pastimes.net

By James Elliott (Level 2 Judge)

Hello Everyone! I thought perhaps now was a good time to take stock of some of the more awesome, fun and head scratching cards that have come out of the Rise of the Eldrazi set. There have certainly been plenty of questions already from the Eldrazi pre-release and release events in April. As we prepare for the oncoming PTQ Amsterdam season (standard format) I’ll try and answer some questions about Eldrazi cards I’d expect to become staple judge calls this summer!

First, it might be worth talking in general terms about abilities in the set, both old and new.

Deathtouch C.R. 702.2 Quite a few of the creatures in Rise of the Eldrazi have been given deathtouch. This means that any creature that has been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch will be destroyed as a state based action (C.R. 702.2c), even if the original source of damage is no longer on the battlefield (C.R. 702.2d) – This is an example of the game using last known information about the original deathtouch creature. It applies to all damage, not just combat damage, so any abilities that are granted to the creature to “tap and ping” to deal damage to a creature will still recognize deathtouch on the source of damage when state based actions are checked.

Remember that the rules for combat against multiple blocking creatures when the attacker has deathtouch change (C.R. 702.2b). For example, if an attacking 3/3 creature with deathtouch is blocked by three 2/2 creatures, you can assign 1 damage to each and kill them all, regardless of whether it was going to be lethal damage.

Extra Bit: If your creature has Deathtouch and Trample you can’t assign less than lethal damage and trample the rest over to the opponent. No sireee bob! All creatures must be assigned lethal damage before anything can hit the player, even if the creature has Deathtouch (because the rules for trample have not changed). As normal, you can take into account damage already dealt to the creature or damage that would be dealt at the same time.

Annihilator. This ability triggers when you announce creatures attacking in your attack step. Player’s can respond to the ability but it won’t stop it from resolving and you’ll still have to sacrifice permanents, even if the creature with annihilator is gone when it resolves. The annihilator ability resolves and makes you sacrifice permanents before you declare blockers. In a two headed giant match, the player controlling the creature with annihilator chooses which of the defending player’s the ability is directed at. It does NOT make both defending player’s sacrifice permanents for the same annihilator ability.

Rebound. Rebound cares where the card was cast from. Specifically it wants to know if the spell was cast from your hand. If it was, a delayed triggered ability is set up to cast the spell again during your next upkeep. The card is directly exiled after it leaves the stack and therefore doesn’t go to the graveyard first. However when the delayed trigger ability resolves next turn, the spell was cast from exile so it won’t trigger again and be re-exiled. Likewise, if you turnover a rebound card as a result of a resolving Cascade ability you won’t exile the card from the game and get another spell next turn.

Totem Armor. An aura with totem armor acts as a replacement effect if the enchanted creature would be destroyed. Creatures are destroyed (C.R. 701.6) when they would take lethal damage, a spell effect uses the word ‘destroy’ or it has taken damage from a source with deathtouch. The Totem Armor then springs into action and replaces that destruction by destroying the aura instead.

If a creature has multiple auras with totem armor on it then just one of the totem auras is destroyed for each time the creature would be destroyed. You also choose which aura to destroy.

You only destroy an aura if the creature would actually be destroyed. Regeneration shields and creatures that are indestructible are not destroyed, therefore you don’t destroy the aura (assuming you actually use the regeneration replacement effect to save the creature).

Other non destroy effects which cause the creature to be put into the graveyard from the battlefield will not make you destroy the totem armor and save the creature e.g. creatures with zero toughness or subject to the two legend rule will still be put into the graveyard when state based actions are next checked.

If a creature with totem armor takes lethal damage during the combat phase, it doesn’t tap the creature and cause it to be removed from combat e.g. if you have a creature with a totem armor and it blocks or becomes blocked by a creature with double strike, if the creature with the totem armor takes lethal damage during the first strike damage step, the totem armor will be destroyed and then the creature will face further damage during the second combat damage step.

OK, so let’s take a look at my choice for the ten cards in Rise of the Eldrazi that are most likely to cause you to scratch your head. Armed with this knowledge below you should be winning more matches, look more intellectual to your opponent’s and more attractive to women.

No 10. Eldrazi Conscription 8 Tribal Enchantment — Eldrazi Aura Enchant creature Enchanted creature gets +10/+10 and has trample and annihilator 2. (Whenever it attacks, defending player sacrifices two permanents.) If the creature enchanted already has its own annihilator ability then the affect will be accumulative and make the defending player sacrifice the total number of permanents from the combined annihilator numbers. If you are playing in a game of two-headed and a creature with multiple annihilator abilities attacks, say annihilator 2 and 3, you can choose different opponents with each of the annihilator abilities e.g. make one opponent sac two permanents and the other head sac three.

A creature that has its power and toughness set to a particular value by an effect after Eldrazi Conscription resolves will still get the +10/+10 bonus, since all power and toughness increases are calculated after power/toughness setting abilities. The creature will also get the added benefit from counters on it to be even bigger.

No 9 Deprive UU Instant As an additional cost to cast Deprive, return a land you control to its owner's hand. Counter target spell.

If the spell is somehow cast without paying its mana cost you will still have to pay the additional cost of returning a land. If someone copies the Deprive spell on the stack, they don’t have to pay the additional cost.

No 8. Lightmine Field 2WW Enchantment Whenever one or more creatures attack, Lightmine Field deals damage to each of those creatures equal to the number of attacking creatures.

During the combat phase attacking creatures are announced altogether in the declaration of attackers step. Therefore, if you attack with multiple creatures the triggered ability will only trigger once, regardless of how many creatures attacked.

The creatures that will be dealt damage is based on the announced attacking creatures in the declaration of attackers. Creatures that were announced as attackers but were removed from combat because they regenerated will still be dealt damage. Creatures that were put onto the battlefield as an attacking creature by an effect (after the declaration of attackers step) will not be dealt damage.

The amount of damage dealt is based on the number of attacking creatures when the ability resolves. A creature that was declared as an attacker but was removed from combat before the ability resolved will not add to the damage count. A creature that was put onto the battlefield as an attacking creature after the ability triggered but before it resolves will be counted and add to the damage assessment.

No 7. Realms Uncharted 2G Instant Search your library for four land cards with different names and reveal them. An opponent chooses two of those cards. Put the chosen cards into your graveyard and the rest into your hand. Then shuffle your library. Since you’re looking for cards with a specific quality, in this case lands, you can fail to find and choose any number of cards between 0 and 4. If you only choose two cards, then both of them will go into the graveyard.

No 6 Renegade Doppelganger 1U Creature — Shapeshifter (0/1) Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may have Renegade Doppelganger become a copy of that creature until end of turn. (If it does, it loses this ability for the rest of the turn.)

You don’t have to copy a creature when it enters the battlefield, but if you do, you can’t copy any other creatures for that turn as it has lost the ability (unless it’s copying another Renegade Doppelganger).

When another creature enters the battlefield the Doppelganger copies all abilities, including ones that read “When XXX enters the battlefield…”, “As XXX enters the battlefield” and “XXX enters the battlefield with”. However, since Renegade Doppelganger was already on the battlefield the ability won’t do anything.

If the creature Doppelganger is to become is copying another creature as it enters the battlefield, Doppelganger will become a copy of the creature that the creature coming onto the battlefield is copying.

If the creature being copied is no longer on the battlefield when the ability resolves the game uses last known information about the creature and it is still copied.

The doppelganger can copy creatures with shroud because when you copy a creature the ability doesn’t target.

No 5. Sarkhan the Mad 3BR Planeswalker — Sarkhan (7) 0: Reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. Sarkhan the Mad deals damage to himself equal to that card's converted mana cost. -2: Target creature's controller sacrifices it, then that player puts a 5/5 red Dragon creature token with flying onto the battlefield. -4: Each Dragon creature you control deals damage equal to its power to target player. If the card revealed is a land for the first ability its converted mana cost is taken as 0. If the revealed card is a mono hybrid card then the highest possible mana cost is taken e.g. 2/B 2/B 2B = 6 cmc.

If the target of the second ability is illegal when it resolves the ability is countered and the player doesn’t put a 5/5 dragon onto the battlefield.

When using the third ability, each dragon is treated as a separate source of damage. This can be important when preventing damage from a particular source or preventing a particular amount of damage from each individual source.

Dragon creatures you control which were not created by the second ability of Sarkhan the Mad will still deal damage when the third ability is activated.

If someone puts a Sarkhan Vol onto the battlefield then both it and Sasrkhan the Mad will be put into the graveyard as a state based action.

No 4. Lighthouse Chronologist 1U Creature — Human Wizard (1/3) Level up U(U: Put a level counter on this. Level up only as a sorcery.) LEVEL 4-6 2/4 LEVEL 7+ 3/5 At the beginning of each end step, if it's not your turn, take an extra turn after this one.

Oh daddy! It really does exactly what it says on the box! Every time it’s not your turn, you’re going to take an extra turn next. So the turn order goes you, opponent, you, you, opponent, you, you etc

In two headed giant, teams take turns not players, so your team is going to get an extra turn after your opposing team’s turn.

If you control two Chronologists with 7+ level counters then you’ll take two extra turns each time and therefore turn order will go – you, opponent, you, you, you, opponent, you, you, you etc

If you and your opponent both control Chronologists with 7+ counters then you’ll alternate back and forth as normal, but only using extra turns. Make a note of which player was the last one to use a ‘natural’ turn in case one of the chronologists is destroyed.

No 3. Hand of Emrakul 9 Creature — Eldrazi (7/7) You may sacrifice four Eldrazi Spawn rather than pay Hand of Emrakul's mana cost. Annihilator 1 (Whenever this creature attacks, defending player sacrifices a permanent.) Sacrificing four eldrazi spawn is an alternative casting cost. You can’t apply more than one alternative casting cost. However other effects which increase the cost of casting a spell will still have to be paid. Using the alternative cost doesn’t change the mana cost or the converted mana cost, which is always 9.

No 2. Emrakul, the Aeons Torn 15 Legendary Creature — Eldrazi (15/15) Emrakul, the Aeons Torn can't be countered. When you cast Emrakul, take an extra turn after this one. Flying, protection from colored spells, annihilator 6 When Emrakul is put into a graveyard from anywhere, its owner shuffles his or her graveyard into his or her library. Emrakul can still be targeted with a counterspell, but it just won’t have the desired effect.

A spell is an object on the stack and does not include permanents on the battlefield. Incidentally, the most repeated question I’ve seen about this particular point so far is involves Oblivion Ring. O-ring resolves and it’s the triggered ability on entering the battlefield that exiles a target non-land permanent. Therefore, Emrakul can be targeted by Oblivion Ring.

An aura spell on the stack does indeed target and therefore can’t target Emrakul. However once on the battlefield, it can be moved onto Emrakul by abilities like the second one on Simic Guildmage.

No 1.

Gideon Jura 3WW Planeswalker — Gideon (6) +2: During target opponent's next turn, creatures that player controls attack Gideon Jura if able. -2: Destroy target tapped creature. 0: Until end of turn, Gideon Jura becomes a 6/6 Human Soldier creature that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

Using the first ability makes all creatures that could attack next turn do so. The set of creatures to attack is not worked out until the declaration of attackers next turn. Therefore, it could mean creatures that were not on the battlefield when the first ability of Gideon resolved will have to attack. However, if the creature has summoning sickness or is tapped it doesn’t attack. Also, creatures with an additional cost involved to attack, like say from a Ghostly Prison on the battlefield, mean that the creature doesn’t have to attack (although you can still pay the cost and attack if you want).

If the second ability is used it will be countered on resolution if the creature is no longer tapped. A creature enchanted with a totem aura will destroy the aura on resolution instead.

If the third ability is used, you can declare Gideon as an attacker as long as it fits for the normal rules for a creature in combat. It can’t attack if it has summoning sickness. It can be declared as an attacker against an opponent’s planeswalker.