How does Secluded Courtyard react with Dorothea, Vengeful Victim Flip?
Asked by CloudKillerJay 9 months ago
At my recent FNM I was told that I couldn't use Secluded Courtyard to activate the abilities of either Dorothea, Vengeful Victim Flip or Faithbound Judge Flip because I was casting them as enchantments, and not a spirit? I thought dual face cards were always in the graveyard as side A, so it would have been a mana ability of a spirit, regardless that it returns to play as an enchantment?
CloudKillerJay says... #2
Again thank you Rhadamanthus. I could have asked the judge but it was the one night when it was a perfect storm of loads of stuff going on and my last match so didn't bother.
July 25, 2023 11:54 a.m.
Rhadamanthus says... #3
Don't ever feel shy about calling a judge if you have a question, even if there's a lot going on. If you have to wait for the judge to finish something else before they're able to get over to you, they have the authority to give you a time extension for the round to balance that out.
Rhadamanthus says... Accepted answer #1
You're right that the cards only show the front face in the graveyard. However, the problem here is that Disturb isn't an activated ability, but rather it's an alternative casting cost for the back face. When you choose to use Disturb, first you turn the card over and move it to the stack to start the casting process. That means it isn't a creature spell when it's time to pay the costs for casting it, so the mana from Secluded Courtyard's last ability can't be used to pay for it.
702.146. Disturb
702.146a Disturb is an ability found on the front face of some transforming double-faced cards (see rule 712, “Double-Faced Cards”). “Disturb [cost]” means “You may cast this card transformed from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than its mana cost.” See rule 712.8c.
702.146b A resolving transforming double-faced spell that was cast using its disturb ability enters the battlefield with its back face up.
July 25, 2023 8:48 a.m.