I'm new to Magic: the gathering and have questions

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When you block, you don't tap creatures.

I've been playing the game wrong all this time.

Well, this changes things. Waves of aggression isn't as imbalanced as I thought it was.

O.K., I got the card sleeves and I love them! My only problem now is that they no longer fit in the electric card shuffler. Since I now have to shuffle them by hand, I had better look up a card shuffling tutorial on youtube or something. I also bought a 20 sided die.

Oh, and I have a simple question. Are cards with hybrid mana symbols considered to be multicolored cards (for example, a card with 2 colorless mana and a hybrid white/blue mana)? I searched the advanced rulebook, and it's kind of confusing on this topic.

To shuffle them, you just cut the deck in half (or whatever) and just kind of press one half into the other. Works like a charm.

Yes, a card with a hybrid white/blue symbol counts as both a white creature and a blue creature.

I have another question. My question is about the Wickerbough Elder card. It's text is as follows...

"Wickerbough Elder comes into play with a -1/-1 counter on it.
Green mana, Remove a -1/-1 counter from Wickerbough Elder: Destroy target artifact or enchantment."

(I had to type in "green mana" because I can't copy the little tree symbol onto the forum.)

And to quote the MTG rulebook, "An activated ability is written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Play restriction (if any).]” The activation cost is everything before the colon ( : )."

Now my question is, are the green mana and the remove a -1/-1 counter both the cost that must be paid to destroy an artifact or enchantment?

Does paying a green mana remove a -1/-1 counter from the creature, or does the counter have to be removed by some other card?

Nope. Just pay 1 green and you remove that counter and destroy an artifact/enchantment.

Sleeves can make shuffling tricky but you get used to them eventually. As well as the standard shuffling methods of sliding one pile into the other, Pile Shuffles are useful for getting rid of clumps (separate the deck into several piles, then put them on top of each other or slide them into each other). Just pile shuffling is not a sufficient shuffle, so you should use several methods each shuffle (but don't take too long).

If you mean hybrids like this:


then it is one colour. In this case white.

If you mean like this:


then it is multicoloured. In this case it is both green and blue.

And finally:


Reaper Kings mana cost contains all colours, so he is white, blue, black, red and green.

EDIT:


To pay for Wickerbough Elder's activated ability, you pay G and remove a -1/-1 counter from it. If there are no -1/-1 counters on it, you cannot activate the ability (in the same way that you cannot cast Wickerbough Elder if you don't have 3G.

(Some lessons in shorthand: W, U, B, R, G = white, blue, black, red and green mana respectively. T = [tap symbol]. ~ is shortname for [CARDNAME] in certain circles)

O.K., I understand now. Wow, if that card is hit with something that does wither damage, it becomes pretty powerful.




I'll try that and combine it with the overhand shuffle.

I bought a Shadowmoor tournament pack and now I have enough cards to make a blue and black deck. One of the awesome cards I got is Though Reflection. Whenever I would draw one card, I draw two instead. I also got a creature card that I can tap to make my opponent discard a cards. Another of my favorites is my Leechridden Swamp card. It only does one damage, but it sure is annoying to my opponent.

Things to be careful of:
1) If the wither damage reduces it to 0 toughness or less, there's nothing you can do about it. eg. Wickerbough Elder has 1 -1/-1 counter on it. You use it's activated ability to destroy your opponent's Tidehollow Strix. Then you use it to block a 4/4 with wither. When the damage is dealt, you won't have a chance to remove counters.
If it has 1 counter and blocks a 3/3 with wither, you'll need to use it's activated ability before the combat damage step or it will die. If you use the ability, it will survive at 1/1 (4/4 with three -1/-1 counters)

2) You must have a legal target for its ability to activate the ability (and therefore remove the counter). If there are no artifacts or enchantments on the battlefield, you can't activate the ability, therefore you can't remove the counter. Similarly if there are artifacts or enchantments in play but they are illegal targets (say they all have shroud), then you cannot activate the ability.

I don't understand. If the remove -1/-1 counter ability is used during the combat damage step, wouldn't it be the last thing on the stack and therefore trigger first before the damage?

On a related question, can a card use it's abilities ( other than regeneration) when it's toughness has been reduced to zero or is it just automatically dead? I specifically mean abilities that could be used to save that card before the stack has been resolved. e.g. tap card to give it three toughness.

Combat damage no longer uses the stack. Effects and special abilities are now resolved during the Declare Blockers step, before combat damage is assigned.


It can, as long as its toughness didn't reach 0 by combat damage. If you kill a card by using something like Shock or Incinerate, during a main phase or any phase other than combat damage, that card can still use its ability because it will be on the stack above the ability that killed it.

You might as well start playing with the new combat rules now, as it will be harder to unlearn the old ones if you don't. Combat damage will no longer use the stack. It's assigned, dealt, & creatures are killed in one fell swoop now. The phrase "damage on the stack" will no longer have a place in magic.

Combat is structured like this as always:
beginning combat
declare attackers
declare blockers
combat damage
end combat

The combat damage part is now expidited & you can't play any instanst or abilities during it anymore. The declare blockers step is now your last chance.

For your second question. Anything with toughness reduced to zero is automatically dead. Right away. You can do all kinds of things to prevent it's toughness from ever reaching the dreaded zero (pumps, counters), but once it does, it's on a one-way trip to the graveyard.

This explaination is confusing. Dead things are dead immediately. No option to do anything after. If something is being targeted by a removal spell you can use an ability BEFORE, the spell hits & kills it. But once a creature has sustained lethal damage, or is destroyed by some other effect, there's nothing you can do.

It's dead as soon as the stack is resolved. Say I have a 2/2 creature that can be tapped to destroy target creature. I have that card in play and untapped. Now, let's say you play Shock on that creature which deals 2 damage to it. The creature doesn't die as soon as you play Shock. The Shock goes on the stack and you pass priority back to me. I can then tap that creature to destroy one of your creatures. That ability then goes on top of the stack. Since the stack is resolved top down, my ability resolves before your Shock.

Creature damage no longer uses the stack, and no spells can be cast during the combat damage step. interesting... So will I still be able to declare a creature as a blocker and then use an instant to return it to my hand so it blocks but takes no damage?

Hey is the new rulebook out yet, or does it come out in July?

Yep, that's the way I thought it worked.

Yes. Your creature won't do any damage, but their one will still be blocked. Trampling creatures can "trample through" the empty space though, so don't try it on trampling creatures.

The new Comprehensive Rules will be around soon, but I wouldn't recommend reading them. They are far more detailed than you need. Wizards will probably make a basic primer for the new rules which will probably be included in Magic 2010 intro packs. In the mean time you're welcome to come here to ask questions.