text:
Cards for Reanimator in Cube
What cards should a good cube supporting reanimator decks contain? Which ones are crucial and what's extra.
I figure there are at least 3 types of cards:
Reanimation E.g. Animate dead, Necromancy.
Put-em-in-the-yard: E.g. Entomb, Careful study.
Targets: E.g. Akroma, Angel of Wrath
What's best in each category and am I missing anything? How many cards of each type are needed in a 540 cube?

Help me rephrase the question if you think it's too vague. I think most of you understand what I want to know.

I suggest this article http://www.cubedrafting.com/2009/03/03/cube-draft-strategy-reanimator/ and considering step 1 of this one : http://www.cubedrafting.com/2009/03/20/how-to-begin-your-cube/

You might want to check out this article, which is pretty much explicitly about building a more interesting reanimator cube, though it contains some controversial viewpoints: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/the-cube-fallacy/

The first thing you need to do is decide which colors you want to support the reanimator theme in. Black is the go to answer, but there are solid reanimation options in white as well. Enablers are going to be mostly blue or green. Once you know the color options, then envision what you want a good reanimator deck to look like in your cube. Do you want it to be a Legacy styled combo deck that can have Griselbrand on the field on turn 2, or do you want it to be a much more grindy Rec-Sur styled GB deck? You can also use cards like Debtor's Knell that give a good value BW deck an awesome late game by itself.
Balancing cards that can be used in both a dedicated reanimator strategy and other strategies is important. Cards that discard for a benefit, like Oona's Prowler and Lotleth Troll are perfect for this. Survival of the Fittest like cards are strategies to themselves, and just get better with a few reanimation cards. Draw/Discard cards such as Thirst for Knowledge fit great into reanimator decks as well.
Once you know what you want your decks to look like, and you have a list of cards you want to include, then all that's left is to find slots in the cube and playtest. Force the strategy a few times, and see if you feel like you're getting enough support. Let others draft and see how often the strategy is taken, and how often it wins. If it's too powerful, cut back cards or add dedicated GY hate*. If its too weak, then add more support cards. If it's good but under-drafted by your group, then bean them with it a few times.
*A note about dedicated GY hate - I don't recommend adding these cards to begin with. They're dead cards more often than they're used. Instead try things like Scavenging Ooze (or if you're like me have Leyline of the Void and Helm of Awakening in your cube...)

Wasn't sure how to auto-card, so I'll go back and do that if someone can show me the syntax.

How many reanimation spells do you run? I want it as powerful as possible and dedicate as few "pure theme cards" as possible. That's the tricky part :)

For 540, I have Reanimate, Animate Dead, Exhume as quick reanimation. Diabolic Servitude and Recurring Nightmare are slower, more value driven reanimation cards. Living death can double as a sweeper for black, and Karmic Guide is a good ETB creature effect. So really just 5 dedicated reanimate spells. Then again, I support Splinter Twin as well, so don't want the cube to get too combo heavy.

Important cards to consider (if you like the most powerful ones)
Reanimation

Reanimate
Exhume
Recurring Nightmare
Animate dead
Dance of the Dead
Life/Death

Put-em-in-the-yard:

Entomb
Careful study
Thirst for Knowledge
Undead Gladiator
Aquamoeba

Targets

Akroma (white > red)
Hellkite Overlord
Empyral Archangel
Angel of Despair
Verdant Force
Inkwell Leviathan
Reya Dawnbringer
Akroma, Angel of Fury
Iona, Shield of Emeria

I also like some of them to be castable in control / artifacts decks

Sundering Titan
Platinum Emperion  / Platinum Angel
Tombstalker
Eternal Dragon
Rorix Bladewing

don't forget frantic search

As this question is currently worded, it's not a good fit for the site. However, the question of "What factors should one consider when building a cube" isn't a terrible one, and it's one you need to step through in order to answer your question anyway, so that's the angle I'll approach it from.
If you're going to make a cube with a theme, you should consider adding some theme-hate. So you have three ways to get cards from the graveyard to the battlefield. Do you have ways to stop people from doing that? Cards that empty graveyards (with exile) are a great fit. They fit in nicely with your theme in that situational cards are now incredibly relevant, and allows you to have an answer for very powerful cards. Remember that one of the defining characteristics of Magic from its inception is the notion that if you're still playing, you can still win: coming back with an awesome bomb completely changes the board position. (Realistically, that isn't always true... but it is true that every element that enters a set has a counter to it. Unless development screws up and makes another Jace or something...)
As for how many cards, that is a very tricky question to answer. Let's consider the population: you have 540 cards. How many of each color are you going to have? Maybe about 100 of each and 40 colorless? If that's the case, how many blue, white, red, and green reanimator are you going to have? Are there even 500 reanimator-themed cards you'd want to play? I'm not convinced there are. I suspect you're going to need more along the lines of 15 distinct themes (that's still 30 cards per theme) in addition to some vanilla or non-theme creatures.
Bottom line is, building a good cube is not easy. Consider the difference between building a standard deck (one very focused theme, 36 spells, 10-12 unique spells) and a commander deck (one loose theme, 4 or 5 mechanics that synergize well but were originally unrelated, 60 spells, 60 unique spells). Well now you're building a 5 color, 30 theme deck with between 540 unique spells!! By my estimation, about 10 times more difficult than a good commander deck. And if you've ever played commander, you know the first time you play a commander deck, you go "What was I thinking? This card sucks in this deck!" How much complex will the playtesting be to make a good cube?
I'm not saying this to discourage you, but just to prepare you for the task at hand. Even leaning more toward one color, I still wouldn't suggest having more than 25% of the cube be a single color, and that can make "single-theming" very difficult.

While I agree that this question may be a bit too vague for this site, I didn't see anything in it that suggested the OP wants to build a "reanimator-themed cube". Just a cube with the right cards floating around in it for a player to have a chance of assembling a powerful reanimator-type deck...?

It does appear I missed the word "supporting". I don't think it changes the relevancy of anything in the answer, though.


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Will a Havengul Vampire get its +1/+1 counter for killing a creature and prevent it from dying?
Suppose my opponent has a Havengul Vampire, and I have a Young Wolf which has a +1/+1 counter on it so it is 2/2.
What happens if they deal damage to each other, for example during combat? Will the vampire die or not? I think that the vampire will die since at the time he would receive the +1/+1 counter for killing the wolf he is already in the graveyard. Is that right?

Yes, that's right.
As the Wolf dies the Vampire's ability will trigger and be placed on the stack.  Unfortunately, by the time you get round to resolving it, the Vampire will be in the graveyard  and unable to have a +1/+1 counter placed on it.

That is correct, the vampire will die. Combat damage is dealt simultaneously if none/all of the creatures have First Strike/Double Strike (if two creatures were to fight Contested Cliffs, the situation would be the same). After damage is assigned, it is dealt simultaneously, then triggered abilities are placed on the stack. This happens just before a player receives priority, which means that you have to check for state-based actions, one of which is to place creatures with lethal damage in the graveyard.

510.1. First, [...] each creature assigns its combat damage

510.2. Second, all combat damage that's been assigned is dealt simultaneously. This turn-based action doesn't use the stack. No player has the chance to cast spells or activate abilities between the time combat damage is assigned and the time it's dealt. This is a change from previous rules.

510.3. Third, any abilities that triggered on damage being assigned or dealt go on the stack. (See rule 603, "Handling Triggered Abilities.")

510.4. Fourth, the active player gets priority. Players may cast spells and activate abilities.

704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and the total damage marked on it is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

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Do undying creatures get counters if I sacrifice them with Plaguemaw Beast?
I'm building a deck with undying creatures.
Suppose I have a card named Plaguemaw Beast, which has the ability

{T}, Sacrifice a creature: Proliferate.

What happens If I sacrifice a creature with undying?
A. The creature returns and gets the 2 counters because of proliferate or
B. The creature returns but with only 1 counter.

You can choose to give the Undying creature a second counter.
The order of events is as follows, omitting irrelevant/obvious steps:

You announce that you want to use the creature's ability and put it on the stack.
You pay all costs; in this case, sacrifice an Undying creature.
Sacrificing the creature triggers its Undying ability, which is put on the stack on top of the Beast's ability.
The Undying ability resolves and the creature returns to the battlefield.
The Proliferate ability resolves and you may choose the returned creature to give it another +1/+1 counter. Since the Beast's ability is not targeted, you don't choose the permanents as targets, i.e. when you announce the ability, but only when it resolves.

Rules reference:

602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. [...] Activating an ability follows the steps listed below, in order. [...]
602.2a The player announces that he or she is activating the ability. [...] It becomes the topmost object on the stack.
[...]
601.2g The player pays the total cost in any order. [...]

It seems that Plaguemaw Beast now has some use.

The undying creature will return to the battlefield before the Proliferate activated ability[1] resolves, so you have the choice of it having one or two +1/+1 counters.
When you activate Plaguemaw Beast's activated ability, you pay all costs, includes the cost of sacrificing a creature. The ability is added to the top of the stack, and all costs need to be paid, just like casting a spell [2]. Since the sacrificed creature died during the process of paying the costs for Plaguemaw Beast's activated ability, the undying creature's triggered ability[3] will trigger. The undying ability will be added to the top of the stack[4], and will resolve before the Proliferate ability. If no one chooses to respond, the top of the stack resolves returning the undying creature to the battlefield, with a +1/+1 counter on it. Then, if no one chooses to respond again, the Proliferate ability resolves and you can choose to give the newly returned undying creature another +1/+1 counter.
From the Basic Rulebook:

[1]. ACTIVATED ABILITIES - ... Each activated ability has a cost, then a colon (“:”), then an effect. (page 12)

[2]. CASTING A SPELL - To cast a spell, take the card you want to cast from your hand, show it to your opponent, and put it on the stack. (The stack is the game zone where spells live. It’s usually in the middle of the table.) ... Now check what the spell’s cost is. Tap your lands to produce the mana necessary to pay that cost, and pay it. Once you do that, the spell has been cast. (page 10)

[3]. TRIGGERED ABILITIES - A triggered ability is text that happens when a specific event occurs in the game. ... Each triggered ability starts with the word “when,” “whenever,” or “at.” You don’t activate a triggered ability. It automatically triggers whenever the first part of the ability happens. The ability goes on the stack just like a spell, and resolves just like a spell. (page 12)

[4]. THE STACK - Spells and abilities exist on the stack. They wait there to resolve until both players choose not to cast any new spells or activate any new abilities. Then the last spell or ability that was put onto the stack resolves, and players get a chance to cast spells and activate abilities again. (You’ll learn more about casting spells and activating abilities in the next section.) This zone is shared by both players. (page 8. Also see an example on page 11)

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How to prevent being overrun in the early game?
My girlfiend has a U/G standard deck (Scars/M12/Innistrad), and she's having issues with being overrun in the early game so that she can take off late game with her deck (once it takes off it's nearly impossible to kill off).  She has some mana ramp, including Llanowar Elves and Rampant Growth.
What are some strategies to tie up the early game to get her set up for late game?

"Stages" theory
There's a school of thought that says Magic decks basically have 3
"stages" in play:

Stage 1: You're starting out the game, and have very little ability
to actually do most of the things your deck does. Basically this is
the stage where you can do very little on the board other than lay
land.
Stage 2: You're able to play most of your cards. You have options
and can interact with your opponent. If you're both jockeying for
incremental advantage back and forth, your decks have both hit stage
2.
Stage 3: You're able to play your biggest, nastiest cards (or play
them and pay for counterspell mana to keep them on the board, for
instance). Reaching this stage means being able to set up a
back-breaking finish.

How is this different from just talking about early game / mid game /
late game? Because we don't both get to the same stage at the same
time. Fast aggro decks basically exploit this by getting to stage 2
ASAP, then beating on your while you're still in stage 1 (or in stage
2, but lagging behind on board position because they've had a few more
turns to spill their hand out onto the table).
For a ramp deck or a control deck in this matchup, whatever your
"stage 3" is likely to be less important than how quickly you can get
out of stage 1. Ramp decks in particular are vulnerable to aggro
because they tend to spend their early turns on mana acceleration,
which is effectively staying in stage 1 longer in order to see a
quicker stage 3.
General anti-aggro strategies in ramp decks
The general approach to take, as you've said, is to "tie up" the early
game. Ramp decks usually can't race dedicated aggro (though some other combo
decks can), so this calls for a more controlling posture.
General strategies are similar to the anti-aggro part of a control
deck: sweepers, counters, and removal, backed up by blockers and tempo
cards to bog down the board. The problem is customizing the plan to
match your deck, which likely has other non-control elements in it,
and may be restricted by colors or the need to routinely tap out on
your own turn to advance your own game.
Conventional wisdom goes something like this:

Sweepers are (probably) best. If you look at recent(-ish) ramp decks like Wolf Run and Valakut,
you'll see that they tend to run sweepers (Slagstorm in red; Day
of Judgment in white). These give you the ability to undo several
turns of build-up in one fell swoop. Blue/green don't really have the
same option, though, aside from the very limited Creeping
Corrosion (which might be a good sideboard card against artifact
decks). The main downside of this approach is that, since most sweepers are sorceries, it does leave you a bit weak to aggro-control decks.
Run value-added blockers that enhance your Plan A. The other thing they do is turn their ramp cards into creatures, which
lets you get a nice blocker along with your extra land. Viridian
Emissary and Solemn Simulacrum are the go-to choices here.
Unlike mana dorks, it doesn't actually set you back to lose these guys
in a combat trade. (Note the additional synergy with board wipes!) These go great with a Birthing Pod gameplan, too.

Both of these strategies allow you to still play a proactive game and tap out on your own turn, which is what most ramp decks want to do.
Alternative approaches for blue/green
In the absence of good sweepers and low-cost removal in your colors, I
think you ought to rely on the creature solution mentioned above, backed up by tempo cards.
Let's look at counters first. The main problem with counters is that any turn you spend holding open counter mana that you don't use is a pretty big loss of momentum; dedicated control decks work around this by playing almost all of their low-curve stuff at instant speed (so, e.g., if there's nothing good to Mana Leak on a given turn, they'll just spend their mana on a Forbidden Alchemy or Midnight Haunting). Counters do have added value in protecting your big stuff once it hits the field, though, which can help when facing removal-heavy decks. If your have good mana sinks in your deck, then run counters; if you don't, I think you're better off skipping them.
Tempo cards are easier to fit into a ramp deck because you usually play them on your opponent's turn, but, unlike counters, you already know whether you'll have a viable target during your own turn, when you're deciding whether to play your stalling cards or advance your own board position. Vapor Snag has already been mentioned. It's a strong card in the current environment because bounce removes stockpiled +1/+1 counters and exiles tokens. Frost
Breath is another great card -- played right, it basically turns off their two biggest attackers for two turns. When you're playing for tempo as the bigger deck, remember
that these cards are no better than treading water unless you keep
making your land drops; throwing in filtering cards like Ponder
can help you to do that.
If a particular deck or card is costing you most of your games, it's
also reasonable to sideboard against it. For example, in the current metagame, Naturalize
is very effective against Red Deck Wins (hits their Shrine), Tempered
Steel decks (hits nearly everything in their deck, including Tempered Steel and Shrine of Loyal Legions), and most weenie decks (hits Swords, Honor of
the Pure / Intangible Virtue).

On second thought, forget Acidic Slime: removal-on-a-stick is nice, but a 5-mana 2/2 isn't really that great against fast decks.

Acidic Slime works wonderfully well in the Birthing Pod deck, where you can chain up to it pretty quickly and only bring it in if your opponent has enchantments you need to kill. But it's not especially helpful for the OP.

If she's in blue/green, then she has several options:
On the blue side, lean on counterspells and bounce. 4x Mana Leak will probably go into any blue deck. It's cheap (only 1U), and in the early game it's very unlikely that your opponent will have the extra 3 mana to pay to power through it. You can also run Vapor Snag to return cards to your opponent's hand (and do 1 damage!) for only U. A few of these can slow down your opponent's tempo enough to get you to your finishers.
You're also looking at cheap early creatures that can choke up the board enough to hold off your opponent's attacks for a few more turns, and hopefully provide a decent side-benefit. Here's a list of all Standard-legal green, blue, and colorless creatures with a CMC of 2 or less. Especially promising creatures for early defense include:
Oculus (chump early and get a free card)
Phantasmal Bear (a 2/2 for U)
Phantasmal Image (copy anything else on the board)
Ambush Viper (flash, deathtouch)
Viridian Emissary (trades up nicely + free land when it dies)
Memnite (free 1/1)
Necropede (great potential for a 2-for-1)
(Note that I've left several great cards like Snapcaster Mage out of this list; not because they're not good, but because their primary role is something other than early defense/control.)
The exact cards you play depend on your overall strategy, but you can certainly find something useful in this list.

Viridian Emissary is definitely my favourite of the list there, especially since it sounds like she's playing a ramp deck.


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What is the justification of the card type Tribal in Magic the Gathering?
Many players and fan designers have been forever frustrated by the fact that in MtG, "Tribal" is a card type instead of a supertype. Having been digging at this for a while, I have to a conclusion: there is literally and absolutely no rule justification for this.
The only argument that was ever offered is "subtypes must be associated with a card type, not a supertype". He re's a typical formulation from today. Tabak has never explained it any further despite many pressing attempts t getting a better answer.
However, this only begs the question, because this itself has no rule-based justification whatsoever other than (if you squint really hard) the fact that Tarmogoyf and a few, select cards would be functionally altered. However since a) they forgot about THAT when creating tribal in the first place and b) this would be a minute amount of disruption to older cards compared to what happened by eliminating damage on the stack or mana burn. (And you'd think they'd jump at the chance to rein in Tarmo a little without actually altering cards or the banned and restricted list.)
So, I ask of you: come up with a rule problem (and as I made it clear above, a card whose power subtly changes is not one!) or contradiction that arises out of making Tribal a supertype. Please. Please tell me Wizards have a reasoning instead of just stubbornly pretending they didn't make a patently idiotic design mistake and then tried to cover it with what amount to "because we say so".
An example of a rule issue would be if it could somehow cause a creature to have undefined power or toughness, or cause an instant/sorcery to be face-up on the battlefield, both situation which templating and rules carefully thread around to prevent their possibility.
Yes the question is ranty because Tabak has been frustratingly stubborn on this issue, but it's still a legitimate rules question.

This seems more like a rant than an actual question.

Tribal seems to simply grant a creature type to a non-creature card. It might have been possible to template Tribal a bit like Devoid (a property of the card that is simply so), but it's less intuitive that a non-creature card suddenly has a creature type and it has that creature type in all zones.

If you seriously want answers to this, maybe you could be a bit more constructive? You tell us to "look it up" rather than providing links or quotes about what Wizards has actually said about this. You've also implicitly dismissed a lot of explanations in the vein of rules complexity by defining rules issues to only be serious actual gameplay problems.

Removing Tribal would not make Tarmogoyf functionally altered any more than a hammer becomes functionally altered if you give it 7 nails instead of 8 to hammer in. It's still the same hammer. (Note that putting Tribal in the reminder text is exactly that - reminder text. It doesn't change the card itself.)

For what it's worth, an obvious effect (dunno if it's good or bad): effects which set a card's type remove all other types, but they don't touch supertypes. So Song of the Dryads currently removes Tribal (and thus the associated creature subtypes) while it doesn't remove Legendary.

@Jefromi Not a problem since it's easy to define Tribal as not a card type that can get creature type, but a supertype allowing non creature to have creature card type (i.e. doing what literally everyone ever first assumes upon seeing it). If that somehow causes a rule issue, I've not been able to figure what it is, hence the question.

You're saying, essentially, that nothing is a problem because "all" you have to do to fix it is go through and change all the rules that refer to how supertypes, types, and subtypes act. Changes of that magnitude are in and of themselves a potential problem, one which requires significant gameplay benefit for it to be worth making them, and half the premise of your question is that this doesn't affect the game much. I'm really not sure what you're looking for here.

Being frustrated with Matt Tabak is not a reason to post a rant here. If you want to ask a legitimate rules question, just ask the rules question. Your personal feelings really have no bearing whatsoever on how difficult this rules change would be to make, what repercussions it might have, whether Wizards might do it differently if they could redo it, or whether it's worth it to change it this long after the fact.

I don't see in your question a reason for thinking that it's better or more logical for it to be a supertype instead of a card type?

@GendoIkari Not saying I agree, but it's in one of Circeus' comments at least: "... a supertype allowing non creature to have creature card type (i.e. doing what literally everyone ever first assumes upon seeing it)" So... it's just supposed to be more intuitive, i.e. the "right" thing to do.

If you want something to cite, maybe this? http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/ask-wizards-may-2007-2007-05-01 Their position is not, as you say, "subtypes go with types because we say so". Their position is that if you wanted to make it a supertype you'd have to do make significant rules changes to avoid messing anything up, and it'd still not all be totally intuitive, while making it a type is a very easy, clean rules change and creates the desired game effects even if it doesn't match your intuition about what should be a supertype, so it's not worth trying to do otherwise.

(And then maybe edit your question to just ask the actual question; I'd try to edit myself but it's a big change and I don't want to get into an argument on a question that's already kind of hostile.)

I don't know if you'd consider these "rules issues" or not; they're certainly not as bad as an instant on the field, but the rules as currently worded don't allow for subtypes to be associated with supertypes. If you make Tribal a supertype and start messing around with an object's types,things don't work out the same way; see the following examples. Maybe they could have done these rules differently, maybe not, but it's not just a matter of declaring Tribal to now be a supertype instead of a card type.

205.1a Some effects set an object’s card type. In such cases, the new card type(s) replaces any existing card types. Counters, effects, and damage marked on the object remain with it, even if they are meaningless to the new card type. Similarly, when an effect sets one or more of an object’s subtypes, the new subtype(s) replaces any existing subtypes from the appropriate set (creature types, land types, artifact types, enchantment types, planeswalker types, or spell types). If an object’s card type is removed, the subtypes correlated with that card type will remain if they are also the subtypes of a card type the object currently has; otherwise, they are also removed for the entire time the object’s card type is removed. Removing an object’s subtype doesn’t affect its card types at all.

205.1b Some effects change an object’s card type, supertype, or subtype but specify that the object retains a prior card type, supertype, or subtype. In such cases, all the object’s prior card types, supertypes, and subtypes are retained. This rule applies to effects that use the phrase “in addition to its types” or that state that something is “still a [type, supertype, or subtype].” Some effects state that an object becomes an “artifact creature”; these effects also allow the object to retain all of its prior card types and subtypes.

Take a Tribal Artifact and make it a (non-artifact) land with Song of the Dryads. If Tribal were a supertype, would it keep its creature type(s)?
Since its new type doesn't support creature types, no. It's still Tribal but loses its creature types.

205.3d An object can’t gain a subtype that doesn’t correspond to one of that object’s types.

Take a Tribal Artifact and give it a second creature type. Since the new creature type doesn't correspond to one of its types, it doesn't gain it.

205.4b An object’s supertype is independent of its card type and subtype, even though some supertypes are closely identified with specific card types. Changing an object’s card types or subtypes won’t change its supertypes. Changing an object’s supertypes won’t change its card types or subtypes. When an object gains or loses a supertype, it retains any other supertypes it had.

Remove the Tribal supertype from a permanent somehow and it keeps its creature types since removing supertypes doesn't change subtypes, but it can't have creature types without the Tribal, so does it or doesn't it have creature types?

Any sensible alteration will handle case #2 without a hitch (or at worst with minor editing of the current rules). Case #1 falls at best within the realm of altering existing cards' functionalities. Case #3 is only an issue if there is way to remove an nonspecific supertype (I'd love to hear how that is possible), or if there is a need later to design cards that remove tribal. I think we can all agree that is dubious and at least now has a sensible restriction on it after the change is enacted!


text:
Pharika's Mender, Gray Merchant of Asphodel, Rescue From The Underworld
I have an Elvish Mystic (EM) and Pharika Mender (PM) in my graveyard, and a Gray Merchant of Asphodel (GMOA)on the battlefield. At the end of my opponent's turn, I play Rescue from The Underworld (RFTU), sacrificing my GMOA as the additional cost to cast it. I choose PM as my target for RFTU.
During my upkeep, GMOA and PM enters the battlefield and their trigger are put on the stack. I place PM's trigger first, and then GMOA's trigger.
In respond to GMOA's trigger, my opponent kills GMOA, and then GMOA's trigger resolves -- which means PM's trigger resolves next.
When PM's trigger resolves, am I able to target GMOA to return it to my hand?

Can we use the proper abbreviation for "Gray Merchant of Asphodel", Gary? =)

Also, why wouldn't you put GMOA's trigger on first, and then PM's trigger? This way, you could bring back a Black permanent for a higher devotion count for GMOA's trigger.

Pharika's trigger returns the card to your hand, so devotion count doesn't change, as much as I'd like it to. ; )

No
The targets of abilities and spells are chosen as these go on the stack, so you should have had a target chosen already even before the merchant died in the first place.


text:
Can Thraben Heretic be used on creatures with undying?
Thraben Heretic says:

{T}: Exile target creature card from a graveyard.

Undying says:

Undying (When this creature dies, if it had no +1/+1 counters on it, return it to the battlefield under its owner's control with a +1/+1 counter on it.)

So, when a creature with Undying dies, can I use Thraben Heretic to exile that creature from the graveyard before Undying resolves?

Wow, didn't even think of doing this. Good question!

@adamjford Mark Rosewater loves balance, I'm sure he got this printed to counter act undying

Yes.
Undying is a triggered ability, not a replacement effect. That means Undying creatures still "die" -- meaning that the card is placed into the graveyard from the battlefield. Then its Undying ability goes on the stack. You can activate Thraben Heretic in response to exile the creature card from the graveyard. The Undying ability do nothing when in resolves because the card it's supposed to fetch back to the battlefield is no longer in the graveyard.

Similarly, Nihil Spellbomb and other cards that move cards from the graveyard to other zones will ruin Undying's day.

And then you recur the Spellbomb with Sun Titan and keep drawing cards off of it while your opponent cries a little bit. This is basically the reason I play toolsy control decks stuffed to the gills with one-ofs.

It doesn't fizzle (get countered) since it doesn't target. It resolves and does nothing.


text:
What mechanics exist that trigger Burning Vengeance?
Burning Vengeance is an enchantment that states:

Whenever you cast a spell from your graveyard, Burning Vengeance deals
2 damage to target creature or player.

I know the Flashback keyword will activate Burning Vengeance, but the Oracle text on Gatherer leads me to believe that there are other ways to trigger its ability.  What other mechanics exist in Modern that will trigger Burning Vengeance?

Non-flashback options include:

(Standard/Modern) Creatures you can cast from the graveyard, like Gravecrawler and Havengul Lich.
(Modern) Retrace cards like Raven's Crime, Worm Harvest, Flame Jab.
(Modern) Haakon, Stromgald Scourge, especially played with Tribal cards like Nameless Inversion -- this is a "real" Modern deck, although not "tier 1".
(Modern) Toshiro Umezawa, although really that's flashback by another name.
(Modern) Chandra Ablaze.

Overall I feel like it plays best in a "Jund"-style deck (basically a huge pile of two-for-ones, building up card advantage incrementally while pressuring the opponent to keep tempo). In particular, I could see using Burning Vengeance in place of Seismic Assault in an Aggro Loam variant that doesn't mind losing a little bit of speed for card advantage -- pitching a land to Raven's Crime and getting your Burning Vengeance trigger only cost {B} more than pitching it to Seismic Assault, but you get to force your opponent to discard.
I don't like trying to combo out in one turn with Burning Vengeance because I feel like it's weaker than Pyromancer's Swath in that kind of deck.

Added the modern stipulation to keep this narrowed some and because that's what I'm looking at more

Retrace is another keyword that would activate Burning Vengeance.

Also, Toshiro!

But perhaps the perfect match with Burning Vengeance is unsurprisingly, Chandra:

Other cards I found: Gravecrawler, Karador, Ghost Chieftain
, Sins of the Past, Skaab Ruinator, and Worldheart Phoenix
I think Yawgmouth's Agenda should work as well, although unlike most other cards, in the Oracle text "play" wasn't replaced with "cast".

In current Magic terminology, "play" means "play a land or cast a spell". So, yeah, it's all good.

@AlexP Oh yes, that's why Yawgmouth's Agenda's text wasn't changed — it still lets you play lands from the graveyard as if they're in your hand.


text:
Brink of Disaster timing
Brink of Disaster says:

Enchant creature or land.
When enchanted permanent becomes tapped, destroy it.

If you enchant something like Shrine of Burning Rage, and it's owner goes to tap and sacrifice it, would Brink of Disaster trigger before the sacrifice, or is the cost for the Shrine paid all at once?

You pay all the costs during the activation of an ability, as an action that doesn't use the stack.
After the Shrine's ability has gone on the stack, Brink of Disaster's trigger will go on the stack on top of it (meaning it will resolve first). There's no permanent for it to destroy, though.

That's what I thought, but I wasn't 100% sure.


text:
What happens if you sacrifice a creature brought back with Postmortem Lunge?
Let’s say I have a creature in the graveyard.  I then cast Postmortem Lunge, which reads

Return target creature card with converted mana cost X from your
graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the
beginning of the next end step.

Then, after bring the creature back, I sacrifice it, or it dies some other way.  At the end of my turn would Postmortem Lunge exile it out of my graveyard?

This card has the following Oracle ruling:

If the creature is no longer on the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step, it won't be exiled.

This is an instance of general principle: when an effect states that a card moves from one zone to another, if the target card is no longer in the starting zone when the effect resolves, then the effect is countered. In this particular case, Postmortem Lunge creates a delayed trigger which implicitly expects its target to be on the battlefield when it resolves, since that's where the card last put that creature. If the target is no longer on the battlefield, then the effect is countered.

For more fun and games, if you cast Undying Evil on the creature before you sacrifice it, it'll come back again with a +1/+1 counter, and the exile trigger will fail because the creature on the battlefield is not the same one that the trigger originally targeted.


text:
Is the target for an ability part of the cost?
Can I cast a Manic Vandal if there are no artifacts in play?
Manic Vandal says

When Manic Vandal enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact.

You can't cast a spell unless it has legal targets.
When a spell resolves, it will be countered if all of its legal targets are gone.
However, your Manic Vandal spell (the thing that you cast to create Manic Vandal the creature) doesn't actually target. Instead, it just summons a creature. Then, after he enters the battlefield, Manic Vandal's ability -- "When Manic Vandal enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact" -- triggers, and you put the effect "Destroy target artifact" on the stack. If there are no valid targets, nothing is destroyed. But you still get to keep the Manic Vandal creature.

Keep in mind that if you have just one artifact in play, you will have to destroy it, even if you don't want to. Beware when, for example, you have permanents passively changing the types of other cards that could turn yours into, say, an artifact creature... (No example, sorry)

I think it's right to say there are no "targeted creatures" in Magic.  Instants/sorceries have targets, and confusingly Auras are cards which are destined to become permanents, but "fizzle" if their target becomes invalid while they're still a spell on the stack.  But to date creature spells are exempt from being countered because of lack of legal targets.
Be advised though, that if a creature says something like "when [this] comes into play, destroy target creature", and there are no other creatures in play... no ifs or buts, it has to target and destroy itself!

That was actually my original question, but I saw that answer in the Gather so I thought I would clarify on the extreme case of no targets. Thanks!

Aura spells have targets just like instants and sorceries (may) have targets. Once the Aura spell resolves, then it creates an Aura permanent, which does not have a target but instead is "attached" to the thing it enchants.

David, very true - I was just remarking on the oddness of a spell card that has a target while it's on the stack going on to become a permanent.  I hadn't thought about it before, but it's a striking exception to the normal rule.  I should probably edit my answer to prevent any possible confusion though, cheers!

It gets weirder with abilities that put Auras onto the battlefield without ever specifying a target -- you still get to attach the Aura to a thing but it's never "targeting" it.


text:
Does Harmonic Sliver have to destroy a permanent?
If I am the only player with any permanents then does Harmonic Sliver mean I must destroy one of my permanents? Can it destroy itself?
Harmonic Sliver says

All Slivers have "When this permanent enters the battlefield, destroy target artifact or enchantment."

This guy can be a double-edged sword, especially with Wild Pair out.

The Sliver's ability says "destroy target artifact or enchantment," not just "destroy target permanent." So it can only destroy something which is an artifact or enchantment. In particular, the Sliver cannot destroy itself unless it there is some ability in effect that makes it an artifact or enchantment.
Also note that the ability does not say "may" (as in "you may destroy target artifact or enchantment"). So you are required to destroy an artifact or enchantment if there is one on the battlefield. This makes no distinction as to who controls the artifact or enchantment; if you're the only player who controls any artifacts or enchantments, then you must choose one of your own to be the target of the ability. If there are no artifacts or enchantments in play when the sliver enters the battlefield, then the ability is removed from the stack (and nothing is destroyed).

That is what I expected, but wanted to be sure.

Technically the ability does “trigger”, but the triggered effect disappears from the stack as soon as it is placed there because a legal target cannot be chosen. The end result is essentially the same; the trigger never gets a chance to resolve and nothing is destroyed.

@Stuart: good point, you're right. (I was confused by the timing rules in MTGO, in which abilities are never actually placed on the stack until a legal target is chosen)


text:
Does a single 5-color card satisfy Spirit of Resistance?
Does Spirit of Resistance require you to have one card of each color or does a single card with all 5 colors satisfy its requirement?
Oracle Text:

As long as you control a permanent of each color, prevent all damage that would be dealt to you.

If you look at the rulings at the bottom of the linked Gatherer page (again for reference), you'll see the following ruling for this card:

10/4/2004: A permanent which is of multiple colors counts as each of its colors.

Wow, OK, that was the first place I looked and didn't see it. Couldn't be clearer though. Thanks!


text:
Does Rot Wolf's ability work even if he dies?
Scenario 1:
My Rot Wolf (2/2 with Infect) is attacking.  My opponent assigns his Defiant Elf (1/1 with Trample) to block.  He then plays Giant Growth on his 1/1 to become a 4/4 until end of turn.
Now, my Rot Wolf gets dealt 4 damage and dies, I understand that, and his Elf gets 2 -1/-1 counters on it.  However, once the turn is over, Giant Growth wears off, and his Defiant Elf becomes -1/-1 and dies.  The question is, do I get to draw a card because the Elf was put into a graveyard and was dealt damage by Rot Wolf this turn? Or is it that because Rot Wolf was put into the graveyard before the Elf was, does his ability not enable me to draw?
Scenario 2:
My Rot Wolf attacks, he blocks with his Grizzly Bears (2/2).  Both get dealt 2 damage and die.  In this case, however, both go into the graveyard at the same time, would I get to draw a card now? or does the Rot Wolf have to survive combat for me to draw?

Yes to your second scenario! Time to check the Comprehensive rules again. This is a long one. Emphasis mine:

603.6d Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. Continuous effects that exist at that time are used to determine what the trigger conditions are and what the objects involved in the event look like. However, some triggered abilities must be treated specially because the object with the ability may no longer be on the battlefield, may have moved to a hand or library, or may no longer be controlled by the appropriate player. The game has to "look back in time" to determine if these abilities trigger. Leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a permanent phases out, abilities that trigger when an object that all players can see is put into a hand or library, abilities that trigger specifically when an object becomes unattached, abilities that trigger when a player loses control of an object, and abilities that trigger when a player planeswalks away from a plane will trigger based on their existence, and the appearance of objects, prior to the event rather than afterward.
  Example: Two creatures are on the battlefield along with an artifact that has the ability "Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, you gain 1 life." Someone plays a spell that destroys all artifacts, creatures, and enchantments. The artifact's ability triggers twice, even though the artifact goes to its owner's graveyard at the same time as the creatures.

Now we all agree that in your first example, the Rot Wolf is long dead and his ability means squat sitting in the graveyard when the Elf dies.
But in the second example, the Bear and the Rot Wolf die at the same time, so the Rot Wolf's ability triggers even though the wolf is on the way to the graveyard.

Thank you.  I don't know how you found that in the rules, I couldn't find this example when I was searching around.

Certainly in your first scenario, the Rot Wolf's ability is long-gone and you wouldn't get to draw a card.
In the second scenario, I believe that the leave-the-battlefield ability triggers based on the game state immediately before the event that triggered it.  At that time, Rot Wolf was still on the battlefield and so you do get to draw a card.


text:
If an object has at least 2 colors, does it also count as non[color] for every color?
Are all multi-color permanents of colors C1,C2 also non-C1 and non-C2 simultaneously?
Example: Battle Frenzy: does a Red/Green creature gain +1/+1 and +1/+0 by being both green and nongreen?

Section 105 of the Official Rules:
http://mtgsalvation.gamepedia.com/Colors_(rules)

The official rules do not explicitly mention how to interpret the meaning of "non[color]" where [color] is one of the 5 listed colors.

Example A:
If Gruul Ragebeast is both red and green, then: (A.1) Gruul Ragebeast is a red permanent; (A.2) Gruul Ragebeast is a green permanent.
(A.3) Gruul Ragebeast (if a creature) cannot be assigned to block any creature with "Protection from Red".
(A.4) Gruul Ragebeast (if a creature) cannot be assigned to block any creature with "Protection from Green".

Assuming all statements A.1, A.2, A.3, and A.4 are true, I ask:
Question:
Per statement A.1 (Gruul Ragebeast is red) then is it true that (Q.1) Gruul Ragebeast is nongreen?

Can you explain why you think A.1 would possibly imply Q.1? There's a logic step there I totally don't see.

I feel like this would be clearer if you just asked in a form more like your example, e.g. "Is a multicolored card whose colors include green also non-green?" or if you really want to keep it generic, "Is a multicolored card whose colors include a color C also be non-C?"

What is the relevance of A.3 and A.4?

@murgatroid99 I believe the idea of that step is that "nongreen" means "has a nongreen color". Of course, that doesn't make sense - then colorless creatures wouldn't be nongreen!

Multicolored cards are only considered "non-[color]" if they do not have that color.
"Non-green" is not explicitly defined in the Comprehensive Rules because it has its standard English meaning: "Not green". An object either is green, or it is not. In the example you gave, the object is green, so it is not "Not green".

Another way of putting it is that, when a card specifies some restrictions (like "untapped green Elf creature"), those restrictions are all predicate functions, and any object with matching zone, characteristics, and status can be affected by the effect. If the example I gave is a targeting restriction, then any object can be targeted as long as it is on the battlefield ("creature" implies "permanent"), has "Creature" and "Elf" among its types, has "Green" among its colors, and is not tapped.
From that point of view, "non-green" is the negation of the predicate function "green", which means that it matches any creature that does not have "Green" among its colors.

Gruul Ragebeast is Green and Red. We know this from comprehensive rule (CR) 202.2:

202.2. An object is the color or colors of the mana symbols in its mana cost, regardless of the color of its frame [...]

The prefix "non" in English literally means "not". Here is your original question, with "not" substituted for "non-" and with references inlined to make it easier to read:

Question: If Gruul Ragebeast is red, then is it true that Gruul Ragebeast is not green?

No. Gruul Ragebeast is Green. Therefore, Gruul Ragebeast is not "not Green".


text:
Llawanor Elves Trampled on desert Oasis. Act of God or Force of Nature?
Suppose the defending player has an untapped Oasis in play, a Circle of Protection: Green, and an untapped 1/1 Llanowar Elves, which has just been assigned to block a strong creature with trample, such as Force of Nature. Let's throw Lifelink on the Force of Nature as well.
In what order do all the following resolve?:

Attack declared
Blocker declared
Blocker assigned damage
Attacker deals damage
Blocker dealt damage
Trample-over damage calculated
Trample-over damage dealt
Defending player loses life
Attacking player gains life
Damage prevented by CoP if used
Blocker dies
Blocker placed into graveyard
Blocker no longer regenerate-able
One damage prevented to Blocker by Oasis

Key sub-questions that bring this to mind:

at the time when 7 trample damage is dealt to defending player, are Llawanor elves, having received fatal damage, still in play?
how much damage is actually dealt to the elves, 1 (their toughness) or 8 (Force of Nature's power)?
what is the source of the trample damage to the defending player?
if defending player uses CoP, is Lifelink activated?

You should read the Basic Rules on combat - they give you guidance for a large portion of the order of events here.

That rule book doesn't really capture all of the nuance of this situation, specifically how exactly trample works.

Very simply, if the defending player activates the Circle of Protection choosing the Force of Nature, they lose no life, the attacking player gains 7 life, and the blocking Llanowar Elves dies. Alternatively, the attacking player can leave the Llanowar Elves alive and gain no life. Specifically, combat proceeds like this:

The Declare Attackers Step begins.

The active player declare Force of Nature as an attacker.

The Declare Blockers Step begins.

The defending player declares Llanowar Elves as the single blocker for Force of Nature.
The defending player taps Llanowar Elves for one mana, activate their Circle of Protection: Green choosing the Force of Nature, and activate Oasis targeting the Elves. This is their last opportunity to do those things before damage is dealt.

The Combat Damage Step begins.

The active player chooses how to assign Force of Nature's damage. If they're smart, they assign all of the damage to Llanowar Elves, because all of the damage assigned to the defending player will be prevented.
The defending player chooses how to assign Llanowar Elves' damage. The only choice is to assign a single point to Force of Nature.
Combat damage is dealt simultaneously. Force of Nature deals 7 damage to Llanowar Elves after 1 is prevented, and the active player gains 7 life. Llanowar Elves deals 1 damage to Force of Nature.
The active player gains priority and Llanowar Elves dies as a state based action because it has lethal damage.

Alternatively, step 3 could have gone like this (highlighting what's different)

The Combat Damage Step begins.

The active player chooses how to assign Force of Nature's damage. They assign 1 damage to Llanowar Elves and 7 damage to the defending player.
The defending player chooses how to assign Llanowar Elves' damage. The only choice is to assign a single point to Force of Nature.
Combat damage is dealt simultaneously. Force of Nature deals no damage to Llanowar Elves after 1 is prevented, no damage to the defending player after Circle of Protection's ability prevents it, and the active player gains no life. Llanowar Elves deals 1 damage to Force of Nature.
The active player gains priority, and nothing dies as a state based action.

Of course, the active player could also assign any amount of damage between 2 and 7 to Llanowar Elves and gain a corresponding amount of life.
As Ivo Beckers points out, if the Llanowar Elves somehow gained Banding, the defending player would choose how the Force of Nature's damage is assigned, which would allow them to choose the alternate option and save the Elves.
The rules for Trample specify exactly how Trample modifies damage assignment. Specifically, 702.19b says

The controller of an attacking creature with trample first assigns damage to the creature(s) blocking it. Once all those blocking creatures are assigned lethal damage, any remaining damage is assigned as its controller chooses among those blocking creatures and the player or planeswalker the creature is attacking. When checking for assigned lethal damage, take into account damage already marked on the creature and damage from other creatures that’s being assigned during the same combat damage step, but not any abilities or effects that might change the amount of damage that’s actually dealt. The attacking creature’s controller need not assign lethal damage to all those blocking creatures but in that case can’t assign any damage to the player or planeswalker it’s attacking.

Thank you. So the attacker could insure against the Oasis and any unforseen damage prevention (eg, Healing Salve) and assign, say, 5 damage to the Llawanor Elves, resulting in 3 trample damage defending player prevents with CoP? I suppose in this case Force of Nature would gain 5 life from lifelink (seems... wrong)? Further, if Oasis and Healing Salve were used on Elves anyway, 4 damage to the Elves of the 5 total dealt would be prevented, essentially resulting in the same dead Elves, with only 1 life gained by the Opponent from lifelink enchantment on Force of Nature (if CoP used)?

One thing I tried to make clear is that the attacker doesn't have to "insure" against anything because all of the abilities that prevent damage have already been activated before the attacker decides how to assign damage. By that time, there is no "unforseen" damage prevention.

Maybe also nice to mention: if the llanowar elves somehow gains banding, you as defender can choose how the damage is divided and pick the alternative option provided by murgatroid99

Banding hasn't been printed on any card in seventeen years, and there's a good reason for that. But sure, I'll add the note.


text:
Clone-ing a Vesuvan Doppelganger
If a Vesuvan Doppelganger is in play having assumed the characteristics of, say, a Royal Assassin, would cloning the Doppelganger at this point be tantamount to having cast a second Doppelganger? (...that could then change into something else next turn, after spending a turn as another Royal Assassin, but with summoning sickness?)

The Clone would enter the battlefield as a copy of whatever Vesuvian Doppelganger is cloning, with the Doppelganger's extra ability. In fact, the rules about copying objects have an example covering this specific scenario

The copy’s copiable values become the copied information, as modified by the copy’s status (see rule 110.6). Objects that copy the object will use the new copiable values.

Example:  Vesuvan Doppelganger reads, "You may have Vesuvan Doppelganger enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield except it doesn’t copy that creature’s color and it gains ‘At the beginning of your upkeep, you may have this creature become a copy of target creature except it doesn’t copy that creature’s color. If you do, this creature gains this ability.’" A Vesuvan Doppelganger enters the battlefield as a copy of Runeclaw Bear (a 2/2 green Bear creature with no abilities). Then a Clone enters the battlefield as a copy of the Doppelganger. The Clone is a 2/2 blue Bear named Runeclaw Bear that has the Doppelganger’s upkeep-triggered ability.


text:
How does Dig Through Time work with Courser of Kruphix?
When Courser of Kruphix is on the battlefield and I resolve a Dig Through Time, do I reveal the top card of my library AFTER I pick two cards from the seven I get to look at, or does the top card become revealed while I am looking at my seven cards?

possible duplicate of Putting cards into your hand while the top of library is revealed

@Bret That question asks about whether the opponent should know whether the current top card goes into your hand. This question asks when the next top card is revealed.

The new top card is only revealed after you are done resolving Dig Through Time and the two cards are in your hand. This is because the cards you are looking at still count as being in your library while you are looking at them.


text:
What is your overall Yahtzee strategy?
I have played Yahtzee with people with differing strategies.  Some, I'm not so sure I agree with.
Roll for 6's every time
One friend believes that if he tries to roll 6's on every throw, he'll end up with a high 6 roll, sixes for his 3-of-a-kind, 4-of-a-kind, chance, and Yahtzees.
I have found this strategy to blow up in my face all too often; not enough attention is paid to rolls of the lower pips.
Roll for Yahtzees every throw
Another friend plays in this mode all the time.  Similar to rolling for 6's, this one is a little better...it incorporates the other pips.  This strategy is a compromise between the first one, and my general strategy:
Just roll with it
I find it best to focus on generating Mojo on my first roll, and going wherever the dice point to.  If I'm presented a 2-3-4, or 3-4-5, my mode goes into straights.  If I am presented a collection of the same pips, I focus on trying to get 3+ of the same.  I think it might be most important to get at minimum 3 of each for the top bonus.
Also, on my first roll if I get two pair, especially early in the game, I often pass up going for a full house.  Although I can't back it statistically, I feel it's easy to land a full house in Yahtzee.  This one backfires on me every so often.
Does anyone have a solid Yahtzee strategy?

How is there not a Yahtzee tag...or 'strategy' for that matter

I added the "yahtzee" tag for you. "Strategy" isn't really a useful tag because it's not a subject people are generally experts in or a useful category for finding questions about a particular topic.

Voting to close as primarily opinion based (or too broad possibly); this is just going to collect a long list of approaches people use in Yahtzee to varying degrees of success with no correct answer. This is a verbatim "I use _____ for _____, what do you use?" question from our Questions to avoid asking help page.


text:
Magic the gathering deck foundation
I have 800 cards dated between 2004 up to 2011....  Is it cool to to build a deck from a variety of sets?  Trying to get into mtg and need a boost of knowledge.

Welcome to the site! You can find answers to this question here: http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/18923/how-do-i-know-what-cards-or-sets-are-legal-to-play-with and here: http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/9363/how-can-i-tell-which-sets-are-currently-legal-in-various-formats.
There is no good answer to your specific question without having a lot more detail though; such as what format is it you are trying to play. If you just want to casually play at home with friends, then yes, you can combine various sets!

@MyTurnYet I think you linked to the wrong question.

@GendoIkariyup, I meant 18923.

You need to clarify what you mean by 'cool'.
It is fun to use older cards, however, it is only allowed in some tournaments.
If you are going to play with friends (called "Casual Magic") then you should build decks with any cards you have. If your cards are too powerful, then your friends will complain. If your cards are too weak, then you might find yourself buying some new cards.


text:
Can I tap Sliver Hive to pay for Hive Stirrings?
I am playing a game and have no white mana to play Hive Stirrings, but I do have a Sliver Hive under my control. Am I able to tap the Sliver Hive to play Hive Stirrings (assume I have enough mana to play Hive Stirrings)?
Would this work?

No, you cannot use the coloured mana from Sliver Hive to cast Hive Stirrings.
Sliver hive says

Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Spend this mana only to cast a Sliver spell.

But Hive Stirrings is not a Sliver spell, it is only a Sorcery. This means you cannot use the coloured mana from Sliver hive to pay for the spell.
You can use the mana from Sliver Hive to play Creature - Sliver spells, or to play tribal sliver spells. There aren't any tribal sliver spells I can see, but you could play a changeling one such as Wings of Velis Vel.


text:
Does Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker's first ability trigger "enters the battlefield" effects?
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker has the ability

[+1]: Until end of turn, Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker becomes a legendary 4/4 red Dragon creature with flying, indestructible, and haste. (He doesn't lose loyalty while he's not a planeswalker.)

If I were to have Temur Ascendancy in play when I trigger this ability, do I get to draw a card?

Whenever a creature with power 4 or greater enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.

See also http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/6501/do-enters-the-battlefield-abilities-trigger-when-a-creature-is-copied-with-phy and http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/14518/how-does-phyrexian-dreadnought-and-volraths-shapeshifter-interact

Changing an object's characteristics (e.g. name, power, type, etc) does not cause to enter the battlefield. Temur's ability no more triggers as a result of Sarkhan's ability than it does when you use Giant Growth.

@murgatroid99 I think Sarkhan being a planeswalker keeps it far enough apart. Yes, from a rules perspective it's the same effect, but from a player perspective, that's not immediately obvious.

I guess so. It just seems like we shouldn't need three or four questions for "If a permanent changes characteristics, does it trigger enters-the-battlefield abilities?"

No, Sarkhan's ability does not trigger enters-the-battlefield abilities because he is already on the battlefield. He changes type and gains abilities but he is still the same object.
An enters-the-battlefield trigger is what is called a zone-change trigger. Rule 603.6a describes these triggers:

Enters-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent enters the battlefield. These are written, "When [this object] enters the battlefield, ..." or "Whenever a [type] enters the battlefield, ..." Each time an event puts one or more permanents onto the battlefield, all permanents on the battlefield (including the newcomers) are checked for any enters-the-battlefield triggers that match the event.

Sarkhan's ability changes his characteristics. Those are defined in rule 109.3:

An object's characteristics are name, mana cost, color, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, abilities, power, toughness, loyalty, hand modifier, and life modifier. Objects can have some or all of these characteristics. Any other information about an object isn't a characteristic. For example, characteristics don't include whether a permanent is tapped, a spell's target, an object's owner or controller, what an Aura enchants, and so on.

The highlighted characteristics cover everything that Sarkhan's ability sets. More specifically, the ability creates a continuous effect that modifies those characteristics. Rule 110.3 says

A nontoken permanent's characteristics are the same as those printed on its card, as modified by any continuous effects. See rule 613, "Interaction of Continuous Effects."

So Sarkhan is still the same permanent, but once the ability resolves there is a new continuous effect that is modifying its characteristics.


text:
Can Ward Slivers protection be responded to?
So I was playing against someone sniping my creatures. I cast Ward Sliver and name protection from a colour. They said that because Ward Sliver says "as it comes into play" the effect is an ETB (Enters the Battlefield trigger) and can be responded to while it's on the stack, sniping Ward Sliver before it has protection. Is this true?

Your friend is incorrect.  The "magic words" for a triggered ability, which an ETB is a subset of, are "When", "Whenever" and "At."  Triggered abilities use the stack and can be responded to.

603.1. Triggered abilities have a trigger condition and an effect. They are written as "[Trigger condition], [effect]," and begin with the word "when," "whenever," or "at." They can also be expressed as "[When/Whenever/At] [trigger event], [effect]."

"As X enters play" indicates what is known as a replacement effect.  It changes the standard rules for what happens when the spell resolves.  (In addition to it becoming a creature permanent as per standard rules, you also choose a color.)  Such an effect does not use the stack.

614.1c Effects that read “[This permanent] enters the battlefield with . . . ,” “As [this permanent] enters the battlefield . . . ,” or “[This permanent] enters the battlefield as . . . “ are replacement effects.

@ikegami What could, the sliver?

The sliver itself could be countered while the spell is on the stack. However, Ward Sliver's ability is state-based and cannot be countered or responded to at all, with the one exception that a player may concede the game at any time.

@ThomasO Ward Sliver's first ability is a replacement effect, like the answer says. Ward Sliver's second ability is a static ability. I'm not sure what a "state-based" ability is. Perhaps you are confusing abilities and state-based actions.

Nit: The first ability is also a static ability, one that creates a replacement effect.

@railbolt You're right. I was confusing static abilities and state-based actions. Thanks for the correction.

Your friend can respond to your spell cast and "snipe" something while your Ward Sliver is still on the stack waiting to resolve.  It isn't on the battlefield (and you haven't yet named a color), so he can still target your creatures normally.
But once it's on the battlefield it's too late.  Ward Sliver's protection ability is not a triggered ability and won't go on the stack, and this means you can't respond to it.


text:
What happens when Fate Cards become Expendable in Ivory Edition?
If a Fate card gains the Expendable keyword, as in the example of Holding Cells with Kobi Sensei, does playing the card form hand trigger the Expendable keyword?
Would this affect a Kata or Allegiance with Expendable, as they do enter play?

From rulebook:
"Expendable: After a card with the Expendable
keyword is destroyed, the player who
controlled it last draws a card."
Action cards are not destroyed after beeing played so keyword isn't triggered.

my understanding of it is that the holding cell isn't a Kolat card.  It creates a Kolat Battle.  The only cards currently which are Kolat are:
Oboro, the Liar
Yasuki Jire
Yasuki Makoto
Yoritomo Yusuke


text:
Do troublemakers prevent single problem faceoffs?
I've been poring over the Comprehensive Rules v.2 for MLP:CCG and I cannot find anything in the rules that implies that troublemakers prevent single problem faceoffs.  It's in the base rules, but the rules for troublemakers have changed significantly enough that I don't know the answer to this question.
If I confront only one problem, and the opponent could confront the same problem except that they are blocked by my troublemaker: do I simply score the problem, or is there a faceoff?
The FAQ for the comp rules says that "troublemakers only prevent confronting the problem not faceoffs", which seems to contradict the basic CN rulebook.

In the comprehensive rules, rule 611.4 says

As a player confronts a Problem, that player scores a point. If an opponent also meets their confront requirements for that Problem (611.3), there will be a Problem Faceoff at that Problem.

And rule 611.3e says

A player can’t confront a Problem if there is an opposing face-up Troublemaker or a face-up Troublemaker with Villain at that Problem.

611.4's reference back to 611.3 implies that there would be no faceoff (in accordance with the basic rules, whew), as the same confront requirements (611.3e) are needed unless there is a double problem faceoff.

Do you think you can edit this answer to more fully explain the rules interaction? If not, do you mind if I do it?

@murgatroid99  I can do it but I won't have time until tomorrow, so feel free to!  Thank you!


text:
When rolling a third doubles, do you interact with the space you would land on?
In Monopoly, when you roll doubles a third time, you go to Jail.  But do you get to interact with the space first?  More specifically, do you get to do any of the following first?

Pass go
Buy property
Draw a Chance or Community Chest card
Pay Luxury Tax or Income Tax
Gain a second "jail sentence"
Pay Rent

@JoeW the whole point of this question is for the duplicate relationship to go the other way.  This is intended as the cannonical question for the one linked

Zags, If you are going to create a question to be a duplicate target for another question you should also vote to close that other question as a duplicate of the question you created. It does no one any good to create a new question as a duplicate target and not following that up by voting to close the other questions.

I would also point out that the question being asked and answered 3 days ago has gotten a lot of upvotes so far so it doesn't seem like a bad question or answer.

@JoeW I marked both other questions as duplicates of this one as soon as I was able (you can't do it before the new question has upvotes).  Furthermore, the amount of attention the "go to jail" question has received is unrelated to its suitability as a canonical question on the subject.  This question is designed to be more general, and https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/q/38845/9999 is closed as a duplicate of this one.  https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/q/45674/9999 should also be closed as a duplicate of this to avoid confusion

Zags, the other question is highly upvoted and not that bad, I think you would be much better served by updating that question and answer to improve it rather then create an unneeded duplicate target to deal with two questions.

@JoeW changing that question to look like this one would be an extreme change in question intent, and I think far beyond the scope of an edit.  Meanwhile, this question alredy exists in the form that a duplicate target would need to exist.

It doesn't have to look like this one, or cover every single possibility, in order for it to be a better question.

@JoeW I agree.  However, both of the questions are sufficiently specific in what the author is asking about that neither is a good candidate for editing into a more general question on the subject.  This question covers all of the cases so that it can best serve as a general question on the subject.

@Zags Please do not include meta information about the intention of your question in the question itself. If you want it to act as a canonical question it should stand on its own merits, and the determination of how to close questions as duplicates should not depend on the intentions behind asking the questions.

When you roll doubles a third time, you do not move to or interact with the space that the dice would take you to.  Instead you go directly to Jail.  You do not get to do any of the listed examples.
From the rules:

If you throw doubles, you move your token as usual, the sum of the two dice, and are subject to any privileges or penalties pertaining tot he space on which you land. Retaining the dice, throw again and move your token as before. If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked “In Jail” (see JAIL).

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Can damage be dealt to permanents that are not creatures or planeswalkers?
Cards like Lightning Bolt now say:

Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to any target.

Can Lightning Bolt target something that is not currently a creature or planeswalker?  For example, can I deal damage to an unanimated Mutavault so that it will die if it is animated later this turn?

In the context of of damage, "any target" is limited to creatures, players, and planeswalkers, and battles:

115.4. Some spells and abilities that refer to damage require “any target,” “another target,” “two targets,” or similar rather than “target [something].” These targets may be creatures, players, planeswalkers, or battles. Other game objects, such as noncreature artifacts or spells, can’t be chosen.

Even if you could somehow target something other than these, it would not receive damage:

120.1a Damage can’t be dealt to an object that’s not a battle, a creature, or a planeswalker.

Note however that non-creature permanents can still have damage marked on them, but the only way to do this for them to have been a creature when they took the damage:

120.6. Damage marked on a creature remains until the cleanup step, even if that permanent stops being a creature. If the total damage marked on a creature is greater than or equal to its toughness, that creature has been dealt lethal damage and is destroyed as a state-based action (see rule 704). All damage marked on a permanent is removed when it regenerates (see rule 701.15, “Regenerate”) and during the cleanup step (see rule 514.2).

It should be noted that if a creature takes damage and afterwards stops being a creature, damage is not immediately removed. It will stay marked until the cleanup step. This might matter if the permanent again becomes a creature later in the turn.

Battles are also valid targets now, FYI.

@JoshuaLittle edited

"Any target" is shorthand for specifically the phrase "Target creature, player, or planeswalker".  Those two statements are equivalent.  Which is kind of weird, because, for example, "Destroy any target" (if they make that card in the future) doesn't quite work the way you'd expect.  But there you have it.

Dealing damage to "any target" is templated differently than cards that say "destroy target permanent" or "destroy target non-land permanent" (Vindicate, Meteor Golem, etc.), so I don't think this confusion is likely.

Perhaps more to the point, "any target" is specifically defined in the context of dealing damage in rule 115.4. There is no chance for confusion because there won't be a card that uses "any target" without dealing damage.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Do cards not on the battlefield have their "conditional abilities"?
How do conditional abilities of creatures cards not on the battlefield work?  In particular, which abilities do those creature cards have and which do they not have, for the purposes of cards that copy abilities from creatures not on the battlefield (such as Necrotic Ooze, Cairn Wanderer, or Skill Borrower)?
Here are some examples of conditional abilities:

Guul Draz Assassin
Student of Warfare
Auriok Edgewright
Battlewise Aven
Fledgling Dragon
Belligerent Whiptail

The "copy ability" cards you list copy either activated abilities or specific keyword abilities. I don't see how a landfall triggered ability is relevant here, and I also don't understand what that ability "conditional". Similarly, the first metalcraft ability does not appear to match the definition of "conditional" you give at the top.

OK, I see why that landfall triggered ability is on the list now: the ability grants first strike on resolution. I was confused because you emphasized the trigger condition even though that is unrelated to the card's relevance to the question.

@murgatroid99 I agree that Vedalken Certarch is different from the other examples.  A good answer to this question should explain why.

I honestly think you are just muddying the issue by including it at all. Including an apparent misconception in your question just to correct it in your answer seems unnecessary, when you could instead focus on the original point you wanted to make.

In general, conditional abilities are not copy-able if the creature is not on the battlefield because they are actually the result of granting abilities on those creatures, and these granting abilities don't work off the battlefield:

112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield.

Most of the examples given have either static or triggered granting abilities.  Triggered granting abilities are ones that read "when/whenever ..., [CARD NAME] gains ...".  Static granting abilities are ones that read "as long as ... [CARD NAME] has ..." or " [CARD NAME] has ... as long as ...".  Note that higher level abilities on a card with level up are shorthand for this text:

710.2a "{LEVEL N1-N2} [Abilities] [P/T]" means "As long as this creature has at least N1 level counters on it, but no more than N2 level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities]."

For lack of a granting ability that says it works from a different zone, these granting abilities only work while the creature is on the battlefield.  Thus, a creature not on the battlefield won't have a conditional ability even if the condition for the granting ability is true or has been met.
For example, Necrotic Ooze will copy the ability to add level counters from any creature in a graveyard (since that's not conditional) but will not gain any of that creature's higher level abilities, even if the Ooze has an appropriate number of level counters.
Exception 1: if the condition is part of the activated ability (such as text like "activate this ability only if...") as opposed to a condition on the creature having the activated ability, then the creature has the ability in all zones.  For example, Vedalken Certarch's ability will be copied by Necrotic Ooze because the condition is part of the ability.
Exception 2: a creature that copies everything from a card not on the battlefield (such as Body Double) can gain conditional abilities, but that is because it copies the granting abilities (among other things).

You appear to be under the impression that an Auriok Edgewright card in the graveyard could have double strike, but that's not the case.
Most abilities of non-instants and non-sorceries only work while the object on which they reside is one the battlefield.

112.6. Abilities of an instant or sorcery spell usually function only while that object is on the stack. Abilities of all other objects usually function only while that object is on the battlefield. The exceptions are as follows:
112.6a Characteristic-defining abilities function everywhere, even outside the game. (See rule 604.3.)
112.6b-n [Can be summarized as "Abilities that must obviously function in other zones only function in those zones."]

(Emphasis mine)
That means that Auriok Edgewright's ability that would grant Auriok Edgewright double strike doesn't work in the graveyard.
Even if a weird situation leads to a card in the graveyard gaining an ability, a copy effect wouldn't copy it.

706.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object's characteristics and, for an object on the stack, choices made when casting or activating it (mode, targets, the value of X, whether it was kicked, how it will affect multiple targets, and so on). The "copiable values" are the values derived from the text printed on the object (that text being name, mana cost, color indicator, card type, subtype, supertype, rules text, power, toughness, and/or loyalty), as modified by other copy effects, by its face-down status, and by "as . . . enters the battlefield" and "as . . . is turned face up" abilities that set power and toughness (and may also set additional characteristics). Other effects (including type-changing and text-changing effects), status, and counters are not copied.

(Emphasis mine)

Necrotic Ooze and Skill Borrower
Necrotic Ooze and Skill Borrower only copy activated abilities (including those represented by a keyword ability).

From Guul Draz Assassin, they would gain Level Up {1}{B}[1], but not any of the benefits from leveling (as those are granted by static abilities that aren't copied).[2]
From Student of Warfare, they would gain Level Up {W}[1], but not any of the benefits from leveling (as those are granted by static abilities that aren't copied).[2]
From Vedalken Certarch, they would gain {T}: Tap target artifact, creature, or land. Activate this ability only if you control three or more artifacts.[3]
Auriok Edgewright has no activated abilities.
Battlewise Aven has no activated abilities.
Fledgling Dragon has no activated abilities.

Cairn Wanderer
None of the cards you mention has an ability copiable by Cairn Wanderer.
Keep in mind that a Student of Warfare card in the graveyard has the ability "LEVEL 2-6 First strike 3/3", but not first strike itself.
Keep in mind that an Auriok Edgewright card in the graveyard has the ability "Auriok Edgewright has double strike as long as you control three or more artifacts.", but not double strike itself.

702.86a Level up is an activated ability. "Level up [cost]" means "[Cost]: Put a level counter on this permanent. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery."

710.2. A level symbol is a keyword ability that represents a static ability. The level symbol includes either a range of numbers, indicated here as "N1-N2," or a single number followed by a plus sign, indicated here as "N3+." Any abilities printed within the same text box striation as a level symbol are part of its static ability. The same is true of the power/toughness box printed within that striation, indicated here as "[P/T]."
710.2a "{LEVEL N1-N2} [Abilities] [P/T]" means "As long as this creature has at least N1 level counters on it, but no more than N2 level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities]."
710.2b "{LEVEL N3+} [Abilities] [P/T]" means "As long as this creature has N3 or more level counters on it, it has base power and toughness [P/T] and has [abilities]."

Italicized text (such as "Metalcraft") has no game meaning. It doesn't exist as far as the game is concerned.

207.2. The text box may also contain italicized text that has no game function.
207.2c An ability word appears in italics at the beginning of some abilities. Ability words are similar to keywords in that they tie together cards that have similar functionality, but they have no special rules meaning and no individual entries in the Comprehensive Rules. [...]


text:
Can I steal an opponent's aura by changing the target while it is on the stack?
My opponent casts Eldrazi Conscription on a creature they control. Before Eldrazi Conscription resolves, can I redirect it onto my creature using Shunt, for example?

Yes.

114.1b Aura spells are always targeted. These are the only permanent spells with targets. An Aura’s target is specified by its enchant
keyword ability (see rule 702.5, “Enchant”). The target(s) are chosen
as the spell is cast; see rule 601.2c. An Aura permanent doesn’t
target anything; only the spell is targeted. (An activated or
triggered ability of an Aura permanent can also be targeted.)

608.3a If the object that’s resolving is an Aura spell, its resolution involves two steps. First, it checks whether the target specified by
its enchant ability is still legal, as described in rule 608.2b. (See
rule 702.5, “Enchant.”) If so, the spell card becomes a permanent and
is put onto the battlefield under the control of the spell’s
controller attached to the object it was targeting.

As long as you have a creature to change the target of the aura to, you can have it attach to your creature instead of the one your opponent intended, since changing the target of the aura spell changes what it enters the battlefield attached to.  However, there is a catch. The aura will be attached to your creature but you will not be its controller. Your opponent still controls the spell so they will still control the aura permanent, as mentioned above in 608.3a and reaffirmed by the following:

303.4e An Aura’s controller is separate from the enchanted object’s controller or the enchanted player; the two need not be the same.

This doesn't make a difference for Eldrazi Conscription, since Eldrazi Conscription modifies the creature directly.  But in the case of Armadillo Cloak, you opponent would still control the triggered life gain ability and consequently would be the one to gain life for the damage dealt by your creature.

Slight typo: "attack" -> "attach" after the first quote block.

Fixed. I bolded the key sentence of the answer while I was there. Feel free to revert.


text:
Is a countered flashback spell exiled?
If I flashback Past in Flames and it is countered by Cancel, is it exiled or put back into my graveyard?

On this site, you can use the syntax [mtg:Card Name] to link directly to a card.

If you counter a spell cast for its Flashback cost from the graveyard, it gets exiled. The rule that covers flashback is 702.33a, and it says

Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one that functions while the card is in a player's graveyard and the other that functions while the card is on the stack. "Flashback [cost]" means "You may cast this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost" and "If the flashback cost was paid, exile this card instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack." Casting a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2e-g.

Countering a spell normally sends it to the graveyard (or, in some cases, exile, its owner's hand, or their library), but the flashback ability makes it go to exile instead.
It's worth noting that if a counterspell says to exile the spell it's countering (like Spelljack, for example), and then does something with it after it's exiled, that still happens. That's because if the spell is getting exiled anyway, the flashback ability doesn't change anything.

Maybe mention the interaction with Spelljack and Kheru Spellsnatcher?

I added that to my answer.

Your link to Spelljack is broken

All of the autocard links are broken. They will be fixed in a mass cleanup some time this month.


text:
Magic: The Gathering - Akawalli and Menace
Akawalli, the Seething Tower has

Descend 8 - As long as there are eight or more permanent cards in your graveyard, Akawalli gets an additional +2/+2 and can't be blocked by more than one creature.

If you give Akawalli, the Seething Tower the keyword ability Menace while you have at least 8 cards in your graveyard, is it unblockable or do timestamps come into play with layers and such?

It would be effectively unblockable.
“Can’t be blocked by more than 1 creature” and “can’t be blocked except by 2 or more creatures” are both restrictions. When declaring blockers, you cannot disobey any restrictions:

509.1b The defending player checks each creature they control to see whether it’s affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can’t block, or that it can’t block unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of blockers is illegal.

So whether you assigned 1 creature or 2 to block Akawalli, you would be disobeying a restriction and thus the declaration of blockers is illegal. It’s basically the same a creature having both “cannot be blocked by red creatures” and “cannot be blocked except by red creatures” at the same time.

Timestamps are layers come into play only when two things interfere with each other, such as when one permanent tries to make everything blue and something else tries to make everything red.
While the two effects in your question don't leave any options for blocking, they don't actually contradict each other; they can both be true, leaving your creature unblockable. In MtG, if two or more effect leave no way of doing something, then you just can't do it; the effects don't cancel out. For instance, if one card says that you can't cast spells on your turn, and another says you can't cast spells on other players' turns, then you just can't cast spells.
There is however a loophole. Mirror Match puts creatures onto the battlefield blocking. Blocking restrictions apply when a creature is declared a blocker. But the tokens that Mirror Match puts on the battlefield aren't declared blocking, they simply are blocking. So you can use this card to block creatures with menace, regardless of how many other creatures are blocking them.

Another similar loophole is Flash Foliage.


text:
Can City of Brass be used to cast Kozilek, the Great Distortion in Commander?
Can City of Brass be used to pay for the colorless component of Kozilek, the Great Distortion's cost if I am playing Commander?

Is new Kozlilek your commander? Little bit of ambiguity as is.

That has never been relevant to the question, not under the old rule or the new rule.

No. City of Brass adds one mana of any color, and colorless is not a color.

105.4. If a player is asked to choose a color, he or she must choose one of the five colors. “Multicolored” is not a color. Neither is “colorless.”

In the past, if you attempted to add mana to your pool that did not share a color with your commander's color identity, that mana became colorless instead.

Rule 4. If a player would produce mana of colors that are not in their General card's color identity, they instead get that much colorless mana.

This rule was removed with the release of Oath of the Gatewatch, which introduced new colorless symbols and colorless costs.

The new mana symbol is such a pain for rules misunderstandings.  Everyone repeat with me: "Colorless is not a color." "Colorless is not a color."...

References to special mana-generation rules for Commander are obsolete. City of Brass does what it says on the card, just like in regular Magic.
Commander rules have been updated on January 18, 2016 to make mana production work more like regular Magic.

Rule 4 (mana generation restriction) is removed

The rationale provided says:

Being able to generate colorless mana more easily in Commander wasn't going to break anything. But, it represented another "gotcha" moment for players, who were now likely to learn about Rule 4 when someone exploited the colorless loophole. We could paper over it (both "mana generated from off-color sources can only pay generic costs" and "you can't pay a cost outside your color identity" were considered), but a lot of the flavor would be lost in the transition, defeating the purpose. Without the resonant flavor, Rule 4 was increasingly looking like mana burn - a rule that didn't come up enough to justify it's existence.

So, now City of Brass will just generate mana of any color (but not colorless mana) regardless of your commander's color identity.

@Rainbolt I've made a perfunctory edit to the other answer as you've suggested, but I don't mind if someone with more time/interest goes in and really cleans it up more


text:
Final round conflicts in Lancaster
In the final round of Lancaster do you only have to pay a ransom for knights involved in a battle that has been lost twice?

Yes, because you have to pay for any captured knights in any round (after the first round, obviously), and you fully play through the fifth round before scoring.
If you don't ransom a knight [at some point in the game, in particular the fifth round], that knight will not count towards your knight strength for end-game scoring.


text:
It That Betrays in a multiplayer game
How does It That Betrays' triggered ability work in a multiplayer game, if two of us controls a It That Betrays, and a third player sacrifices a card?

By the way, you can link directly to a card by writing [mtg:Card Name] in your post.

The ability is a triggered ability, so they both trigger when the third player sacrifices a creature. Whichever one is on top of the stack resolves first, and puts the creature into play under that player's control. Then the other one resolves, but can't find the creature card in the graveyard, so it does nothing.
It That Betrays' ability is a leaves-the-battlefield triggered ability. The rule regarding those abilities, 603.6c says

Leaves-the-battlefield abilities trigger when a permanent moves from the battlefield to another zone, or when a phased-in permanent leaves the game because its owner leaves the game. These are written as, but aren't limited to, "When [this object] leaves the battlefield, ..." or "Whenever [something] is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, ..." An ability that attempts to do something to the card that left the battlefield checks for it only in the first zone that it went to. An ability that triggers when a card is put into a certain zone "from anywhere" is never treated as a leaves-the-battlefield ability, even if an object is put into that zone from the battlefield.

Once the first ability that resolves moves the creature out of the graveyard onto the battlefield, the second ability that resolves can't find the creature in the graveyard, so it doesn't do anything.
The order in which the abilities go on the stack depends on APNAP order. This is what the Comprehensive Rules have to say

603.3b If multiple abilities have triggered since the last time a player received priority, each player, in APNAP order, puts triggered abilities he or she controls on the stack in any order he or she chooses. (See rule 101.4.) Then the game once again checks for and resolves state-based actions until none are performed, then abilities that triggered during this process go on the stack. This process repeats until no new state-based actions are performed and no abilities trigger. Then the appropriate player gets priority.
101.4 If multiple players would make choices and/or take actions at the same time, the active player (the player whose turn it is) makes any choices required, then the next player in turn order (usually the player seated to the active player's left) makes any choices required, followed by the remaining nonactive players in turn order. Then the actions happen simultaneously. This rule is often referred to as the "Active Player, Nonactive Player (APNAP) order" rule.

In other words, which player gets the creature depends on whose turn it is. If we call the players with It That Betrays A and B, and the other player C, and say that A, B, C is the turn order, then

If it's Player A's turn, A's ability goes on the stack, followed by B's. This means that B's ability resolves first, so B gets the creature.
If it's Player B's turn, B's ability goes on the stack, followed by A's. This means that A's ability resolves first, so A gets the creature.
If it's Player C's turn, A's ability goes on the stack, followed by B's. This means that B's ability resolves first, so B gets the creature.

Does that mean that, in a two-player game, if both players have It That Betrays, when player A attacks with it, Player B gets back the cards B had to sacrifice?

No, because the ability only triggers when an opponent sacrifices a permanent. So if player A attacks, player B has to sacrifice permanents, then only player A's It That Betrays triggers, so player A gets those permanents.

Ahh, right, ok, that seems much better

Triggers get put on the stack in AP/NAP player order.  So lets say players A and B both control an It That Betrays.  It's A's turn and attacks player C.  C sacrifices a nontoken creature to annihilator.  Since A is the active player, they get to put their It That Betrays trigger on the stack first.
Stack:
(Top)
A's ITB trigger

Then the next not active player with triggers get's to put their triggered abilities on (for this, let's say it is B).
Stack:
(Top)
B's ITB trigger
A's ITB trigger

Then the next NAP goes (C).  In this case we will assume he has nothing to do.  Then if everyone passes priority, the stack starts resolving.  Since B's trigger is on top, it resolves and he gets C's creature.
Stack:
(Top)
A's ITB trigger

Assuming everyone passes priority, A's trigger resolves.  But now there is no creature card to return to the battlefield, so it does nothing.