60 Rules Puzzles for Magic Judges & Inquisitive Players

[@kantprop]

I feel like question 44 has some salt behind it.

[@joshua_lee732]

Not gonna lie, it was actually a good question.

[@laytonjr6601]

Assuming no mulligan, the grief player has 3 cards left in hand (Grief, one exiled for evoke, one land, NDAA used) and a 3/2 menace while you have 5 left in hand and 2 discarded. It would depend on my hand and/or draw, but I think I'd scoop pretty fast

[@DamienSmeets]

The answer has become: you pack your cards, but not before calling a judge for playing against an illegal decklist and getting the free win.

[@TheLuckySpades]

23:47, perfect, no notes, just wanted to congratulate you on getting a chuckle out of me

[@thatoneloser9623]

"You cast Word Of Command" is basically a question in itself lol

[@busTedOaS]

😂

[@EumenesOCardia]

I really thought that was the end of the sentence.

[@gabrielvega1713]

"you cast word of command" no i dont

[@AmmiO2]

Reply here for everything wrong. *Update: From the responses below, it looks like these were incorrect: 15, 41, 45, my pronunciation of "mana".

[@ari_cool]

nothing was wrong

[@storrentMC]

Your pronunciation of "mana"

[@robbiestrong-morse730]

You actually scoop before they cast the not dead after all to avoid revealing information to your opponent.

[@billjayman3911]

In question 20 you’d have to return the call to serve if your opponent controlled a nonblack creature and would then draw two cards

[@Felixr2]

In question 41, I believe the 2/2 morph should not become a copy of either other permanent. This is because it is a face-down permanent, which means that in layer 1b, after applying copy effects, its characteristics are modified according to rule 708.2, which says: Face-down spells and face-down permanents have no characteristics other than those listed by the ability or rules that allowed the spell or permanent to be face down. Any listed characteristics are the copiable values of that object's characteristics. EDIT: Note that turning the morphed creature face up after casting Mirrorweave *will* turn it into a copy of whatever Mirrorweave targeted. The effect still applies, and will no longer be overrided by anything in layer 1b.

[@stigmaoftherose]

I just now realized mana empties between steps and not just between phases. I always have known the cards that preserve mana says, "doesn't empty between steps and phases." But somehow forgot about it actually emptying between steps. Question 6 got me because of that. I dont think this has ever come up in any game I've ever played for obvious reasons, but it is important to remember when doing combat shenanigans that mana does empty between steps.

[@Daz1One]

The rule used to be that mana empties only between phases. That rule was updated in M10, I believe, where it empties between steps as well. People used to float mana from their upkeep to their draw steps from cards like Braid of Fire. If you look at the wording on Upwelling compared to its oracle text, you can see the differences.

[@stigmaoftherose]

@Daz1One well I started playing in m13 so at least for me it's always been the current way for me and I never noticed.

[@jackcarlson5227]

Only 10 questions in, but this is amazing. One piece of feedback: I wish the cards weren't obscured at all during the freeze for time. It's a pain on mobile to scrub back and read them.

[@fatpad00]

That is my criticism as well. A+ video otherwise

[@Erlewyn]

Same here. Even on computer, going back in time after each question gets annoying pretty quickly, I stopped watching after 10 questions or so just because of that.

[@theparagonal]

I really appreciate this kind of content. I can't imagine how long this took to put together.

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

In number 28, if you activate the +2, something does happen. A delayed effect stating that creatures attack Experiment Kraj the attack it this turn if able is created. Next combat, all creatures able to attack Experiment Kraj will have to attack it. If you could somehow turn Experiment Kraj into a planewalket or battle, it would have to be attacked. Otherwise, no creatures would be able to attack it, and therefor, none would be affected by the ability.

[@10Pugz]

im little confused at this part because it says spezific "During target opponent's next turn, creatures that player controls attack Gideon Jura if able." so if you copy the ability with Kraji shouldnt it says the same and the creators still have to Attack Gildeon Jura if able or is Copien the abilitie changeing this part of the ability ? 😵‍💫

[@jaredwonnacott9732]

@@10Pugz When a card refers to itself, the actual rules treat it as saying the cards name, whatever the card's name is. In this case, the ability would refer to Experiment Kraj, and it would change anytime you change the name of the permanent as well. For instance, if you activated a Tajic, Legion's Edge's ability, then someone manages to cast Witness Protection while it was still on the stack, the ability would automatically refer to Legitimate Business Person getting First Strike until end of turn when it resolves. Changing the name wouldn't fizzle the spell.

[@alanhe4476]

@@10Pugz cards will commonly be formatted as "During target opponent's next turn, creatures that player controls attack ~ if able." colloquially, where ~ means "this card", so when copied, the self-referential property of the effect will stay

[@brofst]

Also, wouldn't Kraj get 2 loyalty counters (that don't really do anything)?

[@laytonjr6601]

@@brofstPermanents keep all counters even if they aren't related to their type. Gideon keeps the +1/+1 counter (that does nothing when it's only a planeswalker) and Kraj keeps the loyalty counters (that you can use to activate any planeswalker ability Kraj copies (a permanent can only activate one loyalty ability per turn, even if t's not a planeswalker)), so on your next turn you can activate Gideon's +0 again (or turn it into a creature any other way) and Kraj will be able to use the -2 if there's a valid target. Because Kraj isn't a planeswalker, it doesn't die from losing all its loyalty counters.

[@arkb0t379]

I'm not sure question 15 with Fireball and Phantasmal Bears is correct. Damage is divided on resolution, not casting, because no choices are required. You can put it on the stack with 2 targets and 1 damage, Bear triggers and dies, and then when Fireball resolves it will see it has one legal target, and divide its damage onto Dryad Arbour.

[@edde2429]

Yeah, according to the rules on the gatherer page for fireball it would get rid of both creatures

[@edde2429]

Yeah, according to the rules on the gatherer page for fireball it would get rid of both creatures

[@worriedpikachu174]

yep, just came down here to say this 😅

[@ScorpioneOrzion]

Yes you can kill both You can target more than X creatures. However, if the number of legal targets at the time Fireball resolves is greater than X, none of them will be dealt any damage.

[@Ragnarok633]

This is a very fun video. I started getting more questions wrong around the layers area but i didn't want to look up the rules to try and remember as best I could. Layer's questions will probably always get me unless I'm on a full 8 hours of sleep and do a refresher read beforehand.

[@MehrGills]

Melira doesnt actually save your creature from deathtouch/infect creature. For the same reason lifelink will gain you life, the game sees inkmoth as having "dealt one damage," which is lethal damage with deathtouch. The fact that no -1/-1 counters are placed isnt actually prevening the damage from being dealt. See rule 702.2c for info on deathtouch: 702.2c Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage for the purposes of determining if a proposed combat damage assignment is valid, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c-d.

[@rasmusdegn9690]

I'd really like to see another one of these, both because i like listening/playing along but also because i want to see you/viewers trying to resolve some TRULY ridiculous Panglacial Wurm nonsense-

[@AkromaStrategy]

i like how some questions have an explanation with them, and that one the answer was just, "yup"

[@YoshiFawful64]

Great video! I think I did find two small mistakes, though: In Question 41, because of the way copy effects and face-downs interact - regular copy effects are applied first in layer 1a, then everything implied by the face-down status (2/2 with no other characteristics) in layer 1b - the face-down card will actually remain a characteristic-less 2/2 creature in all three scenarios. It’s copiable characteristic will still technically change, but that’s irrelevant unless you try copying the face-down after the Mirrorweave resolves. There’s actually an example of this exact principle (though with different cards) under rule 707.3 in the Comprehensive Rules. And for Question 45, by the same token as with the lifelink; since damage was still technically assigned, the deathtouch will see that and the blocking 2/2 will still die.

[@dulloddity]

Weirdly the only source I can find for this ruling is specific oracle rulings on various cards (e.g. solemnity) It seems like something that should be explicitly in the rules themselves for infect/wither. It uses lifelink as an example but there's no ruling around deathtouch. So you might be right, but I can't find a citation on it. "Damage from a source with infect has no effect on creatures or players. No -1/-1 counters are put on creatures, and no damage is marked on them. Players don't get poison counters and they don't lose life. The damage is still dealt for purposes of effects that care about damage, such as lifelink." From my less trained perspective it seems like damage was prevented because it was prevented from being marked, but solemnity specifically has the ruling that the damage did occur.

[@YoshiFawful64]

@@dulloddity Yeah, I also noticed that none of the examples use deathtouch. Regardless, you can still infer that it works this way. The key point here is that the damage is not actually _prevented_ (since neither Melira nor Solemnity actually use the word “prevent”). The regular _effects_ of the damage are replaced (by nothing), but the damage _itself_ isn’t, so it still happens as normal (as the segment you quoted says). So there’s no marked damage or counters placed, but there _is_ still “invisible” damage dealt, which matters in the case that something cares about that, as is the case here. Yes, I know this is a confusing and unintuitive interaction, but then again, that’s what the entire video is about. And to prove deathtouch is relevant here, the rules definition for it - specifically rule 702.2b (and 704.5h) - states “A creature with toughness greater than 0 that’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked is destroyed as a state-based action.” You’ll note that nowhere does that mention anything about _marked_ damage, -1/-1 counters, or the like - only that damage was dealt in the first place. So since the Mutavault _does_ deal its damage, deathtouch _does_ still kill the blocker.

[@ih8people]

A suggestion: put cards into their respective zones for these challenges or provide text description. It is hard to remember the conditions when you don't have any visual aids and also have to hold an image of where each card belongs in your head

[@jackmcnally8706]

This might be one of my favorite videos of yours...even if it continues to demonstrate how terrible I am at this game and how little I actually understand some of its rules. Better to learn here than in a match though. I felt #44 though...and I don't even play Modern. Also...can anyone explain #48 to me? How do you keep the brainstormed cards "separate from the rest of your hand" exactly?

[@zuterwer1835]

It's sipply a phyiscal thing. Keep the cards you have before brainstorm in your left hand and the ones you brainstorm and sylvan library in your right. As soon as they touch each other you can longer proove that you drew that specific card so they aren't legal to put back with libraries effect.

[@jackmcnally8706]

@@zuterwer1835 Huh. I guess to be fair you have to be able to show that somehow without revealing them. Thought I was missing something.

[@benbv8167]

I think question 51 is wrong? Since life and limb has an earlier timestamp, It applies first making your saprolings and forests into saproling forests, then conspiracy makes both into "Brushwaggs". In the end your original forests and saprolings are all brishwaggs. if the reverse happened (conspiracy on field then cast life and limb), then the timestamp order would make all saprolings brushwaggs, and then the forests would become forest saprolings. The way the question is presented, conspiracy has the last timestamp, but the answer you gave is the answer if life of limb had the last timestamp (or if life of limb was just cast rather than conspiracy).

[@princess_intell]

Im not trying to become a judge, but this is absolutely fascinating.

[@rustyanvile]

L2 Judge here, some of the things that tripped me up First was question 13: I forgot the order of triggered abilities and static abilities I'm gonna blame this one on it being late when I'm watching this video Question 19: I'm not sure I've encountered this situation before where it matters if you target it or not, with a bit of hindsight it seems more obvious to me that's how it works though Question 51: I hate life and limb Question 52: I forgot tokens couldn't change zones more then once, not a common rule that comes up Question 60: I would've thought player C would've controlled both confiscates some weird things about some of the questions Question 20: you didn't specify there were no other permanents on the field which would be helpful, my answer was 1 or 2 depending on if there was a legal enchant for call to serve. Question 41: You say when you make the other creatures copies of the face down one that they lose creatures types and have no characteristics but in the graphic Mutavault shows every type, it can only be one. Question 45: Kira should also die, just as you gain life due to lifelink the damage will be lethal to it, just because the damage doesn't do anything doesn't mean it does nothing. Question 53: The controller of Sigarda doesn't actually have a choice here, they're not allowed to pay 6 life if they only have 5, trying to do so would be a GRV, if that's their 3rd GRV of the day though they would get a game loss though ironically enough. Question 55: This one really confused me as you said "A blood moon *or* a humility on the battlefield" I thought the scenarios would be different so I didn't really make a guess and just listened to the answer but I was surprised when it was opposite what I thought. I'm gonna mark this as half a question wrong for me Final score: 54.5/60

[@AmmiO2]

I tried my best: using my own knowledge, double-checking the comp rules, gatherer, and Googling judge answers, but I knew going in I was going to get some of these wrong.

[@rustyanvile]

@@AmmiO2 Sorry I should've made it a bit more clear, these weren't criticisms, a lot of these I only knew from seeing the question before, this all being basically correct without being a judge is quite the accomplishment. Even as a judge I'd expect a couple mistakes. I was just trying to give some constructive feedback.

[@shelbydoolittle9323]

Like many others, love the video. Please don't put the layer over the cards when doing the countdown. I need to read the card text and it makes it much harder. Looking forward to more.

[@Michael.032]

I just wanna say that this has been a super fun video to go through so far, and I still have a third of the video left! (I'm on the Murktide/Nexus question though, and I'm a bit stumped) I really like the difficulty of the questions (especially compared to something like RulesGuru, which tends to feel a bit too easy for me), so I'd love to watch another style of video like this if you happen to make more.

[@quelfth4413]

At 10:05, it is stated that a mana ability cannot be a "Planeswalker Loyalty ability" but the word planeswalker is not related to the definition. Any loyalty ability on any permanent is not a mana ability regardless of whether that permanent is a planeswalker. So for instance, if you equip Chandra with Luxior, Giada's Gift, so that she is a creature instead of a planeswalker, the +1 is still not a mana ability.

[@Frawzen480]

"Let's start with an easy one" Me: *Guesses wrong* Well, that was a fun quiz.

[@worriedpikachu174]

25:26 you couldn't have put a newer version of sylvan library on screen for this? or phrased the question better to account for the pay life option?

[@DrCoolGuy88]

Please make more of these! I loved it and am trying to find more videos like it!

[@HeyApples]

I got all the type setting layers questions correct. The heuristic to use to select the correct answer is to guess the most ass-backwards, unintuitive ruling possible.

[@100nodog]

3:00 MtG;A has the wrong rule for Question 4 then, because i have a rakdos aristocrats deck and ive gotten triggers off the Legend Rule

[@FlakManiak]

In the Inkmoth Nexus/Melira question, wouldn't the Vault of the Archangel giving deathtouch mean that you would kill the blocker? You still deal damage, even if no -1/-1 counters are placed.

[@ArchaicEX]

I was thinking the same thing. I figured the interaction would work like Archon of Coronation, where the damage happens but its normal effects do not.

[@AmmiO2]

You assign damage, but there is 0 damage marked on the creature.

[@cossin281]

⁠@@AmmiO2. Sure, but that isn’t what matters. What matters is that Inkmoth Nexus did deal damage to the blocker, since that is what the deathtouch SBA checks for. And even if no results of the damage (losing life, marking damage, placing counters) happened the damage was still dealt, see Platinum Emperion vs commander damage for another example. 704.5h. If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and it's been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked, that creature is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

[@michaelbloom8270]

Creatures with infect or wither never mark damage on creatures, but they still work with deathtouch. If the damage isn't prevented then SBAs will see that a source with deathtouch damaged a creature and put that creature in the graveyard accordingly.

[@Pinfeldorf]

If the lifelink gains you a life, the Deathtouch kills the creature for the exact same reason. @@AmmiO2

[@tateallen9972]

I have been looking for the answer to question 8 for a long time. Thanks!

[@NintendoMasterNo1]

I got 39 correct and 21 wrong. I almost got two-thirds so I'm pretty proud when I'm not even a judge or anything. I'll have you know I audibly screamed when Volrath's Shapeshifter came up on question 58... and then again when Panglacial Wurm showed up after I had spent 3 minutes reading Word of Command.

[@senyormort]

27 out of 60 not that bad, I feel I learned a chunk of the game in half an hour ^^ Thanks for the video

[@crancpiti]

This is such a fun video! I hope we can get like a question of the week thing going haha

[@worriedpikachu174]

30:59 but you didn't give a complete answer! how will I know if I'm correct about only one bear attacking?

[@SyobonTHexagon]

I think question 38 is partly wrong. after you put berserk onto the stack, it gains the cast restriction again and 601.2e will prevent you from casting it after the combat damage step.

[@thomascai2296]

Great video! For Question 51, if both are dependent on each other, shouldn't Life and Limb apply first since it has the earlier timestamp? (I think the answer given has Conspiracy applying first)

[@tonyfay2733]

Was wondering this myself. It feels like the time stamp order was applied backwards in the answer, but I'm not expert on dependencies, so I'm not sure.

[@Felixr2]

You are correct. With Life and Limb having the earlier timestamp, the Forest should be a Basic Creature Land - Brushwagg Forest and the Saproling should be a Creature Land - Brushwagg Forest.

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

Q15, the Dryad should die as once we get to the point of dealing damage there is just the one creature left due to the Bear sacrificing itself to the triggered ability. You assign the damage Fireball deals as we resolve the spell, not as we cast it. And in the event the number of creatures we targeted is greater then it’s X value at time of dealing damage, 0 damage is dealt.

[@MehrGills]

Wouldn't you assign 0 damage to both in the divide/distribute step of casting the spell tho? I think 15 was right. The melira one was wrong tho

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

@@MehrGills Fireball’s distribution is applied as it resolves, not in the step of dividing when you cast a spell because you don’t choose how to divide the damage. It’s done automatically when it goes to deal damage. Meaning it’s only seeing 1 target so it deals 1 damage. The Meleria one is also wrong from using bad terminology. The Inkmoth is still dealing damage, it just doesn’t mark the damage as a -1/-1 counter. You gain 1 life from lifelink and the Kira will die to Deathtouch.

[@MehrGills]

@@ZakanaHachihaCBC ah, reading the scryfall/gatherer rulings explains the card. My bad, I should have checked there too not just CR

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

@@MehrGills it’s all good. Normally gatherer isn’t the best place to go to for definitive rulings, but basically to give an in-rules explanation for why it’s because you’re not choosing how to divide the damage Fireball will ultimately deal, it does that on its own. This is because Fireball is able to target more creatures then what X equals so we can’t actually choose how to divide the damage.

[@cedarbenz]

Regarding question 9, I don't believe the answer you've provided is fully correct. While it's true that Nexus of Fate's last ability is a replacement effect, shouldn't you draw the card _after_ shuffling it into your library while attempting to surveil it into your graveyard? Per the CR, cards' abilities are followed in the order they're written, not simultaneously. Plus, you didn't elaborate much on this question at all.

[@BuckB-MTG]

For the spellskite question, I think directing viewers to CR 115.3 would have been helpful.

[@raedien]

Yeah, I def prefer when a CR is provided.

[@fovlsbane]

Tarmogoy having variable p/t in all zones is interesting to learn.

[@Red-Tower]

The part that really confused me was the scarab god interaction. It really throws me off that it actually just loses its ability entirely when it has its p/t set by the token effect. Like I understand the ability no longer works because of the token creating effect setting the p/t but I would have assumed it would still technically have an ability.

[@screamcollector]

@@Red-Tower think about it this way: goyf looks like it has an ability that sets its power and toughness, but in reality that line of text IS its power and toughness

[@Felixr2]

@@screamcollector Still not a great explanation. A regular Tarmogoyf would not get +2/+2 from Muraganda Peteoglyphs. It has a characteristic defining ability, which is still an ability.

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

@@Red-TowerIf a copy effect sets the characteristics of a card that are defined within a CDA, that ability is ignored compleatly. Scarab God would make Transguild Carrier, Universal Automaton and Goyf all vanilla creatures because setting their Colour, Type and P/T overrides their CDA.

[@sonnilowe8858]

@Red-Tower Glad I'm not the only one. Very weird indeed to have a rules interaction that basically makes a card lose an ability if what that ability refers to is overridden by a different effect. I think the shorthand explanations provided by others below miss the mark because they've kind of incorrect in the reasoning. The reasoning appears to be this rule that specifically prevents the characteristic defining ability from being copied at all: "707.9d When applying a copy effect that doesn’t copy a certain characteristic, retains one or more original values for a certain characteristic, or provides a specific set of values for a certain characteristic, any characteristic-defining ability (see rule 604.3) of the object being copied that defines that characteristic is not copied. If that characteristic is color, any color indicator (see rule 204) of that object is also not copied. This rule does not apply to copy effects with exceptions that state the object is a certain card type, supertype, and/or subtype “in addition to its other types.” In those cases, any characteristic-defining ability that defines card type, supertype, and/or subtype is copied. Example: Quicksilver Gargantuan is a creature that reads, “You may have Quicksilver Gargantuan enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it’s 7/7.” Quicksilver Gargantuan enters the battlefield as a copy of Tarmogoyf, which has a characteristic-defining ability that defines its power and toughness. Quicksilver Gargantuan does not have that ability. It will be 7/7." So it isn't particularly a logic reason, it's a rule specifically made to handle this kind of interaction. It's just novel that the rule actually prevents the ability from being copied, rather than having it be sorted out in layers or something. Interesting choice, I wonder if there's another interaction this was done because of, or if it's just a way to make these kind of effects cleaner by removing any abilities that won't be relevant.

[@Muhahahahaz]

This is really fun! So far, I got the first 2 correct, but I messed up on the 3rd one I wasn’t aware of the precise definition of a Mana Ability, so I was treating the creature’s ability like a normal Activated Ability, in which case the answer would be no (since you would have to activate it before the damage spell begins resolving) But now I see… 🤓 (And I was actually able to figure out the correct explanation on my own. Once I heard you say “yes,” I paused again, and I was like… Ohhhhh, that thing there must be a Mana Ability haha)

[@ZackeroniAndCheese]

This is amazing content. I definitely revisit this video to brush up from time to time

[@benjaamericano2441]

For 50, I thought since player C controlled the first confiscate before activating the ability, the "You" on the first confiscate would still be referring to player C, who would then controll both confiscates. Is there something about moving the enchantment (which doesn't leave the battlefield) that makes it so "you" on the first confiscate doesn't refer to player C when it did before because of the second confiscate?

[@macurvello]

I was thinking the same.

[@AmmiO2]

This may have been one of the ones I got wrong.

[@brofst]

​@@AmmiO2 I thought this was because the 2 effects create a circular dependency, and therefore apply in timestamp order. B's Confiscated has an earlier timestamp, therefore applies first.

[@gavinquirk4098]

I absolutely loved this video made me realize i need to read up on layered interactions

[@zuterwer1835]

I loe this video idea! I got 35 right and 25 wrong, which is pretty impressive I think. I'm especially happy to have gotten those last 2 right! Please more of this. Gonna send this to my playgroup to see if they're as good as me.

[@joebaumgart1146]

What happens if you Ultimate Karn Liberated in a Shaharazaad Subgame? Is a turn that becomes an infinite causality loop considered "Slow Play" or a legitimate win con? What happens if 2 contradictory instants resolve at literally the exact same time? (The Causality loop does not win the game by itself, it just causes the turn to be unable to ever end. The wincon is concession. Which is a legitimate Wincon in of itself. That's how Karn Mycosynth works. Your opponents don't actually lose, they just can't possibly win.) What happens if both players have Platinum Angel effects in play? What if I have no cards left but have a Platinum angel in play. The game can't continue, but I can't lose. Is the game infinite?

[@jackmcnally8706]

If an infinite loop of actions begins that cannot be stopped then the game ends in a draw. There are a few examples of this, such as a loop of Worldgorger Dragon repeatedly entering and exiting exile and flickering your stuff infinitely. You can’t manually stop it from happening without some other effect like a removal spell; if neither you nor your opponent has a way to stop the loop the game is a stalemate. As for a loop you manually choose to do over and over, that I believe is slow play since you can choose to stop the loop on your own terms. Moral of the story…keep Shararazaad on the ban list

[@Felixr2]

A halfway decent Karn Mycosynth deck would run a wincon as well. People just scoop when Karn Mycosynth hits the board because they know they won't be able to stop the wincon that's coming somewhere in the next few turns.

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

@@Felixr2”the next few turns” as in the 6/6 Lattice that’s going to be attacking

[@Felixr2]

@@ZakanaHachihaCBC For example.

[@witchcraft2264]

How are your contradictory instants resolving at the same time? For the "we both have a platinum angel but no cards in hand or deck" game, the game will be considered a draw when the round comes to time.

[@Siffy5654]

I think you messed up at question 51 about life and limb and conspiracy? The answer you gave would be what happens if conspiracy was first on the board and then you played life and limb. In the question you said it the other way around though in which case my understanding is that the forest is a forest brushwagg and the saproling is a forest brushwagg as well. Because life and limb would apply first through time stamp order and conspiracy would the alter the saproling type on both cards. When played the other way around your answer holds up as when conspiracy applies first it doesn't see the forest as a saproling, leaving it unchanged and changes the saproling to a brushwagg. After that life and limb checks and sees a forest which it will turn into a saproling and a brushwagg which doesn't fit the criteria and is therefor left without the forest type

[@chrisroos3207]

I'm a little confused by question 41 because to me it seemed like the explanation you gave conflicted with the edited text on the cards. For example, in the scenario where the morph was copied you said that all the creatures were 2/2s with no types or abilities but the edited red text on mutavault still said "Creature - all types" and smuggler's copter says "Artifact Creature"

[@brofst]

might be a (video) layers thing ---- those should be crossed out

[@gustavoborcellirepenning9809]

Great video, I'd like this to be a new series!

[@ArchaicEX]

How do you know the answer to question 57? I tried researching it before, and the only official word I could find on it was in a forum post from 20 years ago, and I wonder if that's changed. The wording is ambiguous so judges disagree.

[@AmmiO2]

There technically isn't a correct answer to this question as far as I'm aware, but there _is_ some precedent with cards like Silent Arbiter. Yes, the wording is ambiguous.

[@ArchaicEX]

@@AmmiO2 I was generalizing. Silent Arbiter happens to be exactly the interaction I had been looking for! How was the precent set then?

[@AmmiO2]

@@ArchaicEX I think of it like this: If there's a ruling that can go 1 of 2 ways and there's no clear indication which is correct, err on the side of not punishing the player.

[@kevink.8809]

This was really cool and probably took a ton of effort to make. Very informative thank you for your hard work

[@plateman4352]

This is such a neat video, thank you very much

[@AlienValkyrie]

I'm confused about question 51; if we revert to timestamps, doesn't that mean we should apply Life and Limb first, since it's been on the battlefield longer? So first, in Layer 4, the Forest and Saproling would both become Forest Saproling land creatures; then Conspiracy would replace their creature types with Brushwagg, making them Forest Brushwagg land creatures; and then, in Layers 5 and 7, since it's part of an effect that already applied earlier (and in either case, since they're still Forests), Life and Limb would make them green 1/1s - so in the end, they're 1/1 green Forest Brushwagg land creatures, as expected?

[@warpdrivefueledbyinsomnia8165]

I think it's somewhere around question 25 where I would just scoop rather than try to figure out what's going on. Because at this point you've long stripped away what feels like a fantasy duel of wizards, and are instead trying to ram square-shaped game pieces into round-shaped scenarios.

[@laytonjr6601]

25: I find it fascinating that you can float as many mana as you want when you cast a spells that costs 1 mana but can't when you cast a spell for free. 39: wait. If you flash it but it has no abilities, does it go to exile without doing anything? 48: if you control Sylvan Library and casts Brainstorm when there's another effect that reveals/has revealed your hand, the correct legal play is to call a judge. 60 is the funniest in my opinion

[@samogburn2662]

Awesome video! Obviously super well researched

[@kairotox]

After getting so many of these questions wrong, i have to appreciate the simplicity that arena offers. But....i still should learn more, these edge cases still determine wins or losses

[@pindajunk7155]

I have been playing this game for 9 years and i got like 5 correct. Oh my god i have screwed up so many games. Great video tho! Love this unique and interactive content.

[@wiiboy0303]

I have a question about Q28. The +2 ability on Gideon Jura reads "During target opponents next turn, creatures that player controls attack Gideon Jura if able", using the name of the card "Gideon Jura" rather than "this planeswalker" or something like that. If experiment Kraj uses this ability, is that line supposed to be read as "creatures that player controls attack experiment kraj if able", because to me, a literal reading of the ability suggests that Kraj activating the ability should force creatures to attack Gideon Jura. Is there a rule regarding abilities that mention the card by name, or about when permanents use activated abilities of other permanents?

[@AmmiO2]

Whenever a card's ability includes it's own name in reference to itself, it actually means "this card", meaning copy effects refer to themselves rather than the original.

[@Ecrowtist]

Rule 201.5 is the particular rule that mentions this

[@samueljames8654]

For question 25 I'm pretty sure if like thorn of amethyst is on the battlefield then you could float all your mana before sacing the lands similar to kci combo

[@seandun7083]

Yup

[@sorin_markov]

16:19 I'm very familiar with this interaction as a Sedris player lol Also, really cool video! I thought I knew rules and rules interactions well, but this video proved me wrong

[@isambo400]

In the Spellskite - Fury example, could you not activate Spellskite twice and point both targets at it that way?

[@AmmiO2]

Spellskite's ability says "is this ability currently targeting me? If no, target me instead. If yes, nothing happens."

[@lucabozza1750]

32/60, i feel good. The only 2 problems i have is that I'm unsure on how the interaction between season of the Witch and master of cruelties is different than arbiter (of which afaik we have no official solution) and the second one is how do we differentiate haakun being an illegal cast over the earlier copy of a land going to the graveyard

[@fafdsfr]

I can handle the Haakon question. It's because of how casting a spell works. The very first step of it is moving the card from where it is to the stack (601.2a). This causes the shapeshifter to gain the "Can't play creature spells" restriction. Later, the game checks if the spell is legal to cast (601.2e) and since it is no longer legal, the game reverts to before you put it on the stack. In the clone becoming a dryad arbor scenario, the creature remains legal to cast throughout the entire process, it is only as you choose the creature that it becomes illegal for the spell to move from the stack to the battlefield, which is after the point at which the legality of casting was checked.

[@connerbouse5176]

This was such a cool video, must have been tricky to make!

[@MetaBinding]

I have literally never played magic before, im sure this will go well.

[@seandun7083]

For 51 wouldn't both be 1/1 Brushwagg Forests? As you said, they form a dependency loop (Life and Limb changes which are creatures which changes which permanents Conspiracy applies to. Conspiracy alters which are Saprolings which changes which permanents Life and Limb applies to) meaning you go back to using timestamps. If you use timestamps, then the process is: Saproling -> Saproling Forest -> Brushwagg Forest And Forest -> Saproling Forest -> Brushwagg Forest

[@paulquinlan354]

With question 29, I think the Young Wolf does come back. With my understanding of the comprehensive rules, the +1/+1 counters get removed when -1/-1 counters are placed on it.

[@AmmiO2]

The effects happen simultaneously, so the Wolf exists in 2 states: #1 On the battlefield with both counters on it, and then #2: In the graveyard. When it checks to see if it should undy, it looks back at the last known board state and sees #1, which includes the +1 counter.

[@rafaelvarela1024]

Only got 28 right 😭 with a further 3 that I would've called correctly but maybe for the wrong reasons. Most of the ones I missed started at question 40. Great vid!

[@witchcraft2264]

Please make more of these videos I really enjoyed it and was sad when there were no more questions for me

[@NalathniDragon]

I think the crewed vehicle that becomes a copy of mutavault dies, because the type-changing effect is still on it (causing it to be a creature) but it no longer has any printed power and toughness so its P/T becomes 0/0?

[@mosgon]

This is a really fun video! I enjoy trying these puzzles despite not knowing much about the mtg rules. I'm really confused why casting Haakon becomes illegal (Q. 58), but Golgari Grave-Troll in Q. 27 counts itself. Why does Haakon leave the graveyard upon being cast (making Grid Monitor the new top card), but the Grave-Troll counts itself as still being on the graveyard when it ETBs. Thanks!

[@AmmiO2]

Haakon checks whether it's legal when it's put on the stack. When it is, Grid Monitor is the top card. Grave Troll has 2 states of being: The 1st is in the graveyard, and the 2nd is on the battlefield. There is no point at which it's "in-between" the 2 zones. So "as" it enters, it checks how many creatures are in the graveyard and includes itself. It's then on the battlefield.

[@alanhe4476]

GGT isn't being cast, it's being moved from GY to battlefield, so its still "in the graveyard" as it's entering whenever you cast a spell, you technically move it from where it's being cast from (in Haakon's case, the GY, changing what's on top) to the stack

[@RobCoops]

Question 17: This shows how broken the stack rules are, even though with the current rules this makes sense from a purely logical perspective this essentially sees the altar's pinata getting popped before the condition under which that is supposed to happen has been satisfied. I would very much like to see a rule change that says: "A card being sacrificed looses all of its abilities as soon as the card causing the sacrifice triggers its effect as a result of the sacrifice." This would see these silly situations disappear and restore some semblance of logic to the process of getting rewards for sacrificing things.

[@seandun7083]

So sacrificing a Doomed Traveler to Ashnod's Altar wouldn't make a spirit?

[@badbigby811]

that last question made me want to give up magic and sell my cards. i hate this... 10/10 good video

[@worriedpikachu174]

a lot of these are missing the rules references for further research. how do I get clarification on the answer to question 20?

[@AmmiO2]

303.4g

[@isambo400]

Can Jade Statute ever be activated to attack? I recall a ruling at the pro tour a few years ago where a player could not crew a vehicle in the begin combat step.

[@lyra6225]

I know it’s been a year since this video was released, so it’s unlikely that I’ll get clarification here, but I don’t really see the distinction being made between 10 and 11. 11 says that rebound makes a replacement effect, so a card that exiles itself won’t take effect, as the exiling ‘replaces’ the ETG. that all makes sense to me. However, I don’t see how Delay isn’t also a replacement effect. It has the same “if” conditional, has the same ‘instead’ which to me means a replacement. Is there something obvious I’m missing?

[@seandun7083]

Rebound makes a replacement effect that exiles the card "as it resolves". Temporal Trespass exiles itself as part of the resolution. That means that it exiles itself before it finishes resolving so it never gets to the point where Rebound happens. Delay is also a replacement effect.

[@keanureef271]

Question on the delay flashback question (10). Isn’t delay putting the spell into exile a replacement effect? If so, wouldn’t it not be able to replace the spell going into the graveyard because flashback already puts it into exile? Or is flashback also a replacement effect so you can choose which one applies first?

[@omarfaison7901]

flashback is a replacement effect, for an additional example if you were to flashback homestead courage while having a feather, the redeemed then you would be able to choose to exile the homestead courage and return it to hand at end step

[@demiurge2501]

Would question 29 play out differently if you used temur battle rage on a 1/1 glistener elf?

[@AmmiO2]

No.

[@moistnar]

Wait for Question 28 do you put loyalty counters on Experiment Kraj? Can creatures have loyalty counters, and if so, can I use the -2 next turn if I use the +2 this turn?

[@AmmiO2]

Yes.

[@Phyrexi4n]

Ok I have a rules question that I think this is the perfect place to ask it, and this happened against me in a sealed pre release. My opponent has 5 lands and has a Tatyova, Steward of Tides in play. They cast Slimefoot’s Survey. What happens? I was told that both lands that entered the battlefield from slimefoot’s survey would become 3/3 creatures. Is this correct or was it a bad call?

[@AmmiO2]

They both trigger Tatyova and can both become creatures.

[@fd7003]

If you are exact, question 37 is a little unprecise, as Vesuva will not enter as a Blank Land, but it won´t have a Mana ability of it´s own.

[@t3cneo948]

40/60, I'm really proud of that. Also I hope I never need to hear the words "dependencies" or "Humility" again

[@xboxgamer474246]

Can you respond to Nexus of Fate’s shuffle? Is it a trigger or a replacement effect?

[@AmmiO2]

Replacement.

[@CammalBlake]

About question 22 : Is it this way because spellskite can only be targeted once by a single effect ?

[@AmmiO2]

"If a spell or ability has multiple targets but doesn't use the word "target" multiple times, [...] you can only change one of the targets to Spellskite."

[@dragade101]

For Question #5, Tarmogoyf has an ability that allows its P/T to change throughout the game. Duplicant doesnt copy the creature it exiles. It just looks at P/T of the exiled card. Why will Duplicant gain the text "its power is the number of card types among cards in all graveyards and its toughness is equal to that number plus 1" Shouldn’t Duplicant be a 4/5 or a 0/1 unless it copied the creature’s abilities? (I understand Duplicant has special rules to grant this yet its unintuitive as */* P/T are tied to a static ability it isn’t copying and thus shouldn’t have the ability to define a changed P/T)

[@seandun7083]

It won't gain that ability itself, however it has an ability which will itself change as the power and toughness of the exiled card changes. Since Tarmogoyf has a Characteristic Defining Ability, it still applies while not on the battlefield. Since Duplicant refers to the power and toughness of the "card" exiled with it, it looks at the card in exile rather than the last known information of the creature before it was exiled. This also means that Duplicant won't benefit from Auras/equipment/counters on the creature it exiled.

[@dragade101]

@@seandun7083 Thanks. I'll just accept this as bad logic that WotC ruled on this way.

[@seandun7083]

@@dragade101 it's for the same reason that a Bishop of Binding that exiles a Clone of a Grizzly Bears will get +0/+0 when it attacks rather than +2/+2. It looks at the card in exile rather than the creature as it last was on the battlefield.

[@stephenhanlin6287]

Does question 48 only apply in physical Magic? I’d imagine if you’re playing Sylvan Library on MTGO, the game can track for you which cards you’ve drawn this turn, so there’s no possibility for cheating, which is likely what this rule was designed to prevent.

[@AmmiO2]

Yes, "hand tracking" effects are automatic in digital.

[@macurvello]

Question 22's rule seems extremely and needlessly counterintuitive. So what if the word target only appears once? The spell has two targets... Follow up question : can you activate spellskite again to redirect the same target you redirected the first time? If you wanted to lose life for some reason for instance.

[@AmmiO2]

You can activate Spellskite as many times as you have life/mana to pay for it AND you can activate it even if a spell doesn't target anything.

[@edde2429]

I feel like the typings on the visual for question 41 are wrong and also inconsistent between the examples

[@gatherer818]

I'm pretty sure you get them both in question 15. When you cast the Fireball (with X=1 and an additional mana for a second target), sure, it doesn't look like it's going to work. But the Bear will be sacrificed by its own ability before resolution. When it resolves, it will only be targeting the Dryad Arbor and 1 divided by 1 = 1, which is enough for the kill.

[@noahfriedrich4686]

While you are right about Kolaghan and Delve, I think Wizards should change this ruling. Spell costs are paid on the stack, and events that trigger when a spell is cast will always otherwise trigger. It seems more like a rule that was just tacked on to keep Kolaghan from being too powerful because he and Delve were both in Standard at the same time.

[@Pinfeldorf]

Depends on how you cast the spell. You can announce a spell and then pay costs, in which case Kologhan would nug you for 10. Or you can pay the costs and then announce the spell, which case the Murky Boi is no longer in the graveyard when the spell enters the stack.

[@macurvello]

I don't understand the last one. All 3 permanents were controlled by C when the Guildmage ability was activated. Since it is no longer enchanted, I get that it goes back to the owner, but why would the enchantments' control default back to B and not stay under C's control, regardless of timestamp?? Throughout this whole process, C's aura never stopped enchanting B's aura...

[@brofst]

It *think* this was because the 2 effects create a circular dependency, and therefore apply in timestamp order. B's Confiscated has an earlier timestamp, therefore applies first.

[@deoplo5988]

@@brofst I could maybe see this, however auras and equipments get a new timestamp whenever they get attached to an object (613.7e), so player B's Confiscate would actually have the later timestamp. Thus how I thought it would go, was first player C's applies which gives C control of B's Confiscate And then B's confiscate would take control of C's. End result being they control each-other's auras? Either way I wish he would explain more than just "yeah because timestamps".

[@brofst]

@@deoplo5988 I misspoke in my earlier comment; you're correct that B's confiscate has the later timestamp (since it gets a new timestamp when it attaches to C's confiscate). That's why it applies last. > End result being they control each-other's auras? Yes, which is a dependency loop. In such cases, the abilities revert to applying in timestamp order.

[@_Ve_98]

I think question 15 is wrong. The bear gets sacrificed so when fireball resolves it has only 1 target, so it becomes 1 divided by 1. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I am I don't understand what I'm missing.

[@ZakanaHachihaCBC]

You are correct. The Bear will be sacrificed to its trigger meaning when we go to deal damage, Fireball divides 1 damage evenly among 1 target. If in the event the number of targeted creatures is greater then X when we go to resolve Fireball, 0 damage is dealt. So it’s wrong on more then just “do we kill both creatures.”

[@20x20]

for 49, why does the scarab god's ability REMOVE tarmogoyf's ability instead of just overriding it?

[@Peronioz]

This was so much fun!

[@amisanthropicman]

Question 22, Why can't you activate spellskite's ability twice before fury's ability resolves?

[@AmmiO2]

It doesn't matter how many times you activate it; you can only redirect 1 instance of the word "target" once.

[@laughingskuls7000]

disappointing that there was no question with equinox, still fun video!

[@elKONTEXO]

Question 5: Why is duplicants power and toughness variable? It only copies power and toughness and no abilities. Are Power/toughness changing abilities copied regardless?

[@AmmiO2]

The Tarmogoyf ability is tied to the P/T.

[@Ecrowtist]

Tarmagoyf's ability is what is known as a characteristic defining ability (CDA) which allows it to function in all zones, including exile. Although duplicant doesn't copy goyf's ability, it does copy the p/t of the card tarmagoyf while it is in exile, which is set by tarmagoyf's CDA.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

WHY can we activate mana abilities in the middle of oother abilities

[@mtgamatuerhour3147]

Question 20 requires more info since if your opponents have a non black creature you would draw 2 otherwise 1 is correct

[@GheyForGames]

How the fuck does the goyf duplicant one work It doesn't copy goyfs effect

[@Felixr2]

Goyf has a characteristic defining ability. Characteristic defining abilities apply in all zones, including exile.

[@GheyForGames]

@@Felixr2 huh how about that!

[@Felixr2]

@@GheyForGames For extra information, here's the rule that explains what a CDA is: 604.3a A static ability is a characteristic-defining ability if it meets the following criteria: (1) It defines an object’s colors, subtypes, power, or toughness; (2) it is printed on the card it affects, it was granted to the token it affects by the effect that created the token, or it was acquired by the object it affects as the result of a copy effect or text-changing effect; (3) it does not directly affect the characteristics of any other objects; (4) it is not an ability that an object grants to itself; and (5) it does not set the values of such characteristics only if certain conditions are met. Then the rule that states why it matters: 604.3. Some static abilities are characteristic-defining abilities. A characteristic-defining ability conveys information about an object’s characteristics that would normally be found elsewhere on that object (such as in its mana cost, type line, or power/toughness box). Characteristic-defining abilities can add to or override information found elsewhere on that object. Characteristic-defining abilities function in all zones. They also function outside the game and before the game begins. Other examples of CDA's would be Changeling, Burakkos's type changing effect, and Transguild Courier's color changing effect. This also means Transguild Courier's color identity is already WUBRG during deck construction, making it illegal in commander decks with non-WUBRG commanders.

[@collinbeal]

​@@Felixr2same reason Nethroi players in commander love a Scourge of the Skyclaves in the yard

[@mooerr]

GheyForGames in the wild! Is that Toni testing his magic knowledge? 😂

[@hoffedemann5370]

I've got 43 right and 17 wrong, i'm proud (but my layers knowledge is a bit rusty)

[@jesszendrex2151]

For question 20, you didn't clarify that no non-black creatures were in play when you cast replenish