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More info?)
mjwills <matthew_wills@mlc.com.au> wrote:
>I am a complete MtG newbie.
Cool.
>I did a trade
>recently with someone who made me three 'balanced' MtG decks (plus a
>few spares) to have a play with and see what I think.
Also cool.
>Most of the cards are from 3rd or 4th edition (according to the guy who
>made the decks). I was provided with an older rule book (3rd or 4th
>edition), but I have found the newer ones and the FAQs online, which
>have resolved most of my questions. I have looked up many of the cards
>on Gatherer too.
Okay, good. Some of them may have different wordings now; that's what Oracle,
which Gatherer is the searchable interface for, is for, to keep players up-to-
date. Glad you have found the current rulebook; hope it didn't cause too
much confusion reconciling it with how you first learned.
>Note that I am yet to actually play. I want to be fairly confident with
>the rules before playing (I am like this with any game).
(Oh this sounds so familiar...)
>Apologies if many of these are newbie questions. I have read the rules
>many times, and no doubt many of the below questions are covered.
>Apologies in advance for that.
No problem; answering the basic questions helps keep one in touch with the
basics, after all.
>[MY QUESTIONS]
>POWER SINK:
>* Can Counterspell counter Power Sink (I think yes)?
Yes; Power Sink is a spell, and Counterspell can target, and counter, it.
(It's an Instant spell these days, as is Counterspell.) To be uncounterable
the spell text would have to say "~ can't be countered". (Compare Blurred
Mongoose, Boseiju,_Who Shelter's All's ability, Gaea's Herald's ability,
Isao,_Enlightened Bushi, etc.)
>If so, does the
>caster of Power Sink still need to pay X + water (I think yes)?
The caster of Power Sink will still -already have paid- X plus a blue mana.
(Mana has colors just like many of the cards do: red, green, white, black,
blue. "XU" stands for a cost that needs one blue mana, and X of any kind
of mana, to be paid.)
>* When Power Sink is played, does the opponent have to pay mana or tap
>lands straight away, or later if and when the card is resolved (I think
>when its resolved)?
Nope. Mana costs, and activation costs for activated abilities, are paid
on announcement. You said you had found the current rulebook, I hope the
one at
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=magic/rules/tourneyplayer ? Take
a look in it at section 409, "Playing Spells and Activated Abilities". And
I'll provide a helpful hint: "playing" a spell or activated ability is the
same as announcing it; this happens at the start of the spell/ability's
life cycle (see 409.1a). Resolving it happens later, at the end of its
life cycle, after any responses have been dealt with, and is handled in
section 413.
On announcement, in this order, you show the Power Sink from your hand,
put it onto the stack, pick the size of X, pick its target, calculate the
cost (normally X plus U), optionally use mana abilities to get mana with if
you haven't done so beforehand, then pay the cost.
On resolution, the Power Sink checks its target is still legal (if not, the
Power Sink gets countered). If it's legal, the target spell's controller gets
the chance to use mana abilities, then pay X, or may choose not to. If the
spell's controller does pay the X, nothing else happens and Power Sink is
done resolving and goes to owner's graveyard; if the X doesn't get paid, for
whatever reason, then the target spell's controller taps all his/her lands
- NOT FOR MANA, he/she just taps them, though he/she could have gotten mana
from them earlier in response to the Power Sink - and empties his/her mana
pool of any mana currently in it.
>COUNTERSPELL:
>* Can Counterspell counter Summon Creature (I think yes)?
Yes. A Summon spell (the old style; if you look at Gatherer it's going to
be a "Creature - <something>" spell these days) is a spell like any other,
and uses the stack to get cast. A Counterspell in response can counter the
creature spell. The only cards in Magic that are NOT spell cards are land
cards.
>REVEKA, WIZARD SAVANT:
>* Is Reveka a 'phasing' creature (I think no)?
Nope. Her text doesn't say she has "phasing", so she doesn't have it. She
is a legendary creature; she's got an activated ability that can deal damage;
she's blue; she's 0/1; none of these mean she also magically has phasing.
(Phasing is the most complicated keyword ability in Magic, with Madness and
Banding running second and third. 502.15 in the rulebook covers it; it's not
really intuitive to many players, though if you remember that it breaks
pretty much EVERY rule of how things come into play you'll get most of the
answers involving it right.)
>DARK MAZE:
>* Oracle states: 'Dark Maze may attack this turn as though it didn't
>have defender.' The card is missing the 'as though' etc bit. What does
>that extra bit mean?
"As Though" in the Glossary explains this. (Yes, the Glossary can be
important.) It means that while affected by this ability's effect - and
notice that this IS an activated ability, and DOES have to be played / used /
announced before it can take effect, it's not "always on" - Dark Maze still
has Defender, but can ignore the restriction from Defender for the purposes
of attacking. In short, it can give itself "Pretend I don't have defender
this turn".
Longer answer: Its creature type is Wall. Up until last year, Wall was a
creature type with a special rule: Walls could not attack. (Legend was the
other creature type with a special rule, which was more complex.) They were
perfectly good creatures, and could do anything other creatures could do ...
except attack. Last year the rules team simplified things so we didn't have
two creature types with special rules; all Legends became Legendary creatures,
a supertype, and Legend isn't a creature type any more. All Walls got the
"Defender" ability, and a lot of cards involving Walls got their text changed
so they affected creatures with Defender instead. (A few did not.) "Defender"
means the same thing that Wall's special rule used to: a creature with
Defender can't attack. (502.41) However - Dark Maze was made to be a Wall that
could get around being unable to attack. The original text just said it could
attack this turn; back then, Homelands / 1995, templates weren't as strict as
they are now, and nobody knew the 'as though' would be needed. When it was
reprinted in 5th Edition, as you can see from Gatherer or possibly the one
you're looking at, the 'as though' got added.
'May Bar as though Foo' in Magic means "It doesn't Foo, but pretend it does for
the purpose of Barring", essentially.
>ENERGY FLUX:
>* Does this card affect both players (I think yes)?
Yes. It doesn't say "All artifacts you control gain" or "All artifacts
opponents control gain". It says "All artifacts gain '...'". So it applies to
all artifacts in play, because it doesn't say it only applies to one side's
or the other's.
>BLACK WARD:
>* If a black spell is cast, can I play a Black Ward to stop it? Or
>would it already need to be in play?
It would need to be already in play AND it can only "stop" or interfere with
certain spells. Black Ward gives the creature it's attached to protection from
black. This does NOT mean ANYTHING like "totally unaffected by anything black"
- see section 502.7 . It means the creature:
has all Damage that would be dealt to it from black sources prevented;
can't be Enchanted/Equipped by black enchantments/equipment;
can't be Blocked by black creatures if it's attacking; and
can't be the Target of black spells or of abilities from black sources.
(D-E-B-T makes a good mnemonic for this.)
So if a creature has a Black Ward on it, a black spell can't _target_ the
creature, and an ability from something black that tries to -damage- it
has the damage prevented ... but it doesn't stop anything that doesn't
involve damaging, enchanting/equipping, blocking, or targetting the creature.
And notice that "target" is VERY specific - a spell/ability's text has to
SAY it targets to do so, or else it has to be a local-enchantment spell
being cast (on the stack).
>CIRCLE OF PROTECTION: BLACK
>* If a black spell is cast, can I play a Circle of Protection: Black to
>stop it?
No. In no way can that happen.
>Or would it already need to be in play?
Even if it's already in play, CoP: Black doesn't SAY anything about affecting
spells, stopping spells, countering spells, etc. What does it say it does?
It says "1: The next time a black source of your choice would deal damage to
you this turn, prevent that damage.". This just prevents the damage - the
source does not deal the damage to you, rather than dealing it. It does not
in any way stop, counter, or interfere with the spell or ability that's
causing the damage, or destroy the source of the damage, or anything like
that - it just says "I'm making a shield that, the next time this black
Something I've chosen tries to damage you this turn? It instead doesn't
deal any damage to you."
Also, note that this can't do anything about damage to CREATURES - you are
not your creatures, and vice versa. All this can do is prevent damage from
black spells/cards/permanents that's trying to get dealt to _you_.
>GABRIEL ANGELFIRE:
>* What does the '3' mean in the text of the card? Do I have to pay it
>in upkeep (if so, what happens if I don't)?
The 3 is part of one of the abilities you can choose. You can choose "flying";
"first strike"; "trample"; or "rampage 3". Rampage always comes with a number
attached; 502.12 explains that 'rampage 3' in particular means 'Whenever this
creature becomes blocked, it gets +X/+X this turn for each creature blocking
it beyond the first.'. So if you choose to give Gabriel the "rampage 3" in
your upkeep, then attack with him in your Combat phase, and he gets blocked
by four creatures, his Rampage 3 will trigger, and on resolution will give
him +9/+9 until end of turn.
>FYNDHORN BOW:
>* What does 3,TAP (the comma in particular) mean? Does that mean I have
>to pay three mana AND Tap? Or three mana OR Tap?
Three mana _and_ tap the Bow. Everything before the colon is part of
the activation cost. (Everything after the colon is part of the effect,
though you have to pick targets on announcement.) If the Bow is already
tapped, or if you can't find 3 mana in your mana pool to pay with, then you
can't pay, so you can't use the ability.
>DRAIN LIFE:
>* Are the extra black mana (to inflict damage) spent when the spell is
>played or when its resolved?
See the Power Sink answer above; same here - the mana cost, and any additional
cost(s), are paid on announcement.
Note that Drain Life's wording has gone back and forth over the years; its
current wording doesn't involve an additional cost at all. Rather, it has
a _mana cost_ of X1B - meaning normally that it would cost one black mana,
plus one of any kind, plus X of any kind, to pay this cost. The spell's
text puts a restriction on the X, so it's actually one black mana, plus
one of any type of mana, plus X more black mana.
Drain Life X1B Sorcery
Spend only black mana on X. / ~ deals X damage to target creature or player.
You gain life equal to the damage dealt, but not more life than the player's
life total before ~ dealt damage or the creature's toughness.
>If when its played, if something goes on
>the stack that destroy the target of Drain Life, does the caster of
>Drain Life still gain the extra lives (or only if the target was alive
>when Drain Life was resolved)?
If something destroys or removes its target "in response" (or makes it
an illegal target, say for example by using a Crown of the Ages to move
a Black Ward, already in play, over so it's now attached to the creature
the Drain Life targets), so that the target is illegal when Drain Life
tries to resolve? The Drain Life, as per 413.2a, is _countered_ rather than
resolving - it does not resolve, and has no effect at all. It simply goes from
the stack to owner's graveyard.
(Note that Drain Life has only one target, so the requirement "if ALL of its
targets are illegal" only has to check that one target.)
>STONE GIANT:
>* Could Stone Giant make itself fly if it had its toughness reduced to
>2 (by a spell etc)?
Sure could. That would make it a perfectly legal target to pick for its
own ability (assuming nothing had ALSO reduced its POWER of course).
>ONYX TALISMAN:
>* Can the black spell be cast by either player? Why would I think to
>use this artifact anyway?
It doesn't say "Whenever you play a black spell" or "Whenever an opponent
plays a black spell"; it says "Whenever a black spell is played, ...". (Again,
Oracle text, from Gatherer, is what you use these days. The originally-printed
text is _way_ not correct nowadays.) And you might want to, for example,
untap your Stone Giant so you could use its ability a second time, or untap
one of the lands that you had tapped to get mana from to pay for the black
spell, or untap your Prodigal Sorcerer, or any number of things.
(Note that untapping a creature does NOT, in and of itself, allow it to
somehow attack a second time in a turn. There -are- effects that allow this
but they all use some variant on "there will be another Combat phase this
turn" to do so.)
>TOR WAUKI:
>* How could Tor deal 2 damage to target blocking creature? If Tor was
>in the battle, wouldn't he be tapped already (so wouldn't be able to be
>tapped to use his special ability)?
Does it SAY "Play this ability only if Tor Wauki is attacking."? No, it
doesn't; he does not have to be attacking, OR blocking, to announce this
ability. The -target creature- must be; Tor Wauki does not need to be.
(Also, notice that only ATTACKING creatures get tapped by attacking; blocking
with a creature DOES NOT TAP IT. So if Tor Wauki was a blocker, there would
generally be no impediment to him using the ability anyway.)
>Thanks for your time
No problem; it's good sometimes to answer questions about the old cards...
Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from dbd@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.
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