This a big reason why I have not updated in like a month…  He tends to eat up a lot of my time.

So due to a bunch of boring personal unforeseen circumstances there has not been a 5knights update in 3 weeks…  Sorry That should be changing now.
I am looking forward to getting back into it!

This is what I did instead of making a comic this week.  Photoshop pictures of my baby…  Happy Holidays everyone!

Card Making Contest

Big Rules News from Wizards!

“They’re not loopholes! They’re special rules for the people who go to the effort of finding them!”
- Brian Van Hoose, Knights of the Dinner Table

Quote from Wizards’ 2012 Infraction Procedure Guide (Rule 1.4):
Traditionally, some abilities include the word ‘may’ as part of their text, indicating that their effect is optional. At Competitive and Professional REL, some additional triggered abilities and enters-the-battlefield replacement effects are considered optional. The player is not required to follow the instruction when the ability resolves, and if the ability is forgotten it will not retroactively be applied. An optional ability does one or more of the following things, and nothing else:

• Gains you life or causes an opponent to lose life.
• Puts cards from your library, graveyard, or exile zones into your hand or onto the battlefield. This includes drawing cards.
• Causes opponents to put objects from their hand or the battlefield into the library, graveyard or exile.
• Puts a permanent into play under your control or gives you control of a permanent.
• Puts +x/+x counters, or counters linked to a beneficial effect, on a permanent you control.
• Gives +x/+x or a beneficial ability to a target creature you control.
• Exiles, damages, destroys, taps, or gives -x/-x to an opponent’s target permanent. If the ability could target your own permanents, it is not optional unless that ability could target an opponent.
• Gives you additional turns or phases.
• Counters a spell or conditionally counters a spell, but only when cast by an opponent.
  Abilities that trigger at the same point in each players turn and do something to “that player” (e.g. Howling Mine) are never optional.

This list is comprehensive. An ability that does not fit all of the criteria above is not optional, even if it is to the benefit of the player controlling the ability. Similarly, an optional ability is always optional, even if it would be to the detriment of the player for it to happen.

The change breaks down into two major components at Competitive and Professional REL:

• Opponents are NOT required to point out your missed triggers.

• A large number of triggers and enters-the-battlefield replacement effects have “Competitive REL” errata to make them optional.

 
This will definitely tighten up some plays in tournaments. It will also alleviate the moral dilemma many people have in tournaments. When someone notices their opponent forgot to do something that helps them, most people think a second before reminding them. “Do I tell them? I know I’m supposed to, but THEY forgot! I could just forget too, right?”
I will be the first to admit it always grates on me when I remind someone of something they forgot in a PTQ. I actually like reminding people at FNMs even if it might lose me the game, but at PTQs it’s a different matter completely. Now, however, I don’t have to say anything. There is no longer a dilemma.
But,
I think it will echo into casual play as well. Arguments will start happening around the kitchen table when someone finds out their casual mill deck doesn’t work the way they want it to anymore, IF you use Competitive rules. Which brings me to the problem I have with these rules: It makes some cards do drastically different things in non-competitive games than in competitive games.

This will no doubt cause all kinds of arguments both at FNMs and in fun games. Magic has very comprehensive and complete rules and the game itself rewards players for finding and exploiting loopholes. As such, there are many more Rules Lawyers in Magic than in other games. So, these discrepancies between how some cards work will be sure to cause headaches everywhere as people argue which set of rules they should use. Competitive rules have a way of trickling down into non-competitive games. For example: How many people let other casual players use more than 4 of a non-Basic card?
Hopefully people will eventually settle back into the grove once they come to an understanding with the other people they play with.

-Taylor

Looks like the last set of the block will be called Avacyn Restored and have 244 cards. Is it just me or does Avacyn look a little… evil?

CHECK IT OUT!

Card Making Contest

What’s Next In Casual?

My opponent has a Tarfire his graveyard. I have a Tarmogoyf and a Mentor of the Meek in my graveyard.
With Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir in play I cast Animate Dead on my Tarmogoyf. The Animate Dead resolves; with its EtBF trigger on the stack I evoke a Reveillark.

What happens?