"Tournament Level" magic questions

Its been 13 years since i have played tournament level constructed magic.

Im known for my careless playstyle but thats because it rarely matters.

Now that it will matter, i want to make sure i have a few things straight that i dont see often in limited or casual.

Planeswalker happenings:
First, if i earthquake and my opponent controls a PW i can redirect the earthquake damage that would be dealt to him to his PW correct? I know it works when you target the player but im unsure about the non targetted damage.
Second, can i also redirect damage dealt to me to my own planeswalker if i want to? Ive honestly never asked or have seen it happen, i have no idea.
I know planeswalkers kill each other like the general rule, even if they arent the exact same (either ajani kills the other, and either Jace now also, correct?)

Kor firewalker does not die to earthquake or pyroclasm, correct? Back in the day, non targetted color damage used to kill pro-creatures i think, but then that changed along the way maybe or maybe my play group were all terrible players in 1996 haha.

theres more but ill add to it when i get home from work.

You can only re-direct damage to PW's if you control the source of the damage. If you cast Earthquake you can redirect to your own PW or an opponents, but if your opponent casts Earthquake they get to decide to re-direct to the PW or not.

Not sure about the Firewalker.

Copied from MTGSalvations Wiki:

The effects of protection are often described using the mnemonic DEBT. The permanent or player with protection can't be:

* Damaged by sources with the given quality (all such damage is prevented)
* Enchanted or equipped by permanents with the given quality
* Blocked by creatures with the given quality (if it's a creature)
* Targeted by spells of the given quality, or abilities with sources of the given quality.

Protection is commonly misunderstood as being complete exemption from effects created by cards with the quality being protected from, which would allow, for example, a creature with protection from white to survive the effect of Wrath of God. This is not the case, however, as anything other than the specific things mentioned above is not hampered by protection in any way. Thus, as Wrath does not attempt to damage or target the creature, it will still be destroyed.

~Zuty

redxxii wrote:You can only re-direct damage to PW's if you control the source of the damage. If you cast Earthquake you can redirect to your own PW or an opponents, but if your opponent casts Earthquake they get to decide to re-direct to the PW or not.

So my questions is, if both my opponent and i control a PW and i cast earthquake, could i assign the EQ damage my opponent would take to his PW? Could i also assign the EQ damage i would take to my PW from that same EQ?

Concerning Pithing Needle:

When playing Pithing Needle, if i slightly mispronounce the card im intending to target with Pithing Needle (lets say i have a Jimglish moment) does that allow my opponent to circumvent the card if he were to protest to a judge?
Example, lets say i would name Hellkite Surger instead of Hellkite Charger or something equally as stupid. Whats the protocol there, anyone know?

Further down that road, if i were to completely blank on the the name of the card i wanted to target with Pithing Needle but i can describe what the card does, even the picture of it, whats to be done? Assuming my opponent wont help me remember the name im trying to fuck him out of using, do i call a judge over? CAN i call a judge over?

I don't think you can redirect damage that would be dealt to you to your own Planeswalker. Pretty sure it's just redirect damage to an opponent's Planeswalker from a source you control that would deal damage to that opponent.

As for the first Pithing Needle question, I'm not sure about accidently misnaming a card like that. I haven't seen that theoretical situation come up.
As for the second question, a judge would be appropriate in that situation. I do know that as long as you can 'uniquely identify' a card, it'll be good for the purposes of naming it for the Needle.

With earthquake effects that you control, you can choose all the damage dealt to you, your planeswalkers, your opponent or your opponents planeswalkers. If you earthquake for 2, you can deal 2 to your jace, 2 to your opponents ajani, and 2 to all the non flying creatures.

The only thing I am not sure of is if you or your opponent has more than 1 Planeswalker out. I do not know if you can divide the damage between an opponents Ajani and their Jace.

With pithing needle (and meddling mage), you have to name a real magic card. If you name a real card, and it is not the actual card you wanted, you are out of luck.

If you name a card, and it is not a real magic card, you have commited an infraction according to the penalty guide, if your opponent also allows you to name a non real magic card they are also commiting a penalty. If you do not know the exact card name that you want, you can just describe the abilities, casting cost, and other characteristics of the card. You do have the right to call a judge at any time. You can always ask a judge for oracle text of a card, you just need to give them the discription of it, and they will give you the card name and any oracle text.

As long as you can identify the card you can name it with Pithing Needle. Like instead of Jace Berelen you could say 'Jace JR' or 'The First Jace' and that should work. I'm going by a recent rules article on MTGSalvation. So yeah, John is right.

You can never redirect damage to your own planeswalker. You can only choose to redirect non-combat damage from your opponent to your opponent's planeswalker.

212.9g If noncombat damage would be dealt to a player by a source controlled by an opponent, that opponent may have that source deal that damage to a planeswalker the first player controls instead. This is a redirection effect (see rule 419.6c) and is subject to the normal rules for ordering replacement effects (see rule 419.9). The opponent chooses whether to redirect the damage as the redirection effect is applied.

Also, for John W, from Wizard's site:

Q: How does the Planeswalker replacement effect work?
A: The rules create a special replacement effect that allows you to redirect damage from spells or abilities from your opponent to one of his planeswalkers. This replacement effect is always available if the opponent controls a planeswalker and will work for any non-combat damage dealt by a source you control.

So you can't mix and match damage to 2 different planeswalkers your opponent controls.

As for Pithing Needle, if you can uniquely describe the card, frequently that's good enough (it's that red dragon, he's a 5/5 with haste and you can pay 7 when he attacks to get another attack). If you do name a different card, though, you do have to stick with your decision (naming "Master of the Hunt" instead of "Master of the Wild Hunt"). It's possible a judge would let you get away with this in a t2 tournament, since one is in Standard and one is a piece of shit from Legends, but they might make you stick by it.

On a side note, don't name Hellkite Charger when you play Pithing Needle, as it does nothing. Hellkite Charger has no activated abilities, only triggered abilities. Look for a colon for activated abilities, and look for "when," "whenever," and "if" for triggered abilities.

Probably not a tournament question, but it saves me from making another topic for a single question.

With the recent changes in 2010, mana no longer causes burn (thanks for taking the lore away, Wizo) and empties at every phase and step. So I have a few questions about this.

Magus of the Vineyard is useless, unless you can use the GG during combat to pay for a cost or something, correct?

Originally, if I tapped your lands with Opposition like cards after you untapped them you could tap them and let the mana float to play cards which made those types of cards worthless in my opinion, but you can not longer do that unless it is an instant or has flash, correct?

~Zuty

You can use the mana from Magus of the Vineyard during your precombat main phase. So you can play creatures, activate abilities, etc. Once you get to combat, the mana is cleared barring an Omnath or Upwelling, so you can't use the mana during combat.

As for Opposition, the trick in general is to tap it during their upkeep, which means they can only float mana to play instants. The only thing that changed in 2010, is that you used to be able to float it to your draw step, meaning you could play the card you drew if it were an instant; now it clears when your draw step begins, so you can't do that.

Slyphidine wrote:You can use the mana from Magus of the Vineyard during your precombat main phase. So you can play creatures, activate abilities, etc. Once you get to combat, the mana is cleared barring an Omnath or Upwelling, so you can't use the mana during combat.

As for Opposition, the trick in general is to tap it during their upkeep, which means they can only float mana to play instants. The only thing that changed in 2010, is that you used to be able to float it to your draw step, meaning you could play the card you drew if it were an instant; now it clears when your draw step begins, so you can't do that.

Oh, okay I see how Magus works now. I got confused and thought Precombat meant right before you declare attackers, but can not longer cast spells. I didn't see the Main Phase part, so all it means is during your main phase before you attack (which sounds better, but wastes more ink) you add GG and can cast stuff.

And now I know the best time to play Opposition type cards/abilities.

Thanks.

~Zuty

With Pithing Needle, you cannot name an illegal card. So if you Jimglish something, or say 'Ajani Virulent' or 'Red/White Ajani', your opponent cannot hold you to it. Technically, you are allowed to receive the name of a card or its Oracle text at any point in time from a judge, so if you have any questions you can just call the judge and it won't be a problem at all. Dan's example, however, is RIGHT on...if you say 'Master of the Hunt' instead of 'Master of the WILD Hunt', your opponent can possibly hold you to it at competitive REL.

When in doubt, ask a judge. They are there to help, and really don't mind when people ask questions. Not only is it practice for them, but judging can be BORING. There were times when I would judge prereleases that I would pray for people to ask questions...


-AA

Jim shouldn't play Pithing Needle.