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TEST YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF SIXTH EDITION RULES

This Test is designed to help you learn the changes that the Classic Rules have brought to the game of Magic. Answer the following questions in order. Do not read ahead, as some of the questions build on each other... and you will immediately learn whether or not you interpreted the situation correctly in some cases.. Thus this test can help teach you the rules while you are testing your understanding. The Answers are given at the end of the Test.

  1. Which of the following are classified as having "mana abilities" (check all that apply):

    1. Birds of paradise
    2. Forest
    3. Dark Ritual
    4. Mana Vault

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  2. Here is the situation:
    1. Part One:
      • Jason plays Wrath of God starting a new stack.
      • Mike responds by playing Snap (puts Snap on the Stack) to return his Drake to his hand.
      • Jason now plays a Counterspell on the stack targeting his own Wrath of God.

      **You are called over... Mike says that Jason can not play the CounterSpell.** Can he?

      1. No. the interrupt Window for countering a spell closed when the Snap was played.
      2. No. Jason can play a counterspell, but he can only target the last spell played.
      3. Yes. Counterspell is now played as an instant and may target any spell on the stack.

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    2. The two players continue their game... but call you back a minute later. This is the situation Remember we have on the stack..

      • Jason: Wrath of God
      • Mike: Snap
      • Jason: Counterspell

      • Mike now plays Frantic Search , thus adding Frantic search to the stack.
      • Jason passes.
      • Mike passes.
      • The Frantic Search resolves and Mike draws a Memory Lapse and a land. He discards two land from his hand and untaps three lands (from Frantic Search).
      • Mike now plays Memory Lapse (adds it to the stack) targeting the Counterspell.

        **Jason says that its too late to use the Memory Lapse** Is it?

      1. Yes, Memory Lapse cannot be played now. The stack started resolving when Mike played the Frantic Search. He cannot add another spell to the stack at this point.
      2. No it is not too late. The stack can be added to at this point.
      3. No. Its not too late to use the Memory Lapse, but Mike cannot target the Counterspell with it because the Counterspell will happen before the Memory Lapse.

      Go to Answer

  3. When are life totals checked , ie. When is your life total checked to make sure it is greater than zero?

    1. At end of Turn
    2. At end of phase
    3. At the start and end of each step and each phase
    4. At the end of Cleanup and whenever a player would receive priority

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  4. Here is the situation:
    • John has a Tormod's Crypt in play. He Sacrifices the Crypt to remove Stanley's graveyard from the Game.
    • Stanley responds (adds to the stack) a Disenchant targeting the Crypt.
    • John passes
    • Stanley passes

      **John calls you over and wants to know if the effect of the Crypt still occurs.**

    Which of the following statements is true.

    1. No the Crypt's effect does not work as the Disenchant will resolve first on the stack putting the Crypt in the graveyard, thus it will not be in play to be sacrificed.
    2. Yes, the Crypt's effect will work because removing the source of an effect does not eliminate the effect, so even though the disenchant puts the Crypt in the graveyard, its effect still occurs.
    3. The Disenchant cannot even be played because the Crypt is not in play (it was sacrificed) and thus is not a legal target.

    Go to Answer

  5. Here is the Situation:
    • Helen attacks with 2 grizzly bears.
    • Frank blocks one bear with his Palinchron.
    • Frank assigns 4 pts of combat damage to one bear and doesn't block the other bear. Helen assigns 2 points to the Palinchron and 2 points to Frank.
    • Frank then activates the Palinchron's special ability to return it to his hand. Helen casts a Giant Growth on the Grizzly bear that is being blocked by the Palinchron. Frank passes. Helen passes.

    What happens (assuming no more spells or abilities are added to the stack).

    1. The Palinchron returns to Frank's hand and Frank takes 2 points from the unblocked bear. The two grizzlies are still alive.
    2. The Palinchron returns to Frank's hand and Frank takes 2 points from the unblocked bear. The grizzly blocked by the Palinchron dies.
    3. The Palinchron dies, the two grizzlies live, and Frank takes 2 damage.
    4. Helen cannot cast the Giant Growth at this time, so it goes back to her hand. The Palinchron goes back to Frank's hand, and one Grizzly dies. The other lives on to do 2 points of damage to Frank.

    Go to Answer

  6. Here is the situation:
    • Jake attacks with his Scaled Wurm.
    • Samantha blocks with her Elvish Archers.
    • Jake passes
    • Samantha passes
    • Combat damage is now assigned. Samantha assigns the 2 pts of first strike damage to the Wurm. She now wants to play Fatal Blow on the Scaled Wurm before the Wurm assigns its regular combat damage. Can she ?

      1. No. there is no time to add spells and abilities on the stack between when first strike combat damage is assigned and regular combat damage is assigned
      2. Yes. She can add Fatal Blow to the stack and kill the wurm, but it will still do its combat damage.
      3. Yes. She can add Fatal Blow to the stack and kill the wurm. It will never get a chance to do combat damage.

      Go to Answer

  7. The following section includes a list of different actions. Indicate for each one if you can do the action under Classic Rules (6th edition) and if this is a change from what you used to be able to do under Fifth edition Rules

    1. Play a Mox Diamond and tap it for mana before discarding a land?
    2. Counter a Dark Ritual?
    3. Regenerate a creature that has zero or less toughness?
    4. Can you pay the cost to regenerate a creature even though the creature has not been targeted for destruction?
    5. Can you shuffle your opponent/s Deck?
    6. Can you Heal a Black Knight?
    7. Can you prevent damage to a Jolrael Centaur( it can't be the target of spells or effects)?
    8. Can you have a creature do combat damage and sacrifice it to the Skull Catapult to do 2 more points of damage before it dies from combat damage assigned to it?
    9. Can you respond to the coming into Play effect of a Bone Shredder (destroys a nonblack/nonartifact creature)?

    Go to Answer

    Answers

    Q1.All of the choices listed are mana abilities except for Dark ritual. Dark ritual is not a mana ability. It is a spell that produces mana. Spells go on the stack and can be countered. Mana abilities are abilities of permanents that produce mana. They can be used whenever a mana payment is required or when a player has priority. They do not stack and can not be countered. The term "mana source" no longer applies to anything.

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    Question #2:
    Part A. (c) Yes. Counterspells are no longer interrupts. They can be added to the stack the same as any other ability or spell.

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    Part B. (b) The memory lapse can be added to the stack and can target any spell already on the stack.

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    Question #3:
    At the end of Cleanup and whenever a player would receive priority Life total is considered a state-based effect- so it is checked whenever state-based effects are checked. As a general principle, if your life total reaches zero, you lose. Damage prevention or life gaining spells/abilities must be applied prior to reaching zero life. The one exception here is if you go down to zero life during the resolution of a spell and then go back up above zero life still during the same spell's resolution. Since state-based effects are not checked during the spells resolution, you will not lose in this case.

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    Question #4:
    C. Sacrifice is played the same way under Sixth edition as it was under Fifth edition. When something is designated as being sacrificed as part of the payment of a spell or activation of an ability, it is immediately placed in the graveyard. Thus the sacrifice happens at once even though the effect waits until the spell/ability resolves on the stack.

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    Question #5:
    A. The Palinchron will do its damage to the Grizzly that blocked it, but the Grizzly will be a 5/5 at that point (due to the Giant Growth). The increase in the blocking Grizzly's power from the Giant Growth will not impact the amount of combat damage it assigned as the Growth happened after the damage was assigned. Anyway the Palinchron is not in play to be impacted by any damage assigned by the Grizzly.

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    Question #6:
    C. First strike damage is all assigned to the stack before normal combat damage is assigned. Then the players can play spells/abilities adding to this stack. When the stack started by the first strike damage is finally empty and the first strike damage has been dealt, then the players have the opportunity to play spells/abilities starting a new stack.(This would be when Fatal Blow would be cast). Normal combat damage is not assigned until both players Pass with an empty stack. After the Fatal Blow has resolved (and assuming both players Pass with an empty stack), then normal combat damage would be added to the stack. In this example, the Scaled Wurm never lives to assign regular combat damage.

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    Question #7:

    1. Play a Mox Diamond and tap it for mana before discarding a land?No - Mox Diamond has been reworded so that discarding a land is part of the cost of casting it, thus eliminating the problem caused by the 6th edition timing changes
    2. Counter a Dark Ritual? Yes- change
    3. Regenerate a creature that has zero or less toughness? No - change
    4. Can you pay the cost to regenerate a creature even though the creature has not been targeted for destruction? Yes - change
    5. Can you shuffle your opponent/s Deck? Yes.- no change. While the 6th edition game rules don't mention shuffling your opponent's deck, when playing in a tournament, it is the DCI floor rules that take precedence and they do say that shuffling the opponent's deck is permitted.
    6. Can you Heal a Black Knight? No - change. Damage Prevention is now targeted so that the Black Knight with protection from White cannot be targeted with a white spell.
    7. Can you prevent damage to a Jolrael Centaur( it can't be the target of spells or effects)?No - change. Damage prevention is now targeted.
    8. Can you have a creature do combat damage and sacrifice it to the Skull Catapult to do 2 more points of damage before it dies from combat damage assigned to it?Yes - change. However, you must wait until its combat damage has been added to the stack before sacrificing it to the Catapult.
    9. Can you respond to the coming into Play effect of a Bone Shredder (destroys a nonblack/nonartifact creature)? Yes - change. All coming into play effects are now added to the stack and can be responded to.

    Let me know if you have any questions or comments about this practice test. I would be interested in hearing from you.

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