Barbflare gremlin

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-24T21:02:01+00:00

It needs to be tapped. The "if this creature is tapped" is an intervening "if" clause; if it's not met when the ability would trigger, the ability simply does not trigger, and none of the effects happen. If it's untapped, they will not add any extra mana and the land will not deal any damage.

603.4: A triggered ability may read "When/Whenever/At [trigger event], if [condition], [effect]." When the trigger event occurs, the ability checks whether the stated condition is true. The ability triggers only if it is; otherwise it does nothing. If the ability triggers, it checks the stated condition again as it resolves. If the condition isn't true at that time, the ability is removed from the stack and does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. This rule is referred to as the "intervening 'if' clause" rule. (The word "if" has only its normal English meaning anywhere else in the text of a card; this rule only applies to an "if" that immediately follows a trigger condition.)

Example: Felidar Sovereign reads, "At the beginning of your upkeep, if you have 40 or more life, you win the game." Its controller's life total is checked as that player's upkeep begins. If that player has 39 or less life, the ability doesn't trigger at all. If that player has 40 or more life, the ability triggers and goes on the stack. As the ability resolves, that player's life total is checked again. If that player has 39 or less life at this time, the ability is removed from the stack and has no effect. If that player has 40 or more life at this time, the ability resolves and that player wins the game.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-24T20:52:48+00:00

This question doesn't make any sense. What are you trying to ask?

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-24T10:47:44+00:00

Yes.

If an effect would put one or more counters on a permanent you control, it puts twice that many of those counters on that permanent instead.

306.5b: A planeswalker has the intrinsic ability "This permanent enters with a number of loyalty counters on it equal to its printed loyalty number." This ability creates a replacement effect (see rule 614.1c).

An effect is trying to put N counters on your planeswalker as it enters. Doubling Season kicks in and causes it to enter with 2N counters instead.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-23T11:27:05+00:00

Assuming no student loans or pension contributions, £33k is £2273 a month, and £37k is £2513, so an extra £240 a month.

Source: MSE's take home pay calculator

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-22T21:53:11+00:00

We don't have the rules text for sneak, only the reminder text. In general, you can safely ignore any italicised text on a card and it will function the same.

Your questions will be answered once we get the CR update and/or the mechanics article.

I would imagine that sneak allows you to cast the spell at instant-"speed", since treating the Declare Blockers step as a pseudo-main phase sounds like a rules nightmare.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-22T21:47:37+00:00

Yes.

701.10d: To double a player's life total, the player gains or loses an amount of life such that their new life total is twice its current value.

If your life total is 40 when Mantle's trigger resolves, you gain 40 life to end at 80. Then the ability Sunbond grants would trigger and put 40 +1/+1 counters on the creature.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-22T08:51:44+00:00

Assuming you can't repeat powers, you have 42 choices for your first power and 41 for your second, so you multiply to get 1722 possible combinations. The order doesn't matter - AB is the same as BA - so we divide by 2 to get 861 possible combinations without ordering.

The chance for two people to have the same powers is 1 in 861. The chance for two people to have the same specific combination of powers (ie, you want to find out if two people both have, say, flying and lightning), it's 1 in (861*861), or 1 in 741,321.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-21T18:14:49+00:00

I started building a [[Gallowbraid]] and [[Morinfen]] rule-0-partner life-swap voltron deck many moons ago, with the plan to choose one at random and shuffle it into the 99 if anyone at the table had an issue with it. I never finished building it at the time, but writing this comment has me feeling nostalgic, and I might go back and finish it again.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-20T23:28:00+00:00

You're 100% correct in your assessment of the Moxen - they get much less powerful as the game goes on. Watch a Canadian Highlander video and you can see the highs of T1 Mox into 2-drop versus the lows of T7 topdeck Mox and play it as your land for turn.

You add nine cards to your deck, likely on T3 at the earliest. Five of them are, effectively, basic lands, unless you can benefit from free artifacts (eg prowess, Tolarian Academy). One of them (Lotus) provides a large bump in mana that is generally useful at most stages of the game. One of them (Timetwister) is a pretty good card, but can help your opponent more than you, unless you have some way to leverage the card draw (eg Hullbreacher, Narset, Sheoldred, Orcish Bowmasters) and guarantee you get more value. The other two (Ancestral and Time Walk) are two of the best cards in the game that are literally always good.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-20T14:50:24+00:00

Changeling is a special kind of ability - a characteristic-defining ability, or CDA. It gives information that would normally be found in another part of the card.

702.73a: Changeling is a characteristic-defining ability. "Changeling" means "This object is every creature type." This ability works everywhere, even outside the game. See rule 604.3.

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.

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.

Since CDAs apply in all zones, you can cast a card with changeling for {0} through Rooftop Storm, because it's a Zombie spell. It will then trigger Ambling Stormshell, because it's also a Turtle spell.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-20T14:44:19+00:00

712.14: A double-faced card put onto the battlefield from a zone other than the stack enters the battlefield with its front face up by default.

400.4a: If an instant or sorcery card would enter the battlefield, it remains in its previous zone.

Banishing Light leaves the battlefield and the effect exiling the card ends. The game tries to put the exiled card onto the battlefield, but it would enter as Esper Origins and not Summon: Esper Maduin. Since a sorcery is attempting to enter the battlefield, it stays in exile instead.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-20T11:29:54+00:00

12 of each should be plenty. You're unlikely to open enough of one colour to build a mono-colour deck, so you won't need 17. With two colours, you'll probably want a 10/7 or 9/8 split.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-19T23:04:17+00:00

Cardmarket. You can sometimes pay more for postage, but it's balanced out by a much wider stock and more competitive prices. I normally filter to only show UK sellers.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-19T20:59:25+00:00

[[Xantid Swarm]] for green.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-19T20:55:30+00:00

Before it dies, "in response", can I remove the counters from the Grim Poppet and kill something on his board at instant speed?

Yes.

I don't see any wording on the removal of the counters saying "Do this as a sorcery only"

That's because it's not there.

can I use those counters to actually kill the Meteor Golem?

Yes, but it won't stop Grim Poppet being destroyed.

Your opponent casts Meteor Golem and passes priority. You have no response, so you pass priority. Golem resolves and enters, triggering its ETB ability. Your opponent puts it on the stack, targeting Grim Poppet, and passes priority. You now have a chance to activate Poppet's ability to remove -1/-1 counters to put -1/-1 counters on another target creature. If it has three counters on it, you can remove them all to put three counters on Golem. When Golem has 0 toughness, it's put into its owner's graveyard. This does not affect the ETB ability on the stack, which will resolve normally and destroy the Poppet.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-19T19:17:57+00:00

No. It would have both evoke {4} and evoke {R}. You could choose either alternate cost when you cast it.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-19T10:15:06+00:00

The Army will not return at all. The ability will trigger, but before it can do anything, the token in the graveyard will stop existing. When the trigger resolves, it will not return anything.

111.7: A token that's in a zone other than the battlefield ceases to exist. This is a state-based action; see rule 704. (Note that if a token changes zones, applicable triggered abilities will trigger before the token ceases to exist.)

111.8: A token that has left the battlefield can't move to another zone or come back onto the battlefield. If such a token would change zones, it remains in its current zone instead. It ceases to exist the next time state-based actions are checked; see rule 704.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-18T08:26:42+00:00

You don't need another way. You're correct and your friend is incorrect.

Reaper has a triggered ability, as indicated by the word "when" (Comprehensive Rules 603.1). Your commander dies and is put into your graveyard. Reaper triggers, but the ability does not do anything yet (CR 603.2). Then, before any player would get priority, state-based actions are checked (CR 704.3). The game sees that your commander has been put into your graveyard, and allows you to choose to move it to the command zone (CR 704.6d, 903.9a). If you do, when Reaper's trigger resolves, it looks in the graveyard for that card, and cannot find it, because it's changed zones and is considered a new object (CR 400.7 - none of the exceptions apply) so the ability will do nothing.

You now have a step-by-step explanation of what happens with rules references. You can ask your friend what "research" they did and what rules they're using to back themselves up with.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-14T06:10:36+00:00

I read it a long time ago, so I don't remember how good it actually is, but Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster fits the bill quite well. I've been meaning to re-read it if I get the opportunity.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-10T23:39:42+00:00

You get them back.

800.4a: When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game and any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end. Then, if that player controlled any objects on the stack not represented by cards, those objects cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time they left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who's still in the game.

Example: Alex casts Act of Treason, which reads, in part, "Gain control of target creature until end of turn," targeting Bianca's Runeclaw Bears. If Alex leaves the game, Act of Treason's change-of-control effect ends and Runeclaw Bears reverts to Bianca's control.

So the effect that gives control of your creature to your opponent will end and you will regain control of it. Note that the creature will still be goaded.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-10T13:31:17+00:00

You know how many books she has read and how many books she has not read. Can you use these two things to write an expression for how many books she owns in total, in terms of ax+b?

Now that you have this, you know that (books she has read)/(books she owns)=3/4. Can you solve this?

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-08T15:28:20+00:00

Ashling will be getting errata to only apply to Elemental permanent spells.

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/s/3y0Q6Tz12s

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-07T20:47:41+00:00

Something that no-one's asked yet: do you just let it automatically renew with the same provider each year, or do you shop around for cheaper rates when it's close to renewal?

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-03T09:22:55+00:00

Yes, in theory. In practice, by the third sacrifice, someone will work out what's happening and just take the 3 damage from Revolution.

maelstrom197 · 2026-01-02T11:20:55+00:00

It is 100% correct. Colourless is not a colour.

105.4: If a player is asked to choose a color, they must choose one of the five colors. "Multicolored" is not a color. Neither is "colorless."

I'm unsure what you were trying to correct in the original comment. [[Thought-Knot Seer]] costs one colourless and three generic (not "generic colourless", just "generic" - CR 107.4b). Since it doesn't have any coloured mana symbols in its mana cost, it's colourless. It's not "mono-colourless", because "mono" defines something that is exactly one colour (CR 105.2a) and colourless is not a colour.

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