text:
Can I get infinite turns with this combination?
I have a Wormfang Manta on battlefield and a Worldgorger Dragon in graveyard. Would targeting the Worldgorger Dragon with Animate Dead create infinite turns, or would the two triggers cancel out?

Just for a suggestion, if you are running red dragons try splashing green and use Savage Ventmaw and Aggravated Assault. That will give you infinite combat phases/Main Phases and infinite manna

No, you will not gain infinite turns with this combo.
To break down the interaction:

You control a Wormfang Manta (and have already skipped one turn).
You cast Animate Dead targeting your Worldgorger Dragon, animate dead resolves and your Worldgrorger's ETB triggers.
Worldgorger's ETB exiles all your permanents, including Animate Dead and Wormfang Manta. Wormfang's and Animate Dead's leave the battlefield effects trigger (you can choose the order they go on the stack, I will choose Wormfang on top of Animate Dead).
Wormfang's LTB resolves, you gain an extra turn after this one. You now have +1 turn after this one.
Animate Dead's LTB resolves, you sacrifice Worldgorger Dragon. Worldgorger's LTB triggers.
Wormfang Manta and Animate Dead enter the battlefield (you choose the order they go on the stack, I will choose Wormfang on top of Animate Dead). You target Worldgorger with Animate Dead.
Wormfang Manta's ETB resolves you skip your next turn. The next time you were to take a turn, you will now skip it instead.
Animate Dead resolves, you bring Worldgorger back and start the whole thing over again.

So you can continuously flicker the Worldgorger with animate dead. Each time Wormfang Manta leaves the battlefield you will get an extra turn, but each time it enters the battlefield you will need to skip your next turn. So effectively you are back where you started again.

If you are looking for some infinite turns with Wormfang Manta, perhaps try something with Torpor Orb and something to flicker your Wormfang like Eldrazi Displacer?

"you bring Worldgorger back and start the whole thing over again" - I'm curious - does this mean you are in an infinite loop and if so is there some rules that allow you to break out of this? I should note that I ask this as a non-magic player who has an interest in how rules are constructed so wondering if they anticipated this and dealt with it and if so how. Will happily break it into a new question if the answer is likely to be lengthy...

@Chris If you have some other creature than the Worldgorger to reanimate, you could do that (in fact, the game rules force you to eventually break out of a loop if you have to make an active choice to keep it going). If you have some way to move Worldgorger, either from the battlefield or the graveyard, into any other zone, or destroy the reanimate before it can be exiled by the worldgorger, then the loop stops (here you and your opponent are allowed to let the loop run indefinitely into a draw without doing anything even if you do have the means to stop it).

The crux of the matter is that Wormfang Manta leaves the battlefield, giving you an extra turn, but is then returned to the battlefield, causing you to skip your next turn. Since your next turn is the extra one, it is skipped. Effectively, the two effects cancel one another.

You get a bunch of extra turns, but unfortunately you have to skip all of them.
Let's walk through the steps to get a clear picture of what happens. I'll refer to "enters the battlefield" and "leaves the battlefield" triggers as ETB and LTB, respectively.

Animate Dead resolves.
Animate Dead's ETB trigger triggers.
Animate Dead's ETB trigger resolves. You return Worldgorger Dragon to the battlefield and attach Animate Dead to it.
Worldgorger's ETB trigger triggers.
Worldgorger's ETB trigger resolves. You exile Animate Dead and Wormfang.
Wormfang's LTB trigger and the delayed trigger set up by Animate Dead both trigger. It doesn't matter how you order the triggers. Resolving Animate Dead first would result in a large number of Wormfang triggers all resolving at the end of the loop, and the route we'll take will have them resolve one at a time.
Wormfang's trigger resolves. You get an extra turn after this one.
Animate Dead's delayed trigger resolves. You sacrifice Worldgorger.
Worldgorger triggers.
Worldgorger's trigger resolves. You return Animate Dead and Wormfang to the battlefield.
Wormfang's ETB and Animate Dead's ETB triggers both trigger. Again, it doesn't matter how you order the triggers. If we wanted to, we could build up a large pile of Wormfang triggers and resolve them all at the end of the loop. Instead we'll choose to resolve Wormfang's trigger first.
Wormfang's ETB trigger resolves. You skip your next turn.
Return to step 3.

Next, we need to establish that "skip your next turn" is a replacement effect.

614.1b Effects that use the word “skip” are replacement effects. These replacement effects use the word “skip” to indicate what events, steps, phases, or turns will be replaced with nothing.

And finally, we need to show what happens if you have a hundred replacement effects waiting to replace the same "next" event.

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, following the steps listed below.

That means replacement effects apply one at a time. Therefore, each time you would take an extra turn, instead one replacement effect applies and you skip the turn. The other replacement effects no longer apply to that particular event, so they continue waiting to replace the next turn.


text:
If a player loses, do any emblems they create for other players disappear?
If one of my cards like Chandra, Roaring Flame creates an emblem on every opponent, do the emblems disappear from the game if I lose?

No, they do not disappear.
CR 800.4a reads (in part):

When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game.

And according to CR 113.2 (emphasis mine):

An effect that creates an emblem is written “[Player] gets an emblem with [ability]...” The emblem is both owned and controlled by that player.

Therefore, the emblems do not disappear, because their owner(s) are still in the game.

The Gatherer rulings for Chandra state this interaction explicitly:

Each player who gets Chandra’s emblem is the owner of that emblem. In multiplayer games, that emblem will remain in the game as long as its owner does, even if Chandra’s owner leaves the game.

It may be worth noting, that this also holds true for tokens.

Related: https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/11212/do-i-own-a-token-that-i-create-under-somebody-elses-control

source: Stack Exchange

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sort: votes


text:
Casting Fling on a Creature Token
Can I deal damage to opponent if I cast Fling on a Creature token?
I was playing on MTGO, and when I cast Fling the creature was sacrificed but no damage was dealt to the opponent. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a miss click, or that sacrificing tokens doesn't work with Fling.

One thing to watch out for with spells like Fling on MTGO is what you are choosing as a target vs what you're sacrificing. You choose the target first, which means that one somewhat common failure case is that you click the creature twice, and accidentally choose it as the target and the sacrifice, then the spell just fizzles.

that's a great point. I totally didn't realize it, but that may be the case for me. So does that mean that Fling works on creature token's?

You should be able to watch the replay of your game and verify what you did. There is a text log (in both live and replay) that describes the actions taken by both players. What murgatroid99 described actually happened to me. In my case, I thought that the game didn't register my first click, so I clicked again.

I changed the card link back to a direct link instead of an auto tag. The auto card tag currently returns all cards that contain "". We only want the one card named "Fling", not a list of cards. Here is the link generated by the auto card tag, so you can see what it tried to do.

Technically this is how all spells work, targets are chosen then costs are paid, with a computer in the middle (mtgo, duels, etc) it enforces the order that most paper players don't focus on or often remember the technical order, because it doesn't matter, the steps from announcing a spell to paying the cost can't be interrupted,

Yes, you can sacrifice a creature token to cast Fling, and it will work as you would expect. Fling just cares that you sacrifice a creature; it doesn't matter whether it's a card or a token. And Fling's effect just checks the creature's power, which works exactly the same way with a card or a token.

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text:
Can I activate an ability if that ability has no legal targets?
If an opponent gains control of my turn using Cruel Entertainment could they spend all my mana on Phyrexian Reclamation if I don't have any creatures in my graveyard?

This question is rather unclear, and the title is misleading. What you're basically asking is "can an ability that requires a target be activated without a legal target", which somewhat answers itself.

I rolled back the edit because it introduced a new question, that question was a duplicate of another question. I also made the title match the body of the post. I guess I could have gone in the other direction (edited the body to match the original title), but the original title made no sense. Spending all of your mana on an ability is a pretty normal thing to do.

This question is possibly a duplicate of Can I attempt to activate an equipment's equip ability without a valid target?. We've had similar questions for triggered abilities and spells.

The rulings on Cruel Entertainment state:

While controlling another player, the controlling player makes all choices and decisions that the player being controlled is allowed to make or is told to make during that turn. This includes choices about what spells to cast or what abilities to activate, as well as any decisions called for by a triggered ability or anything else.
The controlling player can’t make any illegal decisions or illegal choices—that player can’t do anything that the player being controlled couldn’t do. The controlling player can’t make choices or decisions for that player that aren’t called for by the game rules or by any cards, permanents, spells, abilities, and so on.

So it comes down to whether, if it were a normal turn, the player could choose to activate Phrexian Reclamation's ability despite there being no legal targets.
Well, the comprehensive rules state that:

602.2. To activate an ability is to put it onto the stack and pay its costs, so that it will eventually resolve and have its effect. Only an object’s controller (or its owner, if it doesn’t have a controller) can activate its activated ability unless the object specifically says otherwise. Activating an ability follows the steps listed below, in order. If, at any point during the activation of an ability, a player is unable to comply with any of those steps, the activation is illegal; the game returns to the moment before that ability started to be activated (see rule 720, “Handling Illegal Actions”).

Then it goes on to say that as part of activating the ability, the ability's controller must choose all relevant targets. Thus, if there are no legal targets for the ability, it is illegal to activate the ability and the game reverts back to the point just before the controlling player tried to activate it.
However, suppose there is one legal target (i.e. creature in the active player's graveyard). Then the controlling player could activate the ability, paying the appropriate cost. Before it resolves, they can then activate the ability again, targeting the same creature (since it's a new instance of the ability, and the creature is still in the graveyard). They can then keep doing that as long as they have the mana/life to do so. Then, the topmost copy of the ability on the stack will resolve, putting that creature in the player's hand. All other copies of the ability will then try to resolve, but since their target is no longer legal, they will be countered with no effect - except that the mana and life used to pay the cost is gone.

To answer your specific scenario, your opponent cannot use Phyrexian Reclamation to spend all your mana without creature cards in your graveyard, because it targets a creature card in your graveyard, and the ability can't be activated without a legal target. In general, though, if you have an activated ability that has legal targets (or doesn't need any targets) your opponent could have you use it as many times as you could pay for it.
Also, if they just want to waste your mana so you don't have it available, they can just make you tap all your lands and do nothing with the mana.

But (and I'm putting together an answer to this effect), if there is a single legal target, can they not activate the ability multiple times? As long as they keep adding copies of the ability to the stack, the creature remains a legal target, so they can do it as long as they have mana and life to do so.

If there is a single legal target, can they not activate the ability multiple times?

@ConMan: The answer specifically says "without creature cards" - if there's at least one, it's possible to activate the ability as many times as can paid for, see this answer. That's not what the question was about at the time this answer was created.

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text:
Does Zada, Hedron Grinder work with Soul's Fire and other similar instants?
Does Zada, Hedron Grinder work with

Fall of the Hammer
Soul's Fire
or Tail Slash?

Would it spread to the other creatures? Does Soul's Fire's ability to target a player change this?

No, it would not.
Zada:

Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Zada, Hedron Grinder, copy that spell for each other creature you control that the spell could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures.

Fall of the Hammer:

Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to another target creature.

Since there are two instances of the word "target" (and Zada can't be both), Zada is not the only target.
I suppose Soul's Fire could target Zada herself, so each creature you control would deal damage to itself

Soul's Fire can't let a creature hit itself; "another target creature." Tail Slash will though.

@DrunkCynic Uh, I think you have those backwards. I just checked Gatherer.

Yeah, I noted that after the fact. Tail slash doesn't work, because "target creature you don't control." Soul's Fire will actually work; Target Zada with both options, and then change the second target for the copies to the player. Sure, Zada self-destructs, but it could be a fair bit of damage.

@DrunkCynic I'm pretty sure the copies can't change the target to the player, since Zada says to change the (single) target to each other creature you control. So, each creature would be targeted by a copy and deal damage to itself (just like Zada)

There is a ruling on Zada that addresses this: "8/25/2015 If you cast an instant or sorcery spell that has multiple targets, but it’s targeting only Zada with all of them, Zada’s ability will trigger. The copies will similarly each be targeting only one of your other creatures. You can’t change any of the copy’s targets to other creatures."


text:
Do older versions of cards use the card types printed on the newest version?
On the older versions of the Magic: The Gathering card Lord of Atlantis the card type was listed as "Summon Lord" but on the newer versions it is listed as "Merfolk Lord".
If I play the old version of the card does it use the new card type or the old card type?

He is a Merfolk regardless of what version you use. (Lord is an obsolete creature type.) To find the official text and characteristics of a card, you should use Gatherer.

205.3f Many cards were printed with subtypes that are now obsolete. Many cards have retroactively received subtypes. Use the Oracle card reference to determine what a card’s subtypes are.
108.1. Use the Oracle™ card reference when determining a card’s wording. A card’s Oracle text can be found using the Gatherer card database at Gatherer.Wizards.com.


text:
Does "creature with flying" count creatures that gained flying from an enchantment?
Clip Wings says you have to sacrifice a creature with flying. Assume the opponent has a non-flying creature (Rancid Rats for example) enchanted with Gryff's Boon (creature gains flying). Will Clip Wings kill the enchanted creature (Rancid Rats in this example)?

Yes. A "creature with flying" is any creature that currently has the ability "flying" for any reason - whether its own card text, an enchantment, or even a temporary source like Aerial Maneuver which grants flying until end of turn.

Depends. Clip Wings says each of your opponents has to sacrifice a creature with flying. As long as that enchanted Rancid Rats is his only flying creature then yes it will have to be sacrificed. If he has other creatures with flying then he could sacrifice one of those instead.


text:
Does Dormant Sliver mean Slivers can no longer attack?

Dormant Sliver

{2}{G}{U}
Creature -- Sliver
2/2.
All Sliver creatures have defender.
All Slivers have "When this permanent enters the battlefield, draw a card."

It would seem if all Slivers have defender then they could no longer attack and would be like a wall. Or am I missing something?

This card, like Plague Sliver, falls into the category of "cards which may be effective against a Sliver deck, as well as in one".  Though it must be said that you don't want to cast Dormant Sliver, let your opponent's Sliver deck draw a ton of cards, and then glumly watch as the Dormant is removed when the moment to alpha strike is right...

Yeah, a better use is probably just in buildup-happy Sliver decks. "All your guys cantrip but you'll need a sacrifice outlet or some removal before you can alpha strike" is actually a pretty good deal.

Note that "like a wall" is incorrect. Except for earlier editions of the game, "Wall" is just a creature type, and has no special rules associated with it. A wall can attack unless it has the "defender" keyword. All older wall-type cards were given errata to have "defender."

@AlexP, of course, there are a number of slivers which grant a self-sacrifice ability, and one that gives a self-bounce ability, so that's not a particularly onerous requirement.

Yes (you aren't missing anything).  With Dormant Sliver in play, no slivers will be able to attack.
As per the comp. rules:

702.3b A creature with defender can't attack.


text:
When scoring in Prosperity, is there a maximum limit for research?
In Prosperity, the rules for scoring Research say:

Research: each player moves a number of spaces in both Research tracks equal to the number of Research symbols visible on their
  individual board. For each track, the player with the highest marker
  scores 3 Prosperity points, the second player scores 1 point. In case
  of a tie for the first place, all leading players gain 2 points (and
  no points are awarded for second place).

The Prosperity board has only a limited number of spaces on the two Research tracks. What happens if during scoring a player reaches the end of the track? Do they count the 'extra' steps for the purpose of determining first place, or would several players at the end of the track each be tied?

I found the official answer on BGG:

The space with the magnifying glass is the top space, and you cannot move beyond it. If more than one player reaches the top space, they are tied.

Yup that's correct, though i have to ask... don't you find Prosperity suffers from Monopoly syndrome? i.e. Buy up all the cards that award Prosperity points, and you can't lose!

@MK78 - I haven't found that. Obviously those cards are crucial, but it's the timing that matters most. You can't just buy Prosperity symbols and ignore research or ecology, for example.


text:
Can a 4-length road ever be Longest Road in Settlers of Catan?
Suppose I have an 8-length road and Longest Road, but later someone splits my road in half with a settlement, leaving me two 4-length roads.
Assuming no one else has a longer road than me, do I lose Longest Road, given that my road no longer has a length of at least 5?

The title change from "Can a 4 length road ever be the longest?" to "When would the longest road card be set aside?" changed the intent of the question, so I rolled it back.

You lose longest road; by definition, none of you have a road with a length of at least 5.
From the rules:

Set the “Longest Road” card aside if—after a longest road is broken—several players tie for the new longest road or no one has a 5+ segment road. The “Longest Road” card comes into play again when only 1 player has the longest road (of at least 5 road pieces).

What would happen if a settlement reduces the length of my road to 5, and an other player has also a road length of 5 and no other player has more than 5? Can I keep the card or do I have to set the card aside?

That's covered in Lance's answer (but really you should be asking it as a separate question).

@JohannesKuhn - And I quote, from this very answer, "Set the “Longest Road” card aside if—after a longest road is broken—several players tie for the new longest road". I'm not sure how that could be any clearer. Unless you are confused by the word "several"? "Several" means more than one, hence you and another player both having a road of length 5 means that "several players tie for the new longest road". So the card will be set aside.

As per the official FAQ:

The longest road card is retained by
  it's current owner until one of two
  things happen:

Another player builds a road that is then longer than the longest road
  of the current card-holder. In this
  case, the new longest road owner takes
  the longest road card.
The longest road is broken by the placement of a settlement along its
  length (remember to obey the 2-step
  rule). In this case, everyone must
  check to see who has the longest road.
  If any single player has the longest
  road (note that it could be the same
  as the old player with the longest
  road) than that player takes the card
  and the two points. If more than one
  player has the longest road, or if no
  player has a road of at least 5
  segments, then no one gets the longest
  road card and it is set aside. As soon
  as any player builds a longest road of
  at least 5 segments, then he may claim
  the card as normal.


text:
Catching an illegal move too late in Castles of Burgundy
I was playing The Castles of Burgundy last night, and early in the second phase, one of the players realized that he had made a major error the round before -- he had placed two of the same building into an area.
We had a good 10-20 min talk about how we should handle the issue:

Scrap the whole game and start over.
Undo his previous turn, and make him take it over.  (but we weren't 100% sure we could remember his die rolls, and that may have affected what other people did since his turn (eg, he had taken the last available mine)).
Undo everyone's last turn.  (also problematic, as we'd have to remember what everyone did, and their die rolls).
Undo the last two rounds, re-roll and play from there (not a chance in hell of us remembering everything we'd have to back out)
Force him to move the recently placed building to another area (with a different die cost), and pay workers to make up for the difference.  (note that he offered to make it even by the end of the turn (by placing a boarding house); I wanted him to burn a die immediately to get the workers to make it even)
Allow him to move the conflicting building placed earlier (multiple rounds before) to a different area, as there was an available hex with the same die value on it.
Declare him to have automatically have lost (which would likely have him walk out, affecting the rest of the game).
Assign some sort of a penalty for it.  (points, or for our tournament, time)
Just let it ride, as there was no good way to reconcile it.  (I was told this is how PrezCon handled a similar situation last year)

We have a sort of tournament ranking going, with the top winners from a 'season' getting to select the games we play next ... so there were issues with setting a precident in scrapping a while game (someone could do it when they knew they were losing, so they didn't slip in the standings), or in assigning a penalty (as someone might decide the penalty was worth it if they got caught).
Are there any recommendations for dealing with this situation, or similar situations in other games?

In Magic tournaments, opponents are also guilty of an infraction for having let the game proceed in an invalid state. Assuming the judge believes the error was unintentional, the game would have proceeded with warnings handed out. It's simply too late to fix.

First, you would give someone an automatic loss for an accidental mistake (assuming good faith here)? and...

second, you honestly suspect that players would intentionally cheat to win this tournament (even going as far as doing a cost-benefit analysis of various ways to cheat)?!? And the prize is - what - picking what games to play? This sounds like the worst game group ever.

@TheChaz2.0 : Having a rule about how to handle mistakes effectively makes it a rule of the game, and therefore legal ... and this group is almost all engineers who are more than willing to calculate what will give them an extra point or two.  (however, we keep a timer, so it depends if they're pushing up against their time limits or not)

This question could be easily convert to catching an illegal movement in any game...

@gbianchi it could, but the most important part of any question is that answers to it apply to the question that was actually asked. Castles of Burgundy may have some mechanics that can handle illegal moves more gracefully than a one-size-fits-all answer would.

We frequently play games for the first time and as a result often get the rules wrong. Our solution to this problem, when we realise a rules infraction too late to reasonably unwind it, is to continue the game allowing all players to repeat the error - so we're all playing on a level playing field.
I.e. in your case continue the game but let other players place two of the same building into an area for the rest of that game.

That'd likely work in most games ... it would probably have to be restricted to only doing it once, as some maps have 3 or 4 areas that can accept buildings.  It would also decrease the benefit of a technology tile that allows one player to ignore this rule.  (placing two of the same building in an area can be quite powerful, as it will typically allow you to place the second one much earlier.  There are also tech tiles that give 4VPs per (type of building) ... so allow x2 in all areas can lead to one person monopolizing a given type.)

@Joe: Yes, under those circumstances, the once only rule makes sense.

A similar thing happened the last time I played Trajan (same designer - go figure!). I gave myself an unintended perk from a bonus tile (I took a full "build" action when I was only allowed to move a worker there from my supply, if that makes sense). We decided that my opponent would get the same opportunity, or I would downgrade my next "full" build action, whichever came first.


text:
When is Darksteel Juggernaut's power and toughness determined? Can they change?
The relevant part of Darksteel Juggernaut's rules text states:

Darksteel Juggernaut's power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifacts you control.

When is Darksteel Juggernaut's power and toughness determined? Can they change?

I am not a judge, but I believe the following sections from the comprehensive rules cover everything:

207.2a The card may have a characteristic-defining ability that sets its power and/or toughness according to some stated condition. (See rule 604.3.) 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. If the ability needs to use a number that can’t be determined, including inside a calculation, use 0 instead of that number.

and

604.3. Some static abilities are characteristic-defining abilities. A characteristic-defining ability conveys information about an object’s characteristics that would normally be found elsewhere on that object (such as in its mana cost, type line, or power/toughness box). Characteristic-defining abilities function in all zones. They also function outside the game.

And if you check the card rulings for Serra Avatar (with the same ability), it has the following ruling:

10/4/2004: Its power and toughness are continuously calculated.

So, its power and toughness are always defined, in all zones, and always updated.  If anything needs to reference its power and toughness, determine what that is.  If a new artifact comes into play, it automatically goes up in power and toughness.

Thanks for the thorough response. That was just the answer I was hoping for.
I plan to play Darksteel Juggernaut in my myr deck, so it's good to know I can easily increase its power and toughness.

Personally, I'm going to keep asking Magic questions on this site for as long as you guys keep providing such great answers.

I haven't played MtG in quite a while, but I would assume the power and toughness change as the number of artifacts you control changes. For example, if you had no other artifacts in play when you played Darksteel Juggernaut, it would come into play as a 1/1 (I'm assuming an Artifact Creature counts as an artifact). If you later played two more artifacts, it would become a 3/3. So basically, whenever you need to know what the power or toughness is, you count the number of artifacts at that time.

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text:
Can I cast a spell while another spell or ability is resolving?
My opponent has a Sorin, Lord of Innistrad with scads of loyalty. I've got a Gideon Jura and a Nihil Spellbomb on the battlefield.
He activates Sorin's "ultimate" ability, targeting Gideon.

-6: Destroy up to three target creatures and/or other planeswalkers. Return each card put into a graveyard this way to the battlefield under your control.

Is there any way I can use the Spellbomb to prevent my opponent from stealing Gideon after he is sent to my graveyard?

No. Except for effects that specifically instruct a player to cast a spell, spells/abilities may not normally be played during the resolution of a spell or ability. Since Sorin's ability is both destroying, and returning Gideon, there is no point at which you would have priority to activate the Nihilism Spellbomb to remove the Planeswalker.
You may want to read up on how priority works.

608.2f If an effect gives a player the option to pay mana, he or she may activate mana abilities before taking that action. If an effect specifically instructs or allows a player to cast a spell during resolution, he or she does so by putting that spell on top of the stack, then continuing to cast it by following the steps in rules 601.2a–h, except no player receives priority after it's cast. The currently resolving spell or ability then continues to resolve, which may include casting other spells this way. No other spells can normally be cast and no other abilities can normally be activated during resolution.

I was looking at it dubiously because I kept expecting it to set up a trigger rather than just take the guys from the graveyard immediately.

@AlexP, Triggers start wirh When, Whenever, or At [the beginning of]. "If" sometimes indicatesa  replacement effect (usually seen with instead), but sometimes is found in triggered abilities with interveneing if clauses. Think of this planeswalker ability like Volcanic Erruption or Kindle the Carnage. There is no time between the destruction/Discard and the damage

As @user1873 said, the situation you described wouldn't help you much.
One thing that would keep your opponent's grubby little paws off of your stuff, however, would be things that prevent stuff from hitting the graveyard in the first place. Any replacement effects that say something like "If a creature would be put into the graveyard, exile it instead" would keep things from hitting the graveyard and hence prevent them from being returned to the battlefield under the opponent's control (since it never goes to the graveyard due to the replacement effect).
Some examples of this include: Samurai of the Pale Curtain, Yawgmoth Agenda, and Yawgmoth Will (though this is a sorcery, and so wouldn't help in this situation).

A replacement effect sending the card somewhere besides exile would work, too, such as Wheel of Sun and Moon.


text:
How can I play around graveyard hate?
Graveyard-based strategies are common in casual and tournament MTG. The graveyard offers players easy ways to cheat on costs (e.g. Reanimator), grind out incremental advantage (e.g., Sun Titan decks, Zombies with Gravecrawler), set up infinite combos (e.g. Melira Pod in Modern, Sharuum EDH), or short-circuit most of "normal" Magic altogether (Manaless Dredge).
However, Wizards of the Coast also prints powerful hate cards to hold graveyard decks in check, including Leyline of the Void, Relic of Progenitus, Tormod's Crypt, Nihil Spellbomb, Grafdigger's Cage, Jund Charm, and Scavenging Ooze.
Part of running a fun and powerful deck is making sure you don't just fold to hate immediately.
What are the most common and successful strategies for playing around graveyard hate, especially for decks with a graveyard-based combo element? I am interested in both deckbuilding solutions (including sideboarding, of course) and in-play tactics.

(It may be useful to distinguish between playing around lasting effects like Leyline of the Void and one-shot graveyard hate like Nihil Spellbomb in your answer, if the techniques involved are significantly different.)

Best is of course to go off before your opponent manages to get their hate cards into play.
You can use all-round disruption (Force of Will, Thoughtseize), answers for their hate (spot removal, Mental Misstep) or specific answers for their win con to delay them.
The big problem comes when they have different types of graveyard hate against you so you can't bring in that perfect card against it. Mental Misstep, Daze, FoW and Snuff Out are examples of "free" spells that might be useful. Krosan Grip can be good against Relics and Crypts, though it's quite expensive.
If you're up against a "one shot hate" you can try to set yourself up to be able to do two shots, first forcing your opponent to use the hate card and then going off. Some people (me back in the day) sideboard wrong and slow down their own deck quite a bit, which gives you extra time to set up.

Depending on the format, you can
a) be faster than the hater (except against Leyline of course, only white control helps against that): The fastest combo is Swamp, Dark Ritual, Putrid Imp/Entomb, discard, Exhume.
b) control your opponent's solutions. Black is notoriously bad at dealing with artifacts and enchantments, so you probably need white (Disenchant) and/or blue (countering) as well. Google "reanimator control" for deck lists.
Unfortunately, control typically conflicts with Reanimator's strategy of bringing a fat guy on the table as soon as possible. You either need to spend a turn removing a hate card, or you need to keep enough mana open to counter one. Trying to be faster loses against Leyline of the Void, and possibly against cheap permanent or instant-speed graveyard removal.
Either way, you should always try to discard your fat guy and reanimate it in one go if possible. Give the opponent as little an opening as possible. But if you go against a dedicated graveyard hate sideboard, you're going to have a tough time either way, because as you already pointed out with your list of hate cards, all those cards are cheap and have either a static or an instant-speed activated hate ability.
On the positive side: when going the counter route, the hoser spells' low costs and specific type can be to your advantage. Cards like Spell Snare, Mental Misstep and Annul protect your graveyard for minimal costs.

I'd expect a deck packed with graveyard hate cards (from a side deck) to be pretty slow to deal damage to you, so having an alternative way to deal damage (besides graveyard) should be enough for you, even considering that you would have a side deck as well... Persoanlly, i found that side decks that allow you to "change the face" of your deck (in this case, from graveyard to aggro or aggro-control) are often more effective than a side deck selected only to protect you from particular focussed decks (land-shatter, discard, etc.): this way you can "attack" and run the show...;-)

Actually, the most common answer to Leyline isn't White, it's Blue: Chain of Vapor.

Check out cards that allow you to prevent specific cards from being played, such as Nevermore, Phyrexian Revoker, and Memoricide.
There are a lot of different ways, besides just counters, to control what cards a deck can play.  These are all good sideboard cards to have if you're playing something weak to cards like Nihil Spellbomb or Ratchet Bomb, etc.

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


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How do you deal with the edge of the table in tile laying games like Carcassonne
When playing a tile-laying game, like Carcassonne or Qwirkle, what rule should we use for reaching the edge of the table?

Play "off the table" is illegal
Play is legal, and we'll faff around moving tiles around to make things fit
something else?

Obviously the best answer is to play on a bigger table in the first place, but sometimes these things happen.  How does your group handle it?

Since, to the best of my knowledge, the rules don't cover that question, it's entirely up to your group how to handle that situation. The question is therefore entirely opinion-based.

"How do you do things?" does not have a single answer. Voted to close as this is not an appropriate question.

Would you prefer a "what rules do different games have to accommodate this?"  I know at least one game that specifically says the edge of the table is a limit.

Either you want the simple list you already provided, or you're expecting us to survey all games. Neither are acceptable.

Just narrow the scope to Carcassonne only. And ask if there is an official way to play instead of asking how each group plays.

You can also play on a large tablecloth do you can just move the tablecloth if you need to move the tiles.

Everyone I play with leave it that if the piece can't sit there it can't be played there.  If you make the rules that you can't play 'off the table' then it becomes part of the strategy for playing.  Don't place meeple on things that can't be completed.  You can do what ever you want but this rule keeps things very simple and if everyone knows, then they can try to avoid getting themselves in a sticky situation.

Everyone I play with move the tiles to accommodate when possible.

In Carcassonne, the edge of the table is the edge of the world.  I thought it was in the rule book, but I can't find it.  Maybe it was in a BGG FAQ.
I can't think of a general rule.  In Bananagrams, where each person has his own tableau that he is constantly rebuilding anyway, you just moved your tiles as you need to, but that counts as part of your turn -- that is, everybody doesn't stop and wait for you.  If somebody finishes while you're adjusting, too bad.  I can't recall seeing it come up in Qwirkle or Qwirkle Cubes.


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Why is Morph not considered an ability?
Reading FAQs concerning Muraganda Petroglyphs and morph cards, a face down morph creature will get the +2/+2 bonus from Muraganda Petroglyphs.
What I don't understand is why. Since the face down creature gets +2/+2 form the glyphs, that implies the creature has no abilities. Yet the creature can be turned face up by its morph cost. If that is not an ability, what is it exactly?

The face down morph cards don't have an ability whose effect turns the card face-up. Instead, the rules allow you to turn them face-up.

702.36d If you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 115). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) The morph effect on it ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the permanent entering the battlefield don’t trigger when it’s turned face up and don’t have any effect, because the permanent has already entered the battlefield.

Playing a land is another example of a special action enabled by the rules. There are six in total, listed in CR 115.

This is the same reason why you can use Morph to respond to a spell with Split Second: SS prevents activating abilities and casting spells, but Morph is a special action (often accompanied by a triggered ability, which is also not stopped by SS, which in turn lets you do things like counter, redirect, or copy the SS spell using the appropriate morph creatures).

Possibly worth considering for inclusion in this answer: 707.2. Face-down spells and face-down permanents have no characteristics other than those listed by the ability or rules that allowed the spell or permanent to be face down.

@Rainbolt, That's the basis's of the OP's question. He asked how can Morph work if this is so. Doesn't make sense to include it in the answer.

I found a more appropriate avenue for my concerns.


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When a card asks you to flip a coin is it against the rules to use a two headed coin?
I know in a casual setting it's probably considered unsportsmanlike conduct, but let's say I was in some sort of tournament and I played a card that said I have to flip a coin. Would a judge issue me a penalty if I flipped a two headed coin?

If you were talking about Munchkin, then it would probably be allowed, since arguing over the rules is essentially half the game. It's definitely against the rules in magic!

That depends - do you let your opponent examine the coin and then call it in the air? =)

I'd invite down-voters to comment... I think the question has a rather obvious answer, but I don't think it's a bad question. Maybe not as serious as some others, but it has produced a good answer and nice limited discussion in comments.

@Gregor I confess to a downvote. Is a question still bad if it has generated a good answer? I'm not sure, but I tend towards yes. I downvoted to discourage the obvious followup question: “Would a judge issue me a penalty if I stacked my deck?”

@Gregor I downvoted because it appears to be asking if it's possible to get away with cheating, which I think at the very least is not a useful question. I tried to address this in the last paragraph of my answer. (It's also not terribly big on research effort - it's not too hard to find the "flipping a coin" section of the rules.) I suspect some others simply found it a bit offensive (the score is -2 but there's a lot more than 2 downvotes).

Downvoted because the question seemed silly "Is blatant cheating covered by a tournament system that offers thousands of dollars in prizes."

Thanks for comments. In that case, should we close the question?

This question almost abuses the very notion of common sense.  Yes, by definition, cheating is against the rules in games.  This would not be acceptable in professional, semi-professional, or casual environments, amongst players of any age or skill level.  The only exceptions are the games where they specifically encourage you to cheat, which is therefore not cheating.

Yes, it's of course against the rules:

705.3. A coin used in a flip must be a two-sided object with easily distinguished sides and equal likelihood that either side lands face up. If the coin that’s being flipped doesn’t have an obvious “heads” or “tails,” designate one side to be “heads,” and the other side to be “tails.” Other methods of randomization may be substituted for flipping a coin as long as there are two possible outcomes of equal likelihood and all players agree to the substitution. ...

So yes, it's illegal, and you can most definitely get a penalty, presumably something severe for cheating (as Hao Ye points out in the comments). You could get disqualified for cheating just for deliberately miscounting damage to your advantage. Rigging a coin toss is pretty blatant and disrespectful, and I can't imagine judges (or anyone else in the room) having much sympathy.
And even if the rules somehow had a loophole allowing it, this would of course be incredibly poor sportsmanship in a tournament. Casual play isn't the only time you should respect the people you play with.

At competitive REL, I would venture to guess that doing something like this would qualify as unsporting conduct – cheating, and would lead to disqualification. Not sure what would happen at regular REL, but at the very least a strong talking to from the judge.
There's a difference between taking advantage of small play errors by your opponent, and doing something that both violates the game rules and obviously contradicts the intent of the card.

Unsporting Conduct — Cheating is defined in section 4.8 of the Infraction Procedure Guide

If it was unintentional, Game Play Error — Game Rule Violation (Warning) would apply, but I don't see anyone buying that. Ever.

They might buy it if you called tails. =)

@corsiKa - most of the time, but what if opponent is blocking a Creepy Doll with Kokusho? ;)


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Does a sacrificed creature count as a creature that died?
If a creature is sacrificed, does it count as dying? For example, when something is sacrificed via lets say Devouring Swarm, would it trigger Diregraf Captains effect?

Yes. Assuming the sacrificed creature is a Zombie, Diregraf Captain's ability will cause target opponent to lose 1 life. This is because "dies" simply means "goes to the graveyard from the battlefield".

700.6. The term dies means "is put into a graveyard from the battlefield." It is used only when referring to creatures.

A card that talks about something that "dies" does not care if the creature is going to the graveyard because of combat damage, a destruction spell such as Doom Blade, because it was sacrificed, or because its toughness was reduced to 0.

Does this also apply to Relentless Dead's when this creature dies  effect?

"Dies" just means "goes to the graveyard from the battlefield." Did another Zombie do that, for any reason? Then the Diregraf Captain's ability will trigger. Doesn't matter why the creature is going to the graveyard.
Here are the full definitions, if you're interested in the specific wording:

700.6. The term dies means "is put into a graveyard from the battlefield." It is used only when referring to creatures.
701.14a To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the battlefield directly into its owner's graveyard. A player can't sacrifice something that isn't a permanent, or something that's a permanent he or she doesn't control. Sacrificing a permanent doesn't destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can't affect this action.

Sometimes-relevant corner cases:

Tokens disappear when they leave the battlefield, but they still count as going to the graveyard, so you do get Captain triggers.
Diregraf Captain does "see" any Zombies that die at the same time that it does. So, if you have a Diregraf Captain and two other Zombies on the battlefield, for instance, your opponent will lose 2 life when he kills them all with Day of Judgment.
If a replacement effect (e.g. Leyline of the Void's ability) makes it so that a Zombie you sacrifice never goes to the graveyard in the first place, the Captain's ability won't trigger.
"Dies" normally refers to creatures, but if you somehow had a non-creature permanent with the Zombie subtype (like some kind of Zombie Bitterblossom) go to the graveyard, the Captain's trigger would still apply as well.


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Why would I want to use the activated ability of "Scalding Tarn"?
I think I'm missing something here.  I thought that land cards that have two colors at the bottom mean that they can be used as land for either of the colors.
Take for example Scalding Tarn:

It looks like it's already a combo island/mountain card. So why would I want to use the activated ability which states:

Pay 1 life, Sacrifice Scalding Tarn: Search your library for an Island or Mountain card and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library

You've already got your answers, but just as an additional tip, think of this as analogous to the multicolored card frames on multicolored (non-land) cards - those are also just visual reminder and flavor.

"I thought that land cards that have two colors at the bottom mean that they can be used as land for either of the colors" I'm not particularly sure where you got this from. Sure a lot of dual lands would have both colours as the bottom, but they'd also explicitly mention what kind of land they tap for. Unless they have basic land types, but then it's the basic types that give them the ability and again not the colours of the card. They could reprint a new scalding that had a plain white back behind the text and the card would be no different

First of all, as the other answers have indicated, Scalding Tarn does not produce any mana, it just lets you search for another land that can. The colors on this card have absolutely nothing to do with its ability. The blue and red are just there as a visual reminder that the ability lets you search for an Island or a Mountain. The card could be orange, or pink, but the ability would still be the same.
So, down to the real question: why is its activated ability useful, especially since you have to pay a life?
Here are a few benefits/uses:
1) Flexibility
That Scalding Tarn in your hand could turn into, for example, Volcanic Island, Plateau, Underground Sea, or just a basic Mountain or Island. You have the flexibility to search for whatever land you may need to cast stuff.
Let's say in your opening hand you have a Scalding Tarn, a Lightning Bolt, and a Spell Snare. Play the Scalding Tarn, then you can wait to "crack" the fetchland until the last second. If your opponent plays a creature, grab a Mountain to cast Lightning Bolt; if they play a 2cmc spell, grab an Island to cast Spell Snare instead. Flexibility!
2) Synergy
Shuffling: Let's say you play a Brainstorm, and don't really like the cards you put back on top (maybe they're all lands that you don't need). Crack Scalding Tarn to shuffle your library! Better to shuffle hoping that you'll get something worth drawing than to sit there for a few turns knowing you'll draw crap that doesn't help you win.
Landfall: Let's say you have a Steppe Lynx in play. Then play your Scalding Tarn, immediately crack it, and grab some land you need. Two lands entered play, so now Steppe Lynx is a 4/5 monster (for this turn) that only cost you 1 mana and 1 life. Totally worth it. Landfall + Fetchlands can give you some bonkers plays.
Graveyard: By cracking the fetch, you put a card in the graveyard, which can benefit things like Grim Lavamancer/Tarmogoyf/Deathrite Shaman
3) Filtering/Thinning
Every time you search your library for a land, you reduce the chance of drawing a land the next time you draw. This is nice later in the game, when lands are typically dead draws.
Statistically, the "thinning" effect of a single fetchland doesn't make a big difference, but multiple copies can. If you play fetchlands and your opponent doesn't, you'll have a slight edge in terms of drawing potential threats (instead of lands), but at the cost of some of your life.
Remember, cards like Necropotence taught us long ago that life is just another resource; using your resources wisely will win you games. That being said, sometimes the life loss associated with fetchlands may not be wise. Some tournament-worthy decks run 6-8 fetchlands, others run 1-2, some run none at all. It depends entirely upon your deck versus the metagame you've chosen to play in.
IMHO, fetchlands are a much better choice when used for flexibility and/or synergy than for just deck thinning alone, but that's just me. You get the deck thinning automatically, but the flexibility/synergy comes with intelligent deck construction.
Anyway, if you don't want those Scalding Tarns, I'll take them. Aside from being good cards for all of the reasons I've just described, those suckers are worth something like $70 each right now!

I wouldn't say absolutely nothing, it does search for lands that produce blue or red mana...

Yes, but it only searches for them once you activate it's ability. Until then, it does nothing.

I disagree that thinning doesn't make a huge difference. When I play storm, I play 16 lands. You want to draw 2-3 early, but never really want to draw any later. If you crack 3 fetches, that brings your deck down to 10 lands, and really reduces the chance of drawing them. Also, I don't know how you could not mention Deathrite Shaman under Synergy...

Adding Deathrite Shaman. He's banned in Modern, which is the format I care about, so he totally slipped my mind. :) Definitely an all-star, though, good call. Clarifying my points about the printed colors and thinning.

I thought that land cards that have two colors at the bottom mean that they can be used as land for either of the colors.

No, the color shown on a card means nothing. It's just a visual reminder of some color(s) the card is associated with in some way.
The only lands that can tap for mana without it being written on them are those which have one or more of the five basic land subtypes: Island, Mountain, Plains, Swamp, or Forest. You need to look for those on the type line, which is in the middle of the card, where it says "Land" - that will be followed by a dash and then the card's subtypes. For example:

Because Steam Vents has "Island Mountain" on the type line, you could tap it for either blue or red mana, even if it doesn't have abilities to do that in its text box. Note that the text at the top of its textbox — ({T}: Add {U} or {R} to your mana pool.) — is not an ability in itself, but just reminder text about the abilities that the "Island" and "Mountain" subtypes give it.

The land subtypes are all well and good, but there's also the reminder text.

I've edited it to acknowledge the reminder text - how's that sound?

Scalding Tarn is a Land, but it is not a Basic Land. Although colored half blue and half red, it does not actually have the ability to tap for mana. Only lands with a Basic Land Type have the inherent ability to tap for mana, regardless of whether the ability is printed on the card.

305.6. The basic land types are Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest. If an object uses the  words “basic land type,” it’s referring
to one of these subtypes. A land with a basic land type has  the
intrinsic ability “{T}: Add [mana symbol] to your mana pool,” even if
the text box doesn’t  actually contain that text or the object has no
text box.

Nonbasic lands, such as Scalding Tarn, only have the abilities that are printed directly on the card. Therefore, to get any mana out of your Scalding Tarn, you have to use its ability, sacrifice it, and find an actual Island* or Mountain*.
*Note that cards like Watery Grave are not named Island, but they have Island as a subtype, and can therefore be retrieved with a Scalding Tarn.

Maybe also give examples of nonbasics like Watery Grave / Dryad Arbor / Murmuring Bosk that can tap for mana without needing the ability explicitly printed.

This (answer) is actually slightly wrong in its current form, for the reason @HaoYe mentioned: the land only needs to have one or more of the "basic land types," but it does not actually have to be a basic land.

@HaoYe Well, those do have either reminder text or a big ol' mana symbol on them, right?

@Jefromi: Sure, but this isn't true for all cards that mess with land types (e.g. Nylea's Presence), so I think it makes sense to educate OP about 305.6 with nontrivial examples.

@HaoYe I totally agree about educating with examples, but you were talking about "examples...without needing the ability explicitly printed", but the ones you gave actually appear to demonstrate that the ability will be printed one way or another, so they're useful but not quite what you said. If there actually are examples without the ability printed it would be good to come up with them. (Nylea's Presence is a good thought, though it's a little different since it's not actually a land.)

@Jefromi: fair enough -- I should have made it clear that when I wrote "explicitly printed" I meant having rules text on the card. (since reminder text doesn't have any actual rules function.)

@HaoYe Yup yup - though in the context of beginner questions I think it's worth not getting too caught up in reminder vs rules text; the reminder text is there exactly to help answer questions like this.

Text box coloration means diddly squat in Magic.  Does the text box explicitly list any mana-generating abilities?  No.  Does the type line (between the art and the text box) explicitly list any of the five basic land types — Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest — which automatically grant a mana ability to the card they're on?  No.  Thus, the card cannot generate mana on its own, and its only ability is the one printed in the text box.
Text box colors are determined by various aspects of the card, but they do not determine anything — the actual properties of a card are determined by the text and symbols printed on it.

Two words:
Lotus Cobra.
Whenever a land enters the battlefield under your control, add 1 mana of any color to your mana pool. Playing a regular land and a mana dork on turn 1 would allow you to play a lotus cobra on turn 2, and proceeding to play a scalding tarn (or one of his friends) to fetch another land and tap that land. Tarn triggers cobra for an extra mana, then the other land triggers cobra for an extra mana, then you tap the new land - suddenly you have 3 mana, two of which are any color, available on turn 2, even though you've already played a 2 drop this turn!!


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What's the technical term for the period of time between when an opponent concludes their turn and mine begins?
Apologies if this is poorly phrased.  I'll try to make this as clear as possible...
I recently realized that I can utilize the period of time between a players turn and my turn in Magic. What's the name of this period?  What is the appropriate verbiage/ettiquette to indicate doing something during that time? I don't think its "during your upkeep"...
Essentially, I'd like to use this time to activate lands like Arid Mesa search my library for land that I want without losing a cycle doing that.

You might want to have a look at the basic rulebook. In particular for this question, page 16 explains the phases/steps of a turn. But there might be other things in there you haven't realized too!

"I'd like to use this time to activate lands like Arid Mesa search my library for land that I want without losing a cycle doing that." If by "cycle" you mean "the ability to play a land once on each of your turns", don't worry; using Arid Mesa's ability doesn't count towards that. You can use its ability without consuming your "land drop" for the turn.

There are reasons to do it that way though. For example, if you have both a Steam Vents and a Hallowed Fountain in your deck, you may want to wait as long as possible to decide which to get, but you also want to get them before your next untap step so that you don't have to pay the 2 life to untap them.

There is no between turns; the end of one turn transitions immediately to the beginning of the next. The last time you can definitely activate abilities and play instants before your turn is during your opponent's End Step, which is after their second main phase. The end step is is followed by the cleanup step (the last step of the turn), when players usually do not gain priority, and that is followed immediately by your untap step.
The standard way of indicating that you want to do something during this time is to wait for your opponent to say "I end my turn." (or equivalent), and then you say "During your end step, I activate my Arid Mesa's ability."
Technically, this falls under the Shortcut rules. The official tournament rules (section 4.2) list "Your turn" (and equivalents) as meaning "I propose a shortcut: that I pass priority until you have priority at my end step" and when you say "I would like to do something at your end step" it means "I accept your shortcut, and when it is complete I do something."

It is worth noting that there is no time to take actions between turns. There is only priority during the End Step of each turn.

I tried to explain that with "[the cleanup step] is followed immediately by your untap step." Was that unclear?

I think it's pretty clear from the second sentence, actually (...the last time you will be able to do so..."). But sometimes it is also worth explicitly addressing the phrasing in the question. It sounds like the OP thought the turn ended at the end of the second main phase, but it doesn't: it's followed by the end step (and the cleanup step), which are part of the turn, not between turns.

Do you think it's clearer now?

Personally, I'd like to see it made explicit - like, as the very first sentence, "There is no time between turns." But I don't think it's important enough to warrant writing my own answer (which would otherwise be much the same as yours).

Do you think this is better?

I believe your last paragraph is misleading. Untapping your lands and creatures would be the same as saying "I accept your shortcut." If you say "During your end step..." that would be the same as saying "I decline your shortcut." and the game actually goes as it is supposed to without shortcuts.

As I said in my answer, the shortcut jumps to when he has priority at the end of his opponent's endstep, and since he's activating an ability when he has priority at his opponent's end step, he has accepted the shortcut.

@murgatroid99 (3 comments up) yes, I like what you did with your latest edit.

@corsika Saying "During your end step" is not declining the shortcut. Declining the shortcut would be more like "Please play out the remainder of your phases." Shortcutting the shortcut would be like "I'll take priority in your second main phase." Accepting the shortcut is like "During your end step, I'll do X." Untapping also means "I accept your shortcut, and then I pass." Passing in the end step progresses the game to the untap step. Most players are not so verbal about it, but you don't really need to consult your opponent to pass, right?

@VolleyJosh, players can gain priority during the Cleanup Step if a triggered ability manages to occur at that time (for example, discarding one of the legendary Eldrazi when you discard down to your maximum hand size). It's an exceptional occurrence, but it does happen (in fact, it will always happen for Thawing Glaciers' delayed trigger)

Agreed, but still it is not 'between turns', which, based on the questions & headline's phrasing is worth noting. I like the current wording.

@Rusher passing the end step passes to the cleanup step where players can get priority to respond to events occuring as a result of the cleanup step (for example "when this card enters the graveyard" triggering from discarding down to 7. After the cleanup is the untap step where no priority is given ("when this uptaps" and other such triggers are deferred to the beginning of the upkeep step). I think you (and murgatroid) are oversimplifying exactly how complex the 'go' shortcut really is and what it entails, which I suppose is okay given mugatroid's link to the shortcut rules.

@corsiKa I don't think I'm simplifying the shortcut. The rules I linked define the shortcut exactly as I did in my answer, and I stand by saying that everything in my answer and comments works exactly as I said. I just made a minor edit to clarify my second sentence.

Interesting. After reading the article, I've found the confusion. You weren't oversimplifying. I was overcomplicated. I would have considered the one "Go" shortcut to be what you consider two different shortcuts. One by player A who passes priority until B gets priority in the end step, and then a shortcut initiated by B to pass any cleanup and untap-deferred triggers and proceed with the upkeep step. I would have considered those two different, but it appears I'm in the minority.

@corsiKa In your description, when player B passes priority in player A's end step, play usually automatically proceeds to player A having priority in their upkeep because cleanup triggers are rare and untap-deferred triggers are on the stack as expected when that state is reached. There is no need for a shortcut here because the only non-turn-based action here is a single passing of priority.


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Where can I find the rules for 7 Wonders and its expansions?
Are the rules for 7 Wonders and the expansions available online?

(Side note: See the Meta question: Is it okay to ask if rule books are available online?)

Yes, you can find them on the offical website of Repos Production (rprod.com):
7 Wonders base game
http://rprod.com/index.php?page=download-2 (there you can find the Quick Rules, too)

Czech (PDF)
Danish (PDF)
Dutch (PDF)
English (PDF)
Finnish (PDF)
French (PDF)
German (PDF)
Greek (PDF)
Hungarian (PDF)
Italian (PDF)
Japanese (PDF)
Korean (PDF)
Norwegian (PDF)
Polish (PDF)
Slovak (PDF)
Spanish (PDF)
Swedish (PDF)

Leaders expansion
http://rprod.com/index.php?page=download-3

English (PDF)
French (PDF)
German (PDF)

Cities expansion
http://rprod.com/index.php?page=download

Dutch (PDF)
English (PDF)
French (PDF)
German (PDF)
Japanese (PDF)
Spanish (PDF)

Wonder Pack extension
http://rprod.com/index.php?page=download-12

Dutch (PDF)
English (PDF)
French (PDF)
German (PDF)
Spanish (PDF)

Babel extension
http://rprod.com/index.php?page=download-18 (there you can find the Quick Rules, too)

Dutch (PDF)
English (PDF)
French (PDF)
German (PDF)
Italian (PDF)
Japanese (PDF)
Polish (PDF)
Spanish (PDF)

Official FAQ

English (PDF)
French (PDF)

I wish there was a combined rules... I've got both expansions, and having to flip through 3 books to find the card you're looking for can be a pain.


text:
Apparent contradiction in official rules for Kamisado?
I have in front of me the official Rules of the Game for Kamisado. They make me wonder which player takes the opening move in a new round after filling from the left or the right.

The section "Filling from the Left or Rights" explains that the towers "can be set up in one of two ways, determined by the player who won the previous round. This player will be the Defender in the new round". So this would suggest that the player who lost the previous round takes the first turn in the next round. That's also what seems to be implemented e.g. in the online version at Yucata.
However the description of Figure 7(h) states that the "diagram shows the possible moves open to Alain with his purple Sumo dragon tower, should he decide to make his opening move with this tower". Alain has just gained a Sumo tower by winning a round, so this would suggest that the player who won the previous round takes the first turn in the next round. Only if Alain were to begin could he chose which tower to make his opening move with.

I suspect that 1. is the right answer but am not yet sure. Who knows better and can explain the apparently odd description for Figure 7(h)?

You must add third fact from the official Rules (in the "Opening Moves" section):
(3). "In any round, the player that moves first is known as the Challenger. The other player is known as the Defender for that round."
This rule is "hidden" in the basic rules, not where expected - after Filling L/R. The facts (1) and (3) together suggest the option 1: the player who lost in the previous round takes the opening move. That convinced me (I had the same hesitation). There is the common sense also - the opening move is said to give considerable advantage, so the loosing player could recover and the match would prolong.
I guess the description for Figure 7(h) must be simply an overlook, and should instead read: "diagram shows the possible moves open to Alain with his purple Sumo dragon tower, if he gets the opportunity to make move with purple and if nothing is blocking the purple tower". Too complicated; the figure should have been taken from another match not to confuse people.

This iOS app now also implements option 1 (in its latest version).


text:
Where can I find D4 dice that are truncated tetrahedrons?
The points are truncated (so it technically has 8 sides). The die cannot come to rest on these small, truncated, sides, which have the opposite large side number printed on their face.
These seem like a much better design for D4s, does anyone know where I can get some?
Here's the sort of thing I'm talking about:

I'm looking for something less ornate and thus much cheaper ;)

Actually, I'm pretty sure if you cast enough Magic Missiles, those dice WILL come up on the small side. My steampunk polyset has a D4 that can balance on the points, and we joke that when it does it'll be a 5! (Set is not cheap, but available here: http://www.shapeways.com/model/636461/steampunk-gear-dice-set.html?li=productBox-search

You can get 8-sided d4 dice (i.e. numbered 1 through 4 twice), that's probably a cheaper option if you're just after a d4 that actually rolls.

Turns out you can just select a cheaper material on that 3D printing site. So, whilst it's still more expensive than the usual 50c for a die, given that these type of dice don't seem to be as common as I expected it seems like a reasonable solution in my case.

Pick up a bag of Chessex Blank d4s. (It's product number CHX29301, ask your Favorite Local Game Store). Grab a Dremel or Power Sander and take off the points. Then sharpie (or carve) the numbers in by hand. That's going to be your cheap route, unless someone decides to kickstart a project like this. Certainly cheaper than buying 3d printed versions.

Modifying the dices by hand will change the weight distribution and therefore the probabilities. I do not think, this is a welcome effect...

While this is true, chances are d4s are not going to be used anywhere that money is on the line, so it probably won't be a big deal if "3" comes up a bit more frequently than it should, and "4" slightly less. Additionally as these would be designed by hand, unless some effort was put into it, chances are slim that inequality would be intentional.

Are you talking about these? Product number seems to be XQ0004 or XQ0060. The link also has 8 and 12-sided d4s.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm a nerd...if I tried to use a power sander I'd probably cut both my arms off.

You are talking about Crystal Caste dice.  I don't think recommending a particular store is in scope for a stack exchange answer, but the brand name should be plenty to go by.

Who'da thunk? Crystal Caste won a lawsuit against monopoly's owners over use of their "patented" crystal shape. Talk about an obvious invention.

Those are barrel dice. That's not what I'm looking for. I'll add a picture.


text:
Can I cast spells in the middle of another spell resolving?
Say I had Vedalken Orrery and I used Cloudshift on something, could I respond to Cloudshift bringing the creature back into play with Day of Judgement or something similar?

Note that DoJ is a sorcery, so you can't ordinarily cast it in response to anything.

No, Cloudshift is resolved as a single, atomic event.  There is no time in between the parts of its effect in which anyone has a window of opportunity to cast a spell.
From the Comprehensive rules:

116.2e Resolving spells and abilities may instruct players to make choices or take actions, or may allow players to activate mana
  abilities. Even if a player is doing so, no player has priority while
  a spell or ability is resolving. See rule 608, "Resolving Spells and
  Abilities."

spells are not quite atomic, For instance, if you cast Living Death, all of the dies triggers will be put on the stack before any of the ETB triggers.

@SamIam no, that's not right. All the dies trigger will trigger before the ETB trigger. However, triggers are not put on the stack just at the moment they triggered, but only before a player would get priority. Players can put the ETB triggers on the stack before the dies triggers.

However, it's true that Cloudshift is not a single, atomic event. Exiling and returning the creature to play are two different sequential events. Players can't play anything between these two events because the don't get priority, not because it's a single event.

I more meant that the resolution was atomic, in the sense that there's no space for anything not written on the card to happen until the card has finished resolving, rather than that everything on the card happens simultaneously.  Probably an unwise choice of term, I guess...

"To respond to X" means "to cast or activate after X is placed on the stack but before X resolves."
One can respond to Cloudshift, but not to "bringing creature back". That's not a spell, activated ability or triggered ability. You do not get priority in the middle of a spell resolving [CR 116.2e].
If you cast Day of Judgement in response to Cloudshift, it you would resolve before Cloudshift does anything at all. Cloudshift cannot save a creature from Day of Judgement, but Fiend Hunter and Sudden Disappearance could.

I would say no, Cloudshift removes and puts back a creature as part of the same effect, so you cannot 'inturrupt' the effect in the middle of its action by casting some other spell. You could Day of Judgement before you cast or after you cast cloudshift, but you cannot remove your own creature, Day of Judgment, and then put it back.


text:
How can I tell which cards or sets are currently legal in various formats?
I haven't played Magic: the Gathering since the days of Onslaught and Mirrodin, and I would like to try to catch back up. Since all my cards are quite dated now, I may be more interested in formats other than the most up-to-date one.
Rather than ask what is currently legal in various formats (since that is likely too localized), I would rather pose the question of how can I tell which sets/cards are legal in each format.

I would refer you to the following page:
http://magic.wizards.com/en/game-info/gameplay/rules-and-formats/formats
I think you'll find everything you need there!  Both lists of legal sets for each format, and lists of individual cards that are banned or restricted in those formats.

Isn't this a link-only answer? An answer like this is supposed to also contain the answer on its own, in case the link goes dead (and WOTC is becoming well known for making its own links go dead).

@doppelgreener Hmm, possibly, though I'd still say there's unlikely to be a better answer than "go Google for the link to the Wizards page with current format legalities".

Since the official pages aren't quite as clear about standard rotation as they could be, this is also useful: http://whatsinstandard.com/

There are six constructed formats, and although Wizards doesn't have a good reference to how/why sets rotate into and out of formats, Wikipedia does a good job of enumerating them, and describing what sets are legal for each format. As to the banning of individual cards within a format, Wizards Banned/Restricted list for each format is continually updated.

Vintage - The Vintage format, formerly known as Type 1, allows cards from all sets that are legal for constructed play (known as an "Eternal" format). Vintage maintains a small banned list and a larger restricted list. Unlike in the other formats, the DCI does not ban cards in Vintage for power level reasons. Rather, banned cards in Vintage are those that involve ante, manual dexterity (e.g. – Chaos Orb), or subgames (e.g. – Shahrazad). Cards that raise power level concerns are instead restricted to one per deck. Vintage is currently the only format in which cards are restricted.

Legacy - Legacy is another "Eternal" constructed format. It also allows cards from all legal sets, but unlike Vintage, it maintains only a banned list, and cards are banned in Legacy for power level reasons. The format evolved from Type 1.5, which allowed cards from all sets and maintained a banned list corresponding to Vintage: all cards banned or restricted cards in the old Type 1 were banned in Type 1.5. The modern Legacy format began in 2004, as the DCI separated Legacy's banned list from Vintage and banned many new cards to reduce the power level of the format.

Modern - Modern is the newest constructed format. Modern was created by Wizards of the Coast in the Spring of 2011 as a response to the increasing popularity of the Legacy format, which although popular proved difficult to access due to the high price of staple cards. [...] Modern allows cards from the 8th Edition core set and all expansion printed afterwards. The 8th Edition core set was when Magic cards began to be printed in modern card frames, and this is where the name for the format is derived. Wizards believed this cutoff would have the advantage of giving a visual cue as to which cards are legal in the Modern format.

Extended - The Extended format, formerly known as Type 1.x, consists of the last four years' of blocks and core sets. With each autumn set release, one year's worth of sets rotate out of the format. Any additional sets released between rotations are automatically added to this format's card pool. The format previously contained seven years' of blocks and core sets. The new system was implemented in July 2010 to reduce the format's card pool, with the intention that this would make the format more understandable and attractive to play.

Standard - The Standard format is continually one of the most popular formats in the constructed deck tournament scene. It is the format most commonly found at Friday Night Magic tournaments, played weekly at many hobby shops. Standard used to be referred to alternatively as "Type 2". While the name, "Type 2" has been dropped officially, it is still commonplace that the standard format be referred to this way. This format consists of the most recent "Core Set" release and the two most recent "Block" releases, with one exception. "Rotation" occurs every fall when the first set of the new "Block" releases and becomes Standard Legal. From the time the new "Core Set" is released in early summer, until rotation occurs, 2 core sets are legal.

Block Constructed - The Block Constructed format uses only the cards from a single block of Magic sets. Magic sets since Mirage have come in groups (usually of three) known as blocks. Block Constructed formats, and blocks themselves, usually take the name of the first set in the block. For example, the Ravnica Block Constructed format consists of Ravnica: City of Guilds, Guildpact, and Dissension. Only cards that were printed in the sets in the appropriate block can be used in Block Constructed formats.

More info at http://boardgames.stackexchange.com/a/11941/13035

Extended is no longer sanctioned; wizards killed it. Also standard now has an 6/18-month rotation consisting of three 2-set blocks; each block lasts for 18 months, and rotate with the release of each new block, every 6 months.

As an update to other answers, Standard has changed to include the last 3 blocks of 2 sets, instead of 2 blocks of 3 sets. In addition, as core sets are no longer to be released, the blocks are changing from 5-8 sets to 5-6.
So basically, the old standard was (with a few exceptions):

Block A: Set 1
Block A: Set 2
Block A: Set 3
Core Set A
Block B: Set 1
Block B: Set 2
Block B: Set 3
Core Set B

The new standard will be:

Block A: Set 1
Block A: Set 2
Block B: Set 1
Block B: Set 2
Block C: Set 1
Block C: Set 2

As a special case, during the transition, the Tarkir block is being split up:

Khans of Tarkir: (Block B: Set 1 > Block A: Set 1)
Fate Reforged: (Block B: Set 2 > Block A: Set 2)
Dragons of Tarkir: (Block B: Set 3 > Block B: Set 1)
Magic Origins: (Core Set B > Block B: Set 2)

You can use Wizards of the Coast's Gatherer Website to generate lists of cards for each format.
For example, here is a list of cards legal in Standard Constructed.


text:
Is my black-bordered foil from 8th edition a counterfeit? Where can I find more copies?
I have a black-bordered 8th edition foil Thorn Elemental. I really like this card, and I tried to find a place where I can buy it again. However, I can only find white-bordered versions of this card in the 8th edition.
Does this mean I have a counterfeit card, or is there a black-bordered foil version in the 8th edition? I have not coloured in the border as other questions have suggested. I just can't seem to find a black border 8th edition foil, even on the main Magic wizards site.
I know that white-bordered cards can be played. I'm just a bit confused as to how my black-bordered card cannot be found anywhere.

I found a black border signed foil of the 8th edition: https://www.abugames.com/card236789-412441/Thorn-Elemental---FOIL---SIGNED---ID-s4299-Signed-Magic-Cards-Magic-The-Gathering-Single-Card.html

Is your version an 8th edition card? It sounds like it might be, but we can't very well tell you if it's counterfeit if we don't know what your card is (other than black bordered).

Yes sorry if that wasn't made clear

That signature card is my exact card (obviously without the signature)

According to MTG Salvation:

All foil cards are black-bordered, even those from the last white-bordered core sets, except those from Unhinged which are silver-bordered.

A black-bordered foil Thorn Elemental is valid anywhere any other Thorn Elemental is. You can find it, for example, here. Some sites just don't show separate images for foil versions of cards.

Ah it mentions gift coupons at that site do you have an idea where I can get them from?

No idea, it was just the first one I found with a picture of the listed foil.


text:
If Anafenza, the Foremost dies at the same time as another creature, will the other creature be exiled?
Here is the situation: I have a Fetid Imp on the field, and my opponent has two Disowned Ancestors and Anafenza, the Foremost. Now I play Languish to give all creatures -4/-4.
Is Fetid Imp exiled due to Anafenza's ability, or is it destroyed and sent to my graveyard as Anafenza dies at the same time?

It is destroyed either way. The question is whether destroying it will exile it or send it to its owner's graveyard.

It will be exiled.

Anafenza's relevant ability is not a triggered ability. It's a static ability that creates a continuous replacement effect.
The effect from Anafenza's ability modifies the instruction "Put Fetid Imp, the two Disowned Ancestors and Anafenza into their owner's graveyard" because replacement effects must necessarily be applied before taking the action they replace, at which time Anafenza is still on the battlefield.
This is confirmed by a ruling on Void Maw. Void Maw has the ability "If another creature would die, exile it instead", and the ruling reads "If Void Maw and another creature would be put into the graveyard from the battlefield at the same time, [...] the other creature is exiled."
Also, @Vilmar points out this article, which specifically answers this question (in the "Anafenza and Day of Judgment" section).

Related reading: http://blogs.magicjudges.org/articles/2015/08/06/modern-rules-problems-anafenza-the-foremost/

Okay I wasn't certain when I played on I Exiled the creature so I guess my Instinct was correct. thanks for this :)


text:
Can Mizzium Meddler steal the effect of a Renown ability?
Basically, I am thinking of a situation: say Outland Colossus attacks and deals damage to a player. Before the Renown ability resolves, can I activate Mizzium Meddler to steal the six +1/+1 counters? Is Renown an ability that Mizzium Meddler can steal? I am not sure how Renown works on the stack, if at all.

Mizzium Meddler cannot 'steal' the Renown of the Colossus.
This is because Renown is not a targeted ability, it just effects the creature it is on.

702.111a Renown is a triggered ability. “Renown N” means “When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes renowned.”

As you can see there is no mention of targeting anywhere in the rules, thus the Meddler cannot redirect it. Note that the Meddler can still target the ability, it will just do nothing since there are no targets to change.

If Mizzium Meddler’s triggered ability targets a spell or ability with no targets, nothing happens.

ahh that makes sense, would've been cool to do it but meh thanks for the swift answer :)

No, you cannot. Renown is a triggered ability:

702.111a Renown is a triggered ability. “Renown N” means “When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes renowned.”

But it is not targeted, since to be considered one it should have the word "target" in it:

114.1d 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, player, or zone. The target(s) are chosen as the ability is put on the stack; see rule 603.3d.

Therefore you can target triggered Renown ability, but nothing will happen since you won't be able to change the target as Renown doesn't have one.

No.
Only three things target:

Spells and abilities on the stack that have the word "target" in their text.
Spells and abilities on the stack that have a keyword ability that has the word "target" in their text.
Auras on the stack (since the rules for them uses the word "target").

"Renown" is keyword ability, but it doesn't have the word "target" in its text:

702.111a Renown is a triggered ability. “Renown N” means “When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn’t renowned, put N +1/+1 counters on it and it becomes renowned.”

Mizzium Meddler can't affect the ability since it has no target to change.


text:
Is there a card that lets you put a card from outside of the game into play?
I played a commander game a while ago where one of my 5 opponents cast a card that let him grab a card that was outside of the game (not even in exile) and put it either in his hand or on the battlefield.
It was a while back so I am slightly fuzzy in terms of the context in which this was played.
I would like to know whether, firstly this card exists that allows you to acquire a card not in your deck and/or in any other zone in the game and place it either in your hand or on the battlefield?
I was in disbelief at this play but everyone around me in the game had more experience than me so I assumed it was legit.
The second thing I'd like to know is that if this card does exist (or something similar) what is its name(s)?
I figured it may be in one of the "unsets" like Unglued or Unhinged or any of the other funky experimental sets Wizards decided to curve-ball into existence...

This is the "Wish" card series that were released in the Judgment extension.
For example: Burning Wish. It allows one for example in a tournament to get a card from the sideboard on the first game.
The 5 original wishes are:

Cunning Wish
Burning Wish
Death Wish
Living Wish
Golden Wish

Since then, other similar cards where released. This query should give most of them: o:"own from outside the game". You'll notice Ring of Ma'rûf in the results as well; the wishes are way more common.
So this is nothing "funky" like the fun cards in Unglued or Unhinged, and has been tournament-legal (and still is in some formats).
However these cards don't work by default in Commander/EDH except with prior agreement, so it sounds like your scenario wasn't how things should happen. See Commander rule 13:

Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.

This means these cards shouldn't come out as a surprise, because beforehand you have to discuss and agree how they even work.

Rule 13:

Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.

So while the cards you refer to do exist, and they may be legally played in Commander, they have no effect unless your group establishes a house rule.
In sanctioned formats, these spells may only choose cards from your sideboard. A common house rule for Commander is to allow each player to create a sideboard that is only used for these spells (a "wishboard"). The baseline Commander rules do not allow any player to have a sideboard, so such a house rule should be explicitly established beforehand.

My bad guys I found this on gatherer:
Ring of Ma'rûf
Very strange name.
Found it by searching for "From outside of the game" in Gatherer

There are indeed cards that have the ability to pull cards from outside the game. Examples of this are Burning Wish and Spawnsire of Ulamog.
In sanctioned tournaments, "from outside the game" refers to ones sideboard, but in casual settings players have made house rules that allow you to take any card that is a legal target for the ability from you collection.

It's not a house rule - the Gatherer rulings for those cards indicate that in a casual game you pick a card from your collection.

I'm going to refer to rule 13 of from the official Commander site, which states that "Abilities which refer to other cards owned outside the game (Wishes, Spawnsire, Research, Ring of Ma'ruf) do not function in Commander without prior agreement on their scope from the playgroup.". Also see Thom Smith's answer to this question.

OK, that makes sense.  I wasn't aware there is a difference in rules for Commander.

Mastermind's Acquisition from Rivals of Ixalan (2018) is a recent one, reading:

Choose a card you own from outside the game and put it into your hand.

The 2018/06/08 rules also mention the outside the game concept at a few points:

108.3b Some spells and abilities allow a player to take cards they own from outside the game and bring them into the game. (See rule 400.10b.) If a card outside that game is involved in a Magic game, its owner is determined as described in rule 108.3. If a card outside that game is in the sideboard of a Magic game (see rule 100.4), its owner is considered to be the player who started the game with it in their sideboard. In all other cases, the owner of a card outside the game is its legal owner.

and:

400.10b Some effects bring cards into a game from outside of it. Those cards remain in the game until it ends.

Now I wonder about a few cool things that we could do:

you are at a game store, your friend has the card you need, you give him a shout midgame, yo dawg, frind says "you are now the legal owner of this card", and you play it
create a shared card pool, where everyone owns 1/N of each card, and therefore anyone is a legal owner of every card, and therefore anyone can use any card from the pool

can wishes let you get 5x of a card? mentions that in tournaments, outside the game means sideboard, this is mentioned on a separate tournament rules document. Boring :-)


text:
Gyre Sage with Joraga Warcaller +1/+1 comprehension
I have a Gyre Sage with no counters on it in play and I play Joraga Warcaller multikicked 3 times. I get a +1/+1 counter on Gyre Sage because of the evolve and 3 +1/+1. The question is: How much mana does Gyre Sage produce with its activated ability?

Gyre Sage is a 1/2 without any modifications to its power or toughness.
When Joraga Warcaller enters the battlefield, kicked 3 times, it enters as a 4/4 creature. However, its third ability - "Other Elf creatures you control get +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter on Joraga Warcaller" – immediately begins to apply as soon as it enters, so Gyre Sage immediately becomes a 4/5.
Because Joraga Warcaller has neither power nor toughness greater than Gyre Sage, its evolve ability will not trigger. It won't get a +1/+1 counter as a result of it entering.
Note that Joraga Warcaller does not place +1/+1 counters onto Gyre Sage - so Gyre Sage doesn't produce any additional mana as a result of this 'anthem' effect.

That's what I was thinking for the mana production. You have to separete the +1/+1 counters to the +1/+1. And thanks for the precision on the third ability I totaly missed that.


text:
Rulings Regarding Toughness and Modifiers
My question is about how power and toughness modifiers work when regarding abilities that reference stats. In particular the scenario I encountered was a Loxodon Punisher with a +2 Mace and a Sandsteppe Mastodon. The modified toughness of the Punisher was a 6, does the Mastodon’s ability apply to it which has a toughness of 5 or the punisher who has a base toughness of 2?

Mastodon's ability will consider Loxodon to have 6 toughness, not 2.

110.3. A nontoken permanent's characteristics are the same as those printed on its card, as modified by any continuous effects.

When a card interacts with base toughness, it will specifically say so. For example, Angelic Aberration's ability:

When Angelic Aberration enters, sacrifice any number of creatures each with base power or toughness 1 or less. Create that many 4/4 colorless Eldrazi Angel creature tokens with flying and vigilance.