MTG Salvation

Nothing in Thriving Rats or Multiform Wonder puts charge counters on anything (compare with Shriekhorn or Necrogen Censer); rather, "you get EE" or "you get EEE" (two or three energy counters [not: charge counters], respectively) when Thriving Rats or Multiform Wonder enters the battlefield, respectively (C.R. 107.14). The E "you get" this way is associated with "you" rather than with any permanent.

When something tells you to "pay E", you remove one energy counter from yourself, no matter what gave you that energy counter (C.R. 107.14).

When a Thriving Rats attacks, its triggered ability triggers this way and when it resolves, it allows you to pay EE, but doesn't allow you to pay more than EE to get a bigger effect (but note that if you attack with only one Thriving Rats, that doesn't make the second ability of any other Thriving Rats trigger — read "Whenever Thriving Rats attacks..." as "Whenever this creature attacks..." [C.R. 201.4]) (C.R. 603.1). On the other hand, you can activate either activated ability of Multiform Wonder as often as you can pay the cost of E (C.R. 119.3, 602.1). See also this thread and this thread.

Note the following points:

1. It's not damage, by itself, that destroys a creature, but rather a state-based action could do so (C.R. 119.5, 704.5g-h). This is true even though combat damage is dealt at the same time (C.R. 510.2).

2. All first strike and double strike do is give a combat phase two combat damage steps rather than one, and restrict which creatures assign combat damage during those steps (C.R. 702.4b, 702.7b). See also this thread.

Bearing in mind that no card other than "silver-bordered" cards has the same effect as that of Gleemax's ability:

If there is more than one instance of "You choose all targets for all spells and abilities" among permanents, their effects are applied in timestamp order, so that the controller of the permanent whose instance's effect has the latest timestamp among effects of those instances will "choose all targets for all spells and abilities" (C.R. 109.5, 613.10, 613.6; for this case in particular, see C.R. 613.6a, 613.6e). In general, this means the last Gleemax effect created "wins". See also this thread.

As an example, in general, if Mirage Mirror becomes a copy of Gleemax (and the two permanents are controlled by different players), Mirage Mirror's controller "choose(s) all targets for all spells and abilities", rather than any other player, at least until another Gleemax enters the battlefield or a permanent becomes a copy of an object that has Gleemax's ability.

Quote from Amalakiah »

So the 1 mana symbol counts as a diamond symbol? That’s what I’m getting

1 means one mana of any type (C.R. 107.4b), while C means one colorless mana (C.R. 107.4c). For example, 1 can be paid with W, U, C, or one mana of another type, whereas C can be paid only with C (one colorless mana).

Some cards formerly had the text "Add 1 to your mana pool". In general, those cards now say "Add C" instead. Similarly, "Add 2 to your mana pool" is now "Add CC". However, this doesn't affect 1 in costs. For example, the 1 symbols in Bearer of Silence don't become C instead, since they appear in costs.

See also this thread.

To pay for a spell with C in its mana cost, such as Kozilek, the Great Distortion, you have to pay colorless mana (C.R. 107.4c, 601.2f, 601.2h). You can add colorless mana by tapping Kozilek's Channeler for CC just as well as by tapping Ruins of Oran-Rief for C. (Compare C, which means one colorless mana no matter how it was produced [C.R. 107.4c], with S, which means one mana of any type produced by a snow permanent [C.R. 107.4h]. Also compare C with 1 and other generic mana symbols [C.R. 107.4b].)

Note that Eldrazi is a creature type (C.R. 205.3m) with no rules or game mechanics inherent to that type. Note also that not all Eldrazi spells have C in their mana costs (see, e.g., Eyeless Watcher and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth).

Quote from chaikov »

508.4c A creature that’s put onto the battlefield attacking or that is stated to be attacking isn’t affected by requirements or restrictions that apply to the declaration of attackers.

509.7b A creature that’s put onto the battlefield blocking isn’t affected by requirements or restrictions that apply to the declaration of blockers.

Sadly, the rule team were a little short when they wrote rule 509.7b; it should mimic 508.4c. Let's hope they'll correct this oversight in some future rules revison.

Currently the only effect in Magic I could find that provides that a creature "is blocking" another when it formerly wasn't is found in General Jarkeld (C.R. 108.1), and the reason for this text is to avoid the word "switch" in Jarkeld's former Oracle text, not necessarily to introduce a novel game mechanic. On the other hand, the rule change in C.R. 508.4 and 508.4a in Commander 2019 occurred primarily because of Tahngarth, which introduced a novel game mechanic in that set with an effect that states that a creature "is attacking".

EDIT: Edited slightly, after comment 6 was posted.

Quote from davidb32 »

Why can't a player respond to the final chapter ability while it's still on the stack and remove lore counters?
The sacrifice state based action only occurs once the chapter ability leaves the stack.

I was mistaken and I have deleted my comment.

Can I opt to put that instant into the stack then and there?

If you exile a card with Mind's Desire, you choose whether to play that card only right after you exile it (C.R. 608.2f), and not later; playing that card is a one-shot effect (C.R. 610.1; compare the second ability of Chandra, Pyromaster with her third ability). The card is played this way at a moment that cards normally can't be played (for spells, the rule is C.R. 608.2f; for lands, you follow the "play" keyword action under C.R. 608.2c and 701.13, but see C.R. 305.2b, 305.3) — players don't have priority while a spell or ability is resolving (C.R. 117.2e), so not even instant spells could normally be cast at that moment (review C.R. 117.1a). See also this thread and this thread.

EDIT: Struck out this text after comment 5 was posted.

Is the instant cast or just exists?

To play a nonland card means to cast it as a spell (C.R. 701.13b; compare with C.R. 701.13a). Thus, playing such a card follows all the rules for casting spells, notably C.R. 601.2 (C.R. 701.4), and for the purposes of Eye of the Storm, an instant or sorcery card "play[ed]" with Mind's Desire has been cast. See also this thread.

What I'm after is, Is the word play, from Desire, exchangeable with the word cast?

Not exactly. Mind's Desire still says "play" and not "cast" in its Oracle text [C.R. 108.1], notably because it allows a land card exiled with it to be played under certain circumstances (C.R. 116.2a, 305.2b, 305.3; review C.R. 701.13a; see also this thread). On the other hand, Eye of the Storm's text now says "...casts an instant or sorcery card" and "may cast the copy" rather than "...plays an instant or sorcery card" and "may play the copy" because cards no longer speak of "playing" a spell or an instant or sorcery card (C.R. 701.13d, 108.1). See also this thread.

Stonebrow's triggered ability will trigger. In this scenario, as soon as a non-Human creature you control attacks, it will immediately "get +1/+0 and have trample" thanks to Ferocity of the Wilds (C.R. 613.1f-g, 613.3b, 613.4, 611.3b, 113.6), so that Stonebrow's triggered ability will trigger for that creature since it's now a "creature you control with trample" (C.R. 508.1k, 508.1m; see also C.R. 603.10, 603.2). See also this thread.

Quote from ashrog »

"-x/-x" or "-1/-1 counters" will [destroy an indestructible creature].

No, that's not true. The only things that can destroy a permanent are—

• effects that say "destroy", and
• the state-based actions that destroy a creature because of deathtouch or lethal damage

(C.R. 701.7a-b, 704.5g-h), and they are the only things the indestructible ability works against (C.R. 702.12). Nothing else counts as destroying a permanent, including dealing damage to it (C.R. 120.5), putting counters on it, or applying a "gets -N/-M" effect to it. See also this thread and this thread.

EDIT (Feb. 24): Add rule citation.

If you put Arixmethes onto the battlefield with Flash, you then sacrifice Arixmethes if you don't "pay its mana cost reduced by up to 2", regardless of whether Arixmethes entered the battlefield as a creature (the words "it" and "its" on Flash refer to the permanent put onto the battlefield with Flash, regardless of its nature [C.R. 400.7h, 400.2]) (C.R. 118.11a). See also this thread.

Quote from BlueEqualsWin »

Do you know of any cards that do the same affect as Surestrike Trident? I’m running a mono green deck, and have been looking for cards that do the same effect? peteroupc

That question is out of scope for this forum. Try asking your question in the Magic General forum instead.

In general, you can't activate the ability Surestrike Trident grants to Blightsteel Colossus the turn it enters the battlefield.

That ability has T in its cost (C.R. 602.1). For that reason, and also because Blightsteel Colossus is a creature, that ability generally can't be activated if Blightsteel Colossus entered the battlefield this turn or came under your control this turn, unless the creature has haste (which Surestrike Trident doesn't grant and Blightsteel Colossus normally doesn't have) (C.R. 302.6, 702.10c).

Compare Surestrike Trident with Blinding Powder — unlike with Surestrike Trident, the ability Blinding Powder grants to the equipped creature can be activated the turn that creature enters the battlefield, since the ability doesn't have the tap or untap symbol in its cost (C.R. 302.6);

EDIT: Edited slightly after comment 5 was posted.

A copy effect such as Mirage Mirror's doesn't copy counters of any kind (whether +1/+1 or otherwise) (C.R. 706.2).

A copy effect also doesn't copy whether a permanent is monstrous (C.R. 701.30b, 706.2). If Mirage Mirror isn't already monstrous, it doesn't become monstrous merely by becoming a copy of a monstrous permanent.

If Mirage Mirror becomes monstrous (e.g., because the ability it acquires from Colossus of Akros resolves [C.R. 701.30a]) while a copy effect is active on it, it doesn't stop being monstrous when that copy effect ends, when it becomes a copy of a permanent that isn't monstrous, or when it otherwise stops being a creature; rather, Mirage Mirror will "sta[y] monstrous until it leaves the battlefield" (C.R. 701.30b).

For the purposes of monstrosity, whether a permanent is monstrous does not depend on whether or not it has +1/+1 counters on it (C.R. 701.30a). See also this thread.

Quote from BigSasha »

Could this be done multiple times per turn?

You can activate Phyrexian Altar's ability as often as you can pay its cost (which is "Sacrifice a creature" here), not just once each turn (C.R. 118.3, 602.1). Compare Phyrexian Altar with Akki Avalanchers or Fault Riders, whose abilities have restrictions on how often they can be activated (C.R. 602.1b). And each time "Omnath ... or an Elemental creature you control dies" (whether by being sacrificed or otherwise), Omnath's last ability will trigger (C.R. 603.2, 700.4, 701.16a). See also this thread.