Rhadamanthus Q&A Decklord

No, there isn't a way to chain these infinitely. The problem is that the ripple trigger for each spell you cast will always end up on top of the stack with respect to that spell, i.e. the ripple trigger has to resolve before the spell does. No matter what you do, eventually you get all 4 Beacons on the bottom of the stack and no more ripples in-between them to keep the chain moving. The best I can figure is that if you put back 1 of the first 3 Beacons you reveal then you can cast a total of 5 Beacons by the time it's all over.

Your first thought is the correct one. The extra turns follow the current turn, whoever's it is.

@AwesomeKyurem5: Both abilities trigger. What order they get put onto the stack depends on whose turn it is and who controls what, but it doesn't really matter since the Rune-Tail/Essence/whatever will get exiled regardless because it's still the same object that triggered Portcullis.

It still gets exiled. Portcullis' ability isn't written in a way that cares about whether the permanent is still a creature at the time the ability resolves, so it doesn't matter. Note that it will go back to the default un-flipped status when it moves to exile.

The follow-up question is covered by 800.4a which reads in part "...if that player controlled any objects on the stack not represented by cards, those objects cease to exist..." A triggered ability on the stack is a type of "object", so it would go away.

Confirming Tyrant-Thanatos' 2nd post. You can do it any time in-between Master of Cruelties' trigger getting put onto the stack and "regular" combat damage being dealt.

Yes, that works. The creature will be considered an "unblocked attacking creature" through the end of the End of Combat step. Once the Post-Combat Main Phase starts, it's too late.

Note that you can also activate Thermo-Alchemist's activated ability in response to its own triggered ability. The triggered ability triggers every time you cast a spell, even if Thermo-Alchemist is already untapped.

No, this doesn't work. Arcane Adaptation has no effect on cards that are outside the game.

400.10c Cards outside the game can't be affected by spells or abilities, except for characteristic-defining abilities printed on them (see rule 604.3) and spells and abilities that allow those cards to be brought into the game.

Surgical Extraction doesn't do anything that Grafdigger's Cage would stop. There's no interaction here.

I'm going to take a guess at what's causing the confusion. Let me know if I'm wrong: "Cast cards in graveyards" means taking a card currently in a graveyard and casting it as a spell, i.e. flashback, retrace, the 2nd half of an aftermath card, etc. It doesn't mean to cast a spell targeting a card in the graveyard.

Yes. There's no rule that says a planeswalker needs to be untapped in order to activate its abilities.

Yes, everyone is allowed to take more actions before the game moves from the Declare Blockers step to the Combat Damage step. If your opponent casts a removal spell of some sort on Elusive Tormentor  ^Flip, you're also allowed to respond by activating its ability to transform it into Insidious Mist  ^Flip to protect it.

Yes, that's what happens. If a creature stops being a creature then it gets removed from combat, and a blocked creature stays blocked even if all of its blockers go away somehow.

Your new understanding of priority is correct. When someone casts a spell or activates an ability, the first opportunity anyone has to make a response is after the costs are paid and spell/ability is officially on the stack.

Your new understanding of "base power and toughness" is correct, but the math is off in your example. The creature would be 11/11 to begin with (2 + 3 + 9) and would drop to 10/10 after Turn to Frog (1 + 3 + 9).

You're also right to notice that the triggered ability on Argentum Armor is an ability of the armor, itself, not an ability given to the equipped creature. It won't be removed by Turn to Frog. Even if it was, if the ability has already triggered then taking away the ability from the source won't go back in time and change that. The trigger is already on the stack.

The point is that only auras and equipment can actually be attached to things (okay, and fortifications, but there's only one of those in the game). 301.5e is meant to cover the unusual corner cases where an equipment somehow gets turned into an aura, which is what is happening here. Your play works out because the card in question is still an aura.

I just remembered another detail. The part of the activated ability's effect that grants the "enchant creature" ability to the card is applied in Layer 6, so the resulting weird Worldslayer aura has the appropriate ability to stay attached to the creature.

The ability triggers. Darien and your opponent are dealt damage at the same time in your example, so that means Darien is still on the battlefield at the time the ability would trigger.

There's something else weird that goes on during this process but thankfully it doesn't interfere with what you're trying to do. The copy effect of Mirage Mirror is applied in Layer 1, but the type-changing effect of Leeching Licid's activated ability is applied in Layer 4. Mairsil is an Enchantment - Aura copy of Worldslayer instead of an Artifact - Equipment, but that's okay because

301.5e An ability of a permanent that refers to the "equipped creature" refers to whatever creature that permanent is attached to, even if the permanent with the ability isn't an Equipment

Yes, Mairsil will remain attached and is considered equipped to the creature. When the copy effect wears off we reevaluate the effects being applied to Mairsil's characteristics and see that it's still supposed to be an Enchantment - Aura (it doesn't have the Licid type because that's a creature subtype, not an enchantment subtype).

The special action to change back into a creature isn't an activated ability, but you can still do it here because it's part of the effect established by the resolution of the activated ability. The current Oracle text for Leeching Licid makes this more clear.

A +/- effect only uses counters if it specifically says so. For many years the game has only used +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters, but there are some very old cards that give +2/+2 counters, +0/+1 counters, or other unusual combinations. I can't think of any of those old cards that could produce a +5/+5 counter.

An effect that just says it gives something "+1/+1 until end of turn" and doesn't mention counters at all doesn't add any counters to the creature. Skyship Plunderer has no interaction with an effect like that.

It's pretty interesting. First, however, since Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker can only target a creature you control you have to figure out how to gain control of an Akroan Horse. Let's assume you're able to do that. When you make a copy, the token's enters-the-battlefield ability will trigger and an opponent will gain control of it. When Kiki Jiki's delayed triggered ability tells you to sacrifice the token at the end of the turn, you can't, because the rules of the game only allow you to sacrifice permanents you control. The token copy stays on the battlefield.

You're the one casting the spells during the turn your opponent is controlling you. They're just telling you what to do. Dosan won't interfere with that.