It's mostly prohibited by its mana cost. If they drop birthing pod on t2 and you drop Ob Nixilis on t6 you haven't really done much. On top of that Pod is quite capable of running a midrange plan without the Pod.
Ok so it's legal I just have to announce that I'm stacking it like that...that's what I thought.
It's legal, but you don't have to announce you are stacking it that way. The triggered ability from Whirlpool Drake dying will always be put onto the stack above the Dread Return spell so it will always resolve first. It is similar to using Birthing Pod on something with an on death trigger. You always resolve the death trigger before the ability.
It seems to do fairly well online. Every deck has cards that make it impossible to win which is why we have sideboards as well to counter their counter plan. Run Leyline of Sanctity to stop Slaughter Games/discard. Run countermagic to stop Shadow of Doubt. Or just run a different deck if you don't like doing that.
The only way you can do this is to resolve the draws from Whirlpool Drake first followed by the Dryad Arbor entering the field and triggering any additional Bloodghasts you found via dredging.
So something like Biomass Mutation would go on one of the lower layers? So if I had a 4/4 with bonds of faith (6/6) and used biomass mutation, and made X=6, then it would become an 8/8? I'm learning way more than intended with this question, thanks!
Correct. The way layers work the first thing that happens is Power/Toughness CDA such as Tarmogoyf's ability. Next you apply any effect that sets P/T to a specific number (Biomass Mutation). Then things that modify P/T (Ethereal Armor). Then you apply counters (Black Sun's Zenith) So if you had a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and cast Biomass Mutation for x=6 then it will be a 6/6.
Well there was the guy who did this at GP Richmond and posted it on facebook a few months ago. He received an 18 month ban from WotC for bullying/disrespectful behavior so I imagine that is what would be the appropriate response.
Well there's a few things wrong here. Player A controls the The Abyss trigger and player B controls the Dark Confidant trigger so the The Abyss trigger will always resolve first.
Player B can respond to the trigger by fetching a dryad arbor, but player A will have the opportunity to wasteland it before the trigger resolves.
Lastly The Abyss actually targets in its oracle text so fetching for a dryad arbor at upkeep will never work. The target must be chosen when the ability goes on the stack.
How about another wall like, phychic membrane, when it blocks I draw a card?
If the 4/4 lifelink creature attacks, I assign 3/3 phychic membrane to block and draw a card. However, I don't want my phychic membrane to die. So, I Doom Blade that lifelink creature after declaring my blocker. In this case, will I draw a card from phychic membrane?
You will. The way combat works you have a phase to declare attackers, a phase to declare blockers, and then combat damage happens. In the case of an ability that triggers off of blocking (like Psychic Membrane) will happen immediately after you declare it as a blocker. After that you have a chance to cast spells and activate abilities so you can Doom Blade.
You are correct. Wall of Frost only cares that it blocked a creature. Whatever else happens that turn be it Fog, or even a Doom Blade killing the wall doesn't matter. Once it becomes blocked it will not untap.
Hmm. Alright, well, back to the drawing board. I appreciate the help.
If you go the other way then you'll have a 5/5 with the ability. That is if you activate Boros Keyrune first then cast Ensoul Artifact you'll have a 5/5 Red White Soldier with Double Strike until end of turn. At EoT it will lose the Double Strike but still be a 5/5.
I'm assuming this was at a prerelease or fnm so it doesn't fall under competitive level rules. There are two possible ways to handle this basically either rewind the game until the point where the illegal event occurred (so declare blockers) or leave the game the way it is with Warden blocking a Titanic Growthed attacker. That another spell was cast since the illegal event occurred would make rewinding the game less appealing so just leave the game the way it is.
You can. Chained to the Rocks has only one targetting restriction and that is it must be a creature. Since Darksteel Citadel with Ensoul Artifact is a 5/5 Artifact Creature you can do it.
More 1 CMC cyclers would always be nice, but an Evoke-like mechanic would do a lot more good, IMO.
Cycling is certainly possible. It's been 5 years since we've had it and that whas in alara where the shards started. This one is supposed to flesh out the wedges so another cycle of that kind would be good.
Correct. The way layers work the first thing that happens is Power/Toughness CDA such as Tarmogoyf's ability. Next you apply any effect that sets P/T to a specific number (Biomass Mutation). Then things that modify P/T (Ethereal Armor). Then you apply counters (Black Sun's Zenith) So if you had a 4/5 Tarmogoyf and cast Biomass Mutation for x=6 then it will be a 6/6.
Player B can respond to the trigger by fetching a dryad arbor, but player A will have the opportunity to wasteland it before the trigger resolves.
Lastly The Abyss actually targets in its oracle text so fetching for a dryad arbor at upkeep will never work. The target must be chosen when the ability goes on the stack.
Well kind of. He only comes back at the beginning of the next end step so at most you can exile and return him once in a single turn.
You will. The way combat works you have a phase to declare attackers, a phase to declare blockers, and then combat damage happens. In the case of an ability that triggers off of blocking (like Psychic Membrane) will happen immediately after you declare it as a blocker. After that you have a chance to cast spells and activate abilities so you can Doom Blade.
If you go the other way then you'll have a 5/5 with the ability. That is if you activate Boros Keyrune first then cast Ensoul Artifact you'll have a 5/5 Red White Soldier with Double Strike until end of turn. At EoT it will lose the Double Strike but still be a 5/5.
Cycling is certainly possible. It's been 5 years since we've had it and that whas in alara where the shards started. This one is supposed to flesh out the wedges so another cycle of that kind would be good.