With Asmodeus and Abundance, if you would draw a card, two replacement effects want to replace that draw. For each one card you would draw, you apply either effect to arrive at a different event - either exiling the card to Asmodeus, or doing Abundance's sorta filter thing. If you activate Asmodeus' ability to draw seven cards, then you make that choice one time, take the replaced event, and then make another choice and take that replaced event and so on five more times.
Individual Cases each have three abilities. The top ability is always active. The middle ability, preceded by "to solve," sets out the conditions under which you can solve the Case. At the beginning of your end step, if the Case is unsolved and if you've met the condition described in the middle ability, the Case becomes solved. The described condition must be true both as your end step begins and as the "to solve" ability tries to resolve. For Case of the Filched Falcon, if you control three or more artifacts as your end step begins, the "to solve" ability will trigger and go on the stack. If you still control three or more artifacts as that ability tries to resolve, the Case will be solved.
Combined with the example card used in the article, we can determine that the check is made at the time of the to-solve end step trigger. So, you have to meet the condition on your turn. You can only solve Case of the Ransacked Lab if it's your turn and you cast four of those kinds of spells before your end step.
Wait a minute, does that mean if I enchant a face-up Kheru Spellsnatcher with Infinite Reflection, all of my face-down creatures will be able to use the morph ability they copy from it?
Yes to this one. Face up, those creatures have the morph ability of Kheru Spellsnatcher.
Manifest is different:
701.34b Any time you have priority, you may turn a manifested permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card’s mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn’t a creature card or it doesn’t have a mana cost, it can’t be turned face up this way.)
The cost you pay to turn over a manifested permanent is the mana cost of the card "representing that permanent". This means the card itself. Copying Kheru Spellsnatcher doesn't change the mana cost written on whatever manifested card it is. In fact, nothing can.
You can still use morph to turn the card over.
The appearance of the permanent owing to its face-down status is an effect that applies in a layer after the copy effects layer. For this reason, making a face-down object copy something else will not change its present values, but it is considered to change the abilities that the card would have "if it were face-up", which matters when trying to use morph to turn it face up.
708.10. If a face-down permanent becomes a copy of another permanent, its copiable values become the copiable values of that permanent, as modified by its face-down status. Its characteristics therefore remain the same: the characteristics listed by the ability or rules that allowed it to be turned face down. However, if it is turned face up, its copiable values become the values it copied from the other permanent. See rule 707.3.
Your Skinthinner is a copy of Shivan Dragon and face down, which means it is still 2/2 and nameless, but its upper face is Shivan Dragon if the face-down status ever changes. Since Shivan Dragon does not have morph you can't use morph to turn the Skinthinner face up.
So long as Infinite Reflection stays on the Shivan Dragon, other creatures you cast with morph will also work like this. They still enter as nameless 2/2 creatures, and they do not have a morph ability to turn them face up. That's also true for Gift of Doom. You can't use morph to turn it face up because the face-up side of that permanent is a Shivan Dragon, which doesn't have morph (and doesn't have Gift of Doom's attach ability).
At the moment, Ixidron's effect is governed by these two rules (17 November 2023 text):
708.2. Face-down spells and face-down permanents have no characteristics other than those listed by the ability or rules that allowed the spell or permanent to be face down. Any listed characteristics are the copiable values of that object’s characteristics. (See rule 613, “Interaction of Continuous Effects,” and rule 707, “Copying Objects.”)
708.2a If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or ability that doesn’t list any characteristics for that object, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. A permanent that enters the battlefield face down also has these characteristics unless otherwise specified by the effect that put it onto the battlefield face down or allowed it to be cast face down. These values are the copiable values of that object’s characteristics.
The face-down permanents receive some "default" characteristics specifically because Ixidron didn't specify any. The existence of the rules for Morph are not a determining factor, and so I would not see a reason why the existence of rules for Disguise would be a determining factor when those cards come to exist soon, either.
Tokens have a name. It is usually the name of its type. So a saproling token has "Saproling" as a name.
It can't be blocked by face-down creatures however.
I wasn't assuming tokens, hence why I stated "IF". Please don't make dense, oafish, mouth-breather assumptions like that.
Then that can also include morphs or anything else face down.
You were wrong about what the text meant. Its intended mechanism does not fall within either of your "if"s. These people were straightening you out without judgment or vitriol and you chose violence.
If you control five creatures (including Chancellor of the Forge and Hero of Lavabrink), and then resolve Orthion's ability on a Chancellor, then you create five tokens and get five triggered abilities. Those abilities will count the creatures you control when they resolve, so it includes the creature tokens you have at that time. The abilities resolve separately, so first ten tokens are made, then twenty, then forty, then eighty, then a hundred sixty. That's 310 Phyrexian Goblin tokens and the five Chancellor of the Forge tokens.
Akoum Battlesinger only mentions Ally creatures. There's no interaction, do you have the right card?
Under the set spoiler view (mtgsalvation.com/spoilers), if you sort to show all blue cards, it doesn't show Eaten by Piranhas. If you sort all cards, it does appear after Didact Echo.
You've parsed that sentence in the rule incorrectly. The item in the list is "by “as . . . enters the battlefield” and "as . . . is turned face up" abilities that set characteristics," and that item doesn't apply here.
Even if there were some ability written on a card, that statically said this creature is a copy of something else, then even though Phoebe acquiring that rules text would mean it has that ability creating that effect, it still couldn't change Phoebe's copiable values because everything copiable is always finalized by the end of layer 1 of the layering system, explicitly in 613.2c. It is a change that's still invisible to Spark Double's copying.
Spark Double copying Phoebe only gets the rules text Phoebe is printed with.
In general, text-changing effects do not modify the object's copiable values. Also in general, rules do not have a final official answer for silver-bordered cards. So if your playgroup wants to treat Phoebe as creating a text-changing effect, Spark Double will only get the rules text from the text box printed on Phoebe. (CR613.1)
Spark Double does not target anything. Its ability has you make a choice while applying the copy effect, this is not targeting.
The equip ability on an Equipment can only be activated with sorcery timing - when the Stack is empty. You can't equip the Flail to the Sparkmage in time for the damage because the ability that makes it deal the damage is on the Stack. If you could attach the Equipment to the creature by means of some other spell or ability, it is possible, but not with Equip.
Expanding on why you can't use equip: You can't equip the Sparkmage in time because, before the Sparkmage is on the battlefield, you can't attach anything to it, and after it is on the battlefield, its ability is on the Stack, disallowing equip activations, or the ability has already resolved, and it's too late.
You refer to the equip ability as a mana ability, but this is wrong. Equip is an activated ability that also specifies an activation restriction. That it costs mana to activate does not sort it into any meaningful category. The term 'mana ability' means abilities that could produce mana (and satisfy other requirements).
Bladebrand can be cast in response to the Sparkmage triggered ability, so that would work to make the damage lethal.
The raw question "base power and toughness" doesn't unambiguously point to much. The printed power and toughness are, as you can see, asterisks, but in every zone and even outside the game and even before the game begins, the "power and toughness" are each equal to the number of creature cards in your graveyard. That's 0 if the game hasn't started.
You have to know what interaction you're looking at to figure what value should be used.
Eiganjo Castle and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire are different names. Therefore Eiganjo Castle and Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire have different names. Nothing opposes you controlling both of them.
Well, the opponent has to knowingly choose to guess incorrectly on the fifth try, but if they do, then yes, it is now impossible to choose a number at all after five go-arounds. Since you don't choose a number, noting that the rest of the ability is preceded with "if you do", none of the rest of it happens.
Combined with the example card used in the article, we can determine that the check is made at the time of the to-solve end step trigger. So, you have to meet the condition on your turn. You can only solve Case of the Ransacked Lab if it's your turn and you cast four of those kinds of spells before your end step.
Yes to this one. Face up, those creatures have the morph ability of Kheru Spellsnatcher.
Manifest is different:
701.34b Any time you have priority, you may turn a manifested permanent you control face up. This is a special action that doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116.2b). To do this, show all players that the card representing that permanent is a creature card and what that card’s mana cost is, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. The effect defining its characteristics while it was face down ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. (If the card representing that permanent isn’t a creature card or it doesn’t have a mana cost, it can’t be turned face up this way.)
The cost you pay to turn over a manifested permanent is the mana cost of the card "representing that permanent". This means the card itself. Copying Kheru Spellsnatcher doesn't change the mana cost written on whatever manifested card it is. In fact, nothing can.
You can still use morph to turn the card over.
Your Skinthinner is a copy of Shivan Dragon and face down, which means it is still 2/2 and nameless, but its upper face is Shivan Dragon if the face-down status ever changes. Since Shivan Dragon does not have morph you can't use morph to turn the Skinthinner face up.
So long as Infinite Reflection stays on the Shivan Dragon, other creatures you cast with morph will also work like this. They still enter as nameless 2/2 creatures, and they do not have a morph ability to turn them face up. That's also true for Gift of Doom. You can't use morph to turn it face up because the face-up side of that permanent is a Shivan Dragon, which doesn't have morph (and doesn't have Gift of Doom's attach ability).
708.2a If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or ability that doesn’t list any characteristics for that object, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature with no text, no name, no subtypes, and no mana cost. A permanent that enters the battlefield face down also has these characteristics unless otherwise specified by the effect that put it onto the battlefield face down or allowed it to be cast face down. These values are the copiable values of that object’s characteristics.
The face-down permanents receive some "default" characteristics specifically because Ixidron didn't specify any. The existence of the rules for Morph are not a determining factor, and so I would not see a reason why the existence of rules for Disguise would be a determining factor when those cards come to exist soon, either.
You were wrong about what the text meant. Its intended mechanism does not fall within either of your "if"s. These people were straightening you out without judgment or vitriol and you chose violence.
Akoum Battlesinger only mentions Ally creatures. There's no interaction, do you have the right card?
You can't activate the equip ability of Equipment you don't control.
Even if there were some ability written on a card, that statically said this creature is a copy of something else, then even though Phoebe acquiring that rules text would mean it has that ability creating that effect, it still couldn't change Phoebe's copiable values because everything copiable is always finalized by the end of layer 1 of the layering system, explicitly in 613.2c. It is a change that's still invisible to Spark Double's copying.
Spark Double copying Phoebe only gets the rules text Phoebe is printed with.
Spark Double does not target anything. Its ability has you make a choice while applying the copy effect, this is not targeting.
Expanding on why you can't use equip: You can't equip the Sparkmage in time because, before the Sparkmage is on the battlefield, you can't attach anything to it, and after it is on the battlefield, its ability is on the Stack, disallowing equip activations, or the ability has already resolved, and it's too late.
You refer to the equip ability as a mana ability, but this is wrong. Equip is an activated ability that also specifies an activation restriction. That it costs mana to activate does not sort it into any meaningful category. The term 'mana ability' means abilities that could produce mana (and satisfy other requirements).
Bladebrand can be cast in response to the Sparkmage triggered ability, so that would work to make the damage lethal.
You have to know what interaction you're looking at to figure what value should be used.