Sure - just because the countering won't happen doesn't make Thrun an illegal target. You'll do as much as you can, which in this case is have your opponent lose a life.
Since we have a guru posting each way, I'll break the tie. ^^
Carsten's logic is good, but misses the point of that confusing rule: that the suspend rules ask you to check specifically on the legality of the action of casting, rather than asking "is it an instant or does it have flash?" - the confuseyrule is written for things like the latter.
Regarding the 2HG + Exsanguinate question, I believe E is also a valid answer.
I lurve 2HG. Especially when each team has 18 packs...
(Most of the joke answers are valid depending on your perception! Very rarely are they the only valid answer and actually not a joke at all, only silly-sounding...)
I believe in question 13, the one about niv-mizzet as a commander, you forgot the fact that tainted strike gives +1/+0.
It was changed from "whammer + vigilance" to Batterskull, and the numbers weren't updated - it's fixed now. Thanks for catching it, but emailing us tends to get it fixed faster than posting.
This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, Cranial Insertion: Eight Monkeys. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
Nope. Once it moves off the stack, it's a brand new object with no memory of the spell it was, nor of the card it once was in the yard, and doesn't have flashback anymore. :/
papa_funk is an [O]fficial source; his answer, the same as the answer in the article, is correct. If you don't like it, this really is not the place to argue about it.
This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, Cranial Insertion: Gobbling Bombardment. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
If you want to discuss "What do I do to combo off?", try the Commander forums - if you want to know "does this combo work like I think?", then it's here.
I'm not sure I follow the answer on the Guiltfeeder/Maze of Ith question. It seems from the "depends on when he does it" answer that if the creature is Mazed before the declare blockers step, that its ability won't trigger.
Maze doesn't remove an attacking creature from combat; it merely untaps it and prevents combat damage. The Guiltfeeder is still attacking, so unless a blocker is declared, the ability should still trigger.
Yup, it's wrong. Grand Prix are tough on our editor! he or I will fix asap when one of us can.
To expand on the answer in the article (because the question kind of makes it sound like you can't use Venser's ability on spells cast using Flashback), you can still effectively counter a spell with Flashback using Venser, Shaper Savant. However, the spell is moved directly from the Stack into Exile instead of going into its owner's hand.
As a side note, I was wondering if it was possible to start using some kind of spoiler box to hide the answers in the article. I know it's a change of format, but it would really appeal to others out there like me who basically read these articles as mini-quizzes we take for fun. Challenges were always my favorite part of Duels of the Planeswalkers =)
Good point - none of the preview readers got that impression from the answer, but I can see how some people might.
We've discussed spoiler-tagging answers in the past, but we've gotten enough feedback about it being annoying to search for answers that way and it's a pain for some of our translators to code. :/ So we save that for the quiz articles, where the whole point is to do just that.
Hmm, how long has it been since we had a quiz now... might be we have a Christmas present cooking!
This thread is for the discussion of my latest article, Cranial Insertion: Remember, Remember. We would be grateful if you would let us know what you think, but please keep your comments on topic.
Carsten's logic is good, but misses the point of that confusing rule: that the suspend rules ask you to check specifically on the legality of the action of casting, rather than asking "is it an instant or does it have flash?" - the confuseyrule is written for things like the latter.
I lurve 2HG.
(Most of the joke answers are valid depending on your perception! Very rarely are they the only valid answer and actually not a joke at all, only silly-sounding...)
It was changed from "whammer + vigilance" to Batterskull, and the numbers weren't updated - it's fixed now. Thanks for catching it, but emailing us tends to get it fixed faster than posting.
Yup, it's wrong. Grand Prix are tough on our editor! he or I will fix asap when one of us can.
That doesn't change the answer.
Good point - none of the preview readers got that impression from the answer, but I can see how some people might.
We've discussed spoiler-tagging answers in the past, but we've gotten enough feedback about it being annoying to search for answers that way and it's a pain for some of our translators to code. :/ So we save that for the quiz articles, where the whole point is to do just that.
Hmm, how long has it been since we had a quiz now... might be we have a Christmas present cooking!