Hello everyone, and welcome back to Ask a Judge! You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers!
A few weeks ago, I took a trip up to Canada for Grand Prix Quebec City. I really enjoy Canadian events, and this was no exception. Like any big event, this
GP was a great opportunity to hang out with old friends, make new ones, and enjoy the experience of living in a different city for a few days.
Unlike most big events I’ve attended, GP Quebec City posed another challenge: speaking French. Or, more accurately, it posed the challenge of me not speaking French. Being unable to say more than a few words of the dominant language was definitely disconcerting, but it didn’t hinder my
enjoyment of my time in Quebec. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating; for example, most restaurants even had English menus.
Fortunately, a number of judges on staff also spoke French, and they were all a huge help to the rest of us. One of these judges is today’s special guest,
Megan Linscott!
Megan is a judge from Lewiston, Maine, and you may have already seen her at various Grand Prix and SCG Opens around the Northeast and Canada. When it comes
to playing Magic, she loves drafting — the wackier the draft, the better! She also contributes to Mystical Tutor, an awesome website that teaches people who want to become judges about the rules of the game
In addition to answering some of your rules questions, I wanted Megan to share her experiences judging a foreign Grand Prix. So with that said, let’s get
right to the questions! Allons-y!
Dan Rimer asked via email: I have a question about the interaction between Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Send to Sleep. If Send to Sleep is cast with
spell mastery targeting Gideon, does the planeswalker untap during its controller’s next untap phase since it is no longer a creature?
(Megan)
Nope! Even though Gideon is no longer a creature during his controller’s untap step, Send to Sleep still tracks him. As long as Gideon was a legal target
when Send to Sleep was cast, then the clause about “those creatures” could be read as “those objects.” Send to Sleep doesn’t care if they’re still
creatures later when it prevents them from untapping.
Here’s a question I first ran into at #SCGINDY: I control Sorin, Solemn Visitor and a Lumbering Falls. I animate the Lumbering Falls, then I activate
Sorin’s +1. On my opponent’s turn, I animate the Lumbering Falls again. Does the Lumbering Falls still have +1/+0 and lifelink?
(Bearz)
It sure does! When Sorin’s ability resolves, it locks in what it applies to. Since your Lumbering Falls is up and at ’em, it’ll obviously get the bonus on
your turn. Sorin’s effect is a bit strange, though: it lasts through your opponent’s turn as well. Even after your turn ends and the Lumbering Falls goes
back to sleep, the +1/+0 bonus and lifelink abilities are still “on” the Falls during your opponent’s turn. They just don’t really matter until you make it
into a creature again. This is very similar to the question about Send to Sleep up above!
(Keep in mind: this works only if you animate your land before activating Sorin’s ability, because Sorin only buffs the creatures you control at
the time his ability resolves. His ability won’t affect creatures that enter the battlefield afterwards, and it won’t affect lands that aren’t yet
creatures.)
I control Dragonlord Atarka. On my opponent’s turn, she casts an Ugin, which I’m going to let resolve, but I have a Wild Slash in my hand. Can I Wild
Slash my opponent’s Ugin before she gets a chance to use Ugin’s middle ability for -7?
(Megan)
After a spell resolves, the active player — currently your opponent — gets priority. Priority basically means which player is allowed to do things, like
cast spells and activate abilities. You can’t do anything until your opponent passes priority to you.
So, now that Ugin is on the battlefield, your opponent gets the first chance to do something. If she chooses to -7 Ugin, you can respond to the ability
after it’s put on the stack, but not before that. Moreover, before you even get a chance to respond, state-based actions are checked, and the Ugin with no
loyalty counters is put into his owner’s graveyard.
If you still want to cast Wild Slash with the ferocious bonus, you’ll be able to: it will be on the stack above Ugin’s ability, so when Wild Slash checks
for ferocious on resolution, you’ll still control Atarka. You just won’t be able to damage Ugin, who will be gone by then, and you won’t be able to prevent
his ability from resolving.
Eric “Bucky” Buckhalter asked: Dear friends who know Magic better than I, I have a question. If my Culling Drone has a Tightening Coils on it, does its
power drop and stay below zero? What happens if I pump it with Swell of Growth?
(Megan)
Yes, your Culling Drone would, in fact, be a -4/2 once it’s been hit with Tightening Coils. A single Swell of Growth would make it into a -2/4. So while
your Drone can’t assign a negative amount of combat damage or anything like that, it would take several Swells of Growth before it would have a positive
power again. If you want to look at the Comprehensive Rules, rule 107.1b outlines what game values can use negative numbers.
Here’s a ruling that came up at GP Quebec City: I control Jace, Telepath Unbound. My opponent controls a Thopter token and Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy. I
target my opponent’s Thopter token with Jace, Telepath Unbound’s +1 ability, then I cast Crackling Doom. What happens?
(Bearz)
As Megan already mentioned, creatures can have negative power. When performing comparisons on creatures’ power, the game uses the true value; it doesn’t
treat negative numbers as zero. So in this situation, your opponent has a -1/1 Thopter and a 0/2 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy. 0 is greater than -1, so your
opponent will be forced to sacrifice his Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy to Crackling Doom. That Jace is doomed, I say. Doomed!
Another ruling from GP Quebec City: My opponent controls a Hangarback Walker with five counters and no other creatures or planeswalkers. I cast
Dragonlord Atarka. Can I choose not to kill my opponent’s Hangarback?
(Megan)
Unfortunately, you’ll be forced to give your opponent a bunch of pesky Thopters. While Dragonlord Atarka’s ability does say “any number” of targets, in
this case, the number can’t be zero. “Any number” is defined in rule 107.1c as a positive number or zero–unless something is being divided among “any
number” of targets. Since Atarka’s ability divides damage, she requires a non-zero number of targets if possible.
Sam asked on Facebook: I have four Nissa checklist cards and don’t want to buy four copies of Nissa, Vastwood Seer. Since only two Nissa will be on the
battlefield at a time, can I just have two “real” copies and then four checklist cards?
(Bearz)
Cute idea, but no. Just like any other card, if you’re playing in a sanctioned event, you have to actually own all the cards you want to play with. A
checklist card is incomplete without a corresponding double-faced card to go with it.
Ben Remily asked via email: Abby, Bobby, and Cassie are playing Commander. Abby casts Reanimate on the Shivan Dragon in Bobby’s graveyard. On Cassie’s
turn, Cassie casts Threaten on Shivan Dragon, then uses it to kill Abby. At end of Cassie’s turn, where does the Dragon go?
(Megan)
To exile! Since Abby is the player who put the Shivan Dragon onto the battlefield, when the effect giving Cassie control of the Dragon ends, the Dragon
tries to return to Abby. Since it can’t, it’s exiled, according to rule 800.4c.
That’s all the rules questions we have today! To finish off the article, here are Megan’s thoughts on traveling abroad for Magic events! If you’ve ever
considered going to another country for an event, Megan has some great advice for you.
Tell me a bit about yourself.
I’m an L2 from Maine. I’ve been judging for about a year, and I’ve been playing since the week before the Zendikar Prerelease, so I’m pretty
stoked that we’re back on my first plane. I believe I may be the leading expert on playing Werewolf tribal, so I’m also pretty stoked about returning to Innistrad. Imagine: both of my favorite planes, together in Standard! Aside from Magic, I also enjoy reading, cosplaying, and avoiding board games
like the plague.
Why did you become a judge?
I had a practical reason and a personal reason.
The practical reason was that my boyfriend was the local judge for our gaming store, but sometimes his work schedule meant he wasn’t available for GPTs. I
figured if I became a judge, I could pick some of those up, and maybe allow him to play in one once in a while. The funny thing is, we moved away from that
store before I got around to certifying.
The personal reason is that I find it can sometimes be difficult for me to be taken seriously in the Magic community. There can be a lot of pressure on
ladies to “prove” ourselves as deserving a place at the table, but I’m not driven to prove my worth as a grinder. I’d rather lose with cards I like than
win with cards that bore me. Unfortunately, I still felt the pressure of representing more than just myself within the community. I often worried about
reinforcing negative stereotypes about women.
I still love playing, and I still do it on my terms. Judging has been a perfect complement to that. It’s been an outlet for me to show my worth and bring
something positive to the community. I have a way to show that I know what I’m doing without compromising what I like about the game–the people, the brain
teasers, the crazy interactions. As a matter of fact, thanks to judging, I get more opportunities to do one of my favorite things: teach new players.
What’s your proudest Magic accomplishment?
Okay, this is my favorite war story. Last Standard, I played Mono-Blue Devotion (I named it “Devoted to U.”) I had a Vortex Elemental and Paragon of
Gathering Mists on the battlefield, and my opponent swung in with a Stormbreath Dragon. I gave the Vortex Elemental flying with Paragon’s ability, blocked
Stormbreath, activated Vortex Elemental’s first ability, and then with that on the stack, flashed in Quickling to put the Elemental back in my hand before
its ability resolved. I was so proud of myself.
What was it like to judge a Grand Prix where so many people spoke French?
I loved it! It was really exciting to have natural conversations in my second language on one of my favorite topics. Talk about a great immersion
experience.
From a practical standpoint, most of the people in attendance spoke at least some English, so to my knowledge, there weren’t too many communication issues.
I think my two biggest problems were forgetting words (not always French ones, either), and players swapping languages on me if I asked them to repeat
their question.
Do you have any advice for judges looking to travel to Canada, or internationally in general?
I was born and raised in Northern Maine, so traveling to Canada was a pretty normal weekend activity for me growing up. It hardly feels like international
travel, and I haven’t got a lot of other experience traveling internationally. I guess what I would say is plan ahead (If you’re reading this and you’ve
tried to make travel plans with me before, stop laughing and do as I say, not as I do.)
A couple specific tips:
● If you don’t have your passport, keep in mind that it can take a long time to get one.
● Find out about your cell phone provider’s coverage in the area you’re visiting.
● Before you leave, call your bank if you plan to use your debit card while you’re abroad so that it’s not flagged for suspicious behavior and shut off
(this is not fun to deal with from another country!).
Thanks, Megan!
That’s all the time we have today. As always, you can send me questions via email; my address is [email protected]. I’ll answer as soon as I can, and your question might even be featured in a future
column!
With the release of Commander 2015 right around the corner, I’m especially looking for questions about Commander, so let me know all your
questions about the new cards, or the format in general!