posted May 26, 2000 02:45 PM
Subject: Prophecy FAQ_Prophecy(TM)_ Frequently Asked Questions
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Q: Some cards have abilities that work only if I control no untapped
lands. Do they work if I don't control _any_ lands (after Armageddon, for
example)?
A: Yes. If you control no lands, you certainly don't control any untapped
lands.
Q: Some cards say to do some effect _unless_ a particular player pays some
cost. For example, Excise reads, "Remove target attacking creature from
the game unless its controller pays X." Exactly when does X have to be
paid?
A: All "unless" costs are paid when the spell or ability resolves, not
when it's played. The exception is mana abilities. Because those are
played and resolve in one step, the cost must be paid immediately. If a
static ability includes an "unless" cost, it will tell you when the cost
has to be paid.
Q: In what order do players get the chance to pay one of these "unless" costs?
A: The active player gets a chance first, then each other player in turn
order. Once each player has paid or has decided not to, the spell or
ability continues to resolve.
CARD-SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
Barbed Field
--------------------
Q: Does the damage dealt by the enchanted land have a color? (Can I
prevent it with a Circle of Protection: Red?)
A: No, the land deals the damage--not the enchantment--so the damage is
colorless. It can't be prevented by effects that prevent damage of a
particular color.
Blessed Wind
--------------------
Q: When this effect sets my life total to 20, does it count as gaining
life (or losing life if my life total goes down)?
A: Yes. Abilities that trigger on gaining life will trigger if your life
total goes up, and those that trigger on losing life will trigger if it
goes down.
Calming Verse
--------------------
Q: How does this card work?
A: If you're tapped out when Calming Verse resolves, you destroy all
enchantments except the ones you control. If you're not, you destroy all
enchantments--even your own.
Coffin Puppets
--------------------
Q: If I sacrifice my only two lands, will Coffin Puppets still come into
play?
A: Yes. The "only if you control a swamp" part applies only when
determining whether you can play the ability.
Dual Nature
--------------------
Q: Doesn't this card cause weird things to happen when an animated land,
artifact, or enchantment card comes into play or leaves play?
A: No. Dual Nature's first two abilities trigger only when a creature
*card* comes into play or leaves play. That means only cards with the type
"creature" printed on them will trigger the abilities.
Q: What happens if a Legend comes into play?
A: Dual Nature's first ability triggers. When it resolves, it puts a token
copy of the Legend into play. The token immediately goes to its owner's
graveyard, though, because it's a Legend with the same name as the Legend it copied.
Q: Can Dual Nature's second ability remove from the game tokens that came
from other spells and abilities?
A: Yes. It removes from the game all tokens with the same name as the
creature that just left play, regardless of whether they were created by
Dual Nature's effect.
Q: What happens if Dual Nature is destroyed (or leaves play some other
way) in response to its first ability triggering?
A: You'll get a token copy of the creature that triggered the ability when
it came into play. Because Dual Nature is no longer in play when the token
is created, the ability that would normally remove the token from the game
is gone. You get to keep the token indefinitely.
Elephant Resurgence
--------------------
Q: If more creatures go to graveyards after my opponent and I put the
Elephant tokens into play, do the tokens readjust their power and
toughness?
A: Yes. Their power and toughness can change because the spell gives the
_tokens_ the ability that determines their power and toughness. If the spell determined power and toughness, they would be "locked in" when the
spell resolved.
Flay
--------------------
Q: If an opponent plays Flay on me, can I see my first random discard
before deciding to pay the 1 mana to prevent the second discard?
A: Yes. Payments such as the one on Flay are made just before the relevant
part of the effect would occur.
Heightened Awareness
--------------------
Q: Why would anyone play with Heightened Awareness? I get to draw a card
in my draw step anyway.
A: *Magic*(R) rules let you draw a card at the beginning of your draw
step. Heightened Awareness lets you draw another one. In other words, you
get its effect in addition to your normal draw. If you had two Heightened
Awarenesses in play, you could draw three cards a turn: your normal draw
and one card for each Heightened Awareness you control.
Q: Let's say I've got a hand full of enchantment cards. What happens if I
play Replenish and Heightened Awareness gets put into play?
A: Heightened Awareness makes you discard your hand *as* it comes into
play. That means the enchantment cards that were in your hand go to your
graveyard at the same time the enchantments already in your graveyard are
being put into play by Replenish's effect. The cards you discard won't be put into play by Replenish.
Infernal Genesis
--------------------
Q: What happens if a player puts a land card into his or her graveyard
this way?
A: Lands don't have a mana cost, so no 1/1 Minion tokens are created.
Mercenary Informer
--------------------
Q: Can I use its second ability to put a Mercenary card from my
_graveyard_ on the bottom of my library?
A: No. *Magic* rules say that a spell or ability affects only the in-play
zone unless otherwise specified, so you can't target a Mercenary card in
your graveyard.
Noxious Field
--------------------
See Barbed Field.
Plague Fiend
--------------------
Q: Let's say my opponent attacks me with Plague Fiend and I block with a
creature. Can I wait until after I deal with Plague Fiend's ability, then
regenerate it?
A: No. If you want to regenerate the blocking creature, you must have a
regeneration shield in place for it before the Fiend's triggered ability
resolves.
Psychic Theft
--------------------
Q: Let's say I played this on an opponent and chose an instant. Can I wait
for the "at end of turn, return it to owner's hand" part to trigger and
then play the chosen card in response?
A: Yes. The triggered part goes on the stack, and before it resolves you
can play the instant.
Rebel Informer
--------------------
See Mercenary Informer.
Rethink
--------------------
Q: Let's say I play Blaze and spend 5R. If someone plays Rethink on my
Blaze, what is Blaze's converted mana cost?
A: Its converted mana cost is 6 while it's on the stack.
Rhystic Cave
--------------------
Q: Let's say I control only a Rhystic Cave. I play Shock, then tap the
Cave to pay for it. But my opponent pays 1 to keep the Cave from producing
mana. Now I can't pay Shock's cost. What happens?
A: We didn't realize that Rhystic Cave's ability would lead to some really
gross situations when played during the announcement of a spell or ability
(as do all mana abilities that may or may not produce mana when they
resolve). These situations mandate a correction to the card. Rhystic
Cave's ability should read, "T: Choose a color. Add one mana of that color
to your mana pool unless any player pays 1. This ability can't be played
during the announcement of another spell or ability."
What does "during the announcement of a spell or ability" mean? It covers
all the steps a player goes through when playing a spell or ability (rules
409.1a - 409.1f in the *Magic* Comprehensive Rules). This means, for
example, that if you want to use Rhystic Cave's ability to help you pay a
mana cost, you must play the ability and find out whether you get mana
from it before you announce the spell.
We apologize for this oversight and will try to avoid printing uncertain
mana abilities in the future.
Q: Do players have to decide whether to pay the "unless" cost before
knowing what color of mana I'm trying to get from the Cave?
A: The correction covers this ambiguity as well. It's unclear from the
printed wording whether the color is chosen first or the "unless" clause is dealt with first. The corrected wording makes it clear that players
know what color of mana the Cave's controller is trying to get before they
decide whether to pay to stop it.
Search for Survivors
--------------------
Q: Do I return my graveyard to its original order after this spell is done
resolving?
A: No.
Shield Dancer
--------------------
Q: If I activate its ability twice, does the attacking creature deal its
combat damage to itself twice?
A: No. You can activate the ability twice, but that would just make the
effect occur the next two times the creature would deal combat damage to
Shield Dancer that turn. And because creatures almost always deal combat
damage only once each turn (with the exception of Relentless Assault),
activating the ability a second time won't do anything.
Shrouded Serpent
--------------------
Q: If Shrouded Serpent is attacking me, when can I pay the 4 mana to stop
it from becoming unblockable?
A: Whenever Shrouded Serpent attacks, its ability triggers. You can pay
the 4 mana only when that ability resolves. After that, it's too late.
Well of Discovery
--------------------
Q: Let's say I control this and Troublesome Spirit ("At the end of your
turn, tap all lands you control"), as well as some untapped lands. If I
put the Well's ability on the stack, then the Spirit's, will I get to draw
a card?
A: No, because the Well's ability never goes on the stack. Rule 410.8 of
the *Magic* Comprehensive Rules states, "Triggered abilities with a
condition directly following the trigger event check for the condition to
be true as part of the trigger event; if it isn't, the ability doesn't
trigger." In this case, if you control an untapped land when the Well's
ability would trigger, it doesn't trigger at all.
Well of Life
--------------------
See Well of Discovery.
well this was just sent to me in the Judges list.. have fun guys and gals.. I'm sure it'll answer some questions u had.. especially with Dual Nature.
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Magic Online Trading League Bulletin Board
posted May 25, 2000 08:51 PM
