text:
What happens when a card says you need two creatures to defend an attack?
If a player attacks with Pyreheart Wolf which states

each creature you control can't be blocked this turn except by two or more creatures

how is damage calculated, or what happens more generally?

Independent of Pyreheart Wolf, are you aware 1) that an attacking creature can be blocked by more than one creature 2) if so, what happens in that case, particularly with regards to the ordering of blockers and assigning damage? (This is a genuine question, there are multiple levels of answer which could be written to your question and I'm trying to judge how much detail to go into)

Hi thanks for the reply currently I'm new to the game and we are just casual players using old decs so I think for now as much as possible to clarify on it.

We are mainly looking how damage os calculated with the 2 defend one if is stacking defence of singular defence.

The trouble here is that neither "stacking defence" nor "singular defence" are terms used in the Magic: the Gathering comprehensive rules so we can't explain those terms. Pyreheart Wolf doesn't change how blocking and damage works, other than adding a restriction as to what is a legal assignment of blocks (CR 509.1c).

The answer to your question as written is that Pyreheart Wolf itself makes no difference to how damage is calculated.
Specifically, Pyreheart Wolf creates a restriction in terms of Comprehensive Rules (CR) 702.111b and 509.1b that the attacking creatures cannot be blocked except by two or more creatures:

702.111b A creature with menace can’t be blocked except by two or more creatures.

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.

Once a legal declaration of blockers has been made, the game then proceeds as it always would through the players announcing damage assignment orders (CRs 509.2 and 509.3) and then to the combat damage step (CR 510). There is no difference in how damage is calculated because Pyreheart Wolf created a restriction; exactly the same process is followed as it would be if the defending player chose to block an attacking creature with two blocking creatures when no restrictions were in effect.
(Aside: why am I referring to CR 702.111 "Menace" when Menace is not in the text printed on your card? The answer to this is because Pyreheart Wolf has been updated since it was printed, and Magic: the Gathering always uses the current "Oracle text" for a card as can be found at Gatherer; as you can see there, Pyreheart Wolf's text is now "Whenever Pyreheart Wolf attacks, creatures you control gain menace until end of turn.")

While I believe this is an accurate answer to what is written in your question, I suspect your issue is more about damage assignment orders and combat damage when one creature is blocked by multiple blockers. If so, I suggest you review the existing questions on this site and if you don't find one which answers your question, you ask a new question without reference to Pyreheart Wolf.

Thanks I will go read that section first before I make a conclusion because as I said we are using fairly old decs and was not to sure of how he's ability worked regards to defending it.


text:
How do Chatterfang, Saw in Half and Parallel Lives interact?
If I have Chatterfang, Squirrel General and Parallel Lives on the battlefield under my control and then cast Saw in Half targeting Chatterfang, how many and what type of tokens will be created when Saw in Half resolves?

You will get 4 Chatterfang tokens and no Squirrel tokens. 3 of the 4 Chatterfang tokens will go away due to the Legend Rule (but will still have entered the battlefield if anything cares about that).
As you resolve, Saw in Half, you follow its instructions one at a time. Chatterfang is destroyed, and sent to the graveyard. Then you would create 2 Chatterfang tokens, but Parallel Lives has a static ability that creates a replacement effect, replacing the creating of 2 Chatterfang tokens with creating 4 Chatterfang tokens.
Although Chatterfang also has a replacement effect that would replace creating a token with creating the token and creating a squirrel, there is no Chatterfang on the battlefield at the time you are creating a token here. The original one is in the graveyard and none of the token ones have been created yet. The new tokens will exist too late to do anything here:

614.4. Replacement effects must exist before the appropriate event occurs—they can’t “go back in time” and change something that’s already happened.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is "Blessed Reversal" treated as a single life gain event?
When playing Blessed Reversal is it treated as a single life gain event regardless of how many creatures are attacking? Or is each "3 life" treated as a separate event.
I'm asking because with Heliod, Sun Crowned "Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control." So if 10 creatures attack and I play Blessed Reversal, do I get 10 counters or 1 counter?

Blessed Reversal is one lifegain event, even if more than one creature is attacking you. Heliod will create only one +1/+1 counter.
The term "each creature attacking you" is a number that is determined when Blessed Reversal is resolved. The lifegain is a single one-shot effect and will trigger Heliod only once, if at least one creature is attacking you on resolution.
There are lifegain effects that create multiple "packages" of lifegain when you are attacked, such as Righteous Cause. Righteous Cause has a triggered ability that triggers individually for each creature that has been declared as an attacker.
It all depends on the wording though - there are also enchantments that create only one lifegain package for attacking creatures, such as Orim's Prayer.

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


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Do the creatures entering the battlefield via Strefan, Maurer Progenitor's ability count as being cast?
So this is the situation:
I used the ability of Strefan, Maurer Progenitor to put vampire cards onto the battlefield, sacrificing 2 blood tokens.
I use this to put Cordial Vampire in the battlefield.
Did I cast Cordial Vampire?

You did not cast him. Casting a spell is a particular process, described in rule 601, of putting a card onto the stack, paying its costs, and letting it resolve.


text:
How does blocking work in Magic the Gathering?
I am new to MtG, for this, I started playing the old PC game "Magic 2014 - Duels of the Planeswalkers", in order to get familiar with the game, and I modified my mono black deck as a zombie/undying deck.
Playing the campaign, I faced a Slivers deck, where my opponent had 3 1/1 Sliver tokens, and I had Black Cat under the effects of Lord of the Undead and Undead Warchief making the cat a 4/3.
I decided to attack with Black Cat and these 3 tokens blocked my attack, each of these tokens dealt 1 damage each, killing my Black Cat, but these 3 tokens didn't die... why? I was expecting to kill the tokens, they attack my card (3 attack to me) and my card deals 3 attack to them which is sufficient to kill them all. Do I have it wrong how blocking works in MtG?

You have it essentially correct: if nothing else is in effect, your cat would deal 3 damage to the defenders and they would all die.
Why they didn't die is most likely due to some other effect on the battlefield. Without seeing the full game state we can't tell you what that was, but the most likely possibilities are:

Striking Sliver which would give all slivers first strike, meaning they do damage before your cat. As the 3 damage from the slivers is lethal damage to your cat, it dies before it can assign damage, so the slivers survive.
Bonescythe Sliver which would give all slivers double strike, meaning they do damage before your cat (as with first strike) and normal damage.

as both those cards are apparently in the 2014 Duels Slivers deck.

I remember they had first strike... now I understand, they do damage before my cat, so they killed my cat before I even had the change of attacking them back, right? Bloody first strike creatures...

Correct - I've expanded my answer slightly to include this.

Assuming that when OP said that their opponent had 3 1/1, they meant that the 3 1/1 were the only creatures. then Bonescythe Sliver wouldn't be a possibility, as it's 2/2. Similarly for Sliver Hivelord, which gives Indestructible, but is 5/5.

@Acccumulation the question also states they were tokens. I think you are making unwarranted assumptions.

@Acccumulation you are assuming the question mentions everything on the battlefield, rather than only the creatures that were declared as blockers


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Cast copy of exiled card + kicker
I want to cast a copy of a card with Kicker from the third mode of Founding the Third Path:

Exile target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. Copy it. You may cast the copy.

This weekend at a competitive tournament the Head Judge made an in-game ruling that I wasn't allowed to do this. Were they right, and which exact rules let me do it or prevent me from doing it?

Whether that's right or wrong, that's bad from the Head Judge - it's up to judges to know the rules and be able to make a ruling, they shouldn't be saying "please player, tell me what the rules are".

@PhilipKendall Well floor judge made a ruling, I appealed, head judge agreed with floor judge and made the ruling in the game, which in end didn't affect the outcome of the game. After the game I asked can I appeal more or complain somewhere officially, and he told me if I can show him the rules he'll get it better next time, but he thinks he's correct. (And thank you for the edit)

This question is similar: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/31798 I'd say the head judge was wrong and you can pay the kicker cost.

Casting a spell for free causes any X's in the mana-cost to be zero.  Some might assume that the same logic applies to kickers (since they're similar).  Maybe they misunderstood the effect as allowing you to cast it for free?

@Nat They didn't make that specific mistake, they even knew I could use kicker with first mode that casts a spell for free. And more important problem, those "some" that might make a assumption like that shouldn't be head judges at a competitive events

@Affaltar: Thanks for clarifying.  But, huh.. that makes it even weirder.  I mean, they had to be thinking something, but what?

The judges were wrong, but it isn't possible to point to a specific rule which demonstrates this as it's a case of "it's not disallowed".
In general, Kicker is an additional cost (CR 702.33a):

Kicker is a static ability that functions while the spell with kicker is on the stack. “Kicker [cost]” means “You may pay an additional [cost] as you cast this spell.” Paying a spell’s kicker cost(s) follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 601.2b and 601.2f–h.

CR 601.2 gives the precise details of when the decision to pay an additional cost is made (601.2b) and paying that cost (601.2f-h); the details are not too relevant here as everyone agrees additional costs can in general be paid.
There is now nothing in the rules which prevents paying an additional cost if casting a copy of a card, so this remains an allowable choice for you to make. I'd very much say the burden of proof should have been on the judges to point to the precise rule which prevented this, but it's too late to worry about that now.
As of September 2022, there are no Gatherer rulings on Founding the Third Path we can't refer directly to those but we can look for rulings on similarly worded cards. The best example here is probably Wizard's Spellbook which allows you to cast a copy of an exiled card while paying its mana cost if your d20 roll is 1-9:

Exile target instant or sorcery card from a graveyard. Roll a d20. Activate only as a sorcery.
1–9 | Copy that card. You may cast the copy.
[...]

and the ruling itself (my emphasis):

If your result is 1–9, you must still pay all costs to cast the copy. You may pay any additional or alternative costs the spell has. If it has any mandatory additional costs, those must be paid.

That seems pretty definitive to me.

Wizard's Spellbook, which (sometimes) allows you to cast copies of spells for their normal mana cost, is more explicit: "you must still pay all costs to cast the copy. You may pay any additional or alternative costs the spell has."

@Cadence Ah, that's perfect. I missed Wizard's Spellbook as I ruled out any cards with "without paying its mana cost" in the Oracle text...

These rules are enough for me and for the head judge that said "ok, i know for next time"

The simple answer is that the judges were wrong, and that the rules that allow you to do it are the same rules that allow you to pay a kicker cost when casting from your hand normally. There is no other rule to cite, because the reason those rules apply to this situation is that no rule exists that would prevent them from applying.
That is unlikely to be persuasive to your judges, however, and would not correct their misunderstanding that led to this ruling.
I think your judges missed or misunderstood these two crucial points:

An alternative cost and an additional cost are different things with different rules.
The clause "without paying its mana cost" is very common in effects that let you cast something, but is not universal or implied.

I think your judges read "You may cast the copy" and automatically appended "without paying its mana cost" in their heads out of familiarity with the many, many cards that say that, without realizing that this particular effect does not have that clause.
Casting something without paying its mana cost counts as an alternative cost. You can only use at most one alternative cost at a time, and when an effect lets you cast something and specifies an alternative cost, you are required to use that specific alternative cost. Casting something without paying its mana cost therefore prevents using any other alternative cost for casting it.
Kicker is an additional cost, not an alternative cost, so you could use it even if you were casting the copy without paying its mana cost. I think your judges also forgot about the distinction between alternative and additional costs, however, which combined with the above mistake would logically result in their conclusion.
I recommend pointing out these two points of potential misunderstanding to your judges as an explanation of how they might have based their ruling mistakenly on rules that do not apply, and showing them the first ruling on Wizard's Spellbook as evidence that your interpretation is correct.


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How many letters are needed for a bingo in 9 tile Scrabble?
When playing the 9 tile variant in scrabble do you need to play all nine tiles at once for a bingo or just 7 tiles as per the regular rules.

You're playing a variant: so make up your own rule with whomever you're playing with, agree to it; and stick to it.

We'd need to know which 9-tile variant this is. If the only information is that it's a variant with 9 tiles, we can't really tell you how the bingo also works.

The 9 tile variant of scrabble is very common, and has only two modifications to the rules, a 9 tile rack, and bingos are scored on 7, 8, and 9 letter words.

The 9 Tile Rack variant of scrabble hasn't been included in an official rule book yet, so there isn't a canonical source; but whenever it's included in a non-official source it includes a 50 point bingo for 7, 8, and 9 tile words.
See UltraBoardGames, the Scrabble project, or gamerules.com


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Can I cast a spell after the stack has resolved on my opponent's turn in MTG?
In a game, my opponent played Burn the Accursed to kill one of my creatures also deal 2 damage to me. I also have a 1/1 Scavenger Folk in play and the ability to create enough mana to cast Simulacrum, an instant which states

You gain life equal to the damage dealt to you this turn. Simulacrum deals damage to target creature you control equal to the damage dealt to you this turn.

The goal would be to take the two damage from me and place it upon the Scavenger Folk I control.
If I play this card in response to Burn the Accursed, the Simulacrum would go on top of the stack and then when the stack resolves in Last In First oOut order this seemingly wouldn't do anything as if Simulacrum is on the top because no damage has been dealt to me yet. Would I be able to let the stack resolve and THEN play my Simulacrum to move the damage to my creature, or is Simulacrum really only effective for damage dealt by creatures?

Just in case you're not aware, the effect of any card in MtG is that in the Oracle text, not what is printed on the card. This doesn't really make much difference in this case, but it's worth knowing for other cards.

Rule 117. Timing and Priority covers who can cast spells and when. 117.1a allows you to cast an instant spell any time you have priority, and 117.3d means you will receive priority on your opponents turn any time they could take an action, but do not.
When Simulacrum resolves you gain life equal to all damage done to you that turn, which (as you've surmised) won't regain you the 2 life from lost from Burn the Accursed if played in response to Burn the Accursed.
However, if you survive the 2 damage done by Burn the Accursed, you will gain priority before the turn moves onto the next step/phase and can cast Simulacrum to gain back the life you lost.
Generally the optimum time to play a card like Simulacrum is during the end step, as long as you will survive to that point.

Rules

117. Timing and Priority
117.1a A player may cast an instant spell any time he or she has priority. A player may cast a noninstant spell during his or her main phase any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty
...
117.3d If a player has priority and chooses not to take any actions, that player passes. If any mana is in that player’s mana pool, they announce what mana is there. Then the next player in turn order receives priority.

I'll try to provide an intuitive understanding for when you can cast in MTG. There is a concept called priority, which is like a ball that players pass to each other. The player with priority is the only one allowed to do things. The priority ball by default sits with the player whose turn it is, but must be passed to the other players before anything on the stack resolves and before game steps advance.
If it is my turn, I can play any number of spells I want, and you can't respond. I have priority. Say I put five things on the stack. I want them to start resolving. So I pass priority to you. If you also pass priority without doing anything, the topmost thing on the stack resolves, and I get priority again. The stack has four things on it now. We can repeat this four more times - each time, I pass, you pass, and one thing instantly resolves. At the end of the chain, the stack is empty, and I have priority. If the last spell to resolve is a planeswalker, you can't kill it, because you don't have priority. I can activate its loyalty ability, pass priority, and then you can respond with a kill spell - but the loyalty ability is already on the stack.

Can I cast a spell after the stack has resolved on my opponent's turn in MTG?

No, because after the stack has resolved, the player whose turn it is has priority. Your first chance to cast a spell will be when that player passes priority. For example, if they try to go to combat, they are passing priority - you can now play your Simulacrum, or pass and let the game go to the beginning of combat step. If you do play the Simulacrum, priority immediately goes back to the player whose turn it is, and they can play more things, or pass (which again lets you play a spell, or pass to resolve the topmost thing on the stack, likely the Simulacrum).


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How would Glasspool Mimic (or other clones) resolve if cloned target is removed
If I cast Glasspool Mimic targeting a Lord of Atlantis that I control, and in response to the spell going on the stack, my opponent casts Petty Theft targeting the same Lord of Atlantis, how would this resolve?

Related: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/43995/which-spells-or-abilities-are-affected-by-things-that-care-about-targeting

Firstly, Glasspool Mimic does not target; quoting from its Oracle text:

You may have Glasspool Mimic enter the battlefield as a copy of a creature you control, except it's a Shapeshifter Rogue in addition to its other types.

You do not have to choose the creature it is copying until it actually enters the battlefield. You can choose any creature you control at that point, and your opponent does not get to respond to the choice as this does not use the stack.
If you have no other creatures available when the mimic enters the battlefield, it enters as a 0/0 creature and will be moved to the graveyard the next time state-based actions are checked unless there is some other effect increasing its toughness.

Glasspool Mimic doesn't target. Its ability is a replacement effect that replaces the event of it entering the battlefield with the event of it entering the battlefield as a copy of another creature, and the choice of what creature it copies is made at the moment the event is replaced. If you were to cast it and say that you were targeting Lord of Atlantis, this would probably be interpreted as an intended shortcut (it would be an improperly worded one, but a judge would probably overlook that) for casting Glasspool Mimic, and then, on resolution, choosing Lord of Atlantis as the creature to copy.
Your opponent casting Petty Theft would then be a rejection of that shortcut, which would allow you to make new choices from the moment of your opponent deviating from the shortcut, meaning that if you have any other creatures on the battlefield, you can have Glasspool Mimic enter as a copy of one of them.
Note that if you were to say "I cast Glasspool Mimic, targeting my Lord of Atlantis", and your opponent were to not do anything in response and just say "Okay", and you were to then say "Oh, whoops, Glasspool Mimic doesn't target. So I let it resolve, and then at resolution I choose another creature for it to copy", your opponent would have a case to be made that they interpreted your initial statement as a proposed shortcut, they accepted it, and now you can't change you choice.

While I agree with this answer technically, I feel that if it's happening at anything below Competitive REL it should be treated as a learning opportunity rather than a rules enforcement opportunity.

It would stay the copy of lord of Atlantis because he would need to send back lord of atlantis to your and before  glasspool mimic enter the Battlefield because as soon as it enter the Battlefield you choose wich creature you want to copy your opponent does not a word to say about that and it does not specify that the copied creature need to stay in the Battlefield

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.

While MtG does have some situations in which the last known characteristics of an object are used, this is not one of them. Petty Theft is being cast in response to the mimic being cast, not to it resolving, so the Lord of Atlantis is not on the battlefield as it resolves.


text:
Is tapping an artifact for mana considered a spell?
Does tapping an artifact like Raugrin Crystal for mana count as a spell? In particular, I have a Forsaken Monument on the battlefield which gives life each colorless spell I cast.

No, tapping an artifact for mana is an "activated ability" which is different from a spell. Quoting from the Basic Rules:

To cast a spell, you must pay its mana cost (located in the upper right corner of the card)

You are not paying the cost in the upper right corner of the card, so you are not casting a spell.
If you ever want much more detail on all this, you can read Comprehensive Rules 601 "Casting Spells" and 602 "Activating Activated Abilities" but that level of detail is not necessary to play a casual game of Magic; do not feel the need to understand everything in there.

What's hilarious is that the basic rules don't actually really say that spells come from cards in hand (it's only implicitly hidden in that part you quoted), nor do they seem to describe activated abilities at all, apart from mentioning them under tapping with "You [tap a card] when [...] or when you activate an ability that has the  symbol as part of its cost".

@ilkkachu What about 113.3b?

@Acccumulation It's the lack of explanation of activated abilities in the basic rules ilkkachu is commenting on.


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Can you build only one road using road building development card in Catan?
If you play the road building development card in Catan, can you build only one road? Does the answer change if the reason is:

You don't have enough roads available?
There is only one valid place for you to build a road?
You just don't want to build two roads for some reason?

I think in the video game I play you have to build two unless you can't because you've run out of roads (but you don't have to build two if you can't; it lets me build just one). I don't know about what happens when there's nowhere to build a road, but I would assume it would let you built just one.


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Do Primal Vigor and Corpsejack Menace paired with Mycoloth create an infinite +1/+1 counter loop?
Ok so I'm pretty sure that the enchantment Primal Vigor:

If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature, twice that many +1/+1 counters are put on that creature instead.

with Corpsejack Menace:

If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature, twice that many +1/+1 counters are put on that creature instead.

would activate each other's abilities infinitely if a card like Mycoloth:

Devour 2 (As this enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice any number of creatures. This creature enters the battlefield with twice that many +1/+1 counters on it.)

is played. Am I right or does this not work?

It is important to pay attention to the terminology, because specific words have very specific meanings in Magic. You say "activate each other", but neither of those 2 cards have an ability that can be activated. It seems more like you are thinking of them as triggered abilities, so your question would actually make more sense if it had said "trigger each other" instead. But they aren't triggered abilities, either.

I see how keywords are important here thank you for stating this @GendoIkari

@Minecraftboy04 Your terminology is still incorrect; neither "activated ability" nor "triggered ability" is a keyword. ("Devour" is a keyword, but that's not important in this example)

@PhilipKendall I think they might be using keywords in the normal English sense there.

No, this does not work.
Both Primal Vigor and Corpsejack Menace have replacement effects, not triggered abilities.

614.1a Effects that use the word “instead” are replacement effects. Most replacement effects use the word “instead” to indicate what events will be replaced with other events.

614.5. A replacement effect doesn’t invoke itself repeatedly; it gets only one opportunity to affect an event or any modified events that may replace that event.

When counters would be placed on a creature, such as with Mycoloth, both the static abilities of Primal Vigor and Corpsejack Menace see this happening, and replace it with a new event. You will end up with 4 times as many counters as you would have had normally.
Specifically, you would choose the order to apply the replacement effects:

616.1. If two or more replacement and/or prevention effects are attempting to modify the way an event affects an object or player, the affected object’s controller (or its owner if it has no controller) or the affected player chooses one to apply

Say you play Mycloth and sacrifice 1 creature, so you would get 2 counters. You choose Corpsejack Menace first, so "put 2 counters on the creature" is replaced with "put 4 counters on the creature". Now Primal Vigor's ability still has a "place counters" effect happening that it can replace. So it replaced "put 4 counters on the creature" with "put 8 counters on the creature". You end up with 8 total counters, because now there are no more replacement effects available to apply.
Note that for it to work the way you suggest, you would need a triggered ability, which would be worded something like this:
"Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are placed on a creature, you may place that many +1/+1 counters on that creature."
If you did control a card with this triggered ability (no such card exists), then you wouldn't even need a second card with the same ability... just placing a single counter on a creature would cause that ability to trigger, and then the resolution of that triggered ability would cause that ability to trigger again. Forever, or as many times as you wish. Having 2 separate cards with that ability would not be meaningfully different from having just 1 such card.
Enduring Scalelord is a very similar example; because it says "another creature", it would not infinitely trigger by itself, but if you have 2 of them then they each trigger the other as many times as you want.

Two [mtg:Enduring Scalelord]s would go as infinite as you want.

@JonTheMon Thanks, that's a perfect example to use.

@Minecraftboy04 If this answer is helpful and a better one isn't posted, please use the check mark to accept is as correct. Thanks!


text:
Myrkul + Palisade Giant how does it work?
I was going through my cards as I worked on a Myrkul, Lord of Bones commander deck and saw my Palisade Giant. Does the giant's effect:

All damage that would be dealt to you and other permanents you control is dealt to Palisade Giant instead.

work if it has been turned into an enchantment by Myrkul?

Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, you may exile it. If you do, create a token that’s a copy of that card, except it’s an enchantment and loses all other card types.

No, Palisade Giant's damage redirection effect will not work if it is not a creature.

614.9. Some effects replace damage dealt to one creature, planeswalker, or player with the same damage dealt to another creature, planeswalker, or player; such effects are called redirection effects. If either creature or planeswalker is no longer on the battlefield when the damage would be redirected, or is no longer a creature or planeswalker when the damage would be redirected, the effect does nothing. If damage would be redirected to or from a player who has left the game, the effect does nothing.

This stems from a more general rule:

120.1a Damage can’t be dealt to an object that’s neither a creature nor a planeswalker.


text:
Do Kolagan Warmonger and Recruitment Officer place cards on the bottom of the library if nothing is revealed?
Both Kolagan Warmonger and Recruitment Officer have an ability that says to look at the top 6 and 4 cards from the library, then you can show a card matching a condition from among them and put it in hand, and finally put the rest at the bottom of the library.
If I don't show any card, because there is nome or simply not wanting to, must I return all the cards to the top or to the bottom of the library? I think it is the bottom because there are cards that explicitly say "if you do" and this two cards don't, but I'd like to understand the correct way to play these cards.

Kolaghan Warmonger, I presume.

"The rest" refers to all of the cards that weren't revealed. If no cards were revealed, then "the rest" means all of the cards you looked at.

technically the rest refers to the cards that weren't put in your hand and are still part of the library, but they're the same cards in the end.


text:
Kaya The Inexorable with Luxior, Giada's gift
Kaya the Inexorable has the following loyalty ability:

+1: Put a ghostform counter on up to one target nontoken creature. It gains "When this creature dies or is put into exile, return it to
its owner's hand and create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with
flying."

As I have bolded, the ability specifically states creature. If an opponent uses Luxior, Giada's Gift:

Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each counter on it. Equipped
permanent isn't a planeswalker and is a creature in addition to its
other types. (Loyalty abilities can still be activated.) Equip
planeswalker 1 Equip 3

to equip to Kaya, she becomes a creature. Kaya then can put a ghostform counter on herself. My question is, if luxior becomes unattached for any reason and Kaya stops being a creature, should the ghostform counter still bring her back to hand and create the token if she is destroyed or exiled? My reading of the cards would suggest that since she is not a creature any longer, the ability should not resolve. Am I incorrect in assuming this? I am looking for an answer that quotes a ruling that either involves these exact cards or a ruling that affects what happens to granted abilities that specifically state they affect one card type, and then that card changes type.

The use of "this creature" in the granted ability does not restrict that ability from applying to non-creature permanents, per comp rule 700.7:

700.7. If an ability uses a phrase such as “this [something]” to identify an object, where [something] is a characteristic, it is referring to that particular object, even if it isn’t the appropriate characteristic at the time.
Example: An ability reads “Target creature gets +2/+2 until end of turn. Destroy that creature at the beginning of the next end step.” The ability will destroy the object it gave +2/+2 to even if that object isn’t a creature at the beginning of the next end step.

The granted ability (not the ghostform counter itself, which is a memory aid and has no effect) will still trigger even if the permanent it was granted to is no longer a creature when it's destroyed or exiled.

Thanks. I played yugioh before I played magic, and wording like that usually plays the other way in yugioh. Card does what it says mentality. I like magic a lot more now though

Is 'dies' simply shorthand for 'is destroyed'? I'm wondering if it would work the same if you animate a permanent that doesn't 'die', such as a land

Nevermind, I found it. '700.4. The term dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield."'


text:
Can Augusta, Dean of Order's abilities be used twice if I have two in play?
Let's say I have two Augusta, Dean of Order and one Oreskos Sun Guide in play. One Augusta would allow Oreskos's Inspired ability

Whenever Oreskos Sun Guide becomes untapped, you gain 2 life.

to trigger by attacking and untapping and I would gain two life. Would I be able to do this twice with two Augustas?

Yes, that would work. The specific sequence here would be (assuming neither you nor your opponent(s) interrupt at all):

You attack, and this causes the triggered ability of each Augusta to trigger. As the controller of the abilities, you choose the order in which they are placed on the stack (although it really doesn't matter here)
The top item on the stack (the trigger placed on the stack last) resolves, you untap all your creatures and then choose to tap Oreskos, gaining two life.
The new top item (the trigger placed on the stack first) resolves, you again untap all your creatures and choose to tap Oreskos, again gaining two life.

[ This answer assumes you have found some way to make at least one of the Augustas non-legendary; plenty exist ]

Makes sense. I forgot about the legend rule, I'll have to investigate if it's worth adding the workaround. One last question since I'm just thinking about it; Augusta's text says "Whenever you attack..", does this mean when you begin the combat phase, declare attackers, or during combat? An example: I have an Augusta, another creature, say a generic green 3,3, and a Felhide Spiritbinder. When I attack, I can use Augusta to trigger Felhide's Inspired ability and copy the 3,3. Is this new token able to partake in combat?

@Elrak02 the triggered ability of Augusta goes on the stack just after you attack, that is, in the Declare Attackers Step. Therefore the tokens created by the Felhide Spiritbinder cannot attack in that same turn, because you have attacked already. (Unless of course you find a way to get an additional combat steps, plenty ways to do that exist as well)


text:
Are these multiple capture moves legal in Spanish checkers?
when playing the Spanish checkers wondering if the following moves are allowed (please see picture)

if is the turn for blacks, can the crowned move like the red arrow?

move to E8 capture white
move to A4
move to D1 capturing white

And can the crowned whites (green arrow):

move to D5 capturing black
move to E6
move to G4 capturing black

Are these moves valid?

I don't believe either of those moves would be legal. While Spanish Checkers is a "flying kings" variant, the constraint that each diagonal move must capture a piece still applies - hence black's move from E8 to A4 is not allowed as part of one turn, and neither is white's move from D5 to E6.

IMO, it's not conclusive. The international draughts are also present in a similar table on this page, and yet the diagram on the same page that is associated with international draughts shows the king changing direction mid-turn (the move "Les Blancs prennent 6 pions...") similar to what's asked in the question

@AndrewSavinykh Every individual diagonal move in the turn involves a capture though, that's the difference.

You are right, I missed that.


text:
Can I select the same creature for sacrifice twice?
I am playing an Edgar Markov deck with plenty of 1/1 tokens and an Indulgent Aristocrat on the field.
Indulgent Aristocrat has the ability

{2}, sacrifice a creature: put a +1/+1 counter on each vampire you control.

My opponent is playing the Enhanced Evolution precon, and casts Chittering Harvester for its mutate cost. Chittering Harvester has

whenever this creature mutates, each opponent sacrifices a creature

My question is this: Can I choose to sacrifice a 1/1 token to Chittering Harvester, and then, before resolution, activate Indulgent Aristocrat's ability hitting the same token?

No, you cannot.
You sacrifice once as a cost (cost for the activated ability of the Indulgent Aristocrat) and once as an effect (triggered ability from Chittering Harvester), but in both cases you have to choose a creature existing on your battlefield right in that moment. And "after that moment" (formally: after the cost is paid or after the effect has resolved), the creature is already sacrificed.
One scenario could be that you have only one creature and your opponent mutates something onto the Chittering Harvester. Now its trigger goes on the stack, but then you can at least respond to that and sacrifice your one creature to the Indulgent Aristocrat and after that you do not have a creature anymore which you need to sacrifice to the Harvester trigger. With most effects that make you sacrifice, this just means that you do not have to sacrifice anything.

Sorry for not replying to you directly, but I don't know how to use this site. I understand I can't use one creature to pay the sacrifice cost of two abilities, because it gets sacrificed as the ability goes on The stack. But I can't have an effect cause me to sacrifice a creature, choose a creature, and then activate a sacrifice ability choosing the same creature? Magic lets you do a lot of funky things, but I'd be surprised if that's not on the list.

@Bob No. You could do that with something like Magus of the Abyss, because it targets the creature affected – targets are specified in advance, at the time the ability goes on the stack. However, for something like Chittering Harvester, there is no target. You only choose the creature to be sacrificed while the ability is resolving, and it is sacrificed right away; you do not have priority to activate other abilities while the Chittering Harvester's ability is resolving.

Oooh, okay, thank you. One of the most confusing concepts to me is the relationship between the stack and priority. Guess I have to do a little more reading. You've been incredibly helpful though, so thank you both!


text:
Are double movement in Scrabble allowed?
I am trying to put the word "ring" in scrabble in one move together with the the word er in the opposite direction. My girlfriend says it is cheating, is it ?
There is obviously a lot at stake here, so your help is very welcome !!!
I have so many pairs of socks to be washed !

This is 100% legal. The close/duplicate target is for a different (and illegal, as answered) situation.

@Chris - could you confirm which letters you are playing on this turn? Just the "R, I, N, G" or are you playing the "E" on the triple letter square as well?

As per the rules as long as you are adding a valid letter to an existing word and all tiles are being placed along the same axis your play is valid.

#3 Play passes to the left.

... All letters played on a turn must be placed in one row across or down the board, to form at least one complete word.
If, at the same time, they touch others letters in adjacent rows, those must also form complete words, crossword fashion, with all such letters.
The player gets full credit for all words formed or modified on his or her turn.

#4 New words may be formed by:

Adding one or more letters to a word or letters already on the board.
Placing a word at right angles to a word already on the board.
The new word must use one of the letters already on the board or must add a letter to it.
(See Turns 2, 3 and 4 below.)
Placing a complete word parallel to a word already played so that adjacent letters also form complete words.
(See Turn 5 in the Scoring Examples section below.)

Taking a look at the example turns you can see Turn 3 closely resembles your play:


text:
Opponent controlled Auras and Greater Auramancy
If an opponent has cast an Aura on my creature,
and then I play Greater Auramancy, does the creature get shroud, or do I have to control the Aura?
Similarly, if an opponent has enchanted one of my lands with an Aura, and then I turn that land into a creature, does the land/creature get shroud?

Yes, it will have shroud.
The relevant rule is:

303.4b The object or player an Aura is attached to is called enchanted. The Aura is attached to, or “enchants,” that object or player.

There is no mention of controllers. Something with an Aura attached to it is enchanted, regardless of controllers.
And yes, it does work for a land turned into a creature. The technical details (rules section 613 – Interaction of Continuous Effects) are that type-changing effects are applied in layer 4, while ability-adding effects are applied in layer 6, thus the effect making the land into a creature is always applied before Greater Auramancy's effect.

It's a bit confusing how "enchanted creature" and "enchanted creatures" mean such different things.

@Acccumulation "enchanted creature" refers to a single creature with an aura attached, "enchanted creatures" refers to all such creatures. An aura enchantment with "enchanted creature" refers to the creature it's attached to, otherwise "enchanted creature" refers to it as a target or an event of the creature (such as "whenever an enchanted creature dies..."). This is usually the case with plural vs. singular nouns in MtG cards

@Acccumulation I would argue that there isn't that much room for confusion if "enchanted creatures" is not on an Aura. Note that the Auras such as the Magemark cycle from Guildpact use the more wordy "creatures you control that are enchanted" to avoid this confusion.

@Acccumulation they don't, not in any way that's not normal for plural words. "Enchanted Creatures" being plural refers to all creatures that are enchanted (generally with a you control added) "Enchanted Creature" being singular refers to only a single creature that is enchanted (usually with the implied "by this aura" to specify which)


text:
Creature abilities in magic
I'm pretty new to MTG, I was playing with a friend and a question came up as to when I can activate a creature's ability. He used an instant spell that would do 3 damage to my 1/1 Red Elemental which was equipped with Mask of Immolation. This has the text:

Equipped creature has "Sacrifice this creature: It deals 1 damage to any target."

Three related questions:

When and in what cases can you use a creature's ability?
Could I use a creature ability to anticipate a spell or an instant?
Do ability copy cards work to copy creatures' abilities?

Activated abilities (any ability with a : in the text, separating its cost from its effect) can be activated any time you could cast an instant, which includes in response to another spell or ability.
Some activated abilities have the text "activate only as a sorcery", usually at the very end. This means that particular ability can only be cast when you could cast a sorcery: when it's your turn, in your main phase, and there aren't any other spells or abilities on the stack (i.e., you can't activate it in response to something).
In this case, Mask of Immolation doesn't have any such wording, so you're free to activate the ability in response to any spell or ability that you like. Sacrificing a creature to an ability like this when it's going to die anyway is a very common play.

For completeness's sake, creatures have two other kinds of abilities: triggered abilities (which have a triggering clause like "when..." or "whenever...") and static abilities, which don't have an activation or a trigger. Triggered abilities happen in response to their trigger, whenever that happens, and static abilities are active all the time. In either of these cases, whether you could cast a sorcery is irrelevant.

Some cards, like Battlemage's Bracers or Lithoform Engine, let you copy abilities. To explain what these do, we need to draw a distinction between the ability on the creature and the ability on the stack. When you activate an ability, it creates a new "object" on the stack that draws its characteristics from whatever the ability was on. From that point on, they're independent of each other. The ability on the stack is what gets copied, and the copy resolves the same way as the original. The ability on the creature isn't changed.
For instance, say you have a creature with "R: ~this~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn". When you activate it, you pay R and the ability "this gets +1/+0 until end of turn" is put on the stack. If you used Lithoform Engine to copy that ability, there would be two instances of "this gets +1/+0 until end of turn" on the stack. The creature itself would still have its regular ability, not a copy of it. The next time you activate it, it will just get +1/+0.

Do copying abilites works with creature abilities which work as instants?

@Aritzbn If an ability is copyable (if it's part of the creature itself and not from outside), sure, the copy will have that ability and it will have the same timing restrictions, if any. Is there a specific combo you're thinking of?

Was thinking about those abilities who add +1/+1 for each land you pay, could you copy them to add +2/+2 for each land paid or it will be applied just to the first time? For example Dragon Hatchling or Shivan Dragon.

@Aritzbn In that case, no. The ability is copied, but the effect of already having activated it a bunch isn't; it's considered its own "thing" adding to the creature's stats, the same as an aura or equipment. You would have to activate the copy's ability if you want to boost its power. (As a side note, those abilities grant +1/+0, not +1/+1.)

So... I just could copy the first time I use the effect giving a first +2/+0, and the other times increasing it in +1/+0, am I right?

@Aritzbn Oh, I'm sorry, I think I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about copying the creature. If you're talking about copying the ability, which is rare but possible with a few cards, then yes, that will only happen once. I'll edit in a section with more detail.

I edited to change an instance of "cast" to "activate" which I think is what you meant - hopefully that's okay! Also, the wording "the activated effect of the ability" toward the end of the answer doesn't really seem right to me, as I think "effect" technically refers to something else, but I wasn't quite sure how to change it to be more precise. Maybe something like "the ability object on the stack"? I'm not sure what you think.

@DavidZ "Activated" is correct there, you're right. I just got used to typing "cast". As for the other wording... "ability object on the stack" is absolutely the right wording under the rules, but I'm not sure how useful it is to someone who isn't already familiar with objects and the stack. I'm open to suggestions.

Yeah good point; personally I try to be technically correct when writing my own answers in the hope that people who don't know about e.g. the stack will start to learn, but that's just my own preference. I can't think of a perfect wording for this case, and leaving it in its current form isn't bad, certainly not unless/until you think of something better (or someone comes along with a better suggestion).


text:
Is this a legal move in scrabble?
In a game of Scrabble, the original word on the board was “AMEND”:
AMEND

I added an ‘S’ to the end to spell the word “SPA” vertically.
AMENDS
     P
     A

I thought it was a legal move, but it was contested by one of my opponents. Is this a legal move or not?

Yes, that is a legal play.
As long as your tiles are all in a single row/column and form a single word it's a legal play.  This question explains this further.
Your play is a very common technique to get extra points.  The linked to answers in the comments are examples of similar plays that get many extra points.  As @jolenealaska says, it was a very good play.


text:
Does Kira negate exploit?
I am making a Kira, Great Glass-Spinner EDH deck and had a quick question. If I run a creature with an exploit ability (for example: Profaner of the Dead) where I have to sacrifice a creature to pull off the exploit, does the exploit get countered by Kira, or does it not matter because exploit says "sacrifice a creature" not "sacrifice target creature"?
If Kira does counter the exploit when I go to sacrifice the creature, does the exploit trigger still go off because I elected to sacrifice the creature but it didn't get sacrificed, or does it not work because the exploit was countered in the first place?
For those who would like context:
Kira's ability: Creatures you control have "Whenever this creature becomes the target of a spell or ability for the first time each turn, counter that spell or ability."
Exploit: When this creature enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice a creature.

Kira, Great Glass-Spinner cannot prevent Exploit from sacrificing a creature.
Targeting something is not a figure of speech, it has a specific rules meaning. Only spells and abilities that contain the word "target" at least once in their text (and aura spells) count as targeting something in the mechanical sense. These are called targeted spells/abilities.
Kira can only counter targeted spells and abilities. Since Exploit does not require you to target the creature to sacrifice, it is not a targeted ability and cannot be countered by Kira on those grounds.

115.1d A triggered ability is targeted if it identifies something it will affect by using the phrase “target [something],” where the “something” is a phrase that describes an object and/or player.

Also note that even if you choose to sacrifice a creature but can prevent the sacrifice from happening somehow, you still won't get the beneficial effect of that exploit. You only get that if you actually did sacrifice a creature.

702.110b A creature with exploit “exploits a creature” when the controller of the exploit ability sacrifices a creature as that ability resolves.

Auras from old corsets still have the expanded rules wording that use the word target. I remember being taught the basics of auras in 2006 with a fish oil something or other that used the word target.

It might help to note that if the effect of the exploit ability targets one of your creatures, Kira could counter that. For example, if you wanted to use Sidisi's Faithful to return one of your creatures to your hand (maybe to rescue it from an opponent's aura), Kira would counter it if it was the first time that creature had been targeted this turn. Note that you'd already have sacrificed the exploited creature by this point and wouldn't get it back.

@NickMeyer Sure, but that wasn't really the core of the question.


text:
Can a Phantasmal Image copy a legendary creature?
The text of Phantasmal Image says:

You may have this creature enter the battlefield as a copy of any creature on the battlefield, except it's an illusion in addition to its other types.

Is it therefore possible to clone a legendary creature with Phantasmal Image? I think there may be three possible outcomes:
A. The copy made by Phantasmal Image is kicked out of the game, as it is a copy of a current legendary creature and would therefore have the same name.
B. The copy made by Phantasmal Image stays, as it has the Illusion creature type in addition to other types and therefore is not an exact copy of the original.
C. The copy made by Phantasmal Image stays, as it continues to be considered a Phantasmal Image rather than the original.
How do the rules of Magic the Gathering rule on this? In addition, if the Phantasmal Image remains, what would happen if a second Phantasmal Image made of the same initial creature was created?

D. If Phantasmal Image is copying a creature you control, you choose whether the original or the Image stays on the battlefield, the other is sent to the graveyard.
The 'legend rule' is a state-based action, as described in rule 704.5:

704.5. The state-based actions are as follows:
...
[other state-based actions]
...
704.5j If a player controls two or more legendary permanents with the same name, that player chooses one of them, and the rest are put into their owners’ graveyards. This is called the “legend rule.”

Copy rules are determined by rule 707:

707.2. When copying an object, the copy acquires the copiable values of the original object’s characteristics ... . 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.

While Phantasmal Image is not an 'exact' copy of the legendary creature, it does have the same name.  Therefore, the legend rule applies.  This means that all but one of the legendary creatures under your control with that name will die, but you get to choose which one survives.  And if the legendary creature you copied was under an opponent's control, nothing happens.
As a historical note, the way the legend rule works has changed several times.  It used to apply to all legendary permanents, not just ones you control, and at one point only the oldest version survived, and then later all copies would be sent to the graveyard. This made cards like Clone or Phantasmal Image very popular in Commander (then EDH), as you could use them to get rid of your opponent's commander, even if it was indestructible or had shroud or hexproof.

The historical note is incorrect. Originally the first/oldest copy survived. This was a problem because it often turned games into a race for the first to play the legendary (at the time I believe it was Lin Sivvi dominating the meta) would win, so in 2004 that rule was changed to nullification - all copies would be put into the graveyard, and finally changed again in 2013 to the current one, where each battlefield is separate and the player chooses which one is going to survive.

@Andrew- whoops, thanks for the correction. I remembered that clones could be used as little murderbots, but had forgotten the details. And I didn't know about the original version - that rule change predated my entrance to the game.

@Andrew Just in case it causes confusion for future readers, there are no separate battlefields. Only hands, graveyards, and libraries are player-specific.

@Hackworth True, it's not technically correct but a way people often use to refer to the permanents controlled by a given player - I should have been more specific.

@ArcanistLupus famous game in the pro tour caused that first change where Jensen got beaten down by the Angry Lady while he had a few copies of her in his own hand, just couldn't play them (Lin was just banned when she became the most visible example of the problem a few years earlier)

It was not just popular in commander. In OG Innistrad phantasmal image and phyrexian metamorph where format defining cards for the efficient way they killed geist of st trafts and thrun the last trolls

You could always choose a legendary creature for a clone effect. That is certainly not illegal play. If you copy a legend your opponent controls then the game goes on with both players having the same legend in play. If you copy on of your own legends then the legend rule kicks in and one of the gets sent to the graveyard.
If you clone a phantasmal image with another one the new one will come into play as a 0/0 and die next time state based actions are checked. Clone effects generally only copy what is written on the card.


text:
Is "*/*" considered a "+X/+X" counter or as the "base power" of a creature spell?
I have a card (namely Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer) which has "*/*", where "*" is equivalent to some condition.  My opponent has a spell (namely Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider) with

If an opponent would put one or more counters on a permanent or player, they put half that many [...] rounded down.

Does the "*/*" of my creature behave then as a "+X/+X", which would be halved by my opponent's spell, or is "*/*" my base power/toughness?  It seems to me the "*" is a value defining the base power/toughness rather than counters added to a base of "0/0".
But my interpretation is obviously biased by my desire to win.  I expected to find answers to this in Rules 208 or 613, but did not.

As a sort of meta-answer: Magic the Gathering's rules are very precise in their wording. If an effect says "counters", it means "counters" and only counters. It will not apply to anything which functions a bit like a counter, because it's not a counter.

You are correct that the value defined for */* is considered the "base power and toughness" of the card, exactly as if it was printed there. Rule 208 covers the two ways a creature card can define its P/T (emphasis mine):

Power/Toughness

208.1. A creature card has two numbers separated by a slash printed in its lower right corner....
208.2. Rather than a fixed number, some creature cards have power and/or toughness that includes a star (*).

208.2a The card may have a characteristic-defining ability that sets its power and/or toughness according to some stated condition. Such an ability is worded “[This creature’s] [power or toughness] is equal to . . .” or “[This creature’s] power and toughness are each equal to . . .” This ability functions everywhere, even outside the game.

Characteristic-defining abilities are not counters, they are intrinsic parts of the card, so much so that they apply even when the card isn't on the battlefield. +1/+1 counters, in contrast, are only ever found on cards on the battlefield.
Further confirmation that these effects are not considered tokens is found in rule 613, where they are applied in different "layers":

613.4. Within layer 7 [of applying continuous effects], apply effects in a series of sublayers in the order described below....

613.4a Layer 7a: Effects from characteristic-defining abilities that define power and/or toughness are applied.
613.4c Layer 7c: Effects and counters that modify power and/or toughness (but don’t set power and/or toughness to a specific number or value) are applied.

"+1/+1 counters, in contrast, are only ever found on cards on the battlefield." while generally true, Skullbriar, the Walking Grave is a great example of the exceptions

I did see 208.  It just wasn't crystal clear to us that the star power or toughness was, in fact, "characteristic-defining" while a counter was NOT also characteristic-defining. Again, I did make the right interpretation, but was keenly aware that my bias could have misled me.  Thanks for the clear explanation.

@C.Kelly The wording printed on Multani is slightly different than the wording in 208.2a because of changes in how CDAs are templated, the wording in the oracle text on gatherer for Multani matches exactly "Multani, Maro-Sorcerer’s power and toughness are each equal to the total number of cards in all players’ hands."


text:
How does the Pioneer Lotus Field deck win with Approach?
I bought the Lotus Field Pioneer precon. It’s billed as being able to win in a single big turn, and the apparent way to do this is Granted, Omniscience, a second Granted, Approach of the Second Sun, Dig Through Time, and a second casting of Approach. But this requires two Lotus in play and either 3×Hidden Strings and 1×Granted, or 2×Hidden Strings and 2×Granted, plus Dig Through Time in hand, which seems like a tall order. What am I missing here about how this deck (in its natural state, no Ultimatums) wins in a single turn?

When I first read this question, I read it as, "It's billed as being able to win in the first turn."  That's just not possible with this deck.  A single "BIG" turn, yeah, I get that.


text:
Does Ranar the Ever-Watchful's ability stack with Day of the Dragons?
Ranar the Ever-Watchful has the ability

Whenever one or more cards are put into exile from your hand or a spell or ability you control exiles one or more permanents from the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit creature token with flying.

If I have Ranar on the battlefield with N creatures and play Day of the Dragons:

When Day of the Dragons enters the battlefield, exile all creatures you control. Then create that many 5/5 red Dragon creature tokens with flying.

Will I get the tokens for Ranar's ability and all creatures turned to dragons and end up with N 5/5 dragons and N 1/1 white spirits?

Becuzz's answer is mostly correct, but I want to address where they explain the number of spirits:

To create multiple spirits Ranar's ability would have to not have the "one or more" clause in it.

This part isn't exactly right, there are two wordings that would have created N spirits:

Whenever ... a spell or ability you control exiles a permanent from the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit
Whenever ... a spell or ability you control exiles one or more permanents from the battlefield, create that many 1/1 white Spirits

1 is the version that Becuzz mentions in their answer, this would mean Ranar triggers once for each permanent being exiled, with each trigger creating one 1/1 spirit token. 2 on the other hand triggers only once, but creates multiple tokens from the single triggered ability on the stack. This difference can matter in a few ways, mostly in countering (one trigger versus many triggers) and other effects that watch for "one or more" creatures entering.

You will end up with N 5/5 dragons and 1 1/1 spirit.
Ranar's ability can look back in time to see how many things were exiled with Day of the Dragons:

603.10a Some zone-change triggers look back in time. These are leaves-the-battlefield abilities, abilities that trigger when a card
leaves a graveyard, and abilities that trigger when an object that all
players can see is put into a hand or library.

So Ranar's ability will see N creatures get exiled.  However it won't create N spirits because Ranar's ability is worded (emphasis mine)

Whenever ... a spell or ability you control exiles one or more
permanents from the battlefield, create a 1/1 white Spirit

To create multiple spirits Ranar's ability would have to not have the "one or more" clause in it.


text:
Young Pyromancer stacking with Village Rites
So i am not too sure how to word this during a paper match. Let's say I have Young Pyromancer already on the battlefield and I cast Village Rites. Would Young Pyromancer's ability go on top of the stack and create the Elemental first which I can then can use as part of the casting cost of Village Rites?

No.
Sacrificing a creature is part of the cost of casting Village Rites:

As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.

Costs are paid as part of casting the spell and so must all be paid before the spell is cast and Young Pyromancer's ability triggers.

No.

701.4a To cast a spell is to take it from the zone it's in (usually the hand), put it on the stack, and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect.

I think Philip Kendall's use of the word "before" is unclear. Paying costs doesn't happen before casting a spell, it happens during. Paying the costs is part of what it means to cast a spell. Taking the card from the hand, putting it on the stack, and paying the costs are all one game event called "casting". Young Pyromancer's ability is a triggered ability. Triggered abilities don't immediately perform the effect listed, they just put the effect on the stack. When you cast the spell, Pyromancer's ability doesn't create a token:

603.2. Whenever a game event or game state matches a triggered ability’s trigger event, that ability automatically triggers. The ability doesn’t do anything at this point.

Instead, it puts "create a token" on the stack:

603.3. Once an ability has triggered, its controller puts it on the stack as an object that’s not a card the next time a player would receive priority. See rule 117, “Timing and Priority.” The ability becomes the topmost object on the stack. It has the text of the ability that created it, and no other characteristics. It remains on the stack until it’s countered, it resolves, a rule causes it to be removed from the stack, or an effect moves it elsewhere.

By the time "create a token" resolves and you create a token, the action of casting the spell (including paying the costs) has been completed, and the spell is already on the stack. You do create the token before the spell resolves, but not before you pay the costs.

Re "Philip Kendall's answer is not quite right. Paying costs doesn't happen before casting a spell, it happens during.", They said it happens during the casting. "Costs are paid as part of casting the spell". Contrary to your claim, they did not say "before casting a spell". They did say "before the spell is cast", which means before it's finished being cast. More importantly, it also means before the occurrence of the "spell is cast" event on which Young Pyromancer's ability triggers. Their answer is actually "quite right", and you should remove this incorrect passage from your answer.

@ikegami Your reading requires "cast" being read as a past participle, rather than passive voice. Looking at the larger context of the question, and of course knowing the correct answer, the participle reading is suggested, but I think that the ordinary primary reading is passive voice. So I've modified my answer from "not quite correct" to "unclear".

Re "Your reading requires", It does. That's the point. The answer is explaining the wording on the card, and that's the wording on the card. There's only one way you're allowed to read it, which is to say one is required to read it that way. // Re "Looking at the larger context of the question", That's absolutely not needed. The answer clearly says it happens during casting ("Costs are paid as part of casting the spell"), so an interpretation that also says it happens before casting is clearly incorrect. The answer is self-contained.


text:
Does the Heliod / Walking Ballista combo work with a 1/1 Ballista?
I'm playing the Heliod, Sun-Crowned & Walking Ballista combo where Heliod is able to give +1/+1 to Walking Ballista when I gain life:

Whenever you gain life, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature or enchantment you control.

If my Walking Ballista only has one +1/+1 counter and I use its ability to target an opponent player, does the lifelink and consequent +1/+1 counter from Heliod save the Ballista from dying?

No, it won't save Walking Ballista from dying. You have first to pay the cost "Remove a +1/+1 counter from Walking Ballista", and as soon as the ability goes on the stack, you regain priority and State-Based Actions are checked. Walking Ballista dies because of:

[704.5f] If a creature has toughness 0 or less, it’s put into its owner’s graveyard. Regeneration can’t replace this event.

I've fixed the priority reference—players always regain priority after activating abilities / casting spells.


text:
Does Death's Shadow grow when blocking a creature while the player is taking damage?
The game situation:

I'm at 12 life, meaning that Death's Shadow is currently a 1/1.
I'm being attacked by two 2/2 Goblin Guides; I block one of them with the Death's Shadow, leaving the other unblocked.
We proceed to the Combat Damage step.

Does the Death's Shadow die, or is this a situation similar to "Lightning Bolting the Tarmogoyf" where the Tarmogoyf can grow as a result of the spell resolving?

As an aside, "bolt the 'goyf" has almost exactly the same explanation - by the time SBAs are checked, the bolt is in the graveyard so the 'goyf has grown.

I think you mean the tarfire the goyf analogy

Death's Shadow will survive, because its static ability is "faster" than the state-based action that kills creatures that take lethal damage.

You and Death's Shadow are both assigned 2 damage as described in comp rule 510.1.

That damage is dealt simultaneously (per rule 510.2) and has different effects on players and creatures. Importantly, damage doesn't kill creatures, a state-based action does. State-based actions are only checked when a player gains priority, which no one does at the point in the combat damage step.

120.3a Damage dealt to a player by a source without infect causes that player to lose that much life.

120.3e Damage dealt to a creature by a source with neither wither nor infect causes that much damage to be marked on that creature.

704.5g If a creature has toughness greater than 0, it has damage marked on it, 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.

Death's Shadow's static ability, however, doesn't need priority, it simply takes effect. The moment that your life total drops to 10, Death's Shadow becomes 3/3.

Per rule 510.3, after all of the damage is dealt, the active player gains priority and the game checks state-based actions. Because Death's Shadow is a 3/3, 2 damage isn't enough to kill it.

Death's Shadow survives, as do both Goblins. The two Goblins each deal 2 damage (to you and the Shadow, respectively), and Death's Shadow deals 1 damage to the Goblin it was blocking.
The fact it works out this way comes down to some finer details of how we handle combat damage and when creatures die.
The process looks like this:

We begin the Combat Damage Step (CR 510)
First, players assign damage equal to the creature's power to the things they're going to hit:

The Goblin A assigns 2 damage to you.
The Goblin B assigns 2 damage to Death's Shadow.
Death's Shadow assigns 1 damage to Goblin B.

Next, all assigned damage is dealt simultaneously.

Goblin A's assigned damage is dealt to you: you lose 2 life, setting you at 10 life.
Goblin B's assigned damage is dealt to Death's Shadow: we mark 2 damage on Death's Shadow.
Death's Shadow's assigned damage is dealt to Goblin B: We mark 1 damage on Goblin B.

Let's pause here to review what's just happened. We know that in combat damage, creatures deal damage equal to their power simultaneously to each other & players/planeswalkers, but we can see that when we assign damage in step 2, we've basically locked in the amount of damage that's going to be dealt. It doesn't matter if a creature's power changes in step 3, the damage was already assigned based on what its power was in step 2.
We haven't processed deaths in combat yet, so let's continue:

The active player is about to get priority. We check state based actions first. As part of state based actions, we take a look at whether creatures might die from damage marked on them, and this is the earliest point at which creature deaths might be resolved in combat. Our SBAs find the following:

Goblin A is a 2/2 with 0 damage marked on it. It survives.
Goblin B is a 2/2 with 1 damage marked on it. It survives.
Death's Shadow is calculated as a 3/3 with 2 damage marked on it. It survives.

The active player gets priority and the game continues.

So to sum up: Death's Shadow is already treated as a 3/3 by the time we finally get to the point of seeing if things will die. We assigned damage, then dealt that damage, then checked the result later, giving your Death's Shadow the capacity to survive.

Since the interaction relies on intricate details, I think "You lose 2 life, setting you at 10 life" belongs under step 3, not step 2

@JacobRaihle Wow, that was a big editing oversight on my part. Thank you! Fixed.


text:
In backgammon, why do I lose if I decline an offer of doubles?
Why do I lose the game if I decline an offer of doubles?  Shouldn't the game continue as before the offer?
I encounter this rule when playing online.

That's the whole point. The doubling cube is not a mutual agreement to increase the stakes. It's a way to put pressure on your opponent when you're ahead.

Declining an offer of doubles is an automatic loss; that’s one of the key points of how the doubling cube works.
A player only makes an offer to double the stakes of the game when they feel they are winning. The opponent must either forfeit the game, or continue playing with the stakes doubled.

A normal Backgammon game begins with a value of one point. The whole premise behind the doubling cube revolves around challenging your opponent. Depending on how well your game is going and if you are currently winning, you can decide to double the stakes of the game before rolling the die. This what doubling is. When this happens, the game is now no longer worth one point, but two.
Now, the challenged opponent has two choices. He can either accept the challenge, in which case the value of the game doubles – from 1 to 2, from 2 to 4, from 4 to 8 and so on. The other option is to concede the game and lose 1 point. Whenever a player ends up accepting a double, he becomes the owner of the cube and only he can further decide to double or not.

https://vipbackgammon.com/blog/how-to-use-the-doubling-cube/

Think of it like bidding in poker. If someone raises you can either match or fold.

Thanks for the detailed answer.  Newbe here.  In the cases where I was offered doubles, the game was about even, they were certainly not decided one way or the other.  Most rules make some sense, I'm still unclear as to why one has to concede the game.  Why not allow one to decline then move on with the game?  But hey, I don't make the rules....

@Frank The comment above yours helps clarify... the whole point of using the cube is the same thing as raising in poker; it's stating that you think you have a better hand, and your opponent has to either fold or call. If simply declining were an option, then in a game with 2 good players, the cube would never be used, because one of the good players should recognize that they have the weaker position and thus decline to use the cube.

I'm learning to like the cube.  Most times it is offered to me, I end up winning!  There is also the issue of, even if one knows he will lose, there is some benefit for avoiding gammon or backgammon even if one loses ultimately, no???

In addition to the other answer and great comments, there is another benefit to the doubling rules.
If the game continued after declining a double, then EVERY game would have to be played until the winner is mathematically certain.
WITH the current doubling rules, boring lopsided games are often avoided because the losing side will forfeit when the double is offered.
I've been teaching my daughter to play over the last couple of years.  If she's clearly winning, but has little chance of scoring a gammon or backgammon, then I will remind her to offer the double so that we can continue to the next game.

Understand.  Just a mystery as to why the cube is offered early in the game when there is no clear winner.  I'm learning to like the cube, as I have often won after accepting the cube.  Making the win all the more pleasurable.    I guess some folks wanting to move up the the rankings more quickly.

@Frank: I think optimum cube strategy is to offer the double BEFORE there is a clear winner.  If you wait until it's clear, then the other player will always decline.  Best to get them to accept the double when they are losing by a little bit.  Of course, it's not always easy to tell when you're winning.


text:
How many cards should come with Monopoly Hotels?
I recently purchased Monopoly Hotels in a used state. How many of each of the differing cards should be with the game?

You should have 4 Bill cards. Pest Control, House Keeping, Water and Electric bill.
You should have 8 Room cards. Boomerang, Race Car, Tourist, Battleship, Aquarium, Beach, Jungle and Pirate Ship.
You should have 3 celebrity cards. Red Carpet, Rock Concert & Runway Show.
In total, you should have 2 hotel bases, 5 red hotel floors, 5 blue hotel floors, 65 cards, a storage box and a money pack.

Do you have a link to the rules?\

I'm afraid I don't


text:
How can we interrupt the Witherbloom Apprentice and Chain of Smog combo?
A friend of mine was discussing the Witherbloom Apprentice and Chain of Smog combo (pictured below).
I was wondering if it would be easy to interrupt the combo easily, since Chain of Smog is a sorcery.
For example, if my opponent had Witherbloom Apprentice on the battlefield, and then cast Chain of Smog... me casting an instant spell like Pongify on Witherbloom Apprentice should negate the combo, correct?  Because Chain of Smog is a sorcery, my opponent wouldn't be able to put a copy of it on the stack while my removal spell was also on the stack.  Is that correct?
Also let's say I played a card with Split Second such as Krosan Grip, targeting a random artifact on the board that has nothing to do with the combo.  Since Split Second prevents any spells from being put on the stack, would this prevent my opponent's Chain of Smog from going on the stack?  Or would this not work, since the spell is being copied, and not being cast?

You can interrupt this combo with any instant or ability that removes the Witherbloom Apprentice or counters the Chain of Smog.
The most important thing to see here is that the copy of Chain of Smog is created as part of the resolution of the spell. The player it's targeting can't create the copy whenever they want, while the spell is on the stack. The fact that it's a sorcery is irrelevant. So, Pongify will work, because its an instant that removes the Witherbloom Apprentice.
On the other hand, Split Second on Krosan Grip is irrelevant here. Sure, while it's on the stack, the opponent won't be able to do anything else, but after it resolves, the Chain of Smog is still on the stack, and the combo still works.

What causes the combo to end isn't timing rules, but the removal of either part of the combo. Chain of Smog makes a copy of itself as part of the resolution, and that copying effect does not have the same timing rules as casting a spell.
Almost all of the split second spells could break the combo, but not because they are split second, but what they do can actually interrupt it directly - like any other spell they would go on the stack and resolve before the chain of smog would resolve and copy. These effects that would matter here are Sudden Death, Sudden Shock, Molten Disaster because they would kill the apprentice, Sudden Spoiling would remove the magecraft ability from the apprentice, Word of Seizing and Take Possession would change who controls the apprentice, Sudden Substitution could change the controller of the apprentice, and/or the target of Chain of Smog, and Wipe Away would unsummon the apprentice.
Remember the stack is LIFO - Last In, First Out. And until the Chain of Smog is on it's way out, meaning it's the top of the stack, it isn't going to copy.

"Angels Grace prevents the loss of that last point of life" -- it doesn't; it only stops life loss from damage.

@m90 - That's true, I've removed it.


text:
If Scourge of Fleets returns creatures with toughness 3 or less, do my vampires at (4/4) get returned to my hand when Thirsting Bloodlord return?
I played Savage Gorger a few turns ago making it a (3/3) before I played Thirsting Bloodlord (3/3) which gives other vampires I control +1/+1, making my Savager Gorger (4/4). If my friend had 3 islands and just played Scourge of Fleets that would return creatures with toughness 3 or less, would my Savage Gorger return to my hand?
My friend believes that returning my creatures with toughness 3 or less would include returning Savage Gorger because it would be (3/3) without Thirsting Bloodlord (which also just got returned).
I thought the stack would happen simultaneously rather than Thirsting Bloodlord getting returned, making Savage Gorger become (3/3) again, and then returning Savage Gorger because it was 3 toughness.

Your Savage Gorger would remain on the battlefield.
Scourge of Fleets returns all applicable creatures at the same time. What creatures are applicable is only checked once, not continuously: when the ability resolves. What happens afterwards as a consequence of one or more creatures bouncing does not matter to Scourge of Fleets' ability, because its effect is a one-shot effect.

610.1. A one-shot effect does something just once and doesn’t have a duration. Examples include dealing damage, destroying a permanent, creating a token, and moving an object from one zone to another.


text:
Can "Fling" target a Player?
If I cast Fling, can I deal damage to my opponent equal to the sacrificed creature's Power or does it only target Creatures/Planeswalkers?

The rules say (emphasis mine):

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, or
planeswalkers. Other game objects, such as noncreature artifacts or spells, can’t be chosen.

So yes, if a spell says "any target", a player will always be a legal choice (assuming no other cards currently in effect restrict whether players can be targets).

Look at the original printing for fling:

Back then Planeswalkers didn't exist as a card type, spells that were meant to be able to target anything (that could take damage) had the wording "target creature or player". Fling was one of them.
When planeswalkers were created in Llorwyn block, the rules were created to allow damage to be re-directed from a player to one of their planeswalkers, so anything that could target a player could in a round-about way hit a planeswalker. Fling could be used this way too, targeting the player and announcing you were using the damage redirection rule.
In 2018 with the release of Domninaria, Wizards made a change to their rules and card wording, they removed the damage redirection for planeswalkers and errataed many cards to add the ability to target planeswalkers directly. Fling was changed at this time to replace "Target creature or player" with "any target" and as the rules state, any target includes players:

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, or planeswalkers. Other game objects, such as noncreature artifacts or spells, can’t be chosen.

While this is accurate, I'm personally a little wary about pointing people to a specific printing of a card to address a question that is, in principle, fully answered by the Oracle text.

@DavidZ The whole point of showing an older printing is to show the difference from the oracle text - the original intent and use of a card vs the current wording and the rest of the answer covers the evolution of the text from that point. And because someone asked this question, it's clear that the oracle text is not as obvious to everyone as it was to those who wrote it, "any target" is actually pretty bad wording, since it really only means "player, creature or planeswalker"

This was helpful in two ways.  First, I used to play when cards referred to "target creature or player", so the historical review helped clarify what happened to the terminology.  Second, the current wording is a bit sloppy, as it doesn't literally mean any target, nor does it follow the prior convention of specifying what targets it does mean, so the exposition helps to clarify what the thinking behind it may've been.

As someone who's been out of Magic a while, why is "any target" bad? Is it suggesting you could target spells on the stack, non-creature enchantments? It would seem it is a sort of future proof wording against the introduction of another card type as happened with Planeswalkers. Or am I missing some nuance?

@Jontia: This may've changed by the era, but previously targeting "any target" would've meant any permanent (unless otherwise qualified to target non-permanents), even if the target wouldn't be affected by, say, the damage.  Casting against a non-damage-able target might be done for a few reasons, e.g. to trigger on-cast effects; clear up space to draw a new card; to satisfy the need to have a target to cast a spell that has another effect; or/and in anticipation of the target becoming damage-able before resolution.

@Jontia because it still doesn't really mean any, it cant target lands, artifacts or enchantments (unless they are also creatures or walkers) so while it future proofs perhaps, the old wording was explicit, the new one needs players to knoe the rule its tied to.

@Nat Technically, "any target" would also include spells on the stack, not just permanents and players, if it really meant "any target".

@nick012000: Agreed, though the game's long had rules to constrain targeting to permanents, presumably to simplify descriptions.  For example, a card that could only target an Elf would, unless otherwise specified, only target Elf-permanents; an Elf-spell on the stack wouldn't be a valid target despite being an "Elf".

In a way, "any target" might not be the worst phrasing though. There is the implicit context of damage anyway, and you can't damage lands or spells on the stack so silently excluding them is somewhat natural. Something like "target damageable object" might be more accurate, but reads a bit awkwardly. And I don't think players are permanents(?), so it can't be "damageable permanent" either. "Target player or damageable permanent"? Or they would have had to come up with a new code word for damageable entities.

Andrew's answer is an excellent overview of the history, but I want to go one step further back, all the way to Alpha:

Back in the earliest days, burn spells would damage "one target" or the like, which implicitly meant "one target that can receive damage in a meaningful way" (that is, creatures and players; enchantments don't have toughness or life, for example, so it wouldn't make sense to damage them).
Later, the Oracle wording was changed to make it explicit that this meant "target creature or player", and this is what we see in e.g. Fourth Edition:

As Andrew explains, Lorwyn added planeswalkers as a new permanent type that could be damaged, but to keep things working intuitively they weren't damaged directly: damage would be dealt to the player, and then redirected to the planeswalker. So instead of using Lightning Bolt or Fling on Jace, you'd target their controller, then redirect to Jace.
The problem was, this led to some weird unintuitive results when combined with other effects (like Runed Halo, or players having hexproof, or effects that meddle with damage redirection). So in Dominaria, the rule was amended: now planeswalkers could be damaged directly.
Except this led to a new problem: "target creature, player, or planeswalker" was long and made the text of burn spells unwieldy. Their solution was to go all the way back to the Alpha text, and define "any target" to mean "any target that can be damaged in a meaningful way" (that is, creatures, players, and planeswalkers).
So now we've come full circle:

With three images in your answer you might want to use the medium or small size images SE automatically has, just add an s or m to the file name before the extension for example https://i.sstatic.net/KuKsm.jpg can be https://i.sstatic.net/KuKsmm.jpg to be more easy to read with less space used by images.

@Andrew Good idea

In this context, it's funny that Lightning Bolt always seems to come down on a Mountain, apparently targeting a land rather than a creature or player.

Fling says:

Fling deals damage equal to the sacrificed creature's power to any target.

A player is a valid target, so yes, you can damage your opponent(s). This is no different from, say, Lightning Bolt, the classic burn face spell.

You can.  This comes up often in the Pauper format, when you play Affinity.  You play lots of artifacts, including all your lands, and some Atogs.

You sacrifice some of your artifacts to pump up an Atog, hit your opponent with it, then fling it at your opponent.  If you sacrificed five artifacts, that's 22 damage.


text:
Magic The Gathering: Indestructible vs damage and -1/-1 effect
If I give my 1/1 creatures +3/+3 in response to my opponent getting Demon of Dark Schemes out, then my opponent cast Blasphemous Act and I give my creatures indestructible. Will my creatures live or will they die?

They live.
Damage doesn't change its toughness, it's "marked" on a creature. See 120.5 - when state-based actions are checked, that's how and when the creature would be destroyed by lethal damage.
so the way it sounds like this happens:

you have some 1/1s
your opponent casts Demon of Dark Schemes
in response, while Demon of Dark Schemes is on the stack, you do something to give your creatures +3/+3.
no response from anyone. +3/+3 resolves, your 1/1s are 4/4s
no response from anyone. Demon of Dark Schemes resolves. Your 4/4s are now 2/2
your opponent casts Blasphemous Act
in response, you give your creatures indestructible until end of turn
no response from anyone, your creatures are indestructible
no response from anyone, Blasphemous Act resolves; 13 damage is dealt to your 2/2 indestructibles
before the next player gets priority, damage is checked as a state-based action. your 2/2s are indestructible, they ignore this check (see 702.12b).

Importantly also, all these effects end "at the same time" (i.e. without SBAs being checked in-between) at the end step.


text:
What is the correct timing to play removal in order to stop a Niv-Mizzet + Curiosity combo?
We were playing a game of commander the other day. Player 1 already controlled Niv-Mizzet, Parun going into their turn. On their turn, they cast Curiosity, targeting Niv-Mizzet. I warn the table that this is potentially a game ending combo, but we thought there was still a window to prevent it. Curiosity resolved, and then the game played out like this:

Player 1 casts Isochron Scepter
In response, Player 2 casts Doom Blade, targeting Niv-Mizzet.
An instance of Niv-Mizzet's "Draw a card" ability goes on the stack.
In response, Player 1 casts Negate, targeting Doom Blade.
Another instance of Niv-Mizzet's "Draw a card" ability goes on the stack.
In response to the Negate, Player 3 casts Bant Charm, choosing the tuck mode.
Another instance of Niv-Mizzet's "Draw a card" ability goes on the stack.

No one else has any responses, so we resolve the last Draw a Card, first. This then triggers Niv-Mizzet's ping ability, which triggers Curiosity, which triggers Niv-Mizzet, etc etc. Player 1 puts ~70 instances of this on the stack, drawing their whole deck and killing Player 3 and Player 4. (Player 3's Bant Charm was then removed from the stack as its controller was out of the game).
How else could we have sequenced this to prevent Niv-Mizzet's combo from going off? Should Player 2 and/or 3 waited until Player 1 had put all their draws/pings on the stack, and then destroyed/tucked Niv-Mizzet in response to that?

Is there a good reason Players 2 and 3 didn't use their removal on Niv-Mizzet while Curiosity was still on the stack? ("They didn't know they had to" is a valid answer)

Yeah, basically we didn't know. I'm the "rules expert" in my playgroup (and obviously not that much of an expert). I knew the combo was pretty dangerous, but didn't know the exact timing window to disrupt it.

Fair enough, I've edited that into the question as it's obviously a fairly important decision point.

Your last opportunity to cast an instant to prevent the Niv-Mizzet combo was in response to the Curiosity spell. Of course, Niv-Mizzet only triggers on instants and sorceries, so abilities and permanent spells with Flash can always be used to break the combo.
Your description of how the final combo plays out is a little wrong: drawing a card triggers Niv-Mizzet's first triggered ability. The resolution of that ability deals damage, which triggers Curiosity's ability, and the resolution of Curiosity's ability draws a card, which triggers Niv-Mizzet's first triggered ability. The stack never piles up with those triggered abilities; while the combo is going off, the top of the stack has one of them, and they alternate. If you respond to either one at any point by casting an instant, Niv-Mizzet's last ability will trigger again, starting a new loop of the combo.

You're right. I did sort of handwave the actual combo part. But that said, since the combo requires cards from the Library, there's only a finite number of times it can be activated, right? I think player 1 had 74 cards. So couldn't we wait for him to loop Niv Mizzet's ability 74 times and run out of cards, and then respond with removal? I guess at that point, either player 3 or 4 would have been dead, so it doesn't really prevent the combo.... hrm.

@convoke Indeed, the moment curiosity triggers and player 1's library is empty, the combo necessarily stops on its own.