Yare
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Playing to win
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« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2007, 11:13:19 am » |
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Here is an excerpt I published a while ago mentioning a few rules questions (and consequently, the answers, even though you asked not to have them). I do not know if they have already been mentioned.
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In your first Vintage tournament, there are a few rules situations that you are likely to encounter on a regular basis that you should be aware of and know how to handle. While there are plenty that I could have included here, I am just including the most important and most common ones. You ought to read what each card does by clicking on its name before reading the explanations.
Mana Drain is something you will almost certainly see. The trick here has to do with “next main phase.” If a player Mana Drains something during his first main phase or during his combat phase, then he will get the extra mana during his second main phase of the same turn. If he Mana Drains any other time, then he will get the mana at the beginning of his next first main phase. This is important to be aware of, as players sometimes forget what phase they are on and then make play errors or rules errors as a result. Just be aware of what the text of Mana Drain implies about its functionality. Additionally, the proper time to Stifle Mana Drain is at the beginning of the phase the mana would be added, not after Mana Drain resolves.
Mana Crypt is a card you may or may not see. Just remember to actually go through with the coin flip (commonly a die roll of even or odds) when Mana Crypt’s controller’s upkeep comes. Many a Crypt flip has been forgotten over the years. It is also probably best that one player call and one player roll (while the rules say that the opponent of Mana Crypt’s controller is supposed to roll while the controller calls, nobody is going to scream “judge” if you do it another way). Also the rules have recently changed to allow a player to put an object of some sort (a glass stone or a die) on top of his deck as a reminder for upkeep effects. Feel free to do this if it will help you remember your own Mana Crypt rolls (placing an object on your opponent’s deck might not go over so well).
Tangle Wire and Smokestack are two cards you might see on tournament day, although Stax is an out-of-favor archetype as of the time of this writing. The importance here has to do with how the triggers are stacked. The long and the short of it is that the controller of these two permanents is able to fix the stack such that he abuses the cards as extensively as possible. During his turn, he can make the stack (from top to bottom): Tangle Wire remove a counter, Tangle Wire tap permanents, Smokestack sacrifice permanents, Smokestack add a counter. So, he gets to sacrifice fewer tapped cards and doesn’t suffer the wrath of the new soot counter. During his opponent’s turn, he can make the stack (from top to bottom): Smokestack sacrifice a permanent, Tangle Wire tap permanents. His opponent gets the raw deal both ways. Of note, possibly, is that some people will try to sort of fudge the situation when someone says “I’ll put X on the stack first and Y on second” when he really means “I want X to resolve first and Y to resolve second.” While you might be able to argue this with the “judge,” it is probably best to just let the optimal play stand, as you know what he meant. If you want to be a rules lawyer though, be my guest.
When Worldgorger Dragon comes into play,
destroy target judge’s day. It can’t be regenerated.Worldgorger Dragon combo is a deck you might run into. Worldgorger Dragon combos with a number of cards, but Animate Dead is a classic choice. With Worldgorger Dragon in the graveyard and a land in play, a player plays Animate Dead. The Dragon comes into play and its comes into play ability triggers. When the trigger resolves, it will remove Animate Dead and the land from the game. Animate Dead’s leaves play trigger triggers and destroys the Dragon. The Dragon leaves play, causing its leaves play trigger to trigger, bringing the land and the Animate Dead back. Animate Dead, in turn, gets Dragon back in play and so on. In this way, a player can generate an indefinitely large amount of mana by just tapping the land every time it comes into play. The player then wins in some way with this large amount of mana, possibly Stroke of Geniusing his opponent to death. So, if you want to disrupt this combo, you need to counter the Dragon’s leaves play trigger. That way, you opponent will have no permanents because they will stay removed.
The Storm mechanic, most commonly found on Tendrils of Agony in Vintage, is something you need to have a firm grasp of. The rules themselves on their face are not that complicated:
502.30. Storm
502.30a Storm is a triggered ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. “Storm” means “When you play this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each other spell that was played before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any number of the copies.”
502.30b If a spell has multiple instances of storm, each triggers separately.
There are a few things to note. First, it counts all spells played thus far, including the opponent’s spells. Second, Storm only looks for spells played not just spells put on the stack. So, a Storm spell won’t see the copies of other Storm spells in determining its Storm count. Third, countering the original will not stop the copies. You need to Stifle, Trickbind, or somehow otherwise deal with the triggered ability instead. If you have further questions about Storm, I suggest that you ask in the rulings forum.
A card you are unlikely to see, but need to be aware of how to handle is Chains of Mephistopheles. Rather than try to explain it here, however, I would just like to point you to this article on MagicTheGathering.com which gives an extensive explanation of how the card works. It is far more complete than any explanation I could offer here.
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Finally, be aware of the errata of your cards (meaning, the current Oracle text), so that you are not surprised come tournament day. This can potentially save a lot of headaches down the road, especially if your combo turns out to not actually be a combo.
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