1. Do not answer rules questions on the list, even if they are not
preceded by a [RULES] note.
2. Old rules digests may be found at http://mndigest.shadowdragon.net,
or in the Files section of the listserv:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MagiNation/files
Please check previous digests before asking a question to be certain
it has not been answered before.
3. Include [RULES] in the subject of all rules posts, otherwise the
rules team may miss the question for the digest.
4. We must stress again the first rule; those who continually violate
this will be in danger of moderation.

RT = Rules Team

1-4. Moving Energy
5. Can a Magi die in the middle of casting a spell?
6. Dual-regional penalties
7. Dreamwarper
8. Dreamwarper... again and again!
9. Cost reduction
10. What are the steps of the game?
11. Does my Tree Hinko still love me?
12. Are Illusions REALLY in play?
13. Are cards my opponent stole still mine?
14. What if I get up and leave? NOW are they mine?
15. What if I attach them to his cards? Are THOSE mine?
16. Drawing on an empty deck
17. How do you spell Renege?
18. Burrow doesn't mention Effects, do they work?
19. If the effect is named Stalk, is that any different?
20. Can I use ALL of my Powers?
21. Can energy loss from Dessicate be prevented?
22. Can Sagawal see dead Creatures?
23. What's the current wording of Bloom?
24. More Moving Energy
25. What do the rules on pp.24-25 say?
26. If my spell is useless, can I discard it?
27. Does "once per turn" include this turn?

-----
QUESTIONS
> 1. Are you able to use Syphon Vortex on a creature to leech more
> energy than is on the creature? For example, Syphon Vortex X=4
> where X = 6 against a (2 energy) creature and getting 6 energy back
> to your magi.
> 2. Do yo only get X energy returned when using Syphon Vortex, or the
> total damage dealt?
> 3. If you cast a Syphon Vortex on a creature while you have a Scroll
> of Fire is out, what happens if you use Amanax's Pyromaniac Effect
> for the turn?
> 4. The reason that I'm asking is, this is how I think it works--this
> deck uses Amanax as its last Magi and hoards cards. When Amanax
> rolls around, it plays Blast Gloves, Scroll of Fire, and Robe of the
> Ages. Casts Syphon Vortex for X+3 where X = 11. Scroll of fire ups
> that to 12 damage. Discard the blast gloves making that 24 damage.
> So it's then my understanding that Amanax gets X = 11 from the
> Syphon Vortex and 24 from Pyromaniac. Putting him at 35. Is this
> correct?

RT - Move = Discard Energy from Target A to Add Energy to Target B.
The X in Syphon Vortex determines the base amount moved. This amount
can be modified either up (by such things as Scroll of Fire) or down
(by anything that reduces or prevents energy loss). If the modified
total is greater than the amount of energy on Target A, it removes
only what is on the target. Once the removal is complete, Energy is
Added to Target B in an amount equal to that which was removed from
target A.

Example: I have Scroll of Fire in play, and you have a Rock Hyren with
5 energy. I cast Syphon Vortex with X=5. My Scroll of Fire's
Pyromancy bumps that up to 6, and then your Rock Hyren's
Invulnerability knocks it back down to 4. 4 Energy is removed from
your Rock Hyren, and therefore 4 Energy is added to my Magi. If I had
instead cast my Vortex with X=7, it would have gone up to 8 and down
to 6... but your Hyren only had 5 Energy, so I would remove all 5
Energy from the Hyren (discarding it), and add 5 Energy to my Magi.

> 5. On that same note, if I have no creatures out in play and spend
> all of my energy to cast a Syphon Vortex, does my Magi die before I
> get the energy?

RT - All effects of the current action are completely resolved before
checking for Magi death. Creatures, however, can be discarded by
paying a cost, even if the effect would have granted them energy. See
current rulebook p.20 (Use Powers, Play Relics and Play Spells).

> 6. Do you pay a region penalty for dual region creatures if you Magi
> is of at least one of the regions?

RT - No.

> 7. Can you use Grass Etiki's Effect Dreamwarper to all it to
> Dreamwarp itself?

RT - I think you meant to ask "Can you use Grass Etiki's Dreamwarper
effect to Dreamwarp the Grass Etiki as it is coming into play?" If
so: No, Dreamwarper is not in effect until the Etiki fully enters play.

> 8. Does having 2 or 3 Grass Etiki out in play create cumulative or
> redundant effects? For that matter, if a card is given the exact
> same "Effect - Name:" that it already has, is it cumulative or
> redundant?

RT - Cumulative, both Effects are usable.

> 9. Can Sand Hyren make starting cards cost 0? If a card is already
> 1 or 0, what happens?

RT - It says "Each of your named starting cards costs two less energy,
to a minimum of one." Activating all triggered Effects is mandatory,
so reduce the cost by 2, and then if the modified cost is at less than
1, raise the cost to 1. Yes, this gives your Starting Cards that
would normally cost 0 an energy cost of 1. :)

> 10. Can you play spells, powers, relics and creatures in any order
> after you attack?

RT - No. After you Attack (step 3), you may play Creatures (step 4)
in any order. After you play Creatures, you may then Use Powers, Play
Relics and Cast Spells (step 5) in any order. Finally, you draw two
cards (step 6) and your turn ends.

>11. If I use a Tree Hinko to get 2 extra energy the next time my Magi
>Energizes, and then my Magi is defeated before I energize, do I get
>the energy on my new Magi? Does this effect only the current Magi,
> or the the next time any of my Magi energize? It says that flipped
> Magi are uneffected by spells, powers, and effects.

RT - Yes, you get the extra energy "the next time your Magi
energizes," regardless of which Magi is currently face up.

>12. If I have Illusions in play with my Magi is defeated, do the
>Illusions stay in play for the next Magi? I can't find anything that
>says that creatures are discarded from play with Magi are defeated.

RT - "All of the cards that the defeated Magi had in play are
discarded." (p.24)

>13. On the same note, if my opponent has gained control of a
>creature, does that creature get discarded from play when my Magi is
>defeated?

RT - No, if you do not control a Creature (even if you Own it), it is
not discarded by your defeat.

>14. In a multi-player game, if a player is defeated, but another
>player has control of some of that player's cards, say Heart of
>Paradise, does the defeated player take back all of his or her cards?

RT - You should work this out ahead of time. Technically the card
stays in play (see question above), but you may need to proxy it
somehow if the defeated player is not staying until the end of the
game. Multiplayer tournaments should address this in their floor rules.

>15. There is a Bograth creature that I can't remember the name of,
>that when it dies, it attaches itself to a relic, and the
>controller's Magi loses one energy one someone's turn. Does this go
>away when the Bograth creature's Magi is defeated?

RT - The Creature is called Umbu. "When Umbu is discarded from play,
choose a relic in play. Attach Umbu to the chosen relic..." You still
retain control of Umbu (and he is still a Creature, desite being
"unaffected by cards that affect Creatures"). Per standard rules on
Magi defeat, "All of the cards that the defeated Magi had in play are
discarded." (p.24)

>16. Bonus Question. Not that this will <i>ever</i> happen in a real
>game, but if a player has all of his cards that were in his deck,
>either in his hand or in play, nothing in his discard pile, and it's
>his turn to draw cards--what happens?

RT - You attempt to draw, and get no cards. Note: I've actually had
this happen with a Bograth drawing deck. :)

>17a) There's this thing that my friend calls, "re-nig," and I can't
>find an actual definition for the word. It means where a player
>doesn't follow a rule, or gives something away that alters how the
>game is supposed to be played, and for that reason, the game may or
>may not need to end and/or restart.

RT - Renege: 1. To fail to carry out a promise or commitment: reneged
on the contract at the last minute. 2. Games. To fail to follow suit
in cards when able and required by the rules to do so. "He reneged on
our deal."

>17b) I know that there isn't any actual rule on how to do this, but
>if a player forgets to follow a rule and then remembers too late, how
>are you supposed to go about resolving it? We don't really have house
>rules about this and arbitrarily make up rulings about it as we go
>depending on our moods. If there's a standard way of resolving this,
>we'd like to start following it.

RT - No such luck. Generally, the intent is to either a) rewind the
game to the point where the mistake did not impact the game, or b) if
you can't easily rewind, to resolve the situation in the easiest way
that fails to benefit the person who made the mistake. It's very much
handled on a case-by-case basis. IIRC the tournament floor rules had
a paragraph on cheating and disqualification, but don't at all cover
honest mistakes like "Oh, I forgot to energize my Green Stuff, your
burrowed Parmalag that you attacked with should be dead." "Well, I
wouldn't have attacked you with my Parmalag then, dork!"

Legend of the Five Rings floor rules stated that if both players
failed to notice the mistake in a timely fashion, then the mistake
was treated as correct play in that instance, and play moved on. This
encourages players to pay close attention to the game. :)

>18. My friend attacks my (5 Energy) Burrowed Creature with his (6
>Energy) Creature with "Effect - When attacking, This Creature removes
>2 additional energy."
>Does the Burrowed Creature lose 2 or 4 Energy? Since that Effect
>only triggers during attacks, does that count as energy removal by an
>Attack or what?

RT - The creature loses 4 Energy. "Burrow: XXX loses no more than two
energy from each opposing Spell, Power, or Attack." Note that burrow
very specifically does NOT protect from Effects. "From an attack"
refers to the attack mechanic of comparing Energy totals during attack
resolution.

>19. And is this any different from Attack related effects like Stalk?
> If my (5 Energy) Burrowed Creature is stalked, and then attacked by
>a (6 Energy) Creature, do I lose 2 or 3 energy total?

RT - 3 energy. Again, the Effect causes energy loss IN the attack,
but not FROM the attack.

>20. "Powers - If a Magi, Relic, or Creature card has the word "Power"
>in its text box, that card can use the listed Power during this
>step. Each card in play can only use a listed Power once per turn. "
>If any given card has 2 or more Powers on it, Diobor for example, am
>I able to use both powers, or am I only able to use 1 power of the
>many powers listed on the card each turn?

RT - Each power may be used once per turn.

>21. A spell that removes energy, such as Dessicate; can it be
>reduced?

RT - Yes, the energy can be reduced as the energy removal is "locked
in" once the spell is cast. For instance, removing all energy from a
11e Rock Hyren would remove 11e; but the Rock Hyren would reduce it to
9e. On the same lines, a response Paradwyn spell (Bloom) could add
energy to the creature to prevent its death.

> 22. Continuing with spells such as Dessicate; do these count as
>spells that discard creatures? Now, Sagawal says it may basically
>jump in front of a spell that discards a creature; so does that mean
>it can jump in front of a Dessicate, Fireball, or Thermal Blast,
>provided the original target was going to die? It doesn't say the
>word "specific" (as in "specially discarding a creature from play")
>which is why we're asking this question.

RT - The Sagawal may be discarded when one of your Creatures is
reduced to zero energy by a Spell, "instead" of the Creature; however,
the Creature will still be a zero energy Creature, and be discarded
anyway. BUT, the source of this discard will then be the game rules,
and not the card effect that reduced the Creature to zero energy. So,
while it would generally be a waste to discard Sagawal when another
Creature is reduced to zero energy and discarded, it will "erase" the
effects of the Crushing Spell (or any card with a similar 'if this
effect discards the chosen Creature from play') and keep your opponent
from getting the secondary benefit.

>23. With more on Bloom, can it be used to change cards that look for
>the largest/smallest creature? For instance, let's take Jagged Rocks
>and Abwyn's Quill. If Jagged Rocks were written to reference Paradwyn
>instead of Kybar's Teeth, and the smallest creature in play was 2e
>and the next was 3e (so that the 2e one would be targeted), could
>Bloom be used to bring up the 2e to a 4e (with whatever powers or
>whatnot) so that the 3e would have to be targeted? Or is it the
>original target that is still targeted? This is highly unusual, of
>course, but we'd like to know.

RT - No, Bloom has been erratted. The correct text is: "You can only
play Bloom during an opponent's turn immediately after that opponent
plays a Spell or Relic or uses a Power, and all actions related to
that card have resolved. After playing this Spell, immediately use a
Power on one of your Paradwyn cards in play.
Only Paradwyn and Paradwyn Shadow Magi can play Bloom."

>24. Does moving energy (ie Weave) count as adding energy to a
>creature and discarding energy from another? Therefore, would a
>creature that was condemned by Dryte Fiend's effect lose 4 energy
>when it wove off itself, and a creature that gained energy due to
>weaving could then trigger other "when this creature adds energy"
>effects?

RT - Yes.

>25. When exactly do you reveal your Magi when the last one was
>defeated? When you are defeated on your own turn; do you still draw
>two cards to end the turn?

RT - You reveal your Magi at the beginning of your next turn. You
still draw two cards even if you have no magi in play, unless your
final Magi has been defeated. See pp.24-25.

>26. If you have Nightmare Channel on one of your creatures targeting
>the opposing Magi, does the Nightmare Channel become discarded when
>the opposing Magi is defeated?

RT - No, it remains in play unless it is specifically discarded, or
the Magi who controls the Spell leaves play. It simply has no effect.

>27. Can you play Brushfire from your hand and then again from your
>discard pile right away? (In other words, spend 4, do 4, if you're a
>Weave Magi)

RT - Yes.

-----
NON-LEGAL LIMITED CARDS:

The following list of cards is provided as a reference to cite
current, non-legal promotional cards, and their expected legal date:

Power of the Creators: No date currently planned.
Tony at a Con: No date currently planned.
Dan (including alternate artwork): No date currently planned.
Ludi: No date currently planned.


-Rich Riley
Redeemer of Ogar
Magi Nation DUEL Rules Team