Mirage FAQ
by Dan Gray
Version 2.0
3 November 1996
Thanks to Ernest Alexander, Jamey Billig, Nathan Cullen, Jeff Hagerty, John
Magee, Binh Pham, Joel Unger, and Brian Weissman for asking most of these
questions(usually at the wrong time :)
Thanks to Dave DeLaney and David Johnson for corrections and comments.
A number of questions have come up a lot in my play group, at
tournaments I've run, and on the various Magic newsgroups. Rather than
continually answer the same questions over and over, I figured compiling a
FAQ would be helpful. Bill Rose(Mirage's lead designer) compiled a FAQ
following the Atlanta pro tournament which was distributed to organizers of
the Mirage pre-release tournaments. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a copy
since. Several of these questions appeared on Bill's FAQ, but most of them
are a result of questions I've read on the .rules newsgroup, and those I've
been asked by various members of my local playgroup.
I assume full responsibility for all the answers herein. They are
correct to the best of my knowledge, but future rulings may change them or
render them invalid.
1. What's up with all these sorceries and instants that are written in a
: format? Does this mean I can pay the cost mutliple times to
get the effect multiple times?
No. All cards printed Mirage and after are employing a strict
: template. Anything that is a cost is written in front of
the colon on the card. Nevertheless, as always, spells can only have their
costs paid once and you will only get the effect once(unless the card
specifically says otherwise). For example, you cannot pay half your life
multiple times to draw more cards with Infernal Contract-- you pay half your
life once, you draw four cards. Phyrexian Purge, conversely, lets you pay
the cast as many times as you want, since it specifically says so.
2. I use Shallow Grave to bring my Volcanic Dragon into play. Before the end
of the turn, I use Reality Ripple to cause the Dragon to phase out. When the
Dragon phases back in, will it still be buried at the end of the turn?
Yes. Shallow Grave says, "Remove this creature from the game at the
end of any turn." This is a permanent effect. If the creature is in play
at the end of any turn(yours, an opponent's, whomever's), it will be removed
from the game. Phasing, or otherwise "hiding" a creature(Safe Haven, etc.)
will not prevent this.
3. What's up with these effects that say, "Play this ability as a sorcery?"
It means just that-- you can only play the effect at a time when you
could normally cast a sorcery(beginning of a spell stack during your own
main phase except during an attack). The effect is not actually a sorcery,
of course, any more than Tim's poke is actually an instant.
4. When I cast Stupor, which discard happens first, the random or the
chosen?
Per the card text, the random discard always happens first.
5. If I cast Flare on a Skulking Ghost, do I still get to draw the card?
No. The Skulking Ghost will die before Flare resolves(as soon as
it's declared a target). When Flare does resolve, since its target is gone,
the damage will fizzle. In all cases, if all the targeted parts of a spell
or effect fizzle, all its non-targeted parts fail as well. So, unless Flare
deals the damage, you don't get to draw.
6. OK, so what if an opponent casts a spell targeting Skulking Ghost and I
counter it? Will that save the ghost?
No. As soon as the Ghost is declared as a target, it immediately
dies. This is well before you could counter the spell(although, you're still
free to counter the spell if you want).
7. I have Tombstone Stairwell in play. Who gets tokens, just me, or
everybody?
Everybody gets a new set of tokens during the upkeep of each
turn(not just your own).
8. Withering Boon doesn't say "Effects that prevent or redirect damage
cannot be used to counter this loss of life." Does this means I can prevent
the 3 points with COP: Black?
No. For Mirage, all unnecessary reminder text has been removed from
the cards. Per the rules, any time something instructs you to lose or pay
life, that life loss is not damage and cannot be prevented or redirected.
This applies to all cards in Mirage that call for payment or loss of life,
not just Withering Boon.
9. My opponent has Bazaar of Wonders in play, and I have a Dark Ritual in my
graveyard. Will the Bazaar counter a Dark Ritual if I cast another one?
No. Dark Ritual, being a mana source, is announced and resolved all
in the same moment, even before a triggered effect like Bazaar of Wonders
can go off and stop it. This applies to all mana sources.
10. I put a number of counters on Energy Vortex during my turn. My opponent
declines to remove them. Does she take 3 damage per counter or 3 damage
total?
3 damage total.
11. I cast Flash, and elect to put a Catacomb Dragon into play. Do I have to
pay the Dragon's cost as written on the card, or will generic equivalent do?
You have to pay the actual casting cost, including any colored mana,
reduced by up to 2 generic mana. In the case of Catacomb Dragon, this would
be BB2.
12. Can I use Mind Bend to replace a color word with a basic land type or
vice versa?
No. Mind Bend can only change from color to color or land to land.
Never land to color or color to land.
13. I play Mind Harness on my opponent's Nettletooth Djinn. She then casts
Deathlace on the Djinn. What happens?
Mind Harness will bury itself since its target is no longer valid.
For all enchantments that say "Play only on X," X is considered a targeting
restriction on the enchantment. If X is ever not true, the enchantment is on
an invalid target, and will bury itself.
14. Can I get a land with Mystical Tutor?
No. Mystical Tutor can only retrieve cards of spell type sorcery,
instant, interrupt, or mana source. Just because a land produces mana(which
is played as a mana source) doesn't mean it is of spell type mana source. It
is still a land. Currently, there are only four spells of spell type mana
source-- Dark Ritual, Songs of the Damned, Burnt Offering, and Sacrifice.
15. I cast Political Trickery. In response, my opponent sacrifices the land
I target to her Zuran Orb. What happens?
Political Trickery fizzles, and the exchange does not take place. In
general, if something calls for a swap or exchange, and one of the targets
leaves play or becomes invalid, the exchange does not take place.
16. Can I use Prismatic Lace to change a permanent to colorless?
No. Colorless is not a color. You have to pick one or more of the
five colors.
17. What's up with Taniwha?
It's relatively straightforward. During your turn, either your land
or Taniwha is in play. The turn after you summon her, Taniwha will phase out
at the beginning of your untap. She will be out of play at the beginning of
your upkeep, so your lands stay. Next turn, at the beginning of your untap,
Taniwha phases in. Then, at the beginning of your upkeep, your lands phase
out. Next time, your lands come back at the exact same time Taniwha phases
out again. This cycle will repeat as long as Taniwha is in play.
18. What happens if Teferi's Imp phases out while I have no cards in hand?
Do I still get to draw when it phases back in?
If the Imp phases out while your hand is empty, you simply ignore
the effect(just as you would any other effect that instructed you to discard
with no cards in hand). This will not preclude you from drawing a card when
the Imp phases back in.
19. I have Maro in play. My opponent casts Winds of Change. Does Maro die?
Yes. If at any time you have no cards in hand, even for a moment,
Maro dies(assuming something else isn't pumping him up). This applies
equally to Winds of Change, Wheel of Fortune, Diminishing Returns, or
Timetwister.
20. When do I decide how many lands I'm sacrificng/searching for when
casting Natural Balance?
At resolution. If your number of lands goes up or down before
Natural Balance resolves, it can change the number of land you
sacrifice/search for.
21. Do I gain life for each of my artifacts or just one when I cast Seeds
of Innocence?
Each player gains life to the combined total casting costs of the
artifacts he or she just buried.
22. How much damage does a Tropical Storm deal to a blue flying creature?
Tropical Storm deals X damage to each non-blue flyer, 1 damage to
each blue non-flyer, and X+1 damage to each blue flyer.
23. Can I get an artifact creature with Worldly Tutor?
Yes. You can get any creature-- a "Summon " or "Artifact
Creature."
24. What's up with Chaosphere?
Chaosphere basically inverts flying. Flyers cannot block flyers, and
non-flyers can.
25. If I pay RR or 2 life to gain control of Emberwilde Djinn, does the
Djinn have summoning sickness?
Yes. All creatures have summoning sickness when they come into play
or change controllers, unless the card says otherwise.
26. I cast Final Fortune, and then skip the turn it grants to untap my Time
Vault. Will I still lose the game?
No. You only lose the game if you take the turn granted by Final
Fortune and don't win during that turn. If you skip the turn, nothing
happens.
27. Does the ability granted by Torrent of Lava apply only to that Torrent
or Lava, or any Torrent of Lava?
Just that one.
28. Does Celestial Dawn have errata?
Yes. Treat the last line of Celestial Dawn as reading, "All colored
mana symbols on all of these cards and permanents are W."
29. If I'm forced to discard Sand Golem or Mangara's Blessing, and my
opponent usese Tormod's Crypt to remove my graveyard from the game. Does the
card's effect still happen?
No. If the Golem or Blessing is somewhere other than your graveyard
at the end of your turn, the effect will not trigger. You still gain the 2
life from the Blessing, of course, it just won't return to your hand.
30. A Null Chamber is in play, and one of the named cards is Benthic Djinn.
My opponent casts Polymorph, sacrificing a Mtenda Herder, and the first
creature in her deck is a Benthic Djinn. Does it come into play?
Yes. Null Chamber prevents you from playing the named cards from
your hand only. If a spell or effect causes one of the named cards to come
into play, it comes into play normally.
31. Can I use Sacred Mesa during my upkeep to make a pegasus to sacrifice?
No. Permanents with upkeep costs cannot have any of their optional
abilities(like making a Mesa token) used until the upkeep has been dealt
with. During your upkeep, you cannot make any pegasi until you either
sacrifice one or bury the Mesa.
32. When does an opponent have to choose whether to damage you or remove
counters from your Soul Echo?
At the beginning of your upkeep, at the same time you check to see
if the Echo gets buried for having no counters.
33. Can I get an enchant creature with Enlightened Tutor?
Yes. You can get any kind of enchantment(global or any type of
local(, or artifact(regular or creature).
34. I have no cards in my library. My opponent Incinerates me. Can I prevent
the damage with Bone Mask?
Yes. Losing library cards is an effect of the Mask. If you have no
cards, that part of the effect merely fizzles, and the damage is prevented.
35. Is there any way to cast a spell in my hand using mana from a Lion's Eye
Diamond?
No. As soon as you announce you're using the Diamond, you discard
your hand.
36. What happens to the cards under Mangara's Tome if my opponent casts
Steal Artifact on it while Titania's Song is in play?
The cards are removed from the game. Due to errata to the Tome, the
text about when to remove the cards from the game is now considered to be
part of the Tome's coming into play effect. It will still happen even if the
Tome's text box is currently blank due to Titania's Song.
37. Can I use Aladdin's Lamp on a card I take from the Tome?
No. Both the Lamp and Tome are "instead of drawing" effects. You can
only use one such effect on each draw.
38. OK, can I use the Tome on one of the cards I'm drawing via the Lamp?
Yes. You can replace one of the Lamp's additional draws by pulling a
card from the Tome(in fact, you can replace more than one of the Lamp's
draws in this way). Regardless, you still only choose one of the cards to
put in your hand(from the drawn and Tome cards combined), and you shuffle the
rest(even if one or more of them came from the Tome originally) and put them
on the bottom of your library.
39. Can I use Hivis of the Scale, Zirilan of the Claw, or Rashida Scalebane
on Teeka's Dragon?
Yes. Teeka's Dragon counts as a dragon in all ways.
40. Does my opponent take damage for each card he or she draws, or just the
cards he or she is forced to draw by Malignant Growth.
Per the card text, just the forced additional draws.
41. I have two Puragtories in play. One of my creatures dies. Which
Puragtory does it go under?
Your choice.
42. I cast Sealed Fate on my opponent. He or she does not have X cards in
his or her library. What happens?
You look at all the cards in the library, remove one from the game,
and then return the remainder to the library.
43. Can I use Spatial Binding to stop an enchantment played on a phasing
permanent from phasing out?
Yes. The permanent itself and any other enchantments on it phase it
normally. The targeted enchantment will remain behind, notice it has no
valid target, and will bury itself.
44. What happens if I cast Wellspring on a land I already control?
Effectively, this does nothing. You gain control of the land(you
already control it). At end of turn you lose control of it back to its
previous controller(which is also you).
45. Does a land I get with Bad River count towards my one land per turn
limit?
No. The "one land per turn limit" reminder text has also been
removed from all Mirage cards. The only lands that count against your limit
are those played from your hand. Other lands that somehow get into play do
not counter gainst the limit.
46. I have a Teferi's Isle that is currently phased out. During my turn, I
play another Teferi's Isle. What happens?
Assuming something like Reality Ripple doesn't disrupt the cycle,
the Isles will happily have one phase in while the other phases out each
turn, thus effectively getting around the Legendary rules. If something
disrupts the cycle, the land phasing back in is considered the new land and
will bury itself. If both Isles try to phase in at the same time, they will
both bury themselves. This applies to any other Legendary permanent that has
or gains phasing.
47. I cast Agility on a creature that already has flanking. Does this do
anything?
Yes. Flanking, like rampage is cumulative. If a creature has flanking
twice, any non-flanker that blocks it gets -2/-2.
48. I play Armor of Thorns as an instant. Later during that turn, I use
Enchantment Alteration to move the Armor from one creature to another. Will
it still bury itself at end of turn?
No. Moving an enchantment causes it to be treated as just cast. The
Armor will forget it was played as an instant and should bury itself, and
will thus stay in play.
49. What happens if two or more non-flankers block a flanker?
Each blocker gets flanked and suffers the -1/-1.
50. Two or more creatures band together and attack. One of those creatures
has flanking. I have only one non-flanker to block with. What happens?
If you can block one of the non-flankers in the attacking band, you
can assign your blocker to block that creature, and it will not get flanked.
The whole band is effectively blocked, but flanking will only trigger when a
creature is assigned to block the flanker.
51. What happens if Dream Fighter blocks or is blocked by multiple
creatures?
Dream Fighter and ALL those creatures phase out.
52. What happens if a creature bands with a Dream Fighter and attacks, and
the band is blocked?
Dream Fighter and all the blockers phase out. The rest of the
attacking band continues on in combat, but is considered blocked(and thus
deals no damage unless one or more creatures have Trample).
53. If I counter a Forsaken Wastes, do I lose 5 life?
No. Unless a card specifically says otherwise, the text of a
permanent only applies while that permanent is in play.
54. Are multiple Benevolent Unicorns cumulative?
Yes. Each Unicorn prevents 1 damage.
55. Can Choking Sands target part swamp dual lands?
No. Choking Sands cannot target anything that says it counts as a
swamp.
56. What happens if I use Mirror Universe or Psychic Transfer while Forsaken
Wastes is in play?
Forsaken Wastes has been ruled as preventing any increase in any
player's life total. If you use the Mirror while the Wastes is in play, you
swap the life totals normally, except whichever player would be the
recipient of the higher life total does not have his or her life total
change. For example, if you are at 1 life and your opponent is at 6, popping
the Mirror results in your life total being 1 and your opponent's being 1.
