Welcome back to our weekly series Judge’s Corner, where we answer your Magic: the Gathering rules questions.
Q: Can I regenerate [card]Masticore[/card] after my opponent targets it with [card]Pillage[/card]?
A: Yes. The effect “it can’t be regenerated” only applies when [card]Pillage[/card] resolves; while Pillage is on the stack you can still pay (2) to activate [card]Masticore[/card]’s ability and give it a regeneration shield.
Q: Does [card]Unexpectedly Absent[/card] for 0 work?
A: Yes, but only if the library has no cards in it. When you’re counting off from the top of the library, you start at the first card, so there can only be a zeroth card to put the permanent under if the library is empty.
Q: I’ve read that if you have a [card]Doubling Season[/card] in play and then play a [card]Vivid Crag[/card], the charge counters don’t get doubled. That seems very confusing to me. Can you explain why this is?
A: [card]Doubling Season[/card] says, “if an effect would place one or more counters on a permanent you control, it places twice that many of those counters on that permanent instead.” But when you put your [card]Vivid Crag[/card] into play it’s not an effect that places counters on the land; it’s you that places counters on the land.
Q: [card]Relentless Rats[/card] is my favorite card. I’ve worked hard to collect a lot of them. Last week I brought my deck of [card]Swamp[/card]s and [card]Relentless Rats[/card] to FNM only to have judge tell me that my deck wasn’t legal because [card]Relentless Rats[/card] aren’t in Standard. But it says right there on the card that a deck can have any number of [card]Relentless Rats[/card]! What gives?
A: In general the rules text of a permanent card (such as the sentence “a deck can have any number of cards named [card]Relentless Rats[/card]” on [card]Relentless Rats[/card]) only functions while that card is in on the battlefield. Thus your deck is legal as long as you have a [card]Relentless Rats[/card] on the battlefield, but when you start the game you don’t have any Rats on the battlefield and your deck is not legal. The judge made the right call.
Q: I am at 1 life and my opponent is at 3 life. I tap my [card]City of Brass[/card] to cast [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] targeting my opponent. Do I die or does my opponent?
A: Dies means “is put into a graveyard from the battlefield.” Since you are players and not creatures, neither player dies.
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