700
566From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
567
568>From: CARL OR KAREN CRAVENS <DAFUZZ@delphi.com> <dafuzz/daemon>
569>
570>probably more powerful.  Some of these rare cards aren't really worth
571>rare status, in my opinion.
572
573You misunderstand. Cards were under stringent requirements to qualify
574as COMMON cards. Well-balanced, not devastating in quantity, yet not
575a waste of space. Cards that could not meet these criteria were
576relegated to the ghettos of rarity. Rare cards may be too powerful,
577or too stupid, or just not as good as some other card. Rarity is not
578an honor, it's a punishment.
579
580>From: Robert DeLoura <DELOURA@PMEL.NOAA.GOV> <deloura/daemon>
581>Subject: Q: Trample vs Banding?
582>
583>Situation:  One 7/7 Flying Trample monster (gee I wonder what that is :) )
584>is attacking.  Defender blocks with 2 1/1 Banding Flying creatures and a
585>3/3 Flying creature.
586>
587>Defender says 'Since I'm banded, I allocate all 7 points to this creature
588>(one of the 1/1 creatures)', and removes it from play.
589>
590>Attacker (me) growls and says Trample doesn't work that way, even if you
591>*are* a banded group.
592>
593>Who's right?  I assumed that since he allocated all 7 points of Trample
594>damage to the same 1/1 creature, that the other 6 points would overrun and
595>hurt *him*.
596>
597
598You're right. The 1/1 creature is trampled for 7, which means 1 to it
599and 6 to its controller.
600
601--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
602
603Date: Thu, 21 Oct 93 02:30:47 -0700
604From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
605
606>From: bethmo@microsoft.com <bethmo/daemon>
607>
608>* "When the Kormus Bell is in play, can a swamp be tapped for mana the
609>  same turn that it is played?"
610>
611>If the swamps are really creatures, then they can't be tapped the turn
612>that they are played.  If they're land/creatures, similar to animated
613>artifacts being artifact/creatures, then they could be.
614
615They're land creatures, not much like artifact creatures.
616
617>* "Player A is playing a Summon spell.  He taps the lands for it, and
618> tthen before he can lay down the creature player B plays Mana Short to
619>  drain all his mana and abort the spell.  Does this work?"
620>
621>I ruled that it didn't, since Mana Short is an Instant, not an Interrupt.
622>
623>Some players lay down the creature and then tap, others tap and then lay
624>down the creature.  Player B thought that as long as the creature hadn't
625>hit the table yet, the spell wasn't being interrupted.  My judgement was
626>that the spell was in the process of being cast, rggardless, and so it
627>would have required an Interrupt to stop him.  Otherwise this becomes a
628>who-yells-first situation.
629
630Theoretically, they could be interrupted. Practically speaking, since
631a player *could* have dropped the spell card, then tapped, I always
632play as if they *did*, even if they actually play in the other order,
633since to insist that they tap after playing is just being anal.
634
635>And here's one that came up before the tournament, and I forgot to ask
636>the list.  How does Trample interact with a Veteran Bodyguard?  I had
637>originally thought that when damage was passed from a player to the
638>Or does trample not count in this case since the Bodyguard isn't actually
639>blocking?
640
641The bodyguard intercepts all the damage coming to you. He gets
642trampled in your place.
643
644>And another that didn't actually come up in the tournament but we've been
645>wondering about:
646>
647>"Does a creature with Red Ward still get the +1 from Orcish Oriflamme?
648>Does it matter whether the Oriflamme was cast before the Ward or not?"
649
650No. The Oriflamme doesn't target any specific creature, so Red Ward
651doesn't stop its effects. 2nd Ed. rules.
652
653>P.S.  We also wondered how much mana it takes to summon an Ace of Spades. 
654:-)
655
656Lots. Lots and lots.
657
658>===============================
659>
660>> Given that, however, I'm still fuzzy on what should happen if you
661>> lightning bolt a regenerating grizzly before dammage dealing phase.
662>
663>Hopefully this helps, since you are most emphatically *not* "given that".
664>
665>Dave?  Would you be so kind as to help us all out with this one?
666
667Yes. If a creature regenerates, it is unavailable for further action
668during an attack. It's recuperating, if you will. Any creatures
669blocked by it do not attack the wizard, they just stand around bored
670for that attack.
671
672>From: CARL OR KAREN CRAVENS <DAFUZZ@delphi.com> <dafuzz/daemon>
673>
674>We nail that 1/1 creature with 7 (non-g for now) damage.
675>
676>1) How much damage did that creature take, 1 or 7? After the damage
677>dealing phase, can I heal the creature for 1 point of damage to save
678>him, or must I heal the creature for 7? (We're talking after-the-fact
679>healing here, not preventing damage, which must come before the damage
680>dealing phase.)
681
682I believe we don't have any spells which heal after the fact. They
683all "prevent." You'd have to prevent 7 to save the creature.
684
685>3) Now what if that 7 damage is Trampling?  In this case, it's obvious
686>that 6 of the 7 isn't applied to the creature, but to the player.  If
687>the answer to #1 is "heal for 7" what is the answer in this case?
688
689Any less than 7 and the creature still dies, and excess is applied to
690you.
691
692>It says "in play." I assume the graveyard doesn't mean "in play,"
693>right?  This means that although Swamps are treated as creatures, I
694>can't use Raise Dead or Animate Dead on one in my graveyard, right?
695
696Exactamundo.
697
698--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
699
700Date: Sat, 23 Oct 93 06:57:30 -0700
701From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
702
703>From: CARL OR KAREN CRAVENS <DAFUZZ@delphi.com> <dafuzz/daemon>
704>
705>The descriptions of Instant and Interrupt both state that these spells
706>can be cast "at any time." Reading this literally, this means that I
707>can cast spells during the Untap, Upkeep, and Draw phases, correct?
708
709That's correct.
710
711>Another point of semantics and "timing" so to speak...  It is my
712>opponent's turn.  If I Twiddle one of his creatures _before_ he
713>declares that he is attacking, he can't use that creature to attack,
714>correct?
715
716Right.
717
718>From: bethmo@microsoft.com <bethmo/daemon>
719>
720>Now, what happens if you Clone or Doppelgang a non-creature artifact that
721>had an Animate Artifact on it?  The clone/doppel doesn't inherit any
722>enchantments.  I would have ruled that it becomes an inanimate copy of
723>the artifact, behaving like a Copy Artifact spell.  But I believe that
724>Snark ruled in a past message that all you get is a dead Clone.  This
725>seems illogical, but if it's the official ruling then it takes precedence.
726
727Well, the designer originally thought that you could indeed clone an
728animated artifact, and get an artifact of your own. I don't think
729that's any more or less illogical than not, since how can a clone
730turn into an inanimate object? Anyway, when we tried to clarify this
731on the cards, it wasn't possible to say so clearly in the room we've
732got. We did have room to say "you can't," so that's what we went
733with. It's not as if it comes up very often anyway...
734
735>From: magic@sneffels.its.bldrdoc.gov (Bill Ingram) <magic/daemon>
736>
737>1. The Library says "If a card forces you to discard, you may choose
738>to discard to the top of your library."
739>
740>2. The rule booklet says killed creatures "are destroyed and placed in the
741>graveyard."
742>
743>3. The rule booklet says, "If an enchanted card is put out of play, the
744>enchantments cast upon it are discarded."
745>
746>4. The Disenchant spell says, "Target enchantment or Artifact must be
747>discarded."
748>
749>We can conclude from these written rules that,
750
751...the Library of Leng is very poorly worded. The intent is only to
752allow cards discarded from the player's hand to be returned to the
753top of the library. Note: not the Library, but the library, the stack
754that you draw from.
755
756>From: robertw@calvin.usc.edu (Robert Watkins) <robertw/daemon>
757>
758>If I have a Black Lotus out and someone uses either a twiddle or
759>Icy Manipulator to tap it, does the Black Lotus remain in play
760>since it wasn't tapped for mana and merely changed orientation?
761
762If you read the card, it's the adding of 3 mana to your pool that
763causes the card to be discarded. 
764
765>From: Scott Nicholson <grundy/daemon>
766>
767>What are the rules covering placement of cards?  Can you place
768>cards as far apart as you wish, or what????
769
770Officially, now, yes, you can arrange your cards in any pattern,
771until the Chaos Orb is put into play. At that time, moving cards
772farther apart would be interfering with the Orb, and is illegal.
773
774Practically speaking, I had a Sphere of Annihilation in my
775gamma-edition playtest deck (the Orb's former name), and one player,
776after he heard the card existed and even before he knew I had it,
777started putting cards all over the table and on nearby surfaces. I
778promptly quit playing him, since I wasn't about to chase all over the
779room just to find out what he had in play.
780
781>From: cheshere@aol.com <cheshere/daemon>
782>
783>Can you fork someone else's spell? The card easily implies this, but my 
784group
785>would feel better with a ruling.
786
787Yes you can, and you have full control over the copy.
788
789--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
790
791Date: Sun, 24 Oct 93 22:34:06 -0700
792From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
793
794>From: p.timm@genie.geis.com <p.timm/daemon>
795>
796>A) Can you play "Cyclopean Tomb" against an opponents land?
797
798Sure.
799
800>B) When using Zombie Master, can you regenerate ALL zombies in play for
801>just one black mana, or does it require one mana EACH?
802
803Each.
804
805--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
806
807Date: Tue, 26 Oct 93 08:06:03 -0700
808From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
809
810>     Someone is spreading the rumor around the game store where we
811>  get our Magic stuff that WotC are giving away new, previously unreleased
812>  cards at conferences or tournaments which will not be available 
813elsewhere.
814>  This sounds totally contrary to everything I know so far.
815
816As someone has pointed out, we now have poker decks with Magic backs
817for promotional purposes. No, you can't order them. :) Now, we DO
818intend eventually to have cards that are only available from us at
819conventions, perhaps included in the program packet or something like
820that, but we haven't done it yet.
821
822>    Okay!  That's a new phrase, "Lace cards affect the target 
823permanently, and
824>are discarded after use."  Does this mean that, (1) Lace cannot be
825>disenchanted, tranquilitied, or (in a later turn) spell blasted, and that 
826(2)
827>you could bring it back into your hand later with a spell that lets you 
828take
829>a card from your discard?
830
831Ya, sure, you betcha'
832
833>   Some other questions...  Two Raging Rivers...  Must the opponent divide
834>into three or four?  (We've suggested that when the player puts down a
835>second raging river, he has to decide which side the river is on, thus 
836it's
837>three with a middle channel.  It being 'magic' however, it could be played
838>as four.  Any official comment?
839
840Officially, two Raging Rivers make one extra long river. No three- or
841four-sided rivers.
842
843>    Mana Flare:  If I have multilands (which I tend to have a bunch of) 
844and
845>a Mana Flare comes out, what kind of Mana can I tap for?  I have been
846>playing, admittedly to my disadvantage, that if I pick a mana type to tap
847>it for, I get two of those.  It seems the most straightforward, but if the
848>official ruling is to pick, I certainly won't mind!  *grin*
849
850Two of whatver you choose.
851
852[ Darrell's note: I think he means "Two of WHICHever you chose", ie, two of ]
853[ one, or two of the other, not one of each. My reading, YMMV...            ]
854
855>   Winter Orb:  (I think...) You are only allowed to untap one land per
856>turn.  Creatures are not affected...  What if Living Lands is in play, and
857>my forests are 1/1 critters.  Can I untap them, or not?  The living lands
858>sounds like it makes Llanowar Elves out of all the land, basically.  We
859>treated them as critters initially, and untapped all forests as normal, 
860but
861>only one non-forest.
862
863That's what I think, but we're discussing an official ruling now...
864
865>    Living lands:  How does it affect multi-lands?  The obvious choice is 
866that
867>I would have, for example, a Taiga that I can either use as a 1/1 critter,
868>tap for green mana, or tap for red mana...
869
870I agree.
871
872>    Can you sacrifice the Lord of the Pit to himself, to keep him from 
873doing
874>you damage?
875
876No, he's just not that stupid. :)
877
878>    Does anybody else have the problem of playing Magic for many many 
879hours,
880>then reaching for a soda and calling back over your shoulder, "Okay, who
881>wants to tap some White Mana (Diet Coke) and who wants Red Mana?"  Some 
882folks
883>are now calling Mountain Dew as Green Mana, Coffee is Black Mana, and this
884>disgusting local brand of grape soda is Blue Mana.  (Most people play with
885>only one color of liquid mana around here...)
886
887You people are really strange. ;)
888
889>    Must you untap EVERYTHING which can be untapped (not taking into 
890account
891>things like paralyze, etc.), and must you draw a card every turn?  (The
892>primary focus of these two questions are the Hordes and the Vise.)
893
894Yes.
895
896>    Could you be more explicit about 'Until End Of Turn', or should I 
897REALLY
898>just wait for the second edition of the rules?  (For example, my Scryb 
899Sprites
900>have +3/+3 from Giant Growth until end of turn.  I attack with them.  My
901>turn completes, it becomes his turn.  Do 'Until End Of Turn' enchantments
902>get discarded then?
903
904Yes, that's when.
905
906>    If someone has two Personal Incarnations out at once, and Wrath of God
907>is played (I think that's the one), is that an instant kill?  (*shiver!*)
908>I would unfortunately guess that it is, since the damage from both is
909>applied at once...
910
911yes.
912
913>[regeneration]
914
915If a creature regenerates, it may not continue to participate in an
916attack.
917
918--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
919
920
921Date: Wed, 27 Oct 93 10:31:14 -0700
922From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
923
924[ can Lan'o'war elves use their manna to power a Regenerate on themselves?]
925
926Regenerating elves can indeed tap themselves to save their own bacon.
927For now.
928
929[ Lightning Bolt. Fork Lightning Bolt. If the Lightning Bolt is Countered, 
930does]
931[ the fork 
932fail?                                                               ]
933
934Fork only works on a spell that has been cast. If the spell is not
935cast, which is by definition "successfully cast," then Fork will
936fail. Counterspell the original, and Fork won't work.
937
938--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
939
940
941Date: Wed, 27 Oct 93 10:40:31 -0700
942From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
943
944[ My opponent plays Animate Dead on a creature in my graveyard, I Unsummon 
945]
946[ the creature. Does he go to my hand (unsummon) or my graveyard (animate  
947]
948[ dead)?                                                                   
949]
950
951If you Unsummon a creature your opponent has Animate Dead'ed, it
952goes into your hand. The text on Animate Dead is simply stating the
953obvious of what happens if you disenchant, and wasn't meant to
954override Unsummon. Oops.
955
956[ Can a regenerated creature do damage again after it was rengenerates? ]
957
958Any time a creature is regenerated, it may no longer participate in a
959battle from which it has been removed.
960
961And, yes, my secret is out, I'm not perfect. :o
962
963"Enchant Non-Creature Artifact" indeed. Bleh.
964
965>Sleight of Mind states that you can replace one color word with 
966another.   
967>Can you replace the word "colorless"?  Make a Sol Ring provide 2 blue 
968mana?
969
970No. Colorless is not a color. :)
971
972>Swords to Plowshares states that creature controller gains life equal to
973>creatures power.  Can I boost 12 red mana into my Dragon Whelp and then
974>StP him and get 14 lives? The whelp dies if more than 3 mana is put into 
975him,
976>which takes effect first? 
977
978The card says "at end of turn." can you StP it before then? Sure.
979
980>How about a goblin with firebreath kicked way up?
981
982Yes.
983
984--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
985
986Date: Wed, 3 Nov 93 19:43:48 -0800
987From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
988
989New rules, since the old ones are broken. Sigh.
990
991Untap: no fast effects or spells of any kind until the untap phase
992is finished.
993
994Paralyze: A typo. Untapping a paralyzed creature occurs during
995upkeep.
996
997--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
998
999Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 00:43:34 -0800
1000From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
1001
1002>>The text of Animate Artifact reads:
1003>>"Target artifact is now a creature with both power and toughness equal
1004>>to its casting cost; target retains all its original abilities as well.
1005>>This will destroy artifacts with 0 casting cost."
1006>>
1007>>Therefore, unless you have a way of changing the casting cost of the Mox 
1008(
1009>>do not believe it exists) animate artifact will -always- destroy the Mox.
1010>>Giant Growth doesn't keep it alive.
1011>
1012>Hrm.  I was thinking that since Giant Growth is an instant it would save
1013>the mox before it was destroyed.  So, are there any cards that will make
1014>an artifact into a 1/1 (or better) creature?
1015
1016Sigh. The card is simply pointing out what might not be obvious. If
1017"will destroy artifacts w/0 casting cost" weren't on there, then
1018we'd have a "What happens when..." question in the FAQ. I think using
1019the instant Giant Growth to prevent the death until a permanent
1020enchantment can hit the poor creature is brilliant. Just as Weakness
1021kills skeletons, the Holy Strength would save the Mox Monster.
1022
1023--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1024
1025Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 21:25:40 -0800
1026From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
1027
1028>bethmo says:
1029>
1030>I don't think so, unless Paralyze is another that changed wording when
1031>I wasn't looking.  :-)  Mine says
1032>
1033>        Target creature is not untapped as normal during untap phase
1034>        unless 4 mana are spent. Tap target creature when Paralyze is
1035>        cast.
1036>
1037>And Meekstone:
1038>
1039>        Any creature with power greater than 2 may not be untapped as
1040>        normal during the untap phase.
1041>
1042>Paralyze doesn't say "spend 4 mana to untap" -- if it did, you could
1043>untap any time, not just during untap phase.  Spending 4 mana gives
1044>it the potential to untap, but doesn't actually untap it.  Meekstone
1045>then steps in there and says "Whoa, no big creatures allowed!"
1046>
1047>At least, that's how I would read the combination.
1048>
1049>But if the Omnipotent and Omnibenevolent Snark rules otherwise, I will
1050>grovel at his feet and marvel at the greatness of his wisdom.  :-)
1051
1052Oops. Darn. It was so cool to have Paralyze, under certain esoteric
1053conditions, be a card you'd play on yourself. Actually, since one of
1054the conditions was to move Paralyze to Upkeep, it's not untapping as
1055normal anyway, anymore. Oh, dear, how complicated.
1056
1057>--------------
1058>From: Scott Nicholson <daemon>
1059>
1060>    I purchased two starter decks from a comic shop in
1061>  Oklahoma.  The two decks had the exact same composition.
1062>  Since these were the last two decks left in the area, I
1063>  was understandibly angered.
1064
1065This is an odd artifact of the manufacturing process. You don't get
1066random cards, you get a sequence of cards, and where the cards start
1067in the sequence is random. You had three pairs start in identical
1068places. What a drag.
1069
1070>-------------------
1071>From: "Jeremy C. York" <jeremy@stat.cmu.edu> <jeremy/daemon>
1072>
1073>Also, this "fix" of untapping a paralyzed creature during upkeep
1074>doesn't seem right to me -- if I a Meekstone is in play and my
1075>Craw Wurm has a Paralyze on it, it seems ridiculous to me that
1076>the Wurm should be able to untap *because* of the paralyze.
1077>*I* don't think this is "Cool!"
1078>
1079>How about "No fast effects that require casting a spell or
1080>tapping a permanent (other than land) during upkeep"
1081>
1082>So you can tap land in order to feed Paralyze, you can tap land
1083>to power a CoP...and not much else!
1084
1085Complicated.
1086
1087I know, this Un-Double-Poke fix causes other problems, but they're
1088all smaller than the original flaw. With a game this complicated,
1089there will always be problems, and we're working to clear as many as
1090possible for the 2nd ed. In the meantime, we all just get to glare at
1091each other a lot. Sigh.
1092
1093--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1094
1095
1096Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 22:15:11 -0800
1097From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
1098
1099>From: John Charles Fiala <jf2z+@andrew.cmu.edu> <jf2z+/daemon>
1100>
1101>The Blue Elemental Blast says, 'Cast to counter a red spell being cast
1102>or to destroy any red spell in play."
1103>
1104>Now, If I cast a blue elemental blast on a troll *in play*, I think the
1105>troll should die.  My erstwile opponent doesn't.  My argument, is that
1106>the card is destroyed, and the intent was that regenerating creatures
1107>would be killed.  His argument is that the card only says 'destoryed'
1108>and not 'destroyed w/o possiblity of regeneration', that the troll stays
1109>around, assuming you've got the R to regenerate it with.
1110
1111Ick. Well, I think the troll should die too, but that's not what the
1112card actually says. :( Destroyed=killed=can regenerate. Bleh.
1113
1114--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1115
1116Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 22:52:34 -0800
1117From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
1118
1119Oh, by the way, re: fork.
1120
1121"Any [spell] just cast is ...]
1122
1123Just cast. As in, just sucessfully cast. You have to stop the
1124Lightning Bold BEFORE the fork is cast. Until the Bolt is past tense,
1125you can't use Fork.
1126
1127There. <dusts hands>
1128
1129--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1130
1131Date: Tue, 16 Nov 93 10:35:33 -0800
1132From: Dave Howell <snark@wizards.com>
1133
1134A note on somebody's question.
1135
1136The Rock Hydra does have an X/X power/toughness, based on the mana
1137used to cast it. This happens to make Raise Dead completely useless
1138on this creature. Since it has no memory of its former life, it
1139can't use the X it had before, and X always defaults to 0 for
1140purposes of cost unless the spell was cast during the present turn.
1141Ergo, it's a -1/0 creature when raised. Oops.
1142
1143--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1144
1145Date: Sun, 21 Nov 93 09:07:41 -0800
1146From: Dave Howell <snark>
1147
1148>> 3a)  Tapping land happens at the speed of an interrupt.  If a variable 
1149cost
1150>> spell (eg. Fireball) is Spell Blasted, can more land be tapped and the 
1151mana
1152>> thrown into the spell to stop the Fire Ball from being countered?
1153>>
1154>
1155>Yes
1156
1157No. Unlike fast effects, you must set the cost of an X in the casting
1158cost when you first take the card from your hand.
1159
1160>> 5a)  A 4/4 Nightmare is hit with a Lightning Bolt, then one of his
1161>> supporting swamps is destroyed.  Is he then a 3/3 Nightmare with 3 
1162Points
1163>> of damage (dead) or a 3/3 Nightmare with 2 Points of damage (alive)?  In
1164>> other words, can the owner choose to remove one of the damaged points of
1165>> toughness or not?
1166>
1167>Nightmare is dead, it has taken three damage, and then its 3/3 wich means
1168>its dead.  You can't dispose of the missing life points its just damage
1169>accumulation vs. current toughness.
1170
1171A 4/4 Nightmare becomes a 4/1 nightmare. The loss of a swamp means it
1172becomes a 3/1 Nightmare. The creature's toughness is reset at the
1173end. The issue of accounting for damage as total damage done vs.
1174toughness left is very subtle, and is not explained anywhere in the
1175rules.
1176
1177>Okay.  If you think this wording is ambiguous, you're not thinking it
1178>through.  If by dies, you mean the whole go-to-the-graveyard process,
1179>then *NO* card that dies can be regenerated, as regenerate can only
1180>ever be played at the moment of death.  If that's what was meant, then
1181>disintigrate just has a silly tautology on it.
1182
1183I'm afraid Disintegrate has a silly tautology on it.
1184
1185>So, does the Kormus Bell make them into creatures *instead* of land,
1186>or creatures *in addition to* land?
1187
1188In addition to.
1189
1190>> I think that the intent of Consecrate Land was simply that no
1191>> enchantments except Consecrate Land could affect that land.  Why is
1192>> that so hard?
1193
1194Because you don't get to play a card based on the intent, but only on
1195the words printed. We wish this weren't necessarily true, but it's
1196the only vaguely fair way to play.
1197
1198>That may have been the intent, but then why would Snark have said 
1199otherwise
1200>at OryCon? An update or clarification may change this, but currently, by 
1201the
1202>rules in the book, the FAQ, and the "official" postings I've seen so far, 
1203a
1204>Concecrated Land can be affected by Living Lands.
1205
1206Exactly.
1207
1208>I play the black spell "Word of Command" on my opponent.
1209>He has a Disintegrate spell in his hand, which I want him
1210>to use on one of HIS creatures (this is a legal target for
1211>the Disintegrate spell).  My opponent claims that HE, NOT I,
1212>decides the amount of additional mana pumped into the
1213>Disintegrate (the "X" of the casting cost), as it is legal to cast
1214>it with a strength of zero.  His claim is based on the phrase
1215>"legal spell" on the WoC card (don't have the full text handy,
1216
1217Casting with 0 is legal, as is casting with any other value up to the
1218amount of non-spell mana available. Clearly a decision must be made,
1219and Word of Command says you get to make it.
1220
1221><Stuff about vampire w/ lance and 11 1/1 creatures deleted>
1222>
1223>>Bzzt. Vamp w/ Lance kills four and does not suffer any damage from
1224>them because
1225>>of the Lance which allows him to kill them before they can touch him. 
1226Lance
1227>>gives a creature First Strike.
1228>
1229>The interesting thing about this question is that the vampire gets the
1230>counters when the creature dies.  The creatures don't technically die
1231>until they hit the graveyard, because they could be regenerated after
1232>the damage phase.  All damage is simultanious.  So the vampire kills 4
1233>of the creatures, but takes another 7 points of damage BEFORE it gets
1234>the counters.  I think the vampire would die.
1235
1236This is really interesting. According to our revised, expanded
1237sequence of play, dead=goes to graveyard, and creatures go at the end
1238of battle. The vampire wouldn't get the points until then, after the
1239non-first strike creatures can do damage back. Vampire dies.
1240
1241--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1242
1243Date: Mon, 22 Nov 93 14:10:27 -0800
1244From: Dave Howell <snark>
1245
1246Ladies and Gentlemen, I regret having wasted people's time on the
1247Fork/Counterspell issue. What happens is the interaction between the
1248Fork spell being an Interrupt, the fact that the card says "just
1249cast," (past tense), and the definition of casting, which actually
1250was codified after the game was released. I have been basing my
1251rulings on the phrase "just cast," but the message below is clear and
1252concise enough to bring out the utter paradox between this and the
1253Interrupt rules. Fork cannot both be an interrupt and affect spells
1254"just cast." Ergo, "just" is a typo. Please replace it with the word
1255"being," it affects spells "being cast."
1256
1257
1258>What I'm interested in is if we have consensus on my CONCLUSIONS below.
1259>Only a fraction of this is a re-hash of what's already gone by.  For
1260>reference, this is the text of Fork:
1261>
1262>  "Any sorcery or instant spell just cast is doubled.  Treat Fork as an 
1263exact
1264>  copy of the target spell except that Fork remains red.  Copy and 
1265original
1266>  may have different targets."
1267>
1268>HYPOTHESIS 1
1269>------------
1270>The phrase "just cast" is equivalent to "successfully cast."  At the 
1271moment
1272>Lightning Bolt becomes "just cast" the opponent takes 3 damage.
1273
1274True. 
1275
1276>COROLLARY 1.1
1277>-------------
1278>In order to successfully Fork my Lightning Bolt, I must wait until it
1279>becomes "just cast."
1280
1281No longer true. You *must* interrupt the Lightning Bolt before it's
1282done being cast.
1283
1284>COROLLARY 1.2
1285>-------------
1286>If I interrupt my Lightning Bolt with my Fork, then my Fork will not be
1287>able to use the Lightning Bolt as the target, because the Lightning Bolt 
1288is
1289>not the "just cast" spell.
1290
1291Also no longer true.
1292
1293>CONCLUSION 1.1
1294>--------------
1295>If my opponent takes the damage from the Lightning Bolt, and then I Fork
1296>the Lightning Bolt, he can no longer Counterspell the Lightning Bolt--only
1297>the Fork.  IS THIS CORRECT?
1298
1299No. He can counterspell either. The counterspell will take effect
1300first, since it was cast later, leaving no spell for the Fork to
1301fork.
1302
1303>CONCLUSION 1.2
1304>--------------
1305>To run a series of Forks off one Lightning Bolt, you must successfully 
1306cast
1307>the Lightning Bolt, then successfully cast a Fork (which will become a
1308>Lightning Bolt, do 3 damage, and become "just cast" all at the same time),
1309>then successfully cast a 2nd Fork on the 1st Fork (which is now a 
1310Lightning
1311>Bolt), etc.  There is no interrupting taking place here.  IS THIS CORRECT?
1312
1313No.
1314
1315>CONCLUSION 1.3
1316>--------------
1317>(Already answered by Snark, but restated here.)  I cast Lightning Bolt, my
1318>opponent interrupts with Counterspell, and I interrupt with Fork.  What
1319>happens?  Nothing.  No Lightning Bolt (it is Counterspelled), and my Fork
1320>could succeed IF I point it at the spell "just cast" which is the last
1321>spell successfully cast BEFORE the Lightning Bolt.  IS THIS CORRECT?
1322
1323You can get the effect you want by forking the Counterspell, and
1324counterspelling it back, leaving the lightning bolt to succeed on its
1325own. Your Fork will create a copy of the spell in progress, the
1326counterspell, and finish its effects before the counterspell
1327realizes it's failed. Your interrupt takes effect first.
1328Strange but true.
1329
1330>CONCLUSION 1.4
1331>--------------
1332>Assume I have two Forks and a Lightning Bolt.  I cast the Lightning Bolt,
1333>and assume my opponent lets it succesfully complete.  Then I cast Fork, 
1334but
1335>my opponent Counterspells the Fork.  I let the Counterspell successfully
1336>complete.  Oops!  I no longer have access to my original Lightning Bolt,
1337>because the spell "just cast" is the Counterspell.  IS THIS CORRECT?
1338
1339No. However you can counter the counterspell as seen above.
1340
1341>CONCLUSION 1.5
1342>--------------
1343>Assume I have two Forks and a Lightning Bolt.  I cast the Lightning Bolt,
1344>and assume my opponent lets it succesfully complete.  Then I cast Fork #1.
1345>My opponent interrupts with Counterspell.  I interrupt with Fork #2.  
1346(Fork
1347|JM

1348
2uKW-HK$]4e original Lightning Bolt, as that is the spell "just
1349>cast.")  For the resolution, we flip to page 30 of the rulebook:
1350>
1351>  "If the same spell [ Fork #1 ] has more than one interrupt [ 
1352Counterspell,
1353>  Fork #2 ] done during its casting, the caster [ me ] of that spell [ 
1354Fork
1355>  #1 ] does his or her interrupts first [ Fork #2 ], regardless of 
1356whether it
1357>  was announced first."
1358>
1359>(Side note: There is an error in this sentence, where the singular "it" 
1360has
1361>a plural antecedent, "interrupts."  Presumably, "it was" should be "they
1362>were.")  So the sequence is: Fork #1 is interrupted by Fork #2 is
1363>interrupted by Counterspell.  The resolution is Counterspell counters Fork
1364>#1 (which was the target of the Counterspell, never mind the fact that 
1365Fork
1366>#2 has technically fired off in between!) and Fork #2 successfully
1367>completes, becoming a Lightning Bolt and doing 3 damage to the opponent.
1368>IS THIS CORRECT?
1369
1370The results are correct.
1371
1372>CONCLUSION 1.6
1373>--------------
1374>Assume I have two Forks and a Lightning Bolt.  I cast the Lightning Bolt,
1375>and assume my opponent lets it succesfully complete.  Then I cast Fork #1.
1376>My opponent interrupts with Counterspell.  I interrupt with Fork #2.  My
1377>opponent interrupts with Counterspell #2.  (I am not making this up.)  For
1378>the resolution, use the same rule as in CONCLUSION 1.5 above.  The 
1379sequence
1380>is: Fork #1 is interrupted by Fork #2 is interrupted by Counterspell #1 is
1381>interrupted by Counterspell #2.  Counterspell #2 counters Fork #2,
1382>Counterspell #1 counters Fork #1, and nothing happens.  But wait!  Now
1383>apply the same rule to Counterspell #1:
1384>
1385>  "If the same spell [ Counterspell #1 ] has more than one interrupt [ 
1386Fork
1387>  #2, Counterspell #2 ] done during its casting, the caster [ my opponent 
1388] of
1389>  that spell [ Counterspell #1 ] does his or her interrupts first
1390>  [ Counterspell #2 ], regardless of whether it was announced first."
1391>
1392>So the sequence is: Fork #1 is interrupted by Counterspell #1 is
1393>interrupted by Counterspell #2 is interrupted by Fork #2.  The resolution
1394>is Fork #2 successfully completes, becoming a Lightning Bolt and doing 3
1395>damage to the opponent, Counterspell #2 fizzles because its target is 
1396gone,
1397>Counterspell #1 counters Fork #1.  IS THIS CORRECT?
1398
1399<blink> The solution is to cast Counterspell #2 during Fork #2, since you
1400cannot play both forks w/o allowing the other player to respond. You play
1401F1, you opponent plays C1 during F1, you play F2 during C1, and your
1402opponent plays C2 during F2. Only C2 is extant during F2, so F2 dies. C1 is
1403during F1, so it dies. The rule quoted above is ambiguous. Choice of frames
1404is everything here.
1405
1406>TOTAL CONFUSION 1.7
1407>-------------------
1408>How does the next sentence in the rulebook, on page 31, apply?  It reads:
1409>
1410>  "Interrupts take effect immediately, unless they themselves are 
1411interrupted,
1412>  in which case you resolve their interruptions first."
1413
1414That's intended to de-ambiguize the above ruling. :)
1415
1416>So what's the deal?  Do we resolve the interrupts 1 by 1 (in which case, 
1417we
1418>have clear pairs of Fork vs. Counterspell) or do we start moving 
1419interrupts
1420>around according to whose perspective and which spell?
1421
1422The former.
1423
1424Where's my ibuprofin?
1425
1426>1)  Volcanic Eruption
1427>
1428>The situation is that I have two mountains, my opponent has three.  He
1429>also has an Ironwood Tree out.  I cast Volcanic Eruption.
1430>
1431>Can I spend 5 mana do destroy the Ironwood tree even though my opponent
1432>has only two mountains?
1433
1434Yes.
1435
1436>If I do spend 5 mana, do my mountains have to be destroyed as well?
1437
1438Yes.
1439
1440>2)  Power Surge
1441>
1442>When Power Surge is cast, does it go into effect immediately?  If so, it
1443>is one HECK of an ambush spell...just wait till your opponent has 15 mana,
1444>but doesn't use any of it, and whamo!
1445
1446When played it applies to the next person to have an untap phase.
1447
1448>3)  Mana Barb
1449>
1450>If you have a Circle of Protection:  Red, does this protect against Mana
1451>Barb, which is a red spell?  Even though in order to get the protection, 
1452you
1453>must tap mana, which does a point of damage, and to avoid that, you need
1454>to tap another, to avoid more...etc etc.
1455
1456Exactly. The only way to make a CoP:red work against manabarbs is to have
1457some non-land mana available.
1458
1459>4)  Upkeep
1460>
1461>If a card is out that does damage during upkeep (Copper Tablet, Feedback),
1462>does it do damage if you have no cards that require upkeep?
1463
1464Oh, yes. You still have an upkeep phase every turn, even if you don't do
1465anything during it.
1466
1467>1. The difference between the special ability of regeneration and
1468>   the enchant creature 'Regeneration' is that the later can be
1469>   disenchanted, affected by tranquility etc, i.e. can be removed from
1470>   play separately.                                ===
1471
1472True.
1473
1474>2. An attacking creature cannot regenerate, neither by abilty nor by
1475>   enchant creature cast before, because it is tapped. (page 24, 27)
1476
1477False.
1478
1479>3. An attacking creature can regenerate by death ward.
1480
1481True.
1482
1483>4. A regenerating attacking creature deals damage. (page 26)
1484
1485False.
1486
1487>5. A by death ward regenerating creature (attacking or defending) deals
1488>   damage.
1489
1490False.
1491
1492>6. The enchant creature 'Firebreathing' lasts until end of turn. (each
1493>   use of mana to boost the power.) (in analogy to page 29)
1494
1495True.
1496
1497>7. An in my last turn freshly summoned creature can defend in my opponents
1498>   following turn, unless it somehow becomes tapped.
1499
1500True.
1501
1502>PS: Comes the unlimited printrun with new rules or are they due for the 
1503revised
1504>    edition?
1505
1506Revised.
1507
1508>        1) The rules don't specifically say that you can use the banding
1509>ability during blocking.  Does that mean you can't band 5 creatures
1510>together to block, and decide which one dies?
1511
1512You can do exactly that. You don't see this from p. 28?
1513
1514>        2) I have a green creature/w green ward on it.  Does it mean
1515>tranquality (green spell) can still get rid of the enchantment?
1516
1517Yes.
1518
1519>        3) My Personal Incarnation gets swords to plowshare.
1520>Technically, PI isn't destroyed.  Do I still lose half life?
1521
1522No.
1523
1524>   What is the exact ruling on this seemingly nasty creature, in terms
1525>of 'each time the fungusaur is damaged'?  Does this mean that you can
1526>use three Prodigal Sorcerers on it in your turn (now a 5/5 creature) then
1527>two more in your opponents turn (now 7/7). 
1528
1529If you've got 5 Tims, yes.
1530
1531 What about in attack phases?
1532>When attacking, does it receive +1/+1 for each creature blocking (and 
1533doing
1534>damage), or +1/+1 once for the whole bunch?
1535
15361 for the bunch, since they're simultaneous.
1537
1538>   Taking a look at the Sengir vampire which seems like the Fungusaur's
1539>opposite (but definitely not its equal), it looks like the Fungusaur 
1540should
1541>have read 'Each turn the Fungusaur is damaged...'
1542
1543It should have, but didn't. Our mistake.
1544
1545--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1546
1547Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 04:14:01 -0800
1548From: Dave Howell <snark>
1549
1550>From: mathiesen@brhep1.physics.brown.edu <mathiesen/daemon>
1551>
1552>    Actually, the text of island sanctuary says: "cannot be attacked by
1553>creatures other than flying and islandwalking creatures", not "can't be
1554>damaged."  So the imp nettles, creature can't attack anything, and is
1555>destroyed.
1556
1557Actually, it says both. This is a card that changed between the alpha
1558and beta parts of the first print run. :)
1559
1560>From: Jeff Alexander <jwa@zap.iipo.gtegsc.com> <jwa/daemon>
1561>
1562>     Personally, I believe playing with decks that have been modified
1563>by trading and card omission to be fair, since A) the rulebook implies
1564>that these things can and should be done, and I'm willing to give the
1565>game designers the benefit of the doubt; B) trading can be fun; C)
1566>playing with the same deck all the time can be boring -- furthermore,
1567>playing with the same, weak deck that puts your chance of winning more
1568>in the hands of luck than skill is frustrating (and I DON'T like the
1569>alternative of buying a whole new Starter Deck because I got a "bad"
1570>one); and D) some cards are *just* *plain* ANNOYING (Copper Tablet,
1571>anyone?).
1572
1573Your best clue is that we advertise it as a "Trading Card Game." You
1574are supposed to win and trade for new cards, and we certainly expect
1575you to put those cards in your deck if you choose.
1576
1577>From: kimbo@netcom.com (Kimbo Beattie) <kimbo/daemon>
1578>
1579>I have two Frozen Shades in play.  I tap five Swamps.  The text for
1580>the Frozen Shade says "B:/+1/+1 until the end of turn.
1581>What happens?  Do I have two 5/6 Frozen Shades?  Does mana spent to
1582
1583It costs one black mana to pump a shade. If you use 5 black mana to
1584power one special effect, the other shade will get nothing.
1585
1586>From: ulbrikg0@seraph1.sewanee.edu (Karl G. Ulbrich) <ulbrikg0/daemon>
1587>
1588>1. Suppose Kudzu is cast on a land.  Each time that land is tapped, and
1589>   thus destroyed, the Kudzu is replaced on another land card.  Suppose
1590>   however that someone uses Sinkhole or Stone Rain on the Kudzued land.
1591>   The land is destroyed, but it hasn't been tapped.  Is the Kudzu
1592>   discarded, or is it moved to another land as it would be if the
1593>   land was destroyed as a result of the Kudzu?
1594
1595Discarded.
1596
1597>2. If the Cockatrice blocks or is blocked by a creature that can 
1598regenerate,
1599>   can the creature regenerate?  The cockatrice card says the critter is
1600>   "destroyed", but I don't know if that means it's dead, and can thus
1601>   regenerate, or dead without possibility of regeneration.  (I say it's
1602>   destroyed and can't regenerate, but there's dissention in the ranks...)
1603
1604"Destroyed" = "Killed" = "may regenerate"
1605
1606In this edition, we always say "without possibility of regeneration."
1607Somttime (maybe Feb. or Mar.), we'll have new cards that use "buried"
1608to mean "dead without possibility of regen."
1609
1610--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1611
1612Date: Tue, 30 Nov 93 11:43:54 -0800
1613From: Dave Howell <snark>
1614
1615>From: kimbo@netcom.com (Kimbo Beattie) <kimbo/daemon>
1616>
1617>Example:  Conversion (all Mountains treated as Plains) is in play.  I
1618>draw and play a Consecrate Land on one of my enchanted (via the 
1619Conversion)
1620>Mountains.  Does the enchanted Mountain revert back to a "true" Mountain?
1621
1622Afraid not. It is not being enchanted itself, although it is being
1623influenced by an enchantment, a dreadfully subtle point, I admit.
1624
1625>From: ullfig@fnrobo.fnal.gov (Roberto Ullfig) <ullfig/daemon>
1626>
1627>Q. Does a Disenchant cancel the -effects- of the Island
1628>Sanctuary or does the controller of the Island Sanctuary
1629>continue to get the benefits of it until his next turn,
1630>even though it may not be in play anymore?
1631
1632The benefits of Island Sanctuary would cease immediately.
1633
1634>From: ullfig@fnrobo.fnal.gov (Roberto Ullfig) <ullfig/daemon>
1635>
1636>Tap the Tome, draw a card and use that card to prevent the
1637>damage from the Wandelust. In this instance the card that was
1638>drawn was a Swords to Ploughshares which I could play on my
1639>Goblins, destroying them, taking 1 point from Wanderlust and
1640>gaining 1 point from Swords to Ploughshars leaving me with
1641>1 life point and no Goblins or Wanderlust.
1642
1643That would work.
1644
1645>From: ullfig@fnrobo.fnal.gov (Roberto Ullfig) <ullfig/daemon>
1646>
1647>Q. Are Forests which are -living- because of Living Lands treated
1648>as Land-Creatures and effected by spells affecting both Lands and
1649>Creatures or are they treated as Creatures which can be tapped for
1650>1 mana like Llanowar Elves?
1651
1652They are Land-Creatures, still susceptible to sinkhole and the like.
1653
1654>From: Kai Chang <enkadu@eden.rutgers.edu> <enkadu/daemon>
1655>
1656>        The text of the Jade Statue says spend 2 mana to turn into a
1657>creature.  Does that mean after it's a creature I can do instants like 
1658Jump
1659>on it?
1660
1661That's correct.
1662
1663>        2)      My opponent attacks with a War Mammoth.  I defend with 2
1664>creatures, not banded.  He claims that he could assigned enough damage to
1665>kill one creature and then to me.  I say he can get to me only if he gets
1666>pass all the toughness of all the defending creatures.  He says the 
1667trample
1668>ability (as stated in the rules book) only mentioned 1 defending creature.
1669>Who is right?
1670
1671He is. If a trampler puts all its power on a weak spot and gets
1672through, damage is done to the other player, even if other creatures
1673used in defense are unharmed.
1674
1675>        3)      If my opponent casts a Control Magic on my creature, and 
1676then
1677>I cast a Control Magic, who now controls the creature?
1678
1679You do. If your Control Magic is dispelled, then it snaps back to
1680her, unless her CM is dispelled, allowing the creature to return
1681home.
1682
1683>        4)      If I have a Firebreathing on a creature, and my opponent
1684>casts control magic, who is the controller of the firebreathing?
1685
1686You are still.
1687
1688>        5)      If there is a creature with flight and earthbind on it, 
1689and
1690>the flight is taken off, will the earthbind be taken off also (I argue yes
1691>because the card specifically targets flying creatures).
1692
1693Nope. You must *cast* it on a flying creature, but if an enchantment
1694becomes illegal after it is cast, it just sits around hoping it will
1695become legal again later.
1696
1697>        6)      I have a living wall.  My opponent casts a shatter 
1698artifact
1699>on it.  Can I regenerate?  Can I regenerate from a Disenchantment?  
1700(There is
1701>a text difference between the two.)
1702
1703You can regenerate from shatter. You cannot from disenchant.
1704
1705>From: "Kohler, Steve*" <kohler#m#_steve*@msgate.corp.apple.com> 
1706<kohler#m#_steve
1707>
1708>Unlimited Edition:
1709>How compatible will these cardbacks be with the other runs?  If they are 
1710then
1711>no problem.  If not then since this will be the most common cardback 
1712around
1713>(due to the lack of limit on printing quantity) any extra cards players 
1714have
1715>from the limited print runs will have less value as playing cards.
1716
1717Identical within our manufacturing ability.
1718
1719>From: ullfig@fnrobo.fnal.gov (Roberto Ullfig) <ullfig/daemon>
1720>
1721>If you clone a 20-headed Rock Hydra do you then have 2 20-headed Rock 
1722Hydras,
1723>one of which only costs 4 mana to summon instead of the normal 22?
1724
1725Yes.
1726
1727>just remembering things like Animate Dead and such. I myself
1728>would think it would be neat in the future to have spells
1729>(maybee "Permanent Sorcery") that would have a permanent effect
1730>on a duel.
1731
1732We have such things. They're called "enchantments." :)
1733
1734>So did you set mail to ack so you could get messages instead
1735>of digests? I did and it seems to work. Doesn't make sense
1736>with what the guy from WotC said. Was he lying?
1737
1738That just means we didn't lock the change down. If enough people
1739change over, we'll get tossed off our mail link.
1740
1741>>  Hi, I ran in to a couple of problems tonight while playing.  The first
1742>>involved a clone.  Someone tried to red elemental blast a clone that was
1743>>cloneing a serra angel.  What I figured was that the clone became a white
1744>>card, and could not be blasted, the other guy thoght that the CREATURE 
1745was
1746>>white, but the card was blue.
1747
1748The creature is the card. It was all white, there was no blue left
1749after the cloning process.
1750
1751>>  Second, can the basalt monolith [the new card, not the 1st printing 
1752one]
1753>>be untapped during someone else's turn, i.e. not during upkeep.  Again, I
1754>>thought no, the other guy thought yes.  The wording on both cards is a 
1755little
1756>>vague...
1757
1758You can untap it at any time.
1759
1760>From: Mike Evans <AXMEV@asuvm.inre.asu.edu> <axmev/daemon>
1761>
1762>>Earthbind states that it does 2 damage to the target creature who also 
1763loses
1764>>the flying ability.  Does the 2 points of damage occur EACH turn or is 
1765it only
1766>>when the enchantment is cast?
1767>
1768>It's an Enchantment..so That creature now is two points less on Toughness
1769>until enchantment is gone, also can't fly. If it kills creature, Creature
1770>is dead.
1771
1772Ah, but it doesn't say "0/-2" it says Damage. It takes two points of
1773damage when the card is first played, then never causes that damage
1774again.
1775
1776>From: Brian Markenson <brianm@soda.berkeley.edu> <brianm/daemon>
1777>
1778>A question of my own regarding this:  My opponent casts power surge.  I
1779>did nothing on the previous turn, so I have 17 untapped mana.  Do I have
1780>the opportunity to do things AT THE BEGINNING OF MY TURN?  Instants and
1781>such.  For example, can I somehow make use of my guardian angel?  Tap my
1782>white mana, and then tap all the rest of it?  Or something like
1783>that...Obviously, this is happening BEFORE the untap phase, I guess...how
1784>does this play with the rule that I heard of last week--no instants or
1785>spells, during the untap phase...I'd really like an answer to this one.
1786
1787You will take the damage. During upkeep, you have the opportunity to
1788respond to events that occured at the start of the turn, like this
1789damage, if you live that long. 
1790
1791--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1792
1793Date: Thu, 2 Dec 93 01:46:10 -0800
1794From: Dave Howell <snark>
1795
1796>Q1: I know this has been asked before and I know it is explicitly
1797>stated in the FAQ, I would just like OFFICIAL confirmation that
1798>the FAQ is accurate.  According to the FAQ, only 1 defender has to have
1799>banding ability for all the defenders to band and block a critter.
1800>(Ie, my 4 Unicorns and 1 Benalish hero are considered a band
1801>if they all block the same attacking creature)..  Is this correct?
1802
1803The FAQ is officially official. Really. Just like it says. The
1804section this part refers to is simply a repetition of what the
1805rulebook says.
1806
1807>Q3: Again, this sacrifice thing.  Is Swords to Plowshares a spell that 
1808causes
1809>a creature to be sacrificed or does sacrifice ONLY refer to spells
1810>which SAY sacrifice?
1811
1812It's not a sacrifice.
1813
1814>Q4: Strange scenario(perhaps invalid depending on the answer to my above
1815>2 questions).  I cast Howl From Beyond on, say, a Grizzly and pump him
1816>up to a 10 Power.  I then cast Berserk on him, pumping him up to a 20
1817>Power with trample.  From the card, it says, "If it(the creature) attacks,
1818>target creature i destroyed at end of turn."  I attack my opponent.
1819>After combat is over the grizzly is still alive but I know
1820>at the end of the turn it will die, so I cast Swords to Plowshares on it.
1821>(as far as I know, this is legal).  My opponent beleives that this is a
1822>sacrifice situation and plays Deathward on the Grizzly which keeps
1823
1824Your opponent may not play deathward to stop StP.
1825
1826>Can i Twiddle the mana for a spell while it is cast, therefore causing the
1827>spell to fizzle?
1828
1829Not unless your opponent is very foolish, since tapping for mana is
1830an interrupt, and Twiddle is an Instant. They can always tap for mana
1831faster than you can twiddle.
1832
1833>>Q2: This has to do with regeneration and sacrifices.  There have been
1834>>2 conflicting rulings on this.  One interpretation says that
1835>>creatures which are sacrificed cannot be regenerated.  The other says 
1836that
1837>>if the creature being sacrificed is regenerated, the sacrifice is 
1838invalid.
1839>>Which is correct?
1840>
1841>Both, because there are two forms of sacrifice and each ruling applies to
1842
1843The regeneration stopping a sacrifice rule has ONLY been posted in
1844the preliminary draft of the new rules, and has never been official
1845for any version of magic, nor will it be, since we've changed that
1846since that draft was released.
1847
1848>    Is the creation of an artifact a spell? I. e. can I spellblast my
1849>opponents Icy Manipulator or black vise or whatever?  I realize that once
1850>it is created the various counterspells are useless...
1851
1852Yes.
1853
1854>Does the Chaos Orb destroy only those cards it is in contact with when it
1855>stops moving, or all cards that it touches while moving?
1856
1857Stops moving.
1858
1859>Is the Jade Statue tapped to attack while it is a creature? It is a poly
1860>artifact, and it states that it is only a creature for the duration of the
1861>"exchange". However, attacking creatures are tapped, and when attacking, 
1862the
1863>Jade Statue is a creature. When it ceases to be a creature, does it untap?
1864>I tend to believe not.
1865
1866You're correct. It taps when it attacks, and it stays tapped until
1867untap phase.
1868
1869>Can the Jade Statue hold creature enchantments? It is described as an 
1870artifact
1871>creature, which normally can, but it also states that it is only a 
1872creature
1873>for the duration of an attack or defense, which indicates not. I'm not 
1874sure
1875>on this one.
1876
1877Normally, there's no way to cast a creature enchantment on the Jade
1878Statue.
1879
1880>Can a tapped creature regenerate?
1881>
1882>Can Death Ward be used on a tapped creature?
1883
1884Same question. Yes to both.
1885
1886>Can excess mana in your mana pool (caused by, say, Mana Flare or 
1887whatever) be
1888>used to power Circles of Protection or other such spells/artifacts when 
1889there
1890>is no use for them? Can the mana be used to regenerate creatures which 
1891have
1892>not died? I tend to say no to both of these.
1893
1894Generally, no.
1895
1896>Can excess mana in your mana pool be used to increase the stats on a Holy
1897>Armor, Firebreathing, or similar enchantment? Can it be used to raise the
1898>stats on a Frozen Shade, Granite Gargoyle, or similar creature? On these, 
1899I
1900>tend to say yes.
1901
1902Correct again.
1903
1904>When a Lich enchantment is dispelled (Disenchant or Tranquility), does the
1905>player who had the enchantment die, or is he returned to his original life
1906>point level?
1907
1908As the card will tell you, the player dies.
1909
1910>When a Time Vault is untapped, is the player untapping it required to pay
1911>any upkeep costs? Such as Lord of the Pit, Force of Nature, or similar
1912>card? (We found an effective use for this in team play; use Lord of the 
1913Pit,
1914>slaughter an opponent or two, and when you run out of creatures, untap the
1915>Time Vault and let your partner Unsummon the Lord of the Pit...)
1916
1917Clever, and legal.
1918
1919>If a Twiddle or Icy Manipulator is used to tap a land, does the owner of 
1920the
1921>land gain mana into his or her mana pool? If said land has a Wild Growth
1922>on it, does that enchantment place mana into the mana pool?
1923
1924No, and yes. See the FAQ.
1925
1926>Can a Twiddle be used to untap a land so that it may be tapped again for 
1927mana?
1928
1929Sure.
1930
1931>Can a Twiddle or the Icy Manipulator be used to tap a Circle of 
1932Protection,
1933>thus making it useless until that player's next untap phase? (A reason to
1934>cast multiple CoP's.)
1935
1936See the cards. They cannot be used to tap enchantments. As a matter
1937of fact, enchantments >never< tap, although they may be on a card
1938that taps.
1939
1940>Can a Circle of Protection: Green be used to prevent damage caused by not
1941>paying upkeep for the Force of Nature? Can a Circle of Protection: Black 
1942be
1943>used to prevent damage caused by not paying upkeep for a Lord of the Pit?
1944
1945Yes.
1946
1947>An Icy Manipulator may be used to tap a creature. Can the Royal Assassin
1948>then be used an instant later to kill that creature?
1949
1950Yes.
1951
1952>The Royal Assassin is tapped to destroy one of my creatures, which is a 
1953fast
1954>effect. I play a Twiddle in an attempt to tap the Royal Assassin. Do both
1955>effects happen simultaneously, or does the Twiddle happen first because it
1956>was the most recently played fast effect? i.e., is the target creature 
1957dead?
1958
1959They're instants, and not contradictory. Both happen. See the FAQ.
1960
1961>The Prodigal Sorcerer is used to do a point of damage to my Royal 
1962Assassin.
1963>I play a Red Elemental Blast, an Interrupt, to destroy the Prodigal 
1964Sorcerer
1965>(a blue card in play). Does Tim get to poke my Royal Assassin, or does the
1966>Red Elemental Blast destroy it first? (I'm not sure on the timing of a 
1967fast
1968>effect vs. an Interrupt.)
1969
1970Interrupt wins. Nasty.
1971
1972>I have a Circle of Protection: Blue. My opponent places a Power Drain on 
1973my
1974>Circle of Protection. I must tap two lands to feed the Power Drain to 
1975prevent
1976>taking damage. May I tap one land, feed the mana into the Circle of 
1977Protection,
1978>and avoid damage that way?
1979
1980Yes.
1981
1982>I have the Venduran Enchantress in play. I cast a Weakness upon it, 
1983killing
1984>her. Am I allowed to draw another card to replace the Weakness? (Actually 
1985came
1986>up; I was rather desperate for a life saving card, and ended up drawing a
1987>Howl from Beyond that saved by life; I eventually lost anyways, but much 
1988later,
1989>after much combat.
1990
1991Yes, they're both instants.
1992
1993--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1994
1995Date: Thu, 9 Dec 93 23:36:28 -0800
1996From: Dave Howell <snark>
1997
1998>There is some overlap with the FAQ (BTW, someone really should post that 
1999again
2000>sometime soon for the new people... it has been 6 weeks since the last 
2001one).
2002
2003New subscribers are automatically sent the FAQ.
2004
2005>The caster of an enchantement is forever considered its controller. But
2006>if the enchantment is placed on another card, only the controller of the
2007>other card can spend mana to drive enchantments.  (?)
2008
2009Not true. The controller of an enchantment is the *only* person who
2010can spend mana on it, unless the card indicates otherwise. There is
2011presently no "control enchantment" spell.
2012
2013>Unsure if trample damage works from the defender.  Rulebook hints that it
2014>does not (?)
2015
2016Correct.
2017
2018>Animate Artifact:
2019>  Artifact is now an Artifact-Creature and abides by creature rules while
2020>    still being an artifact as well.
2021>  If cast on an artifact-creature, the previous combat values and rules 
2022for
2023>    combat values are overridden by this enchantment. [Snark]
2024
2025No! No! My error haunts me still! It can't be cast on Artifact
2026Creatures, according to the card itself.
2027
2028>Island Sanctuary:
2029>  Does not prevent creatures from attacking you, it just prevents damage 
2030from
2031>    any non-flying or IslandWalk creatures.
2032
2033This depends on which version of Island Sanctuary you have. One says
2034they may not attack, the other says they can attack, but can't damage
2035you.
2036
2037>Twiddle:
2038>  Can be used to untap the Time Vault without skipping a turn [Snark]
2039>  Tapping a continuous artifact deactivates it.
2040>  The alpha printing card did not limit effect to just creatures, land
2041>    and artifacts.  It can be used to tap enchantments.
2042
2043It said no such thing. >:( Enchantments never tap.
2044
2045>
2046>"You lose all the mana in your mana pool if you do not use it before a
2047>phase ends.  The mana pool is also cleared when an attack begins and
2048>when an attack ends.  You lose a life point for each mana lost in this
2049>manner."
2050>
2051>By normal english grammar, the last sentence affects only the sentence
2052>before it, not the first.  (It uses the singluar "this," refering to
2053>only one "manner" while there are two "manners" in which the mana pool
2054>may be cleared.)
2055
2056Those silly rules. Any unspent mana, whether at the end of a phase or
2057before or after the attack subphase, causes mana burn.
2058
2059>You have a Force of Nature, which you just attacked with, and a Twiddle
2060>in your hand.  Your opponent has an untapped Royal Assassin in play.
2061>
2062>Your opponent taps his Assassin and targets your tapped Force of
2063>Nature...  an instant.  You pull out your Twiddle and untap your
2064>Force...  another instant.  Your Force becomes untapped at the same
2065>instant the Assassin kills it, but being untapped, it is no longer a
2066>valid target, so the Assassin has no effect.  The Force can't be
2067
2068But one instant cannot prevent another instant's effects from going
2069off unless there's a paradox. One card: "creature dies" Other card:
2070"creature untaps." The effects are not contradictory, so the Force
2071dies. It dies untapped, but it dies.
2072
2073>     Okay, here's an interesting question that came up last night...  Is
2074>the "This will destroy artifacts with 0 casting cost" meant to be a
2075>mandate, or just a statement of what's usually obvious?
2076>     Let's say that I have a bunch of Moxes in play for defensive 
2077purposes,
2078>and my cruel opponent whips out an Animate Artifact, meaning to send one 
2079of
2080>my innocent Moxes to that Great Deck In the Sky.  But, being one of those
2081>smug white-deck players, I have previously deployed a Castle.  Now,
2082>normally the animated Mox would be a 0/0 creature, and thus doomed to a
2083>wretched deck for having a zero or negative toughness.  But in this case,
2084>it would be a perfectly viable 0/2 creature.  So does the Mox still die, 
2085or
2086>does it live to tap another day?
2087
2088Lives to tap another day.
2089
2090>The contract from below has the following wording
2091>"Discard your current hand and draw eight new cards,
2092>adding the first drawn to your ante.  Remove this card
2093>from your deck before playing if you are not playing for ante."
2094>
2095>The spell is a Sorcery.
2096>
2097>Q1: Who is the card instructing to discard and draw a new hand?
2098>The caster, both players, or the opponent?
2099
2100"Your" = you, the caster.
2101
2102>Q2: Just to be officially clear on this, you ADD the first card
2103>to the ante so now you are anteing 2 cards, its not replace the ante,
2104>correct?
2105
2106Right.
2107
2108>I have a problem with my current understanding of damage,
2109>regeneration, and going to the graveyard.  The rules seem
2110>pretty clear, but something in the FAQ seems to confuse the issue.
2111>I figured I'd bring it up, again, and see what everyone else thinks
2112>and maybe we can get the FAQ changed (or maybe you can convince me
2113>to shut up and leave FAQ corrections to more expereinced players)
2114
2115Generally, you've gotten effects correct. The definition of regeneration 
2116was
2117fixed after the game was released, and some of the cards reflect this in 
2118wording
2119that doesn't make perfect sense.
2120
2121>Next to last is Creature Bond:
2122>"If target creature is destroyed, Creature Bond does an amount of damage
2123>equal to creature's toughness to creatures controller."
2124>
2125>Since this calls for an something to happen when a creature is destroyed
2126>and not when a creature "goes to the graveyard" regeneration WILL NOT
2127>stop the controller from taking damage.  
2128
2129This is not correct. If it doesn't go to the graveyard, then it wasn't 
2130destroyed.
2131Regeneration keeps a creature from going to the graveyard. 
2132
2133>Lastly, the Black sacrifice card.
2134>This says "Destroy one of your currnet creatures without regenerating it,
2135>and add to your mana pool a number of black mana equal to creatures 
2136casting
2137>cost."
2138>
2139>First off, the card does not say the creature cannot be regenerated,
2140>just that if it is not regenerated you get the benefit of the spell.
2141>Therefore your opponent can regenerate it before it goes to the graveyard
2142>and you don't get the mana.  Also, nothing is said about removing the
2143>card from the game so you are allowed to then cast spells like
2144>Raise Dead, Animate Dead, etc on the creature.
2145
2146You're allowed to reanimate it, yes. It is immune from regeneration, 
2147though. The
2148card does not make this clear, and could be interpreted either way.
2149
2150>This interpretation makes Disintegrate a more powerfull spell rather than
2151>simply a single target version of fireball.  Since the casting costs
2152>are the same for a single target, I beleive this was the original intent.
2153>Fireball has the ability to have multi-targets and Disintegrate has the
2154>ability of stripping regeneration from a creature for a turn.
2155
2156that's how it's supposed to be.
2157
2158>Q: If I enchant my opponents creature with the Regeneration enchantment
2159>I am the controller of that enchantment and can power it to keep the
2160>creature from dying, correct?
2161
2162Correct.
2163
2164>Another problem I had with regeneration is, as I interpret the rules
2165>damage accumulates and when it equals or exceeds a creatures toughness
2166>the creature dies.  Damage is not subtracted from the toughness.
2167>When it exceeds the creatures toughness, the creature dies, than the
2168>controller regenerates it.  Does the process of regeneration clear all the
2169>damage done that turn so far?  I would say it does.
2170
2171Yes, it does.
2172
2173>1. What happens to a creature with bonuses like Holy Strength which are
2174>   damaged... and afterwards the bonus is removed (by a Disenchant or
2175>   such)?
2176>
2177>   Snark has hinted that there is more here than meets the eye.  For 
2178example,
2179>   a Hill Giant (3/3) with Holy Strength (+1/+2) (a total of 4/5) takes
2180>   3 damage.  Is it proper to say that it is a 4/5 creature with 3 damage 
2181or
2182>   a 4/2 creature at this point?  Does that matter?
2183>   If the Holy Strength got removed, is it a 3/3 creature with 2 damage or
2184>   a 3/2 creature (the Holy Strength absorbed 2 points of the damage)?
2185
2186Snark was jerking your chain, as it turns out. I'd received contradictory
2187rulings, and picked the wrong system. Damage, as it turns out, works like 
2188this:
2189
2190For every point of damage, put a counter on the creature (an imaginary one 
2191will
2192do). If at any time the creature's toughness is not greater than the 
2193number of
2194counters, the creature has taken lethal damage. Proceed accordingly.
2195
2196>2. The controller of enchantments has always had me somewhat confused.  As
2197>   I understand it right now, the caster of an enchantment is always the
2198>   controller.  There are no cards which change the controller of an
2199>   enchantment.  But (and here's the question) who can pay costs 
2200associated
2201>   with enchantments?
2202
2203>   The rulebook specifically states that only the controller can pay the
2204>   costs associated with the enchantment.  So, if I cast a Regenerate on
2205>   another player's creature, am I the one who can pay to have it 
2206Regenerate?
2207>   Or is it my opponent?
2208
2209You are the one.
2210
2211>   This gets a bit more complicated when Control Magic is used to steal
2212>   away a creature.  Who now "controls" the enchantments on the creature?
2213>   Control Magic does not say that it takes control of the enchantments,
2214>   so if I Control Magic a creature with Regeneration on it, can I power
2215>   that enchantment?
2216
2217Nope.
2218
2219--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2220
2221Date: Thu, 9 Dec 93 23:37:40 -0800
2222From: Dave Howell <snark>
2223
2224>What characteristics are "normal characteristics"?
2225
2226See page 22 of the rulebook. ;)
2227
2228>In the latest Ruling Summary, Volcanic Eruption cannot do more damage
2229>than mountains in play.  This is not signified by a [Snark] symbol.  
2230However,
2231>the previous Summary DID have a [Snark] symbol, and did state that VE can 
2232do
2233>more damage than mountains?
2234
2235[low, ominous music] You May Not Use Volcanic Eruption to Do More
2236Damage Than There Are Mountains In Play. The Great And Powerful Snark
2237Has Spoken. [flames billow forth]
2238
2239(Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.)
2240
2241>Black knight has inherent Protection from white.
2242>Can other wards be placed on the Black knight?
2243>My impulse is to say no, but I'm not sure.
2244
2245Use The Impulse, Luke.
2246
2247>Simularly, Can Howl from beyond or Unholy Strength be put
2248>on the White Knight, which has Protection from Black?
2249
2250It may not. What a drag!
2251
2252>PS Any plans for a solitaire deckmaster game at any time in the future?
2253>I think that would be cool
2254
2255Oh, yes, we'll release solitaire rules the very instant that anybody
2256in the entire world sends us a set that's fun. We have not had much
2257luck in inventing same.
2258
2259>I don't think it would be logistically possible for WotC to make all their
2260>expansions unlimited. They probably have -thousands- of card ideas they 
2261want
2262>to print and to have that many different cards in constant circulation is
2263>probably a very difficult task. However, I think that their supply of 
2264limited
2265>edition cards is way too low. Because of such a high demand, cards stay 
2266in the
2267>
2268>     Before we all go griping about not being able to get our hands on 
2269Limited
2270>Edition cards, let us remember that WotC wasn't exactly TSR before MtG 
2271came
2272>out!  I think they were all a little surprised at the tremendous 
2273popularity of
2274
2275Oh, yes, just a wee. A smidge. A hair. A bit.
2276
2277>MtG and were astounded by how quickly the first printing sold out.  As 
2278soon as
2279>they had the capital and the personnel available to handle such a load, 
2280they
2281>very graciously went to the Unlimited Edition, thereby making the 
2282wonderful
2283>new game available to all of us (and also setting themselves up for quite 
2284a
2285>bit of healthy profit from the Christmas buying season).
2286
2287Boy, howdy. We have to pay for paper and flow pack material before
2288they'll start a print run, and the lag time is 2 months. We were
2289originally planning to bring Arabian Nights out sometime early '94.
2290Production on that game was rushed like crazy (and it shows, sigh),
2291and we actually got it done months early, just for you.
2292
2293While future sets will be limited, it is not necessarily true that
2294they will be AS limited. More on this when I have facts, and am not
2295talking through my sleeve.
2296
2297>
2298>(magical hack, et. al.)
2299
2300[low ominous music] Magical Hack and Sleight of Mind Affect All
2301Occurances Of The Relevant Text On The Card. [flames billow forth]
2302
2303>I remember early on it was determined that the following was a legal play.
2304>
2305>A summons Prodical Sorceror.
2306>B casts Lightning Bolt on Sorceror.
2307>A casts Holy Armor on Sorceror and spends an extra white mana to stop 
2308Sorceror
2309>from dying.
2310>
2311>If this is the case then you could cast Animate Artifact and Holy Armor 
2312on a
2313>Mox and prevent it from dying. You do not need Fast Effects that increase
2314>toughness.
2315>
2316>You are not limited to react to your opponent's spells with only Fast 
2317Effects.
2318>You can react with other spells like Sorceries, Enchantments, etc if you 
2319are
2320>the main player. I am pretty sure this is right. I think if you read the
2321>section on timing it becomes obvious.
2322
2323Oooo. Did I say that? I don't think I said that. You may only respond
2324to a spell with fast effects: instants, special abilities,
2325interrupts, and the like. Enchantments and sorceries occur once the
2326previous spell is cast. In the above example, Tim dies.
2327
2328>In a recent game, this came into question.  I was holding a Twiddle, and 
2329my
2330>opponent knew it (Urza).  He had two Psychic Venoms on his tapped Swamp.
2331>During Untap, he claimed he did not have to untap everything, and that it
2332>doesn't say you have to in the rules.
2333
2334>I remembered the above ruling, but as it's not in the FAQ (unless I missed
2335>it somehow), it's not an official ruling.  As this puts a serious damper 
2336on
2337>our blue players, I was wondering if this is to be an official change in
2338>the next edition of the rulebook.
2339
2340Bad opponent! This is exactly why you MUST untap everything.
2341
2342Page 11: "1. Untap. Untap *all* your previously tapped lands,
2343creatures, and artifacts." (emphasis mine)
2344
2345Page 11, bottom. "Unless an action described above includes the word
2346*may*, you must perform this action."
2347
2348Seems pretty clear to me...
2349
2350
2351>===
2352>Also, my opponent has the misprinted Cyclopean Tomb.  Zero casting cost.
2353>Is there any way to thwart this card?
2354
2355Oh, sure! I had some smart-alec try this on me. "It *says* zero
2356casting cost."
2357
2358"No, Moxes have a zero in a gray circle. THAT's a zero casting cost.
2359What you hold has no casting cost at all. Ergo, you may not cast it.
2360I'll give you a choice: play it as written, and leave it in your
2361hand, or play it as the FAQ dictates, and pay four. Either way, I
2362don't care."
2363
2364>===
2365>Last question:  My opponent Shatters my Living Wall.  Can I use it's
2366>Regenerate ability to save it?
2367
2368You bet.
2369
2370>We have an ongoing argument over whether something can be Regenerated if
2371>it's Destroyed (i.e. Creature Bond problem, etc.), or if Destroyed can not
2372>be helped. This is a very confusing issue when you've got lots of 
2373shatters,
2374>creature bonds, and regenerations running around.
2375
2376Destroyed = Killed = may regenerate.
2377
2378Discarded = removed from play = may not regenerate.
2379
2380>Does Creature Bond then do damage to a creature that is destroyed, but 
2381then
2382>regenerated?
2383
2384The above is a paradox. If it was regenerated, than it wasn't
2385destroyed.
2386
2387>Q:  Can a White Knight block a Hurloon Minotaur that has Fear on it?
2388>I'd say no; The Fear is on the Minotaur and doesn't directly affect the 
2389Knight.
2390
2391Correct.
2392
2393>Q:  Can a White Knight + Blue Ward black a Hurloon Minotaur with 
2394Invisibility?
2395>Again, I'd say no for the same reason.
2396
2397Correct.
2398
2399>Q:  Can a COP:White be used to stop damage from a Black Knight?
2400>I'm sure this one has been answered before, but I don't seem to have it 
2401handy.
2402
2403You may stop the damage.
2404
2405The above three questions according to the FAQ, not necessarily the
2406rules.
2407
2408--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2409
2410
2411Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1993 11:10:36 -0800 (PST)
2412From: Dave Howell <snark@fungusaur.wizards.com>
2413
2414>my summoning, by the rules the creature is discarded.  Discarded cards 
2415>"go to the graveyard".  Regeneration prevents creatures from "going to
2416>the graveyard".  Therefore, I can cast death ward and 'save' my Craw worm.
2417>This does not seem logical to me(of course, sometimes you have to forget
2418>logic with this game).  
2419>
2420>Therefore, perhaps we should revise the way regeneration is described.
2421>
2422>maybe add to the FAQ,
2423>
2424>Q: How exactly does this regenration work?
2425>
2426>A: Regeneration can be cast on any creature to prevent it from dying or
2427>otherwise going to the graveyard <this covers dwarven engineers, blue 
2428>elemental blasts, etc.>.  No affect that is generated by the creatures
2429>death will occur.  The creature must have been successfully summoned 
2430before
2431>it can be regenerated.
2432>
2433>How is that, accurate?
2434 
2435Yes, it's accurate. I believe somewhere else in the FAQ it points out 
2436that the Craw Wurm isn't a creature until the spell is over. You can't 
2437cast Death Ward on another spell, only on a creature, and it's not a 
2438creature until it's on the table, which it doesn't get to do, because the 
2439summoning spell was countered.
2440
2441--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2442
2443
2444Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1993 11:52:52 -0800 (PST)
2445From: Dave Howell <snark@fungusaur.wizards.com>
2446
2447>Player one has a gaea's leige and 10 forests. Player 2 has no forests and
2448>a meekstone that prevents untapping of any card with a power > 2. Gaea's
2449>leige has a power of */* where * is the number of forests the controller
2450>has when defending and the number the enemy has when attacking. If Gaea's
2451>leige becomes tapped, can it be untapped?... If the power 0/0 or 10/10?
2452>
2453>Gaea's leige turns any land card into a forest. Will a tranquility card
2454>change them back? How about a consecrate land?
2455>
2456>Can a guardian angel spell be cast just to spend unwanted mana and avoid
2457>mana burn?...
2458
2459Well, if it were 0/0, it'd be dead. As it happens, we've reworded that 
2460card to say that it's controller's forests at all times except attack, 
2461which is what we meant. Such dweeb-heads we be sometimes.
2462
2463What Gaea's Leige does to lands isn't an Enchantment. You can't 
2464tranquility or Consecrate them back. :(
2465
2466Guardian Angel, unfortunately, requires damage from which to protect you 
2467before it can be used, although it's not clear from the card.
2468
2469--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2470
2471Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1993 14:04:46 -0800 (PST)
2472From: Dave Howell <snark@fungusaur.wizards.com>
2473
2474Somebody said:
2475>
2476>FARMSTEAD       [Enchant Land]      (R) {WWW}
2477>Target land's controller gains 1 life each upkeep if {WW} is spent.  
2478>Target land still generates mana as usual.
2479>
2480>You will note that Farmstead is clearly an enchantment class card.
2481>
2482>Now the relevant rules section on Enchantments (p17-18):
2483>
2484>                                    ... Some enchantments have a 
2485>     cost listed before the effect; this is the cost to use. An 
2486>     enchantment with a cost may only be used and paid
2487>     for by the controller (usually the caster). If the
2488>     enchantment has no cost, it is constantly in effect.
2489>     An enchantment may be used more than once each
2490>     turn, and is never tapped.
2491
2492It's a booby trap. "have a cost listed *before*the*effect*." That's
2493symbol: This is a cool thing. These enchantments, and only these, are 
2494multiple use. Farmstead is NOT worded that way, and is only once per turn.
2495
2496Don't you love how we entertain you by hiding answers to rules in 
2497amazingly subtle and tricky ways, sometimes so tricky that even we don't 
2498know the right answer? Neat, eh?
2499
2500:p
2501
2502As to Channel, well, gosh. I've looked them both over, and it looks to me 
2503like yet another of those spells that makes Word of Command a "Summon 
2504Argument" spell. If Richard said players can kill people by playing 
2505channel, then so be it. I hate Word of Command.
2506
2507Snark,
2508Cyberdude
2509
2510--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2511
2512Date: Sat, 18 Dec 93 14:47:34 -0800
2513From: Dave Howell <snark>
2514
2515**Snark's comments in stars.
2516
2517Fast Effects and Instants can be used during any player's turn and are 
2518allowed
2519in response to any event, action, or phase ending.
2520
2521                Are you sure about the "phase ending" part?
2522
2523**That is correct.
2524
2525Balance:
2526  White Warded creatures can avoid this spell's effects, but non-warded
2527    creatures must be removed first.  You cannot chose warded creatures to
2528    remove first. [Snark]
2529
2530                This smells really bad to me.  In Snark's re-write of the
2531                protection rules (in the FAQ) it says that a white-warded
2532                creature cannot be *damaged* or *targeted* by white spells.
2533                Balance neither damages the creature, nor does it 
2534specifically
2535                target the creature.  Plain and simple, I think this is
2536                wrong.  If this *is* to be the "correct" interpretation,
2537                I would be happier if the FAQ definition of protection
2538                were re-written so that it doesn't conflict with this.
2539                Sorry, Snark, I am very grateful for everything you've done
2540                to clear up these tricky issues, but I think you've painted
2541                yourself into a corner here.
2542
2543**I think you're right. Can I deny I said this? Did I? Yuck. I probably 
2544did. I probably said it before the new rules were finalized. Balance 
2545works, wards won't help.
2546
2547Armageddon:
2548  Consecrated Land can avoid this spell.
2549
2550                This stinks too.  Armageddon is another spell *like*
2551
2552**Right. Armageddon will work on warded creatures.
2553
2554 + The Doppleganger of an artifact creature can be Shattered or 
2555Disenchanted.
2556  Whenever it changes creatures, it "resets" and loses any tokens or other
2557    gains it made as the creature it was originally copying.
2558
2559                This seems *really* bizarre to me - it's still a blue 
2560creature.
2561                So it's a Blue, Artifact Creature?  strange, but I guess 
2562so.
2563
2564**Strange but true. Colorlessness and artifactivity are not necessarily 
2565co-requirements.
2566
2567
2568                It'd be nice to put a resolution in for the issue of
2569                "what if my opponent casts Death Ward on the creature 
2570                 I sacrifice?"  Ummm, what is that resolution, btw?
2571
2572**Answer: you can't, it's illegal.
2573
2574Resurrection:
2575  Resurrected creatures cannot be tapped to attack or use a special effect
2576    on the turn in which they come into play.
2577
2578                This doesn't solve the issue of the Serra Angel.  Since
2579                the resurrection card only refers to "tapping", I would
2580                say that the Angel *could* attack on the turn she is
2581                resurrected...
2582
2583**I would say you're right.
2584
2585Serra Angel:
2586  Will be removed from next printing because "it is out of character for 
2587the
2588    color". (rumor which many claim is false)
2589
2590                That's a silly reason.  In my opinion, it's the single
2591                best creature in the game; if that's a reason to take
2592                it out, oh well.  Wonder what the next best creature is,
2593                and whether it will then get dropped too.  They better
2594                be putting more creatures in to make up for this, otherwise
2595                we won't have any left!  "out of character for the color"
2596                Ha!  I don't agree with that!
2597
2598**Well, it IS out of character. It's big and good at attacking. Being good 
2599at attacking is out of character for White, especially with the double 
2600jeopardy non-tap power. However, I refuse to speculate on whether or not 
2601it will be seen in further
2602 releases.
2603
2604Wrath of God:
2605  White Warded creatures can avoid this spell.
2606
2607                This stinks; see above comments on Balance/White Ward.
2608
2609**Agreed. No longer true under Ward rules.
2610
2611--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2612
2613
2614Date: Sat, 18 Dec 93 14:52:34 -0800
2615From: Dave Howell <snark>
2616
2617>1. Is "desert" a basic land type for purposes of Magical Hack, etc...?
2618
2619No.
2620
2621>2. Island of Wak-Wak
2622
2623(I don't have the datafile handy. Ask me again tomorrow. :)
2624
2625>3. Aladdin's Lamp
2626>  Is the casting cost 10?
2627
2628Yup.
2629
2630>5. Ali from Cairo
2631> While in play, does this card really make a player immune to death?
2632
2633That does indeed appar to be the affect, yes.
2634
2635--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2636
2637Date: Thu, 30 Dec 93 16:19:06 -0800
2638From: Dave Howell <snark>
2639Subject: Ruhk Egg
2640
2641The post you've all been waiting for: The Official Policy On The Ruhk Egg.
2642
2643It's definitely not what it's supposed to be. The intent of the card is to only
2644make Ruhks if the card goes to the graveyard from play. Discarding it
2645from your hand isn't supposed to do anything. 
2646
2647Under most conditions, this difference is rather small. However, using the
2648wording on the card, a really dull but rather effective "all Ruhk Egg" deck
2649can be assembled, assuming you can somehow get your hands on that
2650many Eggs.
2651
2652If you're playing Arabian cards, please check with your opponent on
2653how they play Eggs. Again, Wizards of the Coast and Richard Garfield
2654strongly urge you to play it as if it said "...goes to the graveyard *from
2655play*..." If your opponent plays it as written, and is not willing to change,
2656then you might want to decline to play them, if you choose.
2657
2658If you find out they're playing the card as written after you start, and
2659especially if they're playing with lots, they are technically within
2660their rights. I suggest you request to null the game. If you're playing
2661for ante, the polite thing to do would be to let them keep it, and never
2662play them again, but we'll understand if you take the card back.
2663
2664Tournament organizers and league coordinators: Make sure to either
2665declare how the Egg works or disallow it from play, if you're using 
2666Arabian Nights.
2667
2668Yes, we're all very sorry the little thingy got loose, and we'll try not to do
2669it again. 
2670
2671Dave "Snark" Howell
2672Cyberspace Liaison, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
2673
2674--------------------------------------------------------------------------------