Franklin*, Cloudchaser Eagle, soared high above Dominaria, swirling, looping, diving and doing the occasional barrel roll. Franklin didn’t care much about doing anything but soaring and swooping and so forth, mostly because he was good at it. In fact, Franklin was the best swooper among all the Cloudchasers he knew (his barrel-rolling could use some work, he admitted to himself), and certainly better than those silly Birds of Paradise, who weren’t good for much beside just droning on monosyllabically. "Green!" they’d shout, or "Red!" Stupid Birds.
Franklin didn’t like Kangee much, either, but that’s a different kind of story, one with therapists, lawyers, and nasty clamps involved. Let’s just say that in that story, "Armadillo Cloak" means something VERY different. I’ve said too much already.
There was only one thing Franklin liked more than swooping: Eating enchantments. It was a special talent of his (and his Cloudchaser cousins). Unlike other birds, he wasn’t much for mice or fish or even seed. Enchantments were so ethereal and tasty, he couldn’t resist. Whenever a Planeswalker summoned him in, he’d be so famished from the trip that he’d have to find something to munch on before he got on to any other business. Fortunately, Planeswalkers were so helpful at pointing out where the enchantments are, he rarely had to go hungry. Occasionally, they’d also point out where other Planeswalkers were and then whisper to him that the other Planeswalker had enchantments hidden on himself someplace. Franklin would fly over and peck on the Planeswalker’s head for a while, trying to make him give up the enchantments. To his regret, Franklin found that few Planeswalkers liked getting their heads pecked. Getting Lightning Bolted back to your own plane really sucks.
Anyway, Franklin was swooping about when the call came in. *YOINK!!* Getting ripped away from swooping wasn’t all that pleasant, but there would certainly be tasty enchantments at the other end, so he was willing to put up with it. As he passed into the gate all he could think about was the sweet, refreshing flavor of whatever enchantment awaited. He started wondering which one it would be.
Dread of Night always made him a little weak when he came in, but chowing it down made him feel much better. Crusade made him feel great, but eating it was a letdown. Some didn’t affect him at all, they were just yummy. He did eat an Aether Flash once, but got zotted back home right away. Aether Flash sucked, too.
Franklin was drawn through the gate. Sometimes it was a long trip, sometimes short. Eventually, it was over. Franklin found himself standing in a firm piece of ground. He didn’t feel so good, just not quite right. It seemed like that Dread of Night but without the icky feeling in his stomach. "Well," Franklin thought "I’ll just fly up and find that Planeswalker who summoned me and make him point me toward the enchantments." Only Franklin flapped his wings and nothing happened. "What the…?" He looked around and could see, very thinly veiled, an enchantment lying across the land; it was one he had never seen before. "No worries," he told himself (on some worlds, Cloudchasers are vaguely Australian), "I’ll just go eat it." Unfortunately, he also found that he wasn’t hungry. In the least. And that sucked even more than Lightning Bolts.
Our silly little tale** illustrates the interaction of Continuous Effects and Coming Into Play Effects. Rule 418.2. is pretty clear. "Continuous effects that modify characteristics of permanents do so as the permanents come into play."
They don’t wait for the permanent to enter play and then change it. That means with Humility in play, by the time Cloudchaser Eagle resolves and comes into play, it’s a 1/1 with no special abilities. It can’t destroy the enchantment. As I’ve said before, imagine an enchantment as a cloud that surrounds the world. Something sucked into the world must first pass through the cloud. By the time it reaches the world, it’s been affected by the cloud.
With Dread of Night in play, the Cloudchaser comes into play as a 1/1. His ability triggers and goes on the stack. When it resolves and destroys the Dread, he becomes 2/2. In the case of Crusade, he’s 3/3, but then 2/2 after the enchantment leaves play.
Remember that removing the source of an ability from play doesn’t mean the ability gets removed from the stack. With Aether Flash in play (let’s assume the non-active player controls the Aether Flash, but it doesn’t really matter), both triggers happen. The active player’s triggers go on the stack first, the non-active afterward. That means the Aether Flash resolves first, killing the Cloudchaser. Then the Cloudchaser’s ability resolves, destroying the Aether Flash.
Now let’s see if we can put it into practice. What happens when you Dread of Night in play (that’s all white creatures get -1/-1) and your opponent plays Monk Realist (1/1; when Monk Realist comes into play, destroy target enchantment)? Does the Monk live or die? What happens to the enchantment? Feel free to email me if you like (no contests this week-you’re already getting enough crap for Christmas). I’ll print the answer next week.
Once you understand how permanents come into play, you can easily judge how any situation resolves, whether you’re dealing with Humility, Opalescence, Pandemonium or whatever. Continuous Effects are applied before the permanent reaches play. Everything else just falls right into place.
And that’s my Final Judgement.
Sheldon K. Menery
* – The name "Franklin" was suggested by MadCow123 on #mtgwacky for no particular reason. He also suggested "Tyrone" because it sounded like an angry black man (hey, it was HIS reasoning, not mine). Plus, everyone knows angry black men are named "Samuel L. Jackson." I won’t even repeat what some of the other people on the channel suggested.
** – If you think this method of presenting the rules is interesting and /or clever, let me know (though I wouldn’t use it all the time). As always, it’s [email protected]. If you think it’s just a stupid waste of time, let me know that, too.