Hey folks, and welcome to a thoroughly unexciting edition of “Tolarian Academy,” where we, wait a second. That probably wasn’t the best way to change up how I do my intros. And yet, here we are. We wouldn’t be here without you folks, though- I need your rules questions! Send them along to [email protected] for a chance to win $5 in store credit! Will you be this week’s winner? Let’s find out!

Q: I have a Chameleon Colossus on the battlefield with two -1/-1 counters on it, and my opponent controls Everlasting Torment. I activate the Colossus’s ability, and in response, my opponent casts Volcanic Fallout. In response to that, I activate the Colossus’s ability again. What happens?

A: This actually came up at the most recent ChannelFireball 5K! David Mintz was kind enough to give me this question for the article. So, we have a stack that looks like this:

[TOP]
Colossus Ability
Fallout
Colossus Ability
[BOTTOM]

The first Colossus ability resolves, giving the Colossus +2/+2 and making it a 4/4. Following that, the Volcanic Fallout resolves, placing two -1/-1 counters on the Colossus. So, now we have a 2/2 Colossus. Finally, the last Colossus activation resolves, making it a 4/4 yet again. So, your Colossus will stay alive until cleanup, at which point it will become a 0/0 and go on its marvelous journey to your graveyard.

Q: I cast Regenerate targeting my opponent’s Illusionary Servant. What happens? Does it get destroyed but regenerated? How does this work?

A: As soon as the Regenerate hits the stack, your opponent’s Illusionary Servant will trigger. When that trigger resolves, the Servant will be sacrificed, not destroyed. Yes, much to my surprise when I finally read the card, Illusionary Servant is sacrificed upon being targeted. However, even if it did get destroyed instead, Regenerate still wouldn’t help, because it doesn’t resolve until after the Servant’s ability resolves.

Q: I’m a little confused about how the card Silence works. Let’s say I cast”¦ oh, I don’t know, Niveous Wisps. My opponent responds with Silence. I respond to that with my own copy of Silence. In response to that, my opponent pulls yet another copy of Silence out of his hand and casts it! What happens?

A: Well”¦ not a lot. Those of you who were around during Planeshift remember Orim’s Chant, which garnered many questions similar to this one. Silence doesn’t have any effect on spells that are already on the stack; it simply prevents your opponent from casting any more spells once it resolves. Once everyone’s copies of Silence resolve, no one else is going to be casting any spells this turn. Niveous Wisps will still happen, and none of the Silences will be countered.

Q: In a multiplayer game, one of my opponents casts Flame Javelin targeting me. I’m at 6, and I have two copies of Convalescent Care on the battlefield, so I really want to take one damage. However, I have two copies of Harm’s Way in my hand, and I want to kill my other opponent, who is at 3. Is there any way for me to use the two copies of Harm’s Way to redirect only three of the four damage?

A: Toby Elliott asked me this question at GP: Boston, and I figured I might as well investigate the ruling. After some poking around and a quick email to the rules mailing list, Level 3 Judge and rules guru Gavin Duggan came back to me with this answer: (Thanks, Gavin!)

“No. After the first Harm’s Way is applied, those two points of damage are no longer being dealt to Player B or a permanent he controls. As a result, Player B can’t redirect either of that damage, so the second Harm’s Way will redirect the “third and fourth” points of damage from the Flame Javelin.”

Q: I unearth a Dregscape Zombie, and then I phase it out with Reality Ripple. When it phases back in, will it still be under the effects of unearth? If I end my turn with it phased in, will it get exiled?

A: While the Dregscape Zombie is phased out, the game treats it like it doesn’t exist. So, when it phases back in, all that means is that the game treats it like it exists again, and as soon as the beginning of your end step rolls around, your Zombie will get exiled. How cool would that be, though? I really wish this would work in the fun way.

Q: I have a Doubling Season on the battlefield, and I cast Rasputin Dreamweaver. Does he come in with only seven counters, due to his last line of text, or does he somehow enter with fourteen?

A: Mr. Dreamweaver certainly can’t have more than seven counters on him, so he can’t enter the battlefield with fourteen. He’ll come in with seven as normal; no double-dreaming!

Q: I have Master of the Wild Hunt and one Wolf token on the battlefield, and my opponent attacks me with Rhox War Monk. After declaring my Wolf token as a blocker, I activate Master of the Wild Hunt’s ability in order to have my Wolf fight the War Monk. What happens? Do they still deal combat damage to each other as well? Does lifelink happen? Is the War Monk still blocked?

A: Well, when the Master of the Wild Hunt makes the Wolf and the Monk fight, the Monk deals its damage to the Wolf, killing it, and the Wolf deals two damage to the Monk. The Monk’s controller gains three life as a result of the damage. The Monk is still blocked, but the Wolf doesn’t stick around to somehow deal another two damage to the Monk. This would have worked when damage went on the stack, but with the M10 rules update, that no longer happens! Funny that an M10 card was designed specifically to work this way with the new rules!

The author of the following question received $5 in store credit!

Q: I control The Abyss. My opponent controls a Runeclaw Bear and I control a Silvercoat Lion, as well as a Gauntlets of Chaos. It’s my upkeep, and I put The Abyss on the stack targeting my Lion, then in response I use Gauntlets of Chaos to trade control of the Lion and the Bear. When Abyss resolves, will it still kill the Lion?

A: The Abyss says “At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, destroy target nonartifact creature that player controls of his or her choice. It can’t be regenerated.” Since the Silvercoat Lion is no longer a legal target for The Abyss’s ability as it is not controlled by the player whose upkeep it is, the ability gets countered upon resolution and the Lion stays in play.

Judge’s Corner!

Once in a while, I get asked policy questions by judges, and I figure “Why not answer them?” Especially given the policy changes over the last few months, I think it’s important that questions about policy and rulings be addressed. So, here’s a question I received this week:

Player A is playing Ye Olde Open The Vaults.dec. He’s also going off. He’s taken about five turns in a row, and has just played Open the Vaults, returning his everything to play. He has many many many many artifacts, including two Howling Mines, and a Time Sieve to go with them. He’s tapped for Open the Vaults. He says “Ok, done with that turn,” untaps, and draws three cards in one motion into his already-full hand.

At this juncture, his stunned opponent finds the words to speak again, and says “Dude… You didn’t Time Walk that turn. It’s MY turn now.”

There is a shocked silence, followed by a judge call.

This looks, on the surface of it, to be a simple Drawing Extra Cards GL (which was my on-the-spot ruling), but it seems to me that Player A has not actually drawn extra cards, in that he was not instructed to draw *any* number of cards when he ripped the top three.

If it is *not* Drawing Extra Cards, though, what is it? GRV? In which case the remedy is… Keep going? Awkward, much?

This is a situation where going to the Head Judge would be a great idea. I’m no fan of backups, but this might be a great time to ask the Head Judge to reverse time for the players. This is a GRV (Game Rule Violation), and the remedy would be to put the three drawn cards back in the library. (If those can’t be determined, random cards would be put back.) Obviously, the player should also get a warning. As the head judge of this hypothetical tournament, I would personally back up and allow the appropriate player (not Cap’n Time Sieve) to take his turn, but your mileage may vary, and different head judges will have different (and valid) reasons for backing up or not backing up in this situation or variations on this situation.

(Note that, while my ruling here is based on DCI policy and is, in my opinion, correct, it is in no way an “official answer from the DCI.” It is “what I would do if I was the judge and this happened.” Do not attempt to use this as precedent to get a judge to reverse his or her ruling!)

Well, that’s all for this week! Remember to send your rules questions to [email protected] for a chance to win $5 in store credit! Join me next week as I discuss what it’s like to travel for three out of four consecutive weekends! (Hint: Not fun.)