The fixed version has the additional utility of being able to be a straight boardwipe if there are more than six creatures. That still seems like a fair card at 3BBB, but it is a difference from the original version.
If you wanted to keep the functionality... Being a modal spell is probably still the best option, but you would need to add a clause like "You must choose the first mode if you can legally cast this spell that way." (Come to think of it, slap that on a keyword and you'd create an interesting design mechanic - a spell that can do A, with targets, or can do B but only if you can't choose targets for A.)
It's worth noting that Craterhoof's ability checks how many creatures you control when it resolves. That they both enter the battlefield simultaneously makes it easier to process what happens in this scenario but isn't specifically necessary to have them count each other. You could achieve the same effect by, for example, casting one Behemoth and, in response to its triggered ability, using something like Elvish Piper to put the other one onto the battlefield.
Actually, Blood Moon isn't an example of this either since it doesn't add the Basic supertype to anything. A land can be a Mountain (even if it's a Mountain without having other types, e.g. Madblind Mountain) and not be basic.
It works fine. Otherwise, cards like Aegis of the Meek wouldn't work.
This isn't a great example, because Aegis of the Meek only cares about whether the creature is 1/1 long enough to check target legality.
But this does work as described here - consider Conversion or Glaciers as proof of this. The continuous effect "All Mountains are Plains" overwrites the land type of all permanents it affects so that they aren't Mountains anymore, but continues to affect them anyway.
Notably, the only difference between a control changing effect generated by a permanent's static ability (e.g. Control Magic) and one generated by a one-shot effect is how the effect's duration works. The former lasts as long as the permanent does while the latter is either indefinite or has a set duration defined by the effect. But they still interact in timestamp order - while the permanent's effect may be easier to see, that doesn't give it any sort of special precedence.
Whenever a card's text refers to itself by name, if it doesn't call out that it's referring to the name specifically (e.g. "creatures named X", "cards named X") it just means "this object." The functional effect of the second part of Elves of Deep Shadow's ability is "This creature deals 1 damage to you." Necrotic Ooze retains that part of the ability and you will be dealt damage.
I was going to post something to this thread, and then I realized that I'm not certain how the interaction works, so here's this one.
If an Aura has an activated or triggered ability that performs an action on "enchanted [object]", is the identity of the enchanted object locked in when the ability is put onto the stack, or is it determined when the ability resolves?
Examples:
1. I control a Followed Footsteps that is attached to a Runeclaw Bear, because I value simplicity of example over making good game decisions. My opponent, while I was tapped out, played a Worldspine Wurm. I begin my turn, untap, and Followed Footsteps triggers. In response, I cast Aura Finesse and attach the Footsteps to the Wurm. Which creature do I get a copy of?
2. (This is the case I was thinking of posting in the other thread) I control a Gonti's Aether Heart that is enchanted with Mechanized Production. Its ability triggers during my upkeep. In response, I activate Heart's ability, exiling it in the process. Mechanized Production goes to my graveyard due to the fact that it's not attached to anything. When Mechanized Production's ability resolves, do I (a) get nothing because the last game state where Production was on the battlefield had it attached to nothing, (b) get a Heart copy because something lets Auras track their enchanted object's last known information in this situation, or (c) get a Heart copy because what mattered was what Production was attached to when the ability triggered?
I'm not sure how you can accidentally sacrifice something (MTGO misclick perhaps?) but No Rest for the Wicked has a one-shot effect. It will take action on every creature card that is in your graveyard at the moment that it resolves provided that they were put there from the battlefield this turn. It doesn't set up any effect that would apply to things that happen later.
I'm going to hazard a guess that part of the intent of the question is about whether you can cast multiple creature spells in a row in general. You absolutely can do this, in the sense that your main phase doesn't end until all players have passed priority while the stack is empty.
The typical sequence is:
1. It is your main phase, nothing is on the stack, and you have priority. You cast a creature spell. It goes onto the stack.
2. You get priority again when you are finished casting the spell. You can cast instants or spells with flash at this time, but you normally can't cast another creature right now because the stack isn't empty. So instead you pass priority.
3. Your opponent gets priority. Here is the point where they could make a relevant response (for example, by playing Essence Scatter or Gather Specimens) but in this case they have no response, so they pass too.
4. The creature spell resolves and it enters the battlefield. To keep the example simple, let's assume this do sn't trigger any abilities.
5. Because it's your turn and something just finished resolving, you get priority again. It's still your main phase and the stack is empty again, so you can cast another creature spell now. The same steps happen again.
6. When you have nothing else to do, you pass priority while the stack is empty. Your opponent gets priority and can take actions - for example, they might want to destroy a Goblin Rabblemaster you control before your main phase ends - and if they do, you get priority to respond to their spell and again after it has resolved. But in this case your opponent doesn't do anything and passes. Since both players have passed priority consecutively while the stack was empty, the main phase now ends.
Even if you could respond to the first creature spell by casting the second (e.g. because it's a creature with flash, as in Rezzahan's example) it's usually tactically better to play them one at a time anyway, because then your opponent has to decide how to respond to the first one without knowing whether you will play another or what the second one is.
It does quite a lot of work.
If all of your creatures are colorless, Invoke Prejudice applies to everything because nothing shares a color with a creature you control. (Of note, colorless itself isn't a color, so the effect applies to other colorless creature spells.)
1. "The beginning of your upkeep" is a single point of time as far as triggered abilities in Magic are concerned. It's when these sorts of abilities trigger. Once they have and are on the stack, no other such abilities can also trigger later on in the same upkeep. However: Strionic Resonator works the way you want it to here. The Mirror's abilit doesn't resolve before you can take actions, so you can copy it with Resonator. And if you have a way to activate Resonator multiple times, you can copy the Mirror's triggered ability multiple times.
2. Panoptic Mirror's current Oracle text says "cast" in place of where it says "play" on the card, to reflect the terminology updates from the Magic 2010 set release. This interacts with Paradox Engine the way you are expecting.
It's worth noting that the rules for CMC of split cards changed with Amonkhet. The CMC of a split card is now considered to be the CMC of both halves put together for all purposes while the card isn't on the stack. So your switch to Panoptic Mirror is timely, since it's no longer legal to imprint Research//Development onto Isochron Scepter.
Also, a side note, you'll need nonland sources of mana to keep the combo going because Paradox Engine doesn't untap lands. I suspect you knew that, but since you didn't state how you were getting mana I figured I'd point it out.
Correct. All combat damage is dealt as a single event (unless you're being attacked by a mix of creatures with first strike and ones without, or some with double strike) so in your example you would go straight from being at 1 life - at which point Unlife's damage-modifying effect isn't applying yet - to being at -11.
The original Innistrad cards tended to have their two sides referred to as "day side" and "night side", but this never made it into card text. As far as I know there isn't currently a formal term for what you're referring to. A couple of options:
-"...that hasn't transformed" would technically work, because transforming something is a defined game action and effects can look for whether an action has happened, but this runs into the issues that (a) if there are any effects that are able to transform something back to its original form, that object has been transformed, and (b) anything that isn't a DFC meets the condition too, unless you add "and can transform" or something similar.
- Look at mana cost. This is awkward and has issues if you consider tokens, but the back sides of transformed cards have no mana cost so you could look for whether the creature has one.
- Use creature types. This is potentially the most elegant solution and has a precedent - many Innistrad DFC creatures were Werewolves and also Humans but only on the front side, allowing cards like Moonmist and Immerwolf to be selective about what they affected. Making up a creature type ("Unevolved" is clunky but would get the job done) could be your best bet.
Any card I can think of that refers to Legendary objects still has the expected text, e.g. Leyline of Singularity, Konda's Banner, and particularly Time of Need (which would do actual nothing now if all cards were no longer legendary.) I concur with the hypothesis that there was a problem with a Gatherer update.
If you wanted to keep the functionality... Being a modal spell is probably still the best option, but you would need to add a clause like "You must choose the first mode if you can legally cast this spell that way." (Come to think of it, slap that on a keyword and you'd create an interesting design mechanic - a spell that can do A, with targets, or can do B but only if you can't choose targets for A.)
But this does work as described here - consider Conversion or Glaciers as proof of this. The continuous effect "All Mountains are Plains" overwrites the land type of all permanents it affects so that they aren't Mountains anymore, but continues to affect them anyway.
If an Aura has an activated or triggered ability that performs an action on "enchanted [object]", is the identity of the enchanted object locked in when the ability is put onto the stack, or is it determined when the ability resolves?
Examples:
1. I control a Followed Footsteps that is attached to a Runeclaw Bear, because I value simplicity of example over making good game decisions. My opponent, while I was tapped out, played a Worldspine Wurm. I begin my turn, untap, and Followed Footsteps triggers. In response, I cast Aura Finesse and attach the Footsteps to the Wurm. Which creature do I get a copy of?
2. (This is the case I was thinking of posting in the other thread) I control a Gonti's Aether Heart that is enchanted with Mechanized Production. Its ability triggers during my upkeep. In response, I activate Heart's ability, exiling it in the process. Mechanized Production goes to my graveyard due to the fact that it's not attached to anything. When Mechanized Production's ability resolves, do I (a) get nothing because the last game state where Production was on the battlefield had it attached to nothing, (b) get a Heart copy because something lets Auras track their enchanted object's last known information in this situation, or (c) get a Heart copy because what mattered was what Production was attached to when the ability triggered?
Path to Exile
Yes. Path says "its controller may search..." and that refers to whoever controlled the creature last as of when it was exiled.
By contrast, your opponent is the creature's owner at all times, regardless of control changing effects, but Path doesn't care about who owns it.
I'm not sure how you can accidentally sacrifice something (MTGO misclick perhaps?) but No Rest for the Wicked has a one-shot effect. It will take action on every creature card that is in your graveyard at the moment that it resolves provided that they were put there from the battlefield this turn. It doesn't set up any effect that would apply to things that happen later.
The typical sequence is:
1. It is your main phase, nothing is on the stack, and you have priority. You cast a creature spell. It goes onto the stack.
2. You get priority again when you are finished casting the spell. You can cast instants or spells with flash at this time, but you normally can't cast another creature right now because the stack isn't empty. So instead you pass priority.
3. Your opponent gets priority. Here is the point where they could make a relevant response (for example, by playing Essence Scatter or Gather Specimens) but in this case they have no response, so they pass too.
4. The creature spell resolves and it enters the battlefield. To keep the example simple, let's assume this do sn't trigger any abilities.
5. Because it's your turn and something just finished resolving, you get priority again. It's still your main phase and the stack is empty again, so you can cast another creature spell now. The same steps happen again.
6. When you have nothing else to do, you pass priority while the stack is empty. Your opponent gets priority and can take actions - for example, they might want to destroy a Goblin Rabblemaster you control before your main phase ends - and if they do, you get priority to respond to their spell and again after it has resolved. But in this case your opponent doesn't do anything and passes. Since both players have passed priority consecutively while the stack was empty, the main phase now ends.
Even if you could respond to the first creature spell by casting the second (e.g. because it's a creature with flash, as in Rezzahan's example) it's usually tactically better to play them one at a time anyway, because then your opponent has to decide how to respond to the first one without knowing whether you will play another or what the second one is.
If all of your creatures are colorless, Invoke Prejudice applies to everything because nothing shares a color with a creature you control. (Of note, colorless itself isn't a color, so the effect applies to other colorless creature spells.)
2. Panoptic Mirror's current Oracle text says "cast" in place of where it says "play" on the card, to reflect the terminology updates from the Magic 2010 set release. This interacts with Paradox Engine the way you are expecting.
It's worth noting that the rules for CMC of split cards changed with Amonkhet. The CMC of a split card is now considered to be the CMC of both halves put together for all purposes while the card isn't on the stack. So your switch to Panoptic Mirror is timely, since it's no longer legal to imprint Research//Development onto Isochron Scepter.
Also, a side note, you'll need nonland sources of mana to keep the combo going because Paradox Engine doesn't untap lands. I suspect you knew that, but since you didn't state how you were getting mana I figured I'd point it out.
-"...that hasn't transformed" would technically work, because transforming something is a defined game action and effects can look for whether an action has happened, but this runs into the issues that (a) if there are any effects that are able to transform something back to its original form, that object has been transformed, and (b) anything that isn't a DFC meets the condition too, unless you add "and can transform" or something similar.
- Look at mana cost. This is awkward and has issues if you consider tokens, but the back sides of transformed cards have no mana cost so you could look for whether the creature has one.
- Use creature types. This is potentially the most elegant solution and has a precedent - many Innistrad DFC creatures were Werewolves and also Humans but only on the front side, allowing cards like Moonmist and Immerwolf to be selective about what they affected. Making up a creature type ("Unevolved" is clunky but would get the job done) could be your best bet.