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Published on 08/01/2016

A Wild Quiz Appeared!

or, Gotta Answer 'em All!

By Carsten Haese, James Bennett, Callum Milne, and Nathan Long
This Article from: Carsten Haese

Cranial Translation
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Note: This article is over two years old. Information in this article may be out of date due to subsequent Oracle and/or rules changes. Proceed with caution.

Greetings and welcome to a new edition of Cranial Insertion! Unless you live in a cave — in which case I commend you for living in a cave with the necessary Internet access to read Cranial Insertion! — you have probably heard of this new game called Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game in which you walk around the real world to catch virtual animals. My own feelings about this game have quickly evolved from "I guess I'll try this for my daughter's sake" via "This is kind of fun, actually" to "My phone's battery is empty, what am I supposed to do with my life now?!?" Regardless of what you may think of the game, incentivizing people to get up and walk is a good thing in my opinion, and a sedentary guy like me can use all the help he can get to sway the decision between sitting down and getting exercise towards the latter.

Speaking of exercise, Moko has reminded me that it has been way too long since our last quiz article, so in today's issue I'm giving you the opportunity to exercise your brain muscles by first pondering various possible answers to each question before I give you the real answer.

If you have questions you'd like us to answer, please email them to moko@cranialinsertion.com or tweet short questions at @CranialTweet. One of our writers will get back to you directly with an answer, and your question might appear in a future article alongside an obscure pop culture reference to amuse and educate readers like yourself.

And with that, let's take a break from throwing balls at Pidgeys, Weedles, and Rattatas, and let's dive into this quiz!

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Q: Amy controls a Demonic Pact for which she has already chosen the first three modes. She puts the upkeep ability on the stack and chooses the fourth mode, and then she uses Zedruu the Greathearted to give the Pact to Rory. What happens?

A: The choices are...

A: Rory gets to choose a different mode and that mode resolves.
B: The ability resolves and Rory loses the game.
C: The ability resolves and Amy loses the game.
D: The ability fizzles because its target is illegal.
E: A madman in a box shows up and takes Amy and Rory on an exciting adventure in space.

The demonic answer is...

C.

First off, the ability stays in the "you lose the game" mode because nothing is happening that would allow Rory to choose a mode, and even if Rory could choose a mode, he'd be limited to choosing a mode that Amy hasn't chosen yet, which is the "you lose the game" mode. Fortunately for Rory, Amy controlled the Pact at the time the ability triggered, which means that Amy controls the ability even though Rory controls the Pact at the time the ability resolves. In the end, the ability resolves and Amy loses the game and learns the painful lesson that that's not how to exploit Demonic Pact's "lose the game" mode.

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Q: Arya controls Brisela, Voice of Nightmares while Bran plays Wrath of God. In response to Wrath of God, Arya casts Graceful Reprieve on Brisela. What happens?

A: The choices are...

A: Brisela returns to the battlefield.
B: Both Bruna, the Fading Light and Gisela, the Broken Blade return to the battlefield.
C: Arya chooses whether Bruna, the Fading Light or Gisela, the Broken Blade returns to the battlefield.
D: Bran chooses whether Bruna, the Fading Light or Gisela, the Broken Blade returns to the battlefield.
E: The game returns Bruna, the Fading Light or Gisela, the Broken Blade to the battlefield at random.

The angelic answer is...

B.

Brisela is a single creature that's represented by two cards, so when Brisela goes to the graveyard, it gets unmelded and arrives as the two face-up cards Bruna and Gisela. Graceful Reprieve's delayed trigger applies to both halves and returns both of them to the battlefield face up.

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Q: Jack uses Goblin Dark-Dwellers to cast Savage Alliance from his graveyard. Which answer describes Jack's options?

A: The choices are...

A: Jack can only choose one mode.
B: Jack can choose any number of modes and the spell is free.
C: Jack can choose any number of modes and the spell costs regardless of the number of modes chosen.
D: Jack can choose any number of modes. The first mode is free, each additional mode costs .
E: Jack gives a banana to Moko.

The savage answer is...

D.

Yes, Moko, I know you're hungry. Here, have a banana, and stop messing with my answer choices.

Anyway, when an effect allows you to cast a spell without paying its mana cost, the effect only waives the mana cost portion of the total cost, which is what's printed in the top right corner of the card. In the case of Savage Alliance, that's . Additional costs may be paid on top of that free cost, but they'll have to be paid even if the cost included a mana payment. Note the subtle difference between "without paying its mana cost" and "without paying any mana." This means that Jack is free to escalate the spell, but he'll have to pay for each mode beyond the first.

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Q: Kate controls Geist-Fueled Scarecrow and wants to sacrifice it to pay the emerge cost of Distended Mindbender. How much mana does she have to pay?

A: The choices are...

A:
B:
C: or depending on the order in which Kate pays the cost.
D: All of the above.
E: None of the above.
F: This is getting silly, let's just get to the answer.

The mindbending answer is...

B.

Kate chooses which creature she wants to sacrifice when she chooses to cast the Mindbender via emerge, but she doesn't actually sacrifice the Scarecrow until she pays the total cost to cast the spell. Before she pays the total cost, the game determines the total cost and locks in the result. The total cost includes the cost increase from the Scarecrow because the Scarecrow is still on the battlefield at that time, so the mana component of the total cost is +-, which comes out to .

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Q: Sayid casts Elder Deep-Fiend for its emerge cost by sacrificing Drowner of Hope. How much mana does he have to pay?

A: The choices are...

A:
B:
C:
D:
E:

The deep answer is...

C.

The emerge cost is , which gets reduced by because Drowner of Hope's converted mana cost is 6. The cost reduction can only be applied to the generic mana symbol of the emerge cost, so it does all it can and reduces the cost to . The fact that Drowner of Hope has a in its mana cost is irrelevant and won't reduce the amount of blue mana in the emerge cost.

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Q: Hurley controls a Brain in a Jar with two counters on it. When he activates it to put a third counter on it, which of the following answers are legal possibilities for him to cast?

A: The choices are...

4: Either half of Far // Away
8: Both halves of Far // Away
15: Ruinous Path with awaken
16: Sadistic Sacrament with kicker
23: Capsize with buyback
42: Counterflux with overload
108: Wait, what's with all the numbers?

The brainy answer is...

4, 8, 16, and 23.

First, let's talk about Far // Away. When the game asks Far // Away whether its converted mana cost is three, Far inaudibly mumbles "no" while Away proudly proclaims "yes!" The game hears the yes, is happy, and lets Hurley cast the card without paying its mana cost. When he casts, he has to choose with half he wants to cast. He can choose either half since the game only cared about the converted mana cost to see if Hurley is allowed to cast the card. The converted mana cost of the spell he ends up casting is irrelevant. Also note that Hurley is allowed to fuse the card and cast both halves because he is casting the card from his hand.

Now let's talk about the other choices, which deal with alternative costs and additional costs to spells whose converted mana cost is 3. Casting the card without paying its mana cost is already an alternative cost, and you can't apply two alternative costs on the same spell, so awaken and overload, which are alternative costs, don't work here. Kicker and buyback are additional costs, and it's perfectly legal to combine additional costs with an alternative cost, so those two choices are legal.

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Q: Harry controls one Thing in the Ice with one counter and one Thing in the Ice with two counters. Hermione casts Declaration in Stone targeting the Thing with one counter. In response, Harry casts some instant to trigger the counter-removing ability. What happens?

A: The choices are...

A: Declaration in Stone is countered on resolution.
B: Declaration in Stone exiles both Awoken Horror and Thing in the Ice.
C: Declaration in Stone exiles just Awoken Horror.
D: Declaration in Stone exiles just Thing in the Ice.
E: Harry and Hermione decide to go perform real magic instead of playing with cards.

The horrific answer is...

C.

The Thing that Hermione targeted with Declaration in Stone transforms into Awoken Horror, but it transforms in place, so it's still the same permanent it was before and Declaration in Stone doesn't lose track of it. When Declaration in Stone resolves, it checks the target's current name, which is Awoken Horror, and looks around for any other creatures that Harry controls that are named Awoken Horror. There aren't any, so Declaration in Stone exiles only the Awoken Horror and leaves the Thing in the Ice alone.

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Q: Desmond is playing against Penny. Can he put Prison Term on her Gaea's Revenge?

A: The choices are...

A: Sure, that's no problem, brother.
B: Nope, no way.
C: Yes, but only if he casts Prison Term as an Aura spell.
D: Yes, but only if he already controls Prison Term and uses its triggered ability to move it when Gaea's Revenge enters the battlefield.
E: MOKO WANT BANANA!

The banana is...

D.

Yes, you can have another banana, Moko. Now please get off my keyboard.

Aura spells are targeted spells that target the thing they're going to enchant, and since Gaea's Revenge can't be targeted by nongreen spells, casting Prison Term onto Gaea's Revenge doesn't work. However, Prison Term's triggered ability to attach it to a newly entered creature doesn't target, and Gaea's Revenge doesn't have an ability that repels nongreen Auras, so that ability is a perfectly legal way to imprison Gaea's Revenge.

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Q: At Friday Night Magic, Gwen uses Emrakul, the Promised End to control Rhys during his turn and makes him cast Coax from the Blind Eternities. There are no cards in the exile zone. What happens?

A: The choices are...

A: Coax from the Blind Eternities resolves and does nothing.
B: Gwen can't look at Rhys' sideboard. If she wants to choose an Eldrazi card to put into Rhys' hand, she has to choose one from Rhys' trade binder.
C: Gwen looks at Rhys' sideboard but can't choose any cards from it.
D: Gwen looks at Rhys' sideboard and may choose an Eldrazi card from it to put into Rhys' hand.
E: Gwen looks at Rhys' sideboard, chooses an Eldrazi card from it, and puts it into her hand.

The eternal answer is...

A.

Until recently, a player controlling another player was allowed to see their sideboard. However, this rule caused several problems, so now a player is no longer allowed to see the sideboard of the player they're controlling, and if the controlled player is instructed to choose a card from outside the game, the controlling player can't have them choose any card. This means that Coax from the Blind Eternities resolves and then does a whole lot of nothing.

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Q: Lily and Marshall are paired against each other at Friday Night Magic. Before they can determine who plays first, Marshall draws his opening hand and looks at it. How would a judge fix this?

A: The choices are...

A: Lily and Marshall proceed to roll a die. Whoever wins the die roll chooses whether they go first. The fact that Marshall already looked at his hand doesn't matter.
B: Lily and Marshall proceed to roll a die. If Lily wins the die roll, she chooses whether to play first. If Marshall wins, he plays first.
C: Lily and Marshall proceed to roll a die. If Lily wins the die roll, she chooses whether to play first. If Marshall wins, Lily plays first.
D: Marshall loses the game. For the second game, he chooses whether to play first.
E: Marshall should be disqualified from the tournament.

The magical answer is...

B.

The solution might sound odd, but it follows directly from the Magic Tournament Rules: "For the first game of a match, the winner of a random method (such as a die roll or coin toss) chooses either to play first or to play second. The winner must state this choice before looking at his or her hand. If the winner states no choice, it is assumed that he or she is playing first."

Since Marshall already looked at his hand, we'll assume that he is playing first if he wins the die roll. If Lily wins the die roll, she still gets a choice whether to play first or second.

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And that's the end of today's quiz. How did you do? Did you get all the questions right? If so, please send us an email, I'm sure Moko would love to pick your brain a bit.

Thanks for reading, and catch you later!

-Carsten Haese

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About the Author:
Carsten Haese is a former Level 2 judge based in Toledo, OH. He is retired from active judging, but he still writes for Cranial Insertion and helps organize an annual charity Magic tournament that benefits the National MS Society.

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