Published on 06/02/2025
Chatrooms and the Return of Ever-Present Bear Cubs
By Carsten Haese, Nathan Long, and Justin Hovdenes
This Article from: Justin Hovdenes
Cranial Translation
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So the go to generic creature in
judge questions used to be Grizzly Bears.
judge questions used to be Grizzly Bears.
If you have any Magic questions burning at the back of your brain, you can send them to us. We may even use them in a future article. If you have a short question, you can send it to us via our Twitter account at @CranialTweet, and you can send us longer questions at moko@cranialinsertion.com .
Q: In a four-player Commander Game, my opponent Alexis overloads Winds of Abandon, exiling two creatures from Nathan, two creatures from Nolan, and exiling my Archivist of Oghma. How many times will my Archivist trigger from this?
A: Zero times. Winds of Abandon when overloaded exiles all creatures simultaneously, then players search their libraries for free lands. By the time any opponent starts searching a library, the Archivist has already been exiled.
Q: My opponent controls a Strict Proctor. As I play my Urza's Saga, my opponent tells me that if I want it to be able to make mana, I'll have to pay
or that ability will get countered. Is that how this works?A: That is not how these two cards interact. All Sagas enter the battlefield with one lore counter. This is a replacement effect, not a trigger. Urza's Saga's first chapter is a trigger (Urza's Saga gains "
: Add 
."). However, this is triggered by it gaining a lore counter, not it entering. The Proctor is looking for triggers caused by permanents entering the battlefield, so it won't trigger at all from Urza's Saga entering the battlefield.Q: I attacked with Satya, Aetherflux Genius and an animated Mishra's Factory. I had Satya's trigger copy the Factory. My opponent says the token copy isn't a creature. Is that true? And if so, can I animate the token quick enough so it attacks this combat?
A: This is a layers question. Creating a token copy of a permanent happens in Layer 1, meaning it won't see any effects happening to the original permanent in layer 2 or later. Having creature and artifact types added happens in layer 4, so it won't copy being a creature or an artifact. Becoming a 2/2 happens in Layer 7b, so it won't copy that either. This means the token is created as a Mishra's Factory tapped, not attacking, it's not an artifact, it's not a creature, and has no power or toughness. You can animate it with its own ability if you want, but it won't be attacking this combat.
Q: I have Scavenger's Talent upgraded to level 3. When it triggers at the end of my turn, I choose to sacrifice three Squirrel tokens. Can I wait to mill myself with its "level 2" ability before choosing what I'll reanimate?
A: You can not. Scavenger's level 3 ability is one ability and must fully resolve before you can put any of the triggers from level 2 on the stack.
But then I think a host of Judgecast
made a valid point that if you need a generic
2/2 creature you might as well make it cute.
made a valid point that if you need a generic
2/2 creature you might as well make it cute.
A: You will have three Bear Cub tokens. The first mode of See Double makes a copy of the Bear Cub spell. When that copy resolves, it "becomes" a token and was not created, therefore Parallel Lives won't modify it into an additional token. However, the second mode of See Double attempts to create one Bear Cub token, but because of Parallel Lives it creates two instead. One plus two equals three. You get three Bear Cub tokens.
Q: I control Military Intelligence and attack with only Voice of Victory. Will the extra Warrior tokens from the mobilize trigger make Military Intelligence trigger?
A: They will not. Military Intelligence can only trigger if you declared two or more creatures as attacking. Creatures put onto the battlefield attacking will not help.
Q: If my opponent controls Ghostly Prison and I attack them with Voice of Victory, will it cost me
or 
? If it's , then what happens to the tokens if I don't have enough mana?A: You only have to pay the
for Voice of Victory to attack. The Warrior tokens that enter the battlefield attacking bypass Ghostly Prison, since they were not declared as attackers.As you can see from this question and the last question, being put onto the battlefield attacking has advantages in some situations and disadvantages in others.
Q: During my opponent's last turn, my Faerie Artisans created a token copy of Bear Cub and I also got a 1/1 Thopter token because I control Stridehangar Automaton. It's my opponent's turn again, and they just cast Llanowar Elves. I know the Bear Cub token goes away, but does the Thopter token go away also?
A: It will. Stridehangar Automaton doesn't create the Thopter tokens, instead it modifies how Faerie Artisan creates its own tokens. Faerie Artisan is what created both the Bear Cub token and the Thopter tokens, so when it makes the Llanowar Elf token (which will also be joined by a Thopter token), it will exile both the Bear Cub token and the one Thopter token it made alongside the Bear Cub.
Q: During my opponent's last turn, my Faerie Artisans created a token copy of Bear Cub. I then cast Eyes in the Skies and chose to populate the Bear Cub token. It's my opponent's turn again, and they just cast Llanowar Elves. I know the first Bear Cub token goes away, but does the second token go away also?
A: It will not. This may seem slightly confusing when compared to the last question and answer. In the previous question, Faerie Artisan was what created the "extra" token. In this case, Eyes in the Skies created this extra token. Faerie Artisans only exiles tokens it created.
Q: My opponent controls Blightbeetle and I cast Oracle of Bones. Is my opponent forced to let me cast an instant or sorcery from my hand for free? Or do I not get the free spell or the +1/+1 counters?
A: Paying tribute is a choice. Blightbeetle makes that choice impossible. Therefore the tribute can't be paid and you will get your free spell (assuming you have an instant or sorcery in hand).
Q: My opponent casts Guff Rewrites History and I respond with Heroic Intervention. Do I still get the free random nonland spell?
A: You do not. If you didn't have a permanent it could legally target when Guff Rewrites History was cast, or your permanent being targeted is no longer legal when it resolves, you won't get the free random non-land spell.
Q: If I copy my commander with Sakashima the Impostor will the Sakashima copy deal commander damage?
A: Sakashima will not. The quality of being a commander is not a copiable value. This quality also can't be removed or copied over. It's an intrinsic quality of the card.
Q: If I cast Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle while there is a Dress Down on the battlefield, will it still enter with slumber counters?
A: It will enter untapped with no counters. Just before a permanent would enter the battlefield, the game checks what it would look like on the battlefield to determine how it will enter (CR 614.12). The game in this case sees in the future it will have no abilities, and therefore enters with no counters, is a creature, not a land, and with no abilities and will be untapped.
And clearly cute Bears
are difficult to resist.
are difficult to resist.
A: Yes, you can. Trample creatures assigning access damage to the opponent is optional if it's currently blocked by one or more creatures. However, if the trample creature was blocked and all blocking creatures were removed before the combat damage step, then you must deal all the damage to the defending player.
Q: Does multiple instances of the ability storm stack? Such as casting Brain Freeze while I have Ral, Crackling Wit's emblem?
A: Yes, the ability storm stacks. Each instance of the ability will trigger separately. If two spells had been cast earlier in the turn and you cast Brain Freeze while having Ral's Emblem, the first storm trigger would make two copies, then the second Storm trigger would make an additional two copies for a total of four copies, plus the original spell, milling a total of 15 cards.
Q: During my last turn, I used Cackling Counterpart to make a token copy of my Academy Rector. That token just died in combat, do I still get to fetch an enchantment from my library and put it on to the battlefield?
A: You do not. Academy Rector's ability still triggers when the token goes to the graveyard, but before the trigger is put on the stack, the Academy Rector token will cease to exist. Then when the trigger resolves, the token is no longer in your graveyard so you can't exile it to the trigger. The "if you do" can't be completed so the fetch enchantment part of the trigger won't happen.
Q: I control eight lands, an Ocelot Pride, a Reflection of Kiki-Jiki, and no other permanents. Before combat on my turn, I used my Reflection of Kiki-Jiki to copy my Ocelot Pride. During combat I gained 2 life as both Ocelots went unblocked. As my opponent's turn begins, what tokens and how many of each will I control?
A: You will have six normal Cat tokens (defined as 1/1 white Cats with no abilities) and three Ocelot Pride tokens.
At the beginning of your end step, you got two Ocelot triggers. The first one to resolve created one normal Cat token and then made a copy of each token made earlier that turn, so it made one more normal Cat and an Ocelot Pride token (since one was made by Kiki-Jiki). You then had two normal Cat tokens and two Ocelot Pride tokens. Then the second Ocelot trigger resolved. First it created another normal Cat token, then made a copy of each token made earlier that turn, so it made three more normal Cat tokens (for a total of six) and made two more Ocelot Pride tokens (for a total of four). Then you had to sacrifice the Ocelot Pride token made by Kiki-Jiki. (Technically you could stack the triggers so you sacrifice the Ocelot Pride token earlier, but you end up with fewer Ocelot tokens, so having it resolve last is best.) None of the Ocelot Pride tokens made during the end of turn step will trigger that same turn, so you don't make infinite tokens. Finally, note that all these Ocelot Pride tokens will have haste copied from the original Kiki-Jiki token.
Q: Can I target an untapped creature with Dragonscale Boon?
A: You can. The only targeting restriction Dragonscale Boon has is that the target must be a creature. When it resolves, it will put two +1/+1 counters on its target and then will untap it if it is tapped. If it's not tapped, then that part of the spell will do nothing.
Q: I have a Kindred Discovery and its chosen creature type is Zombie. If I attack with two Zombie tokens, do I draw one or two cards?
A: You will draw two cards. Kindred of Discovery draws you a card for each Zombie you control that attacks. For an ability like this to draw only one card is would be worded something like "Whenever one or more creatures you control of the chosen type attack, draw a card".
Well, that's all the questions I can bear to answer today. Until next time!
- Justin Hovdenes AKA Hovey
Level 2 Magic Judge
Rapid City, SD
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