Iona and 8.5 Tails

Asked by Profet93 8 years ago

Board State: I have Iona, Shield of Emeria, Eight-and-a-Half-Tails and 3 mana open. When I cast iona, I choose black against an opponent using a Green/Black deck. My opponent casts a Beast Within and targets Iona.

I know that I can use my 3 mana open to make beast within a white spell and then give iona protection from white.

My question: Can I just use Eight-and-a-Half-Tails's second ability to make Beast Within a white spell as it's been cast and have Iona, Shield of Emeria's ability make it not resolve? Or does that not work because the spell has already been cast?

merrowMania says... Accepted answer #1

Your second explanation is correct. Once a spell has been cast, you cannot 'uncast' it, since Iona only prevents spells from being cast, not from resolving.

February 1, 2016 6:05 p.m.

BlueScope says... #2

You can certainly use the second ability to make it a white spell, but as you correctly said yourself, Iona only prevents spells from being cast - it will not keep anything from resolving.

Also note that you can't do anything "as a spell is being cast", but only respond when you get priority, which in this case would be after the spell is put on the stack.

February 1, 2016 6:08 p.m.

Profet93 says... #3

merrowMania and BlueScope Thank you for your responses. I just wanted to be sure. I'm entering a tournament and I want to familiarize myself with some concepts/interactions of my cards before hand :)

February 1, 2016 6:18 p.m.

Raging_Squiggle says... #4

Note that your opponent cannot respond to you choosing a color from Iona. Choosing a color happens before she enters the battlefield and once she's in play, your opponent can't cast any spells of the chosen color.

Good to know if going to a tournament where people be slim shady.

10/1/2009 Once the color is chosen, it's too late for opponents to respond by casting spells of that color. Iona is not yet in the battlefield at the time the color is chosen, so, for example, there's no way for an opponent to destroy it by casting Doom Blade if the chosen color is black.

February 1, 2016 6:59 p.m.