text:
When are players obligated to tell their opponent that the storm count is wrong?
Nathan and Alice are playing a Modern tournament at Competitive REL. Alice is playing Storm, and keeping track of the storm count using a spindown. "Storm count" is shorthand for "the number of spells cast this turn".
Alice casts Pyretic Ritual and copies it with Pyromancer Ascension. She announces that the storm count has increased by two, and adjusts her spindown accordingly. This is incorrect. Spell copies created by Pyromancer Ascension do not contribute towards the storm count.
When is Nathan obligated to inform Alice that the storm count is wrong? Must he inform her immediately, or can he wait until she casts a spell with storm (e.g., Grapeshot) before explaining the storm count is actually less?

Nathan is not obligated to inform Alice that the storm count is wrong until Grapeshot's triggered ability resolves. In the section of the rules regarding player communication, there is no rule that says that players are at any time obligated to volunteer information spontaneously.
However, the rules also say "Players may not represent derived or free information incorrectly" and "Players must answer completely and honestly any specific questions pertaining to free information." According to this forum post Rainbolt found, storm count is free information. So if Alice asks what the storm count is, Nathan must give the correct answer.
Once Grapeshot's triggered ability resolves, the two players must agree on what spells are on the stack, which means that Nathan must then inform Alice of the actual number of copies of Grapeshot created. That is because, if Alice put the wrong number of copies on the stack, that would be a Game Play Error, which means that if Nathan lets her do it, that would be a Failure to Maintain Game State.

I think I follow this answer. "The game state" is ambiguous. We know that "the number of creatures on the battlefield" is derived information. You used this as precedent for deciding that "the number of spells cast this turn" is probably also derived information, even though it isn't explicitly listed as such. Am I following correctly?

Of course, since it's derived information, if Alice asks what the storm count is (e.g. when turning the die to 9, actually say "the storm count is 9, right?"), then Nathan has to either not answer or answer truthfully.

@Rainbolt That is pretty much correct. The way I interpret it, both players know (and agree on) exactly what has happened during the turn; Alice has simply calculated a specific value from that information incorrectly.

@Jefromi That is a good point; I'll make a note of it in my answer.

After doing more research, I think that one small portion of your answer is incorrect according to these two posts by a L2 and L3 judge. Despite that, I think the rest of your answer is still correct and answers the question. It doesn't really matter whether it is free or derived unless the opponent actually asks you, but in my scenario, Alice never asked Nathan what the storm count was.

@Rainbolt - I actually strongly disagree with the interpretation that storm count falls under "Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state". There are any number of magic cards that refer to past actions, and "storm count" is not an official quantity in the Comp. Rules. Saying that it is free information because a card that might be played will depend on it opens the door to all kinds of nonsense, like gravestorm count (Bitter Ordeal), zubera count (Ashen-Skin Zubera), dies count (Asmira, Holy Avenger), non-token dies count (Caller of the Claw), etc.

@HaoYe How do you determine which quantities are "official magic quantities"? Is there a list somewhere?

@Rainbolt - If it has a definition in the comp. rules. For example, "Power: 1. Part of a card that only creatures have. A creature card's power is printed before the slash in its lower right corner. See rule 208, "Power/Toughness." 2. A characteristic that only creatures have. See rule 302.4." In contrast, there is an entry for storm that describes what it does, but does not refer to anything like a "storm count" that might be defined as "the number of spells cast this turn".

MTR 4.1 says that free information includes "Details of current game actions and past game actions that still affect the game state." In reading this line, the word that this hinges on is still. Technically, storm doesn't affect the game state until a spell with storm is cast. So one could read this as it is not free information. The forum post says "What spells have been cast" is free information, but the number of them might not be free information. We can infer this from the fact that derived information specifically includes ... continued...

"The number of any type of objects present in any game zone." and, more generally, " information to which all players are entitled access, but opponents are not obliged to assist in determining and may require some skill or calculation to determine." So if whether or not a creature is on the battlefield is free information, but the number of creatures is not, it stands to reason that the listing of spells cast this turn is free, but the number is not.

Regarding the answer: we know that players may not misrepresent derived or free information. I would think that, by increasing the value on the spindown to (previous value + 2), Alice is misrepresenting the storm count. Is there some reason that's not the case?

I didn't mention it in the answer, but that rule is in the section regarding player communication. The way I see it, the spindown is intended to be a memory device to help Alice remember the storm count, not to communicate the storm count to Nathan. So, it doesn't violate the rule. If Nathan asks her and she gives the wrong number, I think that at that point he has to correct her and/or call a judge.

@corsiKa - Your comment does a much better job of explaining the point I was trying to get at: keeping track of game actions that might affect the game state should be derived info, while keeping track of game actions that are currently affecting the game state should be free info.

@Hao Ye, Notes kept by players are neither derived nor free info. They aren't part of the game at all.

Based on the tournament rules, you only need to agree on the storm count when the game calls on you to know it to correctly perform a game action, so you have no obligation to correct your opponent before then, though you are not allowed to lie about it, either. Murgatroid's answer explains the details.
However, note that any confusion or disagreement is likely to require calling a judge, and that judge is likely to end up having to stand there and reconstruct the entire turn to figure out the correct count — something that can be fiendishly complicated if, for example, a Past in Flames was played as part of the combo.
So, practically speaking, this is going to be a headache for everyone involved. You're also at a disadvantage: your opponent might argue that you previously agree to their count when they incremented the number and you didn't dispute it. So you will want clear evidence to convince the judge that your version of events is correct.
In short, this move is legal, but you need to also think about it in practical terms, since you're entering a procedural quagmire:

If you're going to choose to wait til the last possible moment to dispute the storm count, you should keep impeccable notes. This will help ensure that you get a correct ruling, and quickly.
Even with the best intentions and utmost preparation, your peers may regard it as unsportsmanlike, since you're choosing to take one of the most annoying aspects of the game and magnify it significantly.

To be fair, "realising my opponent has miscalculated" is one of the few ways you can win against an active Storm.

"You counted ascension copies four times, so your count is actually X minus four." Problem solved.

@Rainbolt "Wait, really? I don't think so." Now you have to call a judge.

Okay, so you call a judge. Why would calling a judge complicate the situation? We agree on what the count would be if the copies were counted. The judge rules that the copies don't count. Therefore, the correct count must be the original count minus the extra. There is simply no reason why you (or a judge) should replay the entire turn when you have a baseline from which a simple subtraction will give you the correct count.

@Rainbolt That's the trivial case of "My opponent is counting all the Pyro copies," a systematic error. I'm talking about "My opponent knows not to count Pyro copies, but accidentally miscounted a few Pyro copies."

@AlexP It is unlikely that your opponent will count some copies and not count other copies. I do not see how a player could possibly explain why they did that to a judge without lying or claiming to not remember what happened that turn, in which case we have to trust the player who does remember.

@Rainbolt Storm combo involves keeping track of a lot of things. Storm count, floating mana (usually 2 colors), Pyro triggers, which cards in your yard have PiF flashback — all while making sequencing decisions based on expected topdecks and your best guess of your opponent's hand. It's mentally taxing and procedurally complicated, which is why people mess up the count in the first place. It's quite likely neither player will be able to perfectly reconstruct a complex storm turn from memory. Which is why when you dispute someone's memory aid, you need a better memory aid — like taking notes.


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Can I disable Sliver Overlord's abilities with Pithing Needle?
I was looking through different cards to try and find something to counteract my dad's Sliver Overlord aside from directly killing or exiling it, and when I initially saw Pithing Needle I got really excited, but then I saw it didn't target mana abilities, which kind of renders it useless against the Overlord.
Is there a card that does target mana abilities, or will I just have to exile/destroy his Overlord?

You have an extremely low chance to draw a specific card on a Commander deck. You're playing green, so your artifact search abilities are further limited. I dunno how effective this card would be, unless you went blue.

@CyberClaw my deck is a hyper-draw deck so I will be able to get through my deck fairly fast to get to specific cards, and if not I have a couple cards that let me search.

Sliver Overlord's abilities are not mana abilities. Mana abilities are abilities that produce mana, like the ability on Sylvan Caryatid. (There are a few restrictions; not everything that produces mana is a mana ability. See rule 605.1 if you're curious.)
Sliver Overlord's abilities are simple activated abilities, with mana in their cost. Pithing Needle will work just fine against them, as will anything else that prevents abilities from being activated (e.g. Arrest), and anything that makes it lose abilities (e.g. Lignify).

That makes more sense. I thought it was weird it would only target abilities that don't cost mana.

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Is there any way to remove an emblem?
Since an emblem is neither a card nor a permanent, and doesn't have a card type (as per rule 113.5, shown below), "has no name, no types, no mana cost, and no color" (rule 113.3, also below), and (as pointed out by murgatroid99) isn't even on the battlefield in the first place (rule 113.1, ... also below), is there any way to either nullify or destroy/exile it?

113.5. An emblem is neither a card nor a permanent. Emblem isn’t a card type.
113.3. An emblem has no characteristics other than the abilities defined by the effect that created it. In
  particular, an emblem has no name, no types, no mana cost, and no color.
113.1. Some effects put emblems into the command zone. An emblem is a marker used to represent an
  object that has one or more abilities, but no other characteristics.

I would like to mention that since Emblems are not permanents, they are also not on the battlefield. They exist in a separate zone called the command zone [CR 113.1].

There are currently no cards that explicitly remove emblems. The only way to get rid of an emblem is by activating the last loyalty ability on Karn Liberated. This restarts the game, and resets everything in the game except a specific set of cards that he keeps track of.
Mechanically, an emblem is intended to be a reward, in some sense, for completing a somewhat complicated process: casting a Planeswalker, adding to its loyalty for multiple turns, and then activating its expensive ability, all while keeping your opponent from messing up the plan. Because they are so hard to obtain, they are correspondingly difficult to remove. Some are easier to obtain, like the one from Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, but they are also weaker.

"so hard to obtain" / "correspondingly difficult to remove." You might be understating how difficult they are to remove, considering they're impossible to remove except from a restart-the-game effect. :P

there is away to get rid of them restart the game there is a few cards that restart the game so in all restarting the game is the only way to counter emblems  Karn Liberated

This is simply a far worse restatement of the already existing answer.

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Usage of Philanthropist Flare as Schizoid
Suppose I'm playing as Schizoid. I have the power to alter reality, so I choose one of the six new cards to be the new win condition. That card is face down.
Then suppose I use Philanthropist Flare:

Send one of your ships to the warp to lend your power to another player for the duration of the encounter. Until the end of the encounter, that player is considered to have your power instead of his or her own. You may not use your power while it is loaned out. The player may not refuse the loan of your power.

Would the player I use this on get to look at the win condition card?

I would say yes, since "On each challenge, the offensive player may ask you a "yes" or "no" question about the win. You must answer truthfully, aloud." You cannot answer truthfully if you don't know the answer.

@user1873 That is the rule for the Eon version of Cosmic Encounter, and given the mention of the Flare, I'd guess the OP is asking about the FFG version.

I'll start by saying that there won't be an explicit answer to this question. Cosmic Encounter is about interactions, and given the number of aliens with different powers, sometimes you just have to make it up as you go and use some logic to come to the best conclusion. I think this is probably one of those situations.
My interpretation would be when you play the Philanthropist Flare as the Schizoid, the player you lend your power to can look at the win condition. The most logical reasoning for this is presented by dorakeen in a different answer: the player with the Schizoid power "is responsible to announce when any player(s) have fulfilled the winning conditions". When you use the Philanthropist Flare, you no longer have your power and as such cannot declare a win condition met. The person who is now the Schizoid, even temporarily, has that job.
Additionally, there's nothing on the Schizoid card that says you can't show the alternate win condition to other players. If something in the game would cause that card to be revealed to another player or players for some reason, nothing is there to stop that event. The lack of specification about whether other players could see that card leads me to believe that it could be shown.
Having said that, if you and your game group feel that the answer is actually no, there's nothing in the rules to contradict you. Remember the game is about interactions, so do what makes the most sense to you.

The answer is yes because he is responsible to announce when any player(s) have fulfilled the winning conditions now. So he has to know what the winning conditions are.

Yes, so I would suppose you wouldn't do it.

Do you have anything to back this up? Why wouldn't the temporary holder of Schizoid be allowed to pick a new victory condition, as opposed to being given the victory condition that the Schizoid player picked?


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Can you move your keeper with creepers using the teleport card?
In Star Fluxx, can you move your keeper with creeper(s) attached to another player using Teleporter card?

The Evil, Malfunction and Brain Parasites creepers say "Both cards stay together until discarded". This clearly means you can only move the keeper with the attached creeper.

@zovits is correct - Creepers attached to Keepers generally stay that way, until a card explicitly says to do otherwise. That said, there is, in Star Fluxx, the special case of "Beam Us Up" which is specifically addressed in the FAQ included in the rules.:

Q: What happens to Creepers attached to Keepers during Beam Us Up?
  A: The Creepers stay with their Keepers until they reach a player's hand, at which point that player must immediately put them back onto the table in front of them.


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How can I deal with indestructible shrouded slivers?
So, here's the thing. My dad plays Slivers for his Commander deck with Sliver Overlord as his commander. When he plays this deck, he always seems to get out Sliver Hivelord and Crystalline Sliver, thus making it impossible for my Green/Elves Commander deck (base deck is the Guided by Nature 2014 Commander but it has been pretty intensively editted) to be able to beat him from that point on.
Is there a green or colorless card that I could incorporate into my deck in order to beat this combo, or is my deck just not going to be able to counter this?

Depending on how far you want to go to tune your deck for this specific scenario you have a few options.  If dealing with this combo is more important then staying mono-green looking at a black splash will open up a lot of the cards ideal for this match up.
General advice, Exile and negative toughness effects will still remove indestructible creatures, and Edicts (sacrifice effects that target the other player) will get around shroud as well.
Assuming that we are staying mono-green, Some specific Cards:

Perilous Vault will get around both by exiling everything, I recommend saving it to both play and activate in the same turn to avoid getting it destroyed
All is Dust will act as a board wipe
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon another board wipe
Aligned Hedron Network can deal with the Hive Lord
Arcane Lighthouse remove shroud
Bonds of Mortality will remove the indestructible
Sword of Kaldra will exile something it deals damage to, this could be used with a lure to force blocks
Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker naming Sliver Overlord will stop the activated abilities on the Commander.
Song of the Dryads,Lignify on the Overlord can slow down searching up the combo.
Jester's Cap can remove the problem cards from his Library
Damping Matrix can shut down the activated abilities of the commander
Bind can counter one activation of search to buy time
Triumph of the Hordes would also be a good answer to just go over in a green deck

Additionally you can look at some infect / wither for some creatures which will place -1/-1 counters which get around indestructible, or annihilator which will require sacrifice.

Would Damping Matrix also counter the passive abilities that the Slivers have where they boost each other?

@Cyberson No - activated abilities are things of the form "{cost}: {effect}" (note the colon) that you have to actually activate to use. (Also most slivers aren't artifacts.)

@Jefromi Okay. So it negates abilities that cost without mana?

@Cyberson No, the cost could be mana, tapping, sacrificing something, or anything. Just "{cost}: {effect}". If that's not clear you probably want to ask a new question. (Also sorry, Damping Matrix does work on creatures too, but yeah, those are not activated abilities.)

@Jefromi Oh, sorry. I was getting hooked up on mana ability. I understand it now, and am totally using it in my deck. His commander will be reduced to just a 7/7.

Side note for people without the mono-green restriction. Some other (non-green) board wipes that work : Black Sun's Zenith, Living Death, Living End, Merciless Eviction, Terminus, Humility, Sudden Spoiling, Hallowed Burial, Final Judgment, False Prophet. The "overkill" ones also work : Decree of Annihilation, Worldfire ... There are probably others.

you say "on the Queen", I guess you mean Overlord here.

First off, it may be far easier to keep him from getting to that point than it is to deal with it once he gets there.
Elves should be able to be pretty fast, and getting all five colors of mana to cast his commander should take some time. Deal enough damage fast enough, and even if he manages to get a couple indestructible blockers close to the end won't matter.
If he's relying on artifacts to help fix his colors, green definitely has ways to slow him down there. Naturalize is probably the canonical example, but there's plenty more. (Reclamation Sage is even an elf!)
You might be able to slow him down further by killing his commander before he can tutor for the other slivers he wants. Green's main way of doing that is fighting (think Savage Punch), which may take some work to set up, but if you have any big green creatures along with those elves it might work. And of course, if you're playing multiplayer, there's a good chance someone playing more removal-heavy colors will be happy to help out and destroy his commander.
If this really doesn't ever work out, you might want to ask whether the decks are really on the same power level. If he's got ridiculous mana fixing (fetch lands and dual lands and all) and you can't ever win anywhere near fast enough, it might mean that he needs to tone down his deck a bit or you need to push yours.

All that said, to answer your actual question... as you've noticed, green doesn't really have anything. It doesn't have much simple targeted removal, and it has even less that'll wipe the board. There's Ezuri's Predation from Commander 2015 (make 4/4s to fight everything) and a few things like Hurricane that deal damage to all creatures with flying, but not really anything that'll get past indestructible.
So if you really want to deal with this, you probably need the few colorless options:

All is Dust
Perilous Vault
Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

But again, it might be better to try to overwhelm him before he can get going than to count on finding one of a small number of cards in your deck.

All Is Dust Seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Of course, the real answer to this sort of weird shenanigans (man, I love that word) is to just kill them before they pull it off. Overrun effects paired with large numbers of creatures would fit this strategy quite well.

Along the same line as [[overrun]], there are also lure effects to draw blockers away.

In a deck of 99 cards, a few cards here and there won't effectively combat an interaction that is only resource dependent. Once the opposing deck has the mana to cast the Sliver Overlord and use its activated abilities, it is going to work. Unless you field a Commander that directly combats the combo, you'll need a general response within the deck that you can readily draw into against the deck, while not crippling your deck against others.
Attack the Overlord
Shut down the combination by crippling the shortcut; without the Commander, your opponent has to draw into the win condition. Beyond the aforementioned Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker, there are cheap affects readily available in green that can target the Commander while still be useful in other situations: Deathtouch and Fight. Target the Commander extensively, driving up it's casting cost.

I agree, this is the best general course of action for dealing with him personally - although with 11 mana, he can play the commander, and draw both his "perfect defense-cheese" slivers, heck with just 8, he already draws indestructible, rendering fight/death-touch useless.

You'll want an untargetted exile or sacrifice effect. Off the top of my head, Perilous Vault would do the job. It would get your own guys, but you might have to just bite the bullet.
A new card might be able to help you: Bonds of Mortality. It doesn't get rid of shroud, but it makes them destroyable.

Reduce his life total to zero. Yes, that sounds cheesy, but it's Green's best weapon against unknown threats: deploy big creatures, especially those with trample; turn them sideways; remove player and all his Slivers from the game. Then remove them from the removed-from-game zone and put them into the absolutely-removed-from-the-freaking-game-forever zone. Then remove them from THAT zone and put them in a brand new zone that Unstable will hopefully invent for us.
As others have said, just race him. Every time you reduce his life total, you bring all his slivers (those on the battlefield and those not yet deployed) closer to irrelevance.
So with that strategy in mind, how should you adjust your deck? The simplest answer is: Trample. It's unassuming and not going to paint a target on your back, but it'll help you get past indestructible hexproof things, as long as they're not too big.

Downvoted without a comment? Killing the player is a legit way to dispose of his creatures.

I'm guessing there are 4 players in the game. If it's 4 player commander, make everyone very aware of the danger of his commander entering the battlefield. Build an alliance against him to keep him in check. It hurts to be on the receiving end of everyone ganging up on us, but he is inviting such tactics by using a turtle strategy.
EDIT: I know you want green solutions, but I'd do this myself. Make a cheap red land destruction deck. Target the lands he is hurting for in that game.

It's usually 1v1 games.

Either build a specific deck just to counter his (there are a bunch of anti-sliver cards), or just plain tell him, his deck is broken, OP and not fun, and ask for him to dial down the deck to your level (using a different sliver commander would do it).

I specifically play his deck to know where the loopholes in my deck are, such as I recently found that my commander deck is extremely susceptible to Pithing Needle so I need to change some things to fix that. Though if I ever get to the point where his deck is so strong it is no longer fun to fight, I will head your advice and let him know.


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Can I activate mana abilities even if I don't need the mana?
Rule 605.3a says:

A player may activate an activated mana ability whenever he or she has priority, whenever he or she is casting a spell or activating an ability that requires a mana payment, or whenever a rule or effect asks for a mana payment, even if it's in the middle of casting or resolving a spell or activating or resolving an ability.

Do I understand correctly that I can tap Pheres-Band Tromper enchanted with Karametra's Favor for mana in my opponent's end step even if I do not need any of it? If it works I could trigger inspired every turn without the need for attacking. Some years ago, mana burn definitely would have prevented this kind of play.

For the record, it wouldn't have prevented this behavior. A lot of people would pay 1 life for a +1/+1 counter!

@corsiKa, But that penalty reduces the benefit of that combo effect.

Yes, you can activate a mana ability even if you do not plan to use the mana. This is often called floating mana. This means that yes, you can use Karametra's Favor to trigger an Inspired ability every turn. Since the Magic 2010 rules update, mana burn does not exist any more, so keeping this mana in your mana pool until the end of the phase has no downside.

What are other names for "floating mana"?

@Pacerier floating mana is the action of putting mana into your mana pool without using it immediately. Most players tap the mana they need right when they need it, tapping for mana puts the mana into your mana pool and then you spend from there.

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text:
Which comes first: Illness in the Ranks or Cathars' Crusade?
Suppose I have an Illness in the Ranks out and my opponent has a Cathars' Crusade out. If 1/1 creature token comes into play under the opponent's control, does the token die due to the effects of Illness or does it get the counter first before Illness's effect activates?

It will die.
Illness in the Ranks creates a continuous effect, which applies constantly. From the moment the token enters the battlefield, it has -1/-1. Cathars' Crusade, on the other hand, has a triggered ability, signified by the word "whenever" in its text. When the token enters the battlefield, that triggered ability goes on the stack. Before it can resolve and add a +1/+1 counter, the token dies. (Players get priority, so state-based actions are checked first, and since the token has zero toughness, it dies.)

It will die but Cathars' Crusaides ability will still trigger.
A ruling on gatherer for Illness in Ranks has this to say:

If an effect creates a creature token that normally has toughness 1,
  it will enter the battlefield with toughness 0, be put into its
  owner's graveyard as a state-based action, and then cease to exist.
  Any abilities that trigger when a creature enters the battlefield or
  dies will trigger.


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How would first strike and deathtouch interact with multiple blockers in this scenario?
How exactly would the following work?
I have a creature with first strike and deathtouch, it's enchanted to be able to block any number of creatures (Entangler). Lets say its a 2/2 and it blocks five 3/3's - what exactly would happen?
Suppose the same creature is instead enchanted with Lure:

All creatures able to block enchanted creature do so.

Lets say I attack with that 2/2 and my opponent has five untapped 5/5's that are forced to block. Again, what exactly happens?
I'm hoping to build a green/white/red deck based off of these combos but I'm a little confused about the mechanics of it all.

Gatherer's advanced search is a good way to look for cards, e.g. like this

You have a creature with first strike and death touch and two auras on it? You don't have to worry about its mechanics. It's about to get doom bladed.

You would only be able to destroy two of the blocking creatures.  For deathtouch to have an effect, you must do damage to a creature. On the plus side, an attacker with deathtouch only needs to assign one damage to each blocker.  In your scenario, your creature is only a 2/2, and so even with a team of blockers, only two damage can be shared among them.
Based on your scenario's here is the change needed to leave your creature alive yet destroy all blocking or attacking creatures: your Entangler must be at least a 5/1.  I say a 5/1 because toughness can't be 0 and you must be able to deal at least 1 damage to all blocked or blocking creatures. Using a card such as Giant Growth would allow your creature to live assuming it has both first strike and death touch.  Without the first strike as long as you have 1 power for all attacking or blocking creatures you would be able to take them out as well.

702.2b Any nonzero amount of combat damage assigned to a creature by a source with deathtouch is considered to be lethal damage, regardless of that creature’s toughness. See rules 510.1c–d.
704.5h If a creature has toughness greater than 0, and it’s been dealt damage by a source with deathtouch since the last time state-based actions were checked, that creature is destroyed. Regeneration can replace this event.

When your declare your First Strike Deathtouch creature as a blocker for multiple attackers, you must choose the order in which your blocker will deal damage to those creatures (the owner of a creature chooses the order it's damage is dealt to creatures it attacks or blocks). When this is done, and play progresses to the combat damage step (for creatures with first strike), you must then assign lethal damage to each creature in the order you chose earlier. The addition of deathtouch means that lethal damage is 1 damage for any creature, including indestructible and regenerated creatures. This means with a 2/2 first strike deathtouch creature, you can assign lethal damage to the first 2 creatures in the order you declared.
When all creatures have no more damage to assign, the damage step ends, any creatures assigned lethal damage die and combat progresses. As you would expect any remaining creatures then deal damage to your creature as normal. In your example, you would kill the first 2 3/3s and then the rest would survive to kill your 2/2.
in the second scenario, the result is very similar, all creatures that can, must block your first strike deathtouch creature. Next, you choose the order of those blockers (just as before, the controller of each creature declares the order in which it's damage is dealt), and when the damage step comes assign lethal damage in that order, killing 2 of the 5/5s and leaving 3 standing to then finish your creature.
Deathtouch makes any damage assigned lethal damage, however just as a 0/4 creature with curiosity deals no damage to a player and hence its controller does not draw a card, so too a creature with deathtouch assigning 0 damage to a creature cannot destroy that creature.
If your opponent has 1,000,000 attackers (e.g. through Splinter Twin and Deceiver Exarch combo), and you wish to survive and kill all those creatures, I encourage you to look at Engulfing Slagwurm which has a kind of "Super Deathtouch" which just kills any creature that blocks or becomes blocked by it, giving you life equal to those creatures toughness. In the example I just gave, you would not only survive but stand to gain 4,000,000 life in the process.

We play constructed legacy in my group and this combo is achieved through three cards: venom + lure + Withstand Death


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Is the Diver able to turn when swimming across a flooded or abyss tile?
In the instructions it says the Diver can swim "across" a flooded or abyss tile for one action. Does this means he can make a turn and go to the tile diagonal from his location?

Yes, he can turn.
Page 4 of the rules state

The Diver may move through one or more adjacent missing and/or flooded tiles for 1 action.

There is a thread on BGG here where the designer confirms that turns are allowed.


text:
When should I use Avacyn's Glory's Restoration Angel?
When and how should I use Restoration Angel in the Avacyn's Glory deck? I understand Flash means it can be used any time like an Instant. What is the purpose or situation for exiling a non-angel I control then regaining control?

@agent86 I suspect he is playing DotP 2014, but I still think this would be better on BCG as it is about general Magic strategy as opposed to a question about a DotP mechanic.

Many cards have an ability that triggers when coming into play.  With Restoration Angel, you could re-trigger one such ability.
For the deck you mentioned, Goldnight Commander has the following ability:

Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn

So, when you play Restoration Angel and remove any other creature, your creatures get +2/+2 instead of just +1/+1.  If that other creature is Geist-Honored Monk then the boost to all creatures becomes +4/+4.
This is just one example.  Fiend Hunter, Champion of the Parish, Mentor of the Meek, and Soul Warden could also be used with this strategy.
Alternatively, you can dodge spells and abilities this way.  If a non-angel you have is targeted by a spell or ability (say Shock) then removing the target from play temporarily will cause that spell/ability to miss and do nothing instead.  As @skovacs mentioned in the comments, this can also apply to unwanted enchantments on your non-angel creatures.

While this is generally right you have it backwards, you can only target non-angel creatures.

@RalZarek Thank's for pointing that out.  Updated the answer.

@skovacs1 great point, added.

Also if you are attacking and get an unfavourable block you can remove the dude who is going to do from combat with it

@Gilsham Or, you can block, then have your blocker saved before damage is dealt.

@PatrickvD Relevant answer, in case anyone wants to look further into that scenario.


text:
Wild ricochet and clan defiance?
Suppose I cast a Wild Ricochet onto a Clan Defiance. My Clan Defiance targets flying, non flying and player: can I redirect all of them?
If I do, can I choose the target to be all on the player or do the new targets have to be under same targeting rules?

Yes, and no.

The choice of mode ("Choose one or more") cannot be changed.[CR 114.7]
The number of targets cannot be changed.[CR 114.6a]
Any number of the targets can be changed (including zero).[CR 114.6c]
The targeting conditions still apply.

For example, if the original spell targeted a flying creature and a player, the copy must also target a flying creature and a player.
Or in the example you gave, the copy will also have to target a flying creature, a non-flying creature and a player.

Yes, you can redirect all those targets. Wild Ricochet says "choose new targets" (plural), not "choose a new target" (singular).
No, you can't choose to target a player with all three effects. You still have to follow the targeting rules on the card, the same way the original caster had to - Wild Ricochet doesn't make you exempt to them.

So the choose new targets has to follow the cards requirements... Is there a green or red card that deals x dammage to how many targets or players you want so I could abuse wild ricochet

That wouldn't work either. Damage division is done at casting time, and you can't have a single instance of the word "target" target the same object twice. e.g. If the original did 2 to creature A, 1 to creature B and 1 to opponent, you could do at most 3 damage to the opponent.


text:
What's with the "When ~ enters the battlefield, if it’s on the battlefield" text?
Some cards like Necromancy, Animate Dead, and Dance of the Dead have text like "When ~ enters the battlefield, if it’s on the battlefield, do something". What is the purpose of the "if it’s on the battlefield" part of that trigger? It seems like it's there to prevent some form of abuse, but I'm not sure what that abuse would look like.

The "if it's on the battlefield" clause specifically prevents the triggered ability from resolving if the permanent leaves the battlefield while the ability is on the stack. On each of the cards listed, the triggered ability in question also creates a delayed triggered ability that says "When ~ leaves the battlefield, that creature’s controller sacrifices it." If the permanent has already left the battlefield by the time the first triggered ability resolves, that delayed triggered ability will never trigger and you will never be forced to sacrifice the referenced creature.
So, the abuse that clause is intended to avoid is removing the enchantment in response to the triggered ability so that the creature can be reanimated indefinitely without any of the downsides the enchantment applies.

I'm curious why those cards weren't retemplated to use the "until ~ leaves the battlefield" wording that Banisher Priest et al do, since that template is designed to cover the same timing gap.

Because Wizards avoids doing functional errata whenever possible, and these cards function without it. Plus, even though the rules around moving a card to a zone "until" an event don't exclude the battlefield, objects generally move from battlefield to the graveyard because they are destroyed or sacrificed. Adding that kind of delayed one-shot effect to that increases complexity in a way I assume they want to avoid.

@murgatroid99 Both the "until ~ leaves the battlefield" template and the intervening if clause template here seem to have the same effect - if the object is removed from the battlefield before its ETB trigger resolves, nothing happens, so I don't see how this would be a functional errata. Auras are always a bit odd though, and these are three especially odd auras, so there may be a subtlety here I'm missing.

I am not sure if I am thinking about the same usage of "until ~ leaves the battlefield" you are referring to. If you mean writing "When ~ leaves the battlefield, put target creature card from your graveyard onto the battlefield under your control until ~ leaves the battlefield." instead of having "When ~ leaves the battlefield, that creature's controller sacrifices it." the functional difference is that the event that causes the creature to leave the battlefield is no longer a triggered ability and nobody can respond to it.

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


text:
What are the results of combining Minion Reflector, Doubling Season, and Kalonian Hydra?
Minion Reflector and Doubling Season are out, and then you play Kalonian Hydra.
What happens when the token hydra(s) with haste attack? How many counters do the Hydras wind up with?
If you would be so kind as to walk me through it step by step, I'd appreciate it. There's a few guys in the office and they want to prove their rightness by talking loudly and faster, so I can't quite follow what they're trying to say.
I'm thinking that there will be 2x token hydras created, and the final total will be ?? (56? 40?) +1/+1 counters on each of the 3 Hydras. They think there will be 72 +1/+1 counters.  Am I right? Are they right? Is there a different number?
Here's how I think it plays out:

Kalonian Hydra hits the battlefield with 8x counters because of Doubling Season (see the page, it's a ruling).

Minion Reflector kicks in and creates the token copy.

Doubling Season kicks in, replacing the 1 token copy with 2 token copies.

Doubling Season plays out the same for the token as the original because the hydra is a 0/0 coming into play with 4 counters because it says so on the card, so now there are 2x tokens with 8 counters.

So far me and the guys in the office are all in agreement here, but then it starts to change.

The 2x Hydras with haste attack another player.

Their doubling abilities trigger (keyword trigger, right?) to double the counters on all of the other hydras.  Each Hydra has 8 counters at this point of time, so would get 8 more if this is where it stopped, and would wind up at 16 counters.

I think the important difference in calculations is if the doubling abilities all trigger at the exact same time, or if they somehow go on the stack.

The Doubling Season replacement effect doubles the number of counters placed on the hydras.  They all have 8, and would get 8 more.  Doubling Season says they have 8 and will get 16 more, for a total of 24.

Step 7 happens for each hydra, in this case 2, because only 2 hydras are attacking.  Each Hydra gets 16 counters from each other hydra, for a total of 8 + 16 + 16 = 40

I'm not clear on their math, otherwise I'd explain it.  The guys at the office say that the Hydras wind up with 72 counters.  I think the biggest crux is 6.5 and when the triggers occur and what values they operate on.

I'm new to Magic, been playing less than a year, and I mostly play casual play, so break it down Barney-style if you could :D

If someone played that combo while I was playing, I wouldn't even want them to figure out the number of counters, I would just cede the game. That makes my head hurt.

to address 6.5. The triggers go on the stack. When 2 of the hydras attack, you get to do the counter doubling twice. Start at 8, add 16, then add 48 = 72. I believe that is the logic your coworkers used.

@ColinD Right! only 2 of the hydras are attacking! Lemme tweak it..

@ColinD so each trigger from the hydras trigger, and the trigger goes on the stack, so when it resolves, it uses the new number, not the number that was there when it triggered?
So 8 [start] + (82)[1st trigger] = 24 ||
24 + (242)[2nd trigger] = 72

Athough @Pow-Ian 's,answer doesn't pell it out directly, keep in mind that replement effects (like Doubling Season) don't trigger. They replace an event that matches their conditional.

@user1873 how do you mean doesn't put it directly? 'The Doubling season's replacement effect modifies them each time the hydra's ability triggers.' How much more direct does it need to be?

Your friends are jerks if they said it goes up to 72 but didn't bother explaining how they got to 72. Just sayin'

Re "keyword trigger, right?", Yes. "When/Whenever/At ..." is a triggered ability.

Each instance of the ability would go on the stack one at a time.
So the first 8/8 hydra attacks and puts his ability on the stack,
The second hydra's ability goes on the stack,
The Doubling season's replacement effect modifies them each time the hydra's ability triggers.
Since you are the active player and they both trigger at once, then you get to decide what order they go onto the stack, even though in this case it does not much matter because they both do the same thing.
The first hydra doubles the counters, since it is going to put counters on something and the Doubling season says to put twice that many on, they end up with 8 + 16 =24 counters instead.
The second hydra doubles the counters, since it is going to put counters on something and the Doubling season says to put twice that many on, they end up with 24 + 48 = 72 counters instead.
so they are 8 +16 = 24
then they are 24 + 48 = 72.

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

The comprehensive rules show that each ability would count the number of counters at the time it resolves, not when it is put on the stack. (Emphasis mine)

608.2g If an effect requires information from the game (such as the number of creatures on the battlefield), the answer is determined only
  once, when the effect is applied. If the effect requires information
  from a specific object, including the source of the ability itself or
  a target that's become illegal, the effect uses the current
  information of that object if it's in the public zone it was expected
  to be in; if it's no longer in that zone, or if the effect has moved
  it from a public zone to a hidden zone, the effect uses the object's
  last known information. See rule 112.7a. If an ability states that an
  object does something, it's the object as it exists -- or as it most
  recently existed -- that does it, not the ability.

In this case the information from the game the Hydra's ability needs, is the number of counters on each creature who's counters are being doubled.

The copies created by Minion Reflector only copy the base characteristics of the creature. That means that counters on the creature won't be copied. You'll get two tokens that are copies of the Hidra but are 0/0 so they will die almost right away. If we ignore that (we could consider that two Hidras have been played, for example), then this answer is right.

@Pablo, While the counters won't get copied as you say, the ability that give the counters will be copied and will give it counters. The copies won't die because they'll be 4/4 (or 8/8 with Doubling Season), not 0/0.

@ikegami True, I didn't read the card properly and just assumed that it was one of those cards that enter the battlefield with counters equal to some mana that was paid when it was played. My bad.

I have to downvote this, because this answer is incorrect in one important detail: the counters added to one hydra have no affect on the counters added to the other hydra. See my answer.

@JSBձոգչ did you read the card? Maybe you read it too quickly: Whenever Kalonian Hydra attacks, double the number of +1/+1 counters on each creature you control.


text:
Does "whenever a creature attacks" count for each attacker separately?
Hissing Miasma is an enchantment that says:

Whenever a creature attacks you, its controller loses 1 life.

Does the attacker lose one life per attacking creature?

Yes (though they will be lost one at a time).

There's a rule specifically covering this:

603.2c An ability triggers only once each time its trigger event occurs. However, it can trigger repeatedly if one event contains multiple occurrences. See also rule 509.4.

If your opponent attacks you with an Elf and a Bear, two instances of the event "a creature attacks you" occurred (the Elf attacked you, and the Bear attacked you), so the ability will trigger twice.
You will place these on the stack where they will resolve one at a time, each causing him to lose one life (for a total of two).

(though they will be lost one at a time)
Huh. So, if that opponent has something that works like "the next time a source will make you lose life, this prevents 2 life points of damage" that card should cancel ONLY the first point?

@juanzack, yup! The effect of the first ability to resolve is "its controller loses 1 life." This will be prevented. Then a second instance of the ability resolves. This is explained later in the post.

@juanzack, Except Hissing Miasma causes loss of life, not damage, so a damage prevention effect wouldn't do anything anyway.

ug, he used "lose life" in the trigger, but "damage" in the effect. He meant "The next time you would lose life, reduce the life lost by two." or something like that.

Haha yeah sorry, thanks ikegami, that's what I meant. This is interesting, since a card that would prevent the losing of 1 life from every source would completely negate Hissing Miasma.

True, but I don't know if there's anything that prevents life lost.

Well there's Platinum Emperion... but that would stop all the life loss, not just the first.

The number of triggers can matter, too. Consider Exquisite Blood and Archangel of Thune. If your opponent attacks with 4 creatures, you get 4 +1/+1 counters since you gained 1 life 4 times. If your opponent lost 4 life for the attackers all in one shot, you'd gain 4 life 1 time, which would mean you'd only get 1 +1/+1 counter. Swinging into some 1/1's that just turned into 5/5's would be devastating! :-O

Woah. That is certainly something that I will be testing.

Yes, the attacker will lose one life per attacking creature.
The ability is a triggered ability, because it uses the word "whenever". The trigger is a creature having attacked, and if 5 creatures attack, then this will trigger 5 times.

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

Great, that's what I thought! Thanks, I had to ask this anyway since the wording in Spanish is confusing.

@juanzack, Hm? The wording in Spanish is the same. "Siempre que una criatura te ataque, su controlador pierde 1 vida."

Tuve discusiones con amigos por "Siempre que una criatura te ataque", porque interpretaban eso como que se activaba UNA vez cuando en una fase de ataque enemiga 1 criatura o más atacaban.

Yes, the attacker will lose one life per attacking creature.
The ability is a triggered ability,when a ability is triggered it gets a 2nd trigger if say a elf and another creature attacks you as well

Please read existing answers, especially those with high scores, to see if an answer similar to yours had already been posted. If you post the same information that was posted three years ago, then your post may get a lower score. Of course, if you are confident that you can present the same information more clearly and understandably, then you should. I suggest sorting your questions page by "newest to oldest" instead of "most recently active", so that you can focus your efforts on newer questions.


text:
Can Jelava cast a creature if it has Flash?
If I cast Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge and exile a creature with flash, could I cast that creature when she attacks and triggers her ability?

Flash is defined as follows, which makes it sound like the answer is "yes":

702.8a Flash is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on. “Flash” means “You may play this card any time you could cast an instant.”

But the following rule for activated abilities makes it uncertain:

602.5e Activated abilities that read “Activate this ability only any time you could cast an instant” mean the player must follow the timing rules for casting an instant spell, though the ability isn’t actually an instant. The player doesn’t actually need to have an instant card that he or she could cast.

No, quite simply because a "creature card" is not an "instant or sorcery card"

No, you cannot.  Being able to be cast when an instant could be cast does not make something an instant.  The closest the rules actually come to addressing this point appears to be (emphasis added):

304.5. If text states that a player may do something "any time he or she could cast an instant," it means only that the player must have priority. The player doesn't need to have an instant he or she could actually cast. Effects that would prevent that player from casting a spell or casting an instant don't affect the player's capability to perform that action (unless the action is actually casting a spell or casting an instant).

Thus, "having flash" does not imply "being an instant."

The pertinent words are instant and sorcery since they are used directly in front of the word card, they are descriptions for the card.

109.2a If a spell or ability uses a description of an object that includes the word “card” and the
  name of a zone, it means a card matching that description in the stated zone.

Note that in this case we also need 607.2a, since it is a linked ability, but I will skip over that part since it doesn't seem to be questioned here.
So we have a description of some kind for a card in a zone. The description's typically are assumed to look at the characteristics of a card unless they describe a non-characteristic (for instance owned by you).

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

Emphasis mine, since card type include instant and sorcery, that is what is being listed by the card. The exact card type in the line of the card.

Yep that's the crux of it, a Creature Card is not an Instant Card even if it has the Flash ability.


text:
Is Sanguine Bond + Exquisite Blood a potential game ender?
If both Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood are in play and target player loses any life, is the game over?

Either your opponent will have to lose life or you will have to gain life to start the process. Then, yes, unless someone does something to stop it, you'll enter a loop which will win you the game.
As hinted above, there are numerous effects that can change the outcome. If an opponent controls Platinum Angel, if they cast Angel's Grace, or if you control Abyssal Persecutor, the game will enter into a loop of mandatory actions which will end the game in a draw. If an opponent has hexproof or shroud for some reason (e.g. Witchbane Orb, True Believer), Sanguine Bond won't be able to target him or her and the loop will terminate. Voidslime can end the loop (but doesn't prevent from being restarted later).

Note: If an opponent controls Platinum Angel or casts Angel's Grace, or you control Abyssal Persecutor, this will enter into a loop of mandatory actions which will end the game in a draw. If an opponent has hexproof or shroud for some reason (Witchbane Orb, True Believer, etc.), Sanguine Bond won't be able to target him or her and the loop will terminate.

@Brian S, Thanks for the examples. I have incorporated them into the answer. Credit in the edit description.

Actually, you will not win.  According to the comprehensive rules on infinite loops, if a loop contains only mandatory effects, the game ends in a draw.  Since the cards don't say may, they are mandatory.  Sorry no game winning combo here.

They're just regular triggered abilities, so they use the stack. That means you'll check for state-based effects between each trigger. Losing the game due to running out of life is one such state-based effect. At that point, the game just ends; it doesn't matter if there's another trigger still on the stack now.

The general idea of the rules on infinite loops is that it's a draw if there's really no way at all for them to stop. The end of the game is a perfectly good way for a loop to end, as is a player deciding to do something that breaks the loop. It's when a mandatory loop does something that doesn't end the game that it's a problem.

In short, players regularly get priority, so this loop doesn't contain only mandatory effects.

the loop DOES contain only mandatory actions. players still getting priority is not related. A more accurate explanation of the reason this is wrong, is if a player will win as a result of the loop being executed N times, it is therefore a non-infinite loop. the rule informing the answer above only applies if the loop cannot terminate regardless of how many times it is executed. if players get priority, they can (but do not have to) perform actions to interrupt the loop to stop the draw. But the game should still end in a draw if they regularly get priority but are unable to stop the loop.

@Patters is correct. This is an infinite loop of mandatory actions... but barring something like Platinum Angel in play, it will end the game rather than resulting in a draw.

the combo one goes till the opponent is at 0 life it is not infinite. The life has to come from somewhere if no opponent has life/ they are at 0 life the the combo ends. And the hex proof/ platinum angel thing do stop the combo but not in a draw. The opponent will be at zero, just not dead.

-1; The only thing that ends the combo is one of the two enchantments leaving the battlefield, one of the triggers being removed from the stack (temporarily interrupting the combo), or the controlling player running out of targets (either by eliminating all opposing players, or all remaining opposing players having shroud/hexproof). Platinum Angel, Phyrexian Unlife, etc. results in a draw.

Players can lose life to go below zero. What they can't do is spend life to go below zero (so you can't, say, use Yawgmoth's Bargain to draw your entire deck even if you have Platinum Angel in play)


text:
Nightveil Specter - Do I have to play the cards in order they were exiled?
Nightveil Specter has the following ability:

Whenever Nightveil Specter deals combat damage to a player, that
  player exiles the top card of his or her library.
You may play cards exiled with Nightveil Specter.

As I understand the rules text, I can play the card whenever it is legal to play, say a land: I can play one land in one of my main phase. But, can I play the exiled land form last turn? And what if in the meantime I exiled another card?
Example:

First I exile a Forest
Then I exile a Scavenging Ooze

Can I play the land first and then the ooze?

See the rulings for this card on Gatherer: Gatherer: Nightveil Specter

The card is exiled face up. All players may look at it.
Playing a card exiled with Nightveil Specter follows all the normal rules for playing that card. You must pay its costs, and you must
  follow all timing restrictions, for example.
Nightveil Specter’s last ability applies to cards exiled with that specific Nightveil Specter, not any other creature named Nightveil Specter. You should keep cards exiled by different Nightveil Specters separate.

The cards are effectively put to one side, to be used as you see fit. It's as if they are added to your hand. You can play them when you choose, but you have to follow the usual rules for playing those cards, including costs and timings. So you're still restricted to playing one land per turn.
The order of exile isn't relevant here, only the copy of the Specter that exiled the card. So if it was exiled last turn it’s still available to you. This is because exile is effectively a place, the card has been removed from the game, and it stays that way until something changes its state… like you choosing to play it.

It simply means you can play them just like cards in your hand. Think of it as a larger hand size, except they're not actually in your hand. This means:

Effects that inspect your hand, cards in your hand or your hand size will ignore them.
Effects that affect your hand, cards in your hand or your hand size will ignore them.
They can't be discarded.
They're visible to everyone.

Can I play the land first and then the ooze?

In this particular case, you can't play either until your second main phase comes around because they're not instants. Then, you can play the land (if you haven't yet played one this turn) or cast the ooze in any order or not at all. You also have the options of playing them at a later time, as long as Nightveil Specter hasn't left the battlefield (at all) since it exiled the cards.

(I think you mean 'as long as Nightveil Specter hasn't left the battlefield since it exiled the cards' in your last sentence.)

Yes, you can play them in any order you want as long as you follow all timing restrictions.

1/24/2013     The card is exiled face up. All players may look at it.
1/24/2013     Playing a card exiled with Nightveil Specter follows all
  the normal rules for playing that card. You must pay its costs, and
  you must follow all timing restrictions, for example.
1/24/2013
    Nightveil Specter's last ability applies to cards exiled with that
  specific Nightveil Specter, not any other creature named Nightveil
  Specter. You should keep cards exiled by different Nightveil Specters
  separate.


text:
Regenerate: Tap before regeneration?
I have a creature with the regenerate ability. If I activate this ability I generate some sort of a regenerate shield according to the following rule:

701.12a: The next time [permanent] would be destroyed this turn, instead remove all damage marked on it and tap it. If it’s an attacking or blocking creature, remove it from combat.

Now, do I have to tap the create after I activated the ability? Or is the creature tapped after the creature would be destroyed and the regenerate shield "wears off"?
How does regeneration work in Magic the Gathering? according to this, I guess the creature get tapped when regenerate shield "wears off". (I'm sorry, I don't know a better word for the shield to take effect...)

The creature is tapped when it would be destroyed (this turn). The most common example of this is:

You attack with your creature (whom has a regenerate ability)
The enemy blocks with a creature with the same or more power than your creature's toughness
You recognize that your creature will die if it is not regenerated, so you activate the regenerate ability BEFORE that lethal damage is dealt, creating the "Regeneration Shield" that will last until the creature is destroyed, or the turn ends.
Combat damage is exchanged. Your creature now has more marked damage than its toughness.
Immediately after, state based actions are checked and performed. Creatures with more marked damage than their toughness are destroyed. Since your creature has an active regenerate shield, when your creature would be destroyed, the replacement effect from regeneration kicks in. Instead, you tap it (if it is not already tapped), remove it from combat (if it is in combat) and remove all marked damage from it.

There are 3 elements of regeneration:

Tapping the regenerated creature - this tends to be relevant only to creatures with Vigilance
Removing the creature from combat - If a regeneration shield is being used during combat but before combat damage, such as to prevent a Doom Blade killing the creature, the creature is removed from combat and will no longer deal or receive combat damage.
Removing all marked damage from the creature - When a creature gets damaged, that damage is "remembered", but only until the end of that turn. If at any point during a turn the damage exceeds a creature's toughness, that creature gets destroyed the next time state based actions are checked.

this answer doesnt account for giant growth effects. it would be better to talk in terms of "marked damage", the phrasing used by wizards.

@Patters, I'm not sure how exactly your suggestion would change my answer, would you mind making an edit?

I have made an edit to correct some of the original order of events, and added some more detail about what regeneration actually does.

Tapping matters for non-vigilance creatures too when they're destroyed out of combat.

@Patters, SBAs are performed during Combat Damage Step. I've corrected your addition.

State-based actions aren't necessarily performed "immediately after" combat damage is dealt. All abilities that trigger when a creature or player deals or is dealt damage are first stacked in APNAP order. "The next-time SBAs are checked" was actually the more correct verbage.

the incorrectness of my edit was leaving the name of the step in place (end of combat step). which was what ikegami was fixing

How does "Remove all damage marked on it" interact with Infect damage?

Infect doesn't do combat damage to a creature. It puts infect counters on it. Counters are taken off too i believe.


text:
When does Thorncaster Sliver's ability resolve?
When you attack with Thorncaster Sliver and the ability triggers, does it do the damage from the attack first or the ability first?

This is answered by Do Thorncaster Sliver's triggered abilities go on the stack? and then by Does the Thorncaster Sliver's ability damage have to be assigned before or after blockers are declared?. This is the third time this has been asked this week!

Ability, before blockers are even declared.

The ability triggers when the Sliver attacks, which means when it's declared as an attacker.
The ability gets placed on the stack the next time a player would get priority [CR 112.3c], which is still within the Declare Attackers step. That means the ability resolves and causes damage to be dealt in that step too.
My earlier answer covers a very similar scenario in detail.


text:
What is the name of this game involving racing to the other side of the board and putting down barriers?
Does anyone recognize this game, where players take turns in a square board, each turn a player can move his pawn or place a wall and the objective is to reach the other side of the board before the other player.
Here is a picture of a near end game.

possible duplicate of Identify the Game: reach the other side of the board, while avoiding barriers

Not sure about the board, which looks like a homemade knockoff to me, but the game itself and its mechanics appear to be Quoridor.

— Image taken from http://boardgamegeek.com/image/110043/quoridor —

Man I love this game :)


text:
Do type-changing static abilities allow triggering?
If I have March of the Machines and Soul Warden on the battlefield, what happens when I cast a non-creature artifact like Azorius Signet? When exactly does the card type change?

One could call the argument irrelevant because the deck with march of the machines and soul warden will lose to just about anything but catacomb slug. :-)

The signet will come into play as a creature and trigger the wardens ability.

Soul Warden's ability will trigger.

603.6d Normally, objects that exist immediately after an event are checked to see if the event matched any trigger conditions. [...]

That means it's the types the Signet has on the battlefield that are checked by Soul Warden's triggered ability.

604.1. Static abilities do something all the time rather than being activated or triggered. They are written as statements, and they’re simply true.

That means there isn't a moment that a non-creature artifact on the battlefield is not affected by March of the Machine.
As such, the Signet is seen as a creature by Soul Warden's triggered ability, and it will trigger.


text:
What happens when creature has two mutually exclusive restrictions on what can block them?
What happens if I equip my Juggernaut

Juggernaut can't be blocked by Walls.

with a Prowler's Helm

Equipped creature can't be blocked except by Walls.

or if I enchant my Charging Rhino

Charging Rhino can't be blocked by more than one creature.

with a Purphoros's Emissary?

Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 and has menace.

From this very detailed answer, I'd say they're both unblockable, but I'm wondering if the word "except" allows the blocker to block if he or she satisfies the "except" condition.

The answers explain why the result is that the creature is unblockable.  If you want to make a creature unblockable, you don't need a combo to do it.  Check out Whispersilk Cloak, Aqueous Form, or Rogue's Passage

In both cases, the end result is that they cannot be blocked. When Juggernaut says "can't be blocked by Walls", it means "can't be blocked by creatures that are Walls" and when Prowler's Helm says "can't be blocked except by Walls", it means "If a blocker is declared for this creature, that blocker has to be a Wall". So the end result is that the opponent can't legally declare anything to block that Juggernaut.
The second instance has the same conclusion. Charging Rhino's ability means "no more than one blocker can be declared for this creature" and Purphoros's Emissary's ability means "if blockers are declared for this creature, there have to be 2". The result is that the only legal number of blockers for that creature is 0.
The relevant rule is 509.1b, which is part of the procedure for declaring blockers (emphasis added):

The defending player checks each creature he or she controls to see whether it's affected by any restrictions (effects that say a creature can't block, or that it can't block unless some condition is met). If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of blockers is illegal.
A restriction may be created by an evasion ability (a static ability an attacking creature has that restricts what can block it). If an attacking creature gains or loses an evasion ability after a legal block has been declared, it doesn't affect that block. Different evasion abilities are cumulative.

Basically, since a block is illegal if any restriction is disobeyed, if two restrictions put together restrict all creatures from blocking, then no creature can block.

"Unblockable" actually doesn't have all that much rules meaning - it just means "can't be blocked". It isn't supposed to be treated as an ability or something. It's just a statement that it can't be blocked, and that's literally what 700.5 says it means. They actually charged fairly recent cards to just say "can't be blocked" - e.g. see Phantom Warrior and compare the 2014 and 2010 versions - because people were confusing it for an ability keyword like 'hexproof', rather than just a statement about the creature.

I removed that note.

Aha, found the article. The change was in Core 2014. Magic 2014 Core Set Rules Preview, CTRL+F "Unblockable Demoted to Definitely Not a Keyword".

If you actually had mutually exclusive effects (e.g. "X must block Y" and "X can't block Y"), those limiting what you can do would win over those that permit you do something. This is colloquially known as "can't trumps can", and it's the second Golden Rule of MTG.

101.2. When a rule or effect allows or directs something to happen, and another effect states that it can’t happen, the “can’t” effect takes precedence.

More specifically, you need to comply with the most requirements ("must") as possible while complying with all restrictions ("can't").

508.1c [...] If any restrictions are being disobeyed, the declaration of attackers is illegal. [...]
508.1d [...] If the number of requirements that are being obeyed is fewer than the maximum possible number of requirements that could be obeyed without disobeying any restrictions, the declaration of attackers is illegal. [...]

However, neither of the scenario you posted actually have mutually exclusive effects. One is quite capable of obeying both restrictions.
"Juggernaut can't be blocked by Walls" and "Equipped creature can't be blocked except by Walls" are not mutually exclusive. It's possible to obey both restrictions by not blocking the Juggernaut.
"Charging Rhino can't be blocked by more than one creature" and "Enchanted creature gets +3/+3 and can't be blocked except by two or more creatures" are not mutually exclusive. It's possible to obey both restrictions by not blocking the Rhino.
One must obey all blocking restrictions[CR 508.1c], so one would not be able to block the Juggernaut or the Rhino in the scenarios you presented.

I think he meant "mutually exclusive" in the sense that the conditions that would allow the player to declare a blocker are mutually exclusive in each case.

@murgatroid99, Neither of those abilities allow things to block. Both limit what can block. As I explained, this means there's no conflict at all. At best, they are mutually exclusive with a rule, in which case the first Golden Rule applies: Card trumps rules.

I know that. I meant that they were mutually exclusive in the sense that a creature must not be a wall to block Juggernaut and must be a wall to block a creature equipped by Prowler's Helm. These are mutually exclusive conditions, which is why the set of creatures that can block Juggernaut equipped with Prowler's Helm is empty. Obviously "allow" was a poor word choice on my part.

Actually, the essence of my doubt was "does 'except by' allow things", and it turns out it doesn't. Thanks for the golden rule precision though, have my upvote.

@murgatroid99, Re "a creature must not be a wall to block Juggernaut", That presumes there must be a blocker, but that's not the case. That's not what the abilities say. Neither of those abilities allow things to block. Both limit what can block. As I explained, this means there's no conflict at all.

@Trajan, Re <<the essence of my doubt was "does 'except by' allow things>>, The rules allow you to block; the abilities restrict what can block.

This answer is technically more correct, as the creature is not inherently unblockable. In case of the Juggernaut example, that creature could be blocked by a creature that reads "This creature may block as though there were no creature type restrictions on blocking creatures.", if such a card were ever to be printed. Magic is a game about rules interactions, and while largely philosophical in this case, technicalities often matter in this game, which makes the explanation as important as the outcome - therefore, upvoted for accuracy.

Re "I meant that they were mutually exclusive in the sense that a creature must not be a wall to block Juggernaut and must be a wall to block a creature equipped by Prowler's Helm", The OP surely thinks those are two things mutually exclusive, but as my answer points out, there's no problem because they're not actually mutually exclusive. I have updated it for added clarity.

@ikegami that depends on how you define mutually exclusive, and based on the definition here, they are, the restrictions are mutually exclusive, a creature cannot both be a wall to fit the first restriction and not be a wall to fit the second.

@Andrew, The definition of mutually exclusive is not up for debate. Both "Juggernaut can't be blocked by Walls" and "Equipped creature can't be blocked except by Walls" can be obeyed at the same time, so they are not mutually exclusive.

@ikegami "mutually exclusive or disjoint if they cannot both occur at the same time(be true)" A creature cannot both be a wall and not be a wall, therefore the restrictions between them create mutually exclusive conditions for blocking.

@Andrew, I agree that "This is a wall", and "this is not a wall" are mutually exclusive, but those aren't the blocking restrictions I said were mutually exclusive. It is possible to follow both of the instructions in the OP's scenario at the same time, so by definition, they aren't mutually exclusive, so 101.2. doesn't apply. Please refrain from further off-topic comments.

If a state passes a law that says "People under 21 may not drink beer with alcohol content greater than 5%", and then they pass a law that says "People under 21 may not drink beer with alcohol content less than 5%", those two laws aren't mutually exclusive. A person under 21 can follow both by not drinking any beer.


text:
How does mana cost reduction interact with colored mana in a cost?
My friends and I are relatively new to magic, and we're confused as to how mana cost reduction works — i.e. the effects which say something costs X less mana.
Can mana cost reduction reduce the colored portion of a mana cost, or can it only reduce the uncolored portion? If so, how does it interact with the mana cost?
I think some examples will make this clearer:

Can Nemesis of Mortals potentially be free to cast, or does it always cost at least 2 green mana?
Suppose I have Animar, Soul of Elements with two counters, meaning creature spells cost {2} less to cast. If I cast Lazav, Dimir Mastermind:

Does Lazav now cost less than UUBB to cast?
Can I choose to pay only UU to cast him, and let the discount take away the BB portion of the cost?
Can I choose to pay UB?

If I have Animar out with two counters, and I choose to cast Nemesis of Mortals instead, can I discount the forest mana and pay only the remaining 4 of any color?

For an example of a card that reduces the 'colored' component of mana cost: http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=43513

Covered by [CR 117.7]

@ColinD A more recent example might be Ragemonger (http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=378525)

Mana cost changes affect specific elements of a mana cost only. If a reduction says “Spells cost {1} less to cast” this will only affect generic portions of a mana cost. If a reduction says “Spells cost {U} less to cast” it can make spells cost {U} less or a corresponding amount of generic mana.
A good illustrative example is Khalni Hydra, which has a mana cost reduction specifying colored mana symbols (in this case green). This mana reduction can pay for generic mana costs (in the event an additional mana cost is added by another effect). However, the same is not true for generic cost reductions paying for colored mana symbols. This behaviour functions in exactly the same way as generally paying for spells, you can pay generic mana costs with any color of mana (or colorless) but you cannot pay color costs with colorless mana.
To summarise, Colored mana costs can only be reduced by effects that specify they will reduce that color of mana. Generic costs can be reduced by colored mana cost reductions OR colorless ones. All of this functions just like spending mana to cast spells.
To answer your specific examples:

Nemesis of mortals will always cost at least 2 green mana.
Lazav's mana cost will be unchanged. The mana cost reduction is colorless only, and he has no colorless mana in his casting cost.
You could discount 2 from the generic cost, but you would still have to pay the green portion of the mana cost. If you have 2 creatures in the graveyard and Animar with 2 counters, you will get a total mana cost reduction of 4 colorless.

Thank you! I've replaced the Council with another card which does affect creature spells, so as to have decent examples.

updated my answer to reflect your changes :)

Actually, I think Convoke is a bad example. Recent changes have changed the rules of Convoke, you'll notice that the Oracle reminder text is different than the printed reminder text. Convoke no longer reduces mana cost, it simply pays for part of the mana cost.

@GendoIkari i missed that, I will change to Khalni Hydra

@Rawrgramming, according to the Gatherer rulings of Khalni Hydra, the {G} mana cost reduction CAN reduce colorless mana costs if they are imposed by another effect. Just like you can pay for {1} with {G}, you can also reduce {1} with something that reduces {g}.

117.7a If a cost is reduced by an amount of colored mana, but its colored mana component doesn't contain mana of that color, the cost is reduced by that amount of generic mana.

clearly i didnt know that, i will update accordingly

@Rawprogramming, I edited it for you.

I finished my edit just as yours appeared

@Rawprogramming, it's all good; answer looks good now.

To prevent confusion like this (and probably to prevent the rules from being broken), the comp rules do make a distinction between colorless mana (actual mana which has no color) and generic mana (in costs, can be paid by any type of mana).

Note that I'm aware of at least one exception to this, but the rules as to how it works are on the card: Edgewalker.


text:
When would I use Leyline Phantom?
I'm a relatively new MtG player, and among my first batch of cards was Leyline Phantom:

At first I wondered what I'd do with a card that might return to my hand regularly. Is it a relatively cheap source of power and toughness at a trade-off? I figured this would be mainly used for triggering various effects, but I had no idea what they were until yesterday. It would work very well in at least these two situations:

It cooperates well with Sage's Row Denizen from the Dimir Delusion starter, which mills the opponent a little bit each time a blue creature is played and can help strengthen other Dimir Delusion cards.
It could be used to regularly trigger evolution in Simic Combine creatures.

Now I'm wondering what other uses for it I'm missing, and whether there's even more to the above two points than what I've mentioned.
How can I take advantage of Leyline Phantom?

@murgatroid99 Why are you removing images from posts? I would prefer it to be present, and don't see a particular reason to remove it.

It takes a lot of vertical space for the information it communicates, which is already basically redundant with the gatherer link to the card. I was going through old posts to try to improve them, and removing images seemed like a good way to make posts conform to current standards. That said, I don't have a strong preference, and I won't try to change it if you put it back.

@murgatroid99 Okay. I prefer it being there, and don't feel it's redundant given it's the entire focus of the question, and vertical space is not much of an issue. I will roll back the edit.

@murgatroid99 It's not redundant: I live in a locale where English is not the primary language. Here, gatherer links often misfire, because the website automatically translates based on locale information. But the link searches by English name, resulting in no matches. It's also nice just not having to click through.

@EsotericScreenName That sounds like a bug in Gatherer. And, unlike the apostrophe problem, it might be important enough to fix. I would suggest sending an email to them detailing the problem with an example or two. In the meantime, you might be able to work around that problem by changing your preferred language to English.

You've pretty much summed it up yourself. While you probably would not put Leyline Phantom in a constructed deck, it saw a fair amount of play in limited, since it both has a pretty big body for the cost and has various synergies with a few other cards in the same limited environment.
I would not spend to much time trying to figure out other ways to use the card; since the card is just not very powerful. I'm sure there are plenty of other cards that combo with Leyline Phantom, but for most of those there are lots of other cards that combo even better (e.g. the "gating" creatures from Invasion block).

If you were running a Blue and Green (Simic) deck featuring creatures with Evolve (like Experiment One or Gyre Sage), it could be very beneficial to cast Leyline Phantom multiple times, as the combination of a high power/toughness, plus a (relatively) low casting cost would let you trigger Evolve several times.