Magic: The Gathering is a game of endless possibilities and combinations, and the Modern format features a particularly large number of them. In this article, I'll walk through 30 weird interactions (in no particular order) that might come up in your next Modern tournament. These interactions are inspired by my own games, Garrison's guide to Standard interactions, and suggestions on X. So get ready to sharpen your rules knowledge, discover clever technical plays, and pick up some tips and tricks to take your game to the next level!
Blood Moon Turns Urza's Saga into a Construct Factory
Blood Moon
Urza's Saga [46LzGktbvKhvI617ez5nAR]
The rules regarding Blood Moon have changed over the years, and the current ruling produces some surprising results. If Blood Moon (or Harbinger of the Tides) is already on the battlefield when Urza's Saga enters, Urza's Saga enters with zero lore counters, never gains more, and—crucially—isn't sacrificed for lacking a chapter ability.
Flip the order, though, and things get more interesting. If Urza's Saga is already in play and Blood Moon comes down afterward, the Saga turns into a Mountain but keeps whatever abilities it had already picked up. That's simply how layers work. Blood Moon doesn't remove an ability Urza's Saga already gained, including the ability to tap for colorless mana or, if it had reached its second chapter ability, to create Construct tokens. The result is a Saga Mountain enchantment land that sticks around with two lore counters forever and is capable of building an army of Constructs turn after turn.
Shifting Woodland
If Blood Moon is later destroyed, Urza's Saga picks up right where it left off, gaining lore counters at the beginning of your next main phase. And if you're feeling ambitious, you can build another Construct factory afterward. Copy Urza's Saga twice with Shifting Woodland over two upkeeps, and that land will likewise settle in at two lore counters with the Construct-making ability intact.
Blood Moon Removes Land Types, But Dryad Arbor Still Attacks
Blood Moon
Dryad Arbor
A few other Blood Moon interactions are also worth knowing. Dryad Arbor loses its Forest type and becomes a Mountain, but it stays green and can still attack and block as a 1/1. What you're left with is a 1/1 green Mountain Dryad land creature that can attack, block, and tap for red mana.
Blood Moon also affects Auras with type restrictions. Utopia Sprawl, for instance, specifically enchants a Forest. If it's attached to a nonbasic Forest like Stomping Ground and Blood Moon comes down, that land stops being a Forest. Utopia Sprawl, due to no longer enchanting a legal object, falls off and hits the graveyard as a state-based action.
Blood Moon also strips away abilities that would normally apply as a land enters the battlefield. That means a Breeding Pool played under Blood Moon never offers you the choice to pay 2 life. Under the current rules, it simply enters as an untapped Mountain.
Timestamps matter, too. If Leyline of the Guildpact is already on the battlefield when Blood Moon arrives, your nonbasic lands become Mountains, losing the other four basic land types that the Leyline had granted. But reverse the order, with Leyline entering after Blood Moon, and the later timestamp wins out. This would mean that your nonbasic lands end up with all five basic land types after Blood Moon has already stripped away their printed text and original land types.
Exile Urza's Saga Before Its First Chapter Resolves
Urza's Saga [46LzGktbvKhvI617ez5nAR]
March of Otherworldly Light
Urza's Saga enters with a lore counter on it, but it has no mana ability of its own until its first chapter ability resolves. That gap is exactly why the best window to deal with Urza's Saga is in response to its first chapter trigger.
March of Otherworldly Light or Wear // Tear can exile it for a single mana at instant speed, and Force of Vigor can take it down for free. Time it while the first chapter trigger is still on the stack, and your opponent doesn't even get the chance to tap it for mana in response.
Once Urza's Saga's Third Chapter Ability Resolves, It's Too Late to Respond
Urza's Saga [46LzGktbvKhvI617ez5nAR]
Pithing Needle [7wGgFhFdFx91CX0o0h20gt]
If your opponent allows Urza's Saga's third chapter ability to resolve, then they may be in for a nasty surprise. Searching, finding, and putting the artifact onto the battlefield all happen as part of the same resolving ability, and you name a card for Pithing Needle as it enters. There's no window in between for the opponent to respond. Tutor for Pithing Needle and name Scalding Tarn, and your opponent never gets a chance to crack their fetch land first. They would have needed to fetch in response to the third chapter ability itself, before they even knew what you were searching for. And you don't have to reveal your choice in advance—if they crack their fetch lands in response to the third chapter ability, then you could fetch a totally different artifact, like Shadowspear, instead.
This interaction gets especially sharp against an opponent with an Engineered Explosives at zero charge counters. Say you control a Construct token and an Urza's Saga that just ticked up to its third chapter. The instinct is to float mana or make another Construct in response, but that hands your opponent an ideal window to crack Engineered Explosives. The better line is often to simply pass with the third chapter trigger on the stack, doing nothing. That puts your opponent in an uncomfortable spot: either they pass back, letting you fetch Pithing Needle and shut off their Explosives before attacking with your Construct, or they crack the Explosives in response, letting you create a fresh Construct afterward.
Dress Down Wipes Out Karnstructs
Dress Down
Urza's Saga [46LzGktbvKhvI617ez5nAR]
Power and toughness-setting abilities are more fragile than they look. A creature whose power/toughness is an undefined */* defaults to 0/0, which is exactly what happens when Dress Down or Tishana's Tidebinder strips Territorial Kavu of the characteristic-defining ability that normally sets its size. The same fate awaits the Construct tokens from Urza's Saga (widely known as "Karnstructs"), since their size also comes from an ability rather than a printed number. Dress Down is one of the better answers to a board full of Karnstructs, and The Wondrous Wasp might find a similar niche in Modern for exactly the same reason.
There are limits, though. Dress Down only strips abilities from creatures already on the battlefield, so it has nothing to say about Shardless Agent's cascade trigger, which fires while the card is still a spell on the stack. Replacement effects are a different story: anything that would cause a creature to enter the battlefield with +1/+1 counters looks at what the permanent would actually be once it arrives, and since it would exist as a creature, it won't have any abilities. This means that under a resolved Dress Down, Walking Ballista enters with no counters at all and dies on the spot as a 0/0.
There is one exception worth remembering. If you dash Ragavan or warp Quantum Riddler and they lose their abilities to Tishana's Tidebinder or Dress Down, their end-of-turn triggers still happen. That delayed trigger is set up by the game itself rather than granted to the creature, so losing its abilities doesn't touch it.
Consign to Memory Can Counter Delayed Triggers
Consign to Memory
Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
In my latest Modern metagame snapshot, Consign to Memory was the single most-played card by total copies across every main deck and sideboard combined. Most people know it as the answer to colorless Eldrazi's cast triggers, but that's really just the tip of it. The card counters triggered abilities, and they are everywhere once you start looking for abilities signaled by the words "when," "whenever," or "at."
Delayed triggers are some of the easiest to miss and most rewarding to catch. For example, if you reanimate a creature with Goryo's Vengeance or Emperor of Bones, the game sets up a delayed trigger reading "At the beginning of the next end step, exile this creature." This is the perfect opportunity for Consign to Memory. If you counter that trigger before it resolves, the creature simply never leaves and stays on the battlefield indefinitely.
The same logic applies to blink effects like Flickerwisp or Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. Both of them set up a delayed "return to the battlefield" trigger to happen at end of turn. Counter that one instead of the blink ability, and whatever got exiled is gone for good. It's one of the meanest things Consign to Memory can do.
Consign to Memory Can Counter Reflexive Triggers
Consign to Memory
Guide of Souls
Reflexive triggers are the sneaky cousin of delayed ones, triggered by a choice made partway through resolving something else. These abilities often include the phrase "When you do." Guide of Souls is the clearest example. When an opponent attacks with it, they may pay three energy counters, which is itself a trigger, but it's rarely the one worth countering. Let it resolve, and a second, reflexive trigger appears on the stack. It reads, "When you do, put two +1/+1 counters and a flying counter on target attacking creature." Counter that one instead, and your opponent has burned three energy counters for nothing.
Ajani, Nacatl Avenger (the back face of Ajani, Nacatl Pariah) offers another good case. His middle ability creates a Cat Warrior token, then triggers reflexively: "When you do, if you control a red permanent other than Ajani, he deals damage equal to the number of creatures you control to any target." Consign to Memory can't stop the activated planeswalker ability that makes the Cat, but you can absolutely counter the damage trigger that follows it.
But you have to read cards carefully. For example, Kozilek's Return uses the phrase "If you do," which looks similar but isn't a reflexive trigger. It's a condition checked within the same ability, meaning the exile and the damage both happen as part of resolving a single trigger. Counter that trigger with Consign to Memory, and you do stop the damage, but Kozilek's Return also never gets exiled since that was bundled into the same resolution you just countered.
Consign to Memory Can Stop a Saga and Replicate for Value
Consign to Memory
Urza's Saga [46LzGktbvKhvI617ez5nAR]
You can't stop a Saga from accumulating lore counters; that's a turn-based action, not a trigger, and turn-based actions don't go on the stack. What you can stop is the ability each counter triggers. Counter a Saga's final chapter ability, and its controller is forced to sacrifice it immediately. For example, take Fable of the Mirror-Breaker: counter Fable of the Mirror-Breaker's third chapter, and it never gets the chance to transform into Reflection of Kiki-Jiki.
These moments tend to double as setups for a brutal replicate. Imagine your opponent controls Kappa Cannoneer and just ticked Urza's Saga up to its third lore counter, putting the "Search your library for an artifact card" trigger on the stack. In response, you evoke Solitude. That stacks up several more triggers: exile the Kappa Cannoneer, sacrifice Solitude, and the ward clause that counters the exile trigger unless four mana is paid. Cast Consign to Memory, replicate it twice, and counter all triggers on the stack except the exile trigger targeting Kappa Cannoneer. Once everything resolves, your opponent will lose their key permanents and your 3/2 lifelinker remains standing. That's a devastating swing!
If you're on the other side of that exact sequence, the best answer is often your own Consign to Memory. Replicate is also a triggered ability. Choosing to pay the replicate cost is an additional cost paid while casting the spell, and once you've done that and chosen the original target for Consign to Memory, a separate trigger goes on the stack to generate the replicated copies and assign their targets. Counter that trigger, and the copies are never created at all. Hence, you should always target the most valuable trigger with the original Consign to Memory.
Flickerwisp Exiles a Modal Double-Faced Card Forever
Flickerwisp
Sink into Stupor
Flickerwisp can target modal double-faced cards, which can be a curse or a blessing. A blinked card always tries to return on its front face. If you blink Witch-Blessed Meadow, it comes back as Witch Enchanter, a 2/2 with a useful enters trigger. Blink Soporific Springs, though, and it would attempt to return to the battlefield with its front face up, but sorceries cannot enter the battlefield. By the rules of the game, Sink into Stupor would simply stay in exile forever. This can make your opponent's land disappear forever.
Another trick is to blink Flickerwisp with Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd. If you do so, then Flickerwisp will return at the beginning of your end step, allowing it to blink an opponent's land, which holds it in exile throughout your opponent's entire turn, only returning at the beginning of their next end step. This can take out your opponent's key mana for a turn.
A Blinked Ulamog Counts Itself and Returns with Ten Counters
Ulamog, the Defiler
Ephemerate
When you blink Ulamog, the Defiler with Ephemerate—a line of play that can regularly occur with Goryo's Vengeance decks—Ulamog checks the exile zone for the highest mana value as it's about to return and sees itself while doing so. The result is that Ulamog enters with ten +1/+1 counters, more than enough to devastate your opponent.
The same trick shows up whenever Ulamog enters straight from exile with cards like Emperor of Bones, Indomitable Creativity, or Living End. Because its ability checks the exile zone right before it would enter, the game still finds Ulamog sitting there for just long enough to count itself.
Emrakul, the Promised End Won't Let You See Their Sideboard
Emrakul, the Promised End
Wish
This one surfaces occasionally in the Eldrazi Ramp versus Ruby Storm matchup. Emrakul, the Promised End allows you to control your opponent during their next turn, letting you make every decision they would normally make with one notable exception. Controlling a player never lets you see that player's sideboard. If an effect would have them choose a card from outside the game, you simply can't make that choice on their behalf.
That makes Wish effectively dead weight during an Emrakul turn. You can still cast it, but it accomplishes nothing because the player controlling the turn is not allowed to look at their opponent's sideboard or choose a card from it.
After you control your opponent's turn, that player takes an extra turn. If time gets called mid-match, both turns eat into the standard five-turn allotment. For example, if you cast Emrakul, the Promised End and time is called during your turn, then the controlled turn becomes turn one, the extra turn becomes turn two, and turns three through five play out as normal. Emrakul doesn't buy you more turns at the end of a match. It just changes who gets them and who controls them.
Avoid Drawing from an Empty Library or Force an Opponent To
Atraxa, Grand Unifier
Kozilek's Command
When a game goes long, decking yourself becomes a genuine risk, and it's worth remembering that Atraxa, Grand Unifier doesn't force you to put cards into your hand. The choice to take a card of each type is a separate "may" for every type, which means you can take a creature and a sorcery while leaving the land behind, sliding it to the bottom of your library instead of your hand. This small bit of restraint can keep your deck from running empty at the worst possible moment.
Decking cuts both ways, too. Kozilek's Command's card-draw mode can target either player, which means a combo deck that draws through its entire library can find itself in real trouble against an Eldrazi opponent who knows exactly what their cards do.
Shifting Woodland Can Copy Something More Than Once
Shifting Woodland
Aftermath Analyst
If you activate Shifting Woodland multiple times while holding priority, then each copy effect will resolve independently. Suppose you have both Zuran Orb and Aftermath Analyst in your graveyard, along with plenty of floating mana. You can then activate Shifting Woodland twice in a row. As the stack unfolds, you first let it become Zuran Orb so you can sacrifice every other land for life, then let the second activation overwrite that and turn it into Aftermath Analyst to bring everything back.
The two copy effects don't merge together. Shifting Woodland is never both cards at once, since the most recent activation simply overwrites whatever came before it, but it does briefly become each card in sequence as the activations resolve one after another. That's exactly the kind of timing window that can set up an infinite sacrifice loop.
Vesuva Doesn't Have to Enter Tapped
Vesuva
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Vesuva shows up frequently in Amulet Titan, where it can copy a powerful land that was already on the battlefield before it arrived. It can't copy a land entering at the same time as itself, such as when Aftermath Analyst returns multiple lands. Echoing Deeps works differently here, since it can copy lands entering from the graveyard alongside it.
The interesting case is when you don't copy anything at all. A blank Vesuva enters untapped, with no text and no abilities, which sounds useless until it isn't. If Vesuva is the only land in your opening hand besides Simic Growth Chamber, playing it on turn one on the play sets up a valuable turn-two bounce land.
Even weirder, if you don't copy anything with Vesuva, it enters untapped, not tapped. If you control Dryad of the Ilysian Grove or your opponent controls Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, then leaving Vesuva blank lets you tap it for mana the same turn it enters!
Spelunking and Simic Growth Chamber Let You Choose
Spelunking
Simic Growth Chamber
Spelunking has a replacement effect that says, "Lands you control enter untapped." Simic Growth Chamber has a replacement effect of its own, which says, "This land enters tapped." When these two replacement effects would both apply to the same event, you get to choose the order. If you control Spelunking and play Simic Growth Chamber, you get to decide whether it ultimately enters tapped or untapped.
Most of the time, having it enter untapped is the obvious choice. But if you have two or more copies of Amulet of Vigor in play, a tapped Simic Growth Chamber suddenly becomes the better option. Each Amulet triggers separately off a land entering tapped. That means you'll untap Simic Growth Chamber multiple times, unlocking more mana.
Wastes Doesn't Have a Basic Land Type
Wastes
Boseiju, Who Endures
Wastes is a basic land, so you can fetch it with Erode or Field of Ruin. But it doesn't have a basic land type. This means that you can't fetch it when your opponent's Boseiju, Who Endures destroys a permanent of yours.
This can genuinely wreck an Eldrazi Tron deck that doesn't have a Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, or Forest in their library. Many of those decks still include at least one land with a basic land type, but it's an important interaction to keep in mind.
Save Search Effects for Their Draw Step
Field of Ruin
Surgical Extraction
The optimal timing for Ghost Quarter or Field of Ruin is usually your opponent's draw step. Activating before their main phase can keep them from casting a powerful sorcery off their destroyed land, and if your opponent has only one basic land left in their deck—which is common enough in Modern—they might draw it on that turn. If that happens, the basic they were counting on is sitting in their hand, and you deny them a free land.
The same logic applies to Surgical Extraction. Cast it during their draw step, and if they've just drawn a second copy of the card you're after, you exile that one, too.
As with most rules of thumb, there are exceptions. If you're Extracting an instant—say, a Counterspell you're worried about—you may want to fire off Surgical Extraction before they draw, denying them the chance to draw into a fresh copy at all. Likewise, if your opponent just surveilled a card to the top of their deck, activating Field of Ruin before their draw step forces a shuffle that sends that card back into their library. But most of the time, the draw step is exactly where you want to be.
Engineered Explosives Dodges Chalice of the Void
Engineered Explosives
Chalice of the Void
Sunburst is a strange ability. It only counts the number of colors of mana spent to cast a spell, not how much mana you spend overall. That quirk makes Engineered Explosives surprisingly flexible at dodging hate pieces that key off mana value or mana spent.
Suppose there's a Chalice of the Void with zero charge counters or a Vexing Bauble making your life difficult. Tap a colorless source—Urza's Saga works nicely—and cast Engineered Explosives for X=1. That gives it a mana value of one, safely outside the reach of Chalice or Bauble, while the Explosives still enters with zero charge counters. Prismatic Ending offers the same kind of flexibility to overpay, since converge similarly cares about how many colors you spent, not how much mana you spent.
If you want Engineered Explosives to enter with two charge counters while playing around Spell Snare, then you could tap UUR to cast Engineered Explosives for X=3, only paying two colors for sunburst. And if you're worried about Eidolon of the Great Revel, you can tap UUURR to cast Engineered Explosives for X=5 while still landing at two charge counters.
There's one more wrinkle: cost increases count toward sunburst. If Damping Sphere is in play and you've already cast one spell this turn, you can cast Engineered Explosives for X=0, pay a single blue mana for Damping Sphere's tax, and it'll still enter with one charge counter. As far as sunburst is concerned, additional costs and spent mana are all the same.
There Are Ways Around Vexing Bauble
Vexing Bauble
Damping Sphere
Additional costs, such as replicate, kicker, or the tax from Damping Sphere, all count toward the total cost of a spell. That matters because Vexing Bauble checks whether you spent zero mana, and Trinisphere checks whether you spent at least three. If you've imprinted Orim's Chant or Consign to Memory onto an Isochron Scepter, paying the kicker or replicate cost as you cast the copy is enough to slip past Vexing Bauble, even though the copy is technically cast without paying its mana cost. It also contributes partly toward Trinisphere.
There's a similar pattern with Damping Sphere. Cast Mox Opal as your second spell of the turn, pay the one extra mana Damping Sphere tacks on, and it won't get countered by Vexing Bauble. But don't get too comfortable: Mox Opal's mana value is still zero no matter what you paid for it, so a Chalice of the Void sitting at zero counters will still counter it. The amount of mana you spent and a spell's mana value are not the same thing, and it's important to know what your opponent's hate pieces check.
Learn What Stern Scolding Can and Can't Counter
Stern Scolding
Territorial Kavu
Territorial Kavu's power and toughness come from a characteristic-defining ability, which means the rules check it in every zone, not just the battlefield. A Domain Zoo player with three or more basic land types turns their Kavu into something too big for Stern Scolding to target or counter.
Conversely, Stern Scolding can counter Grist, the Hunger Tide. While it isn't on the battlefield, Grist is also a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to being a planeswalker, which means on the stack it's a creature spell with one power, a legal target for Stern Scolding even though it would turn into a planeswalker the moment it resolves.
You Can't Suspend Lotus Bloom Under Orim's Chant
Lotus Bloom
Orim's Chant
Suspend is one of the stranger mechanics in the Magic rulebook. To suspend Lotus Bloom or Living End from your hand (which is a special action that does not use the stack), you still need to be able to cast the card you're suspending in the first place. If your opponent has resolved Orim's Chant this turn or sacrificed a Ranger-Captain of Eos to shut off your spells, suspending a Lotus Bloom or Living End from hand simply isn't legal.
There are two more things worth remembering about Lotus Bloom. First, don't bother naming it with Pithing Needle since sacrificing it is a mana ability and Pithing Needle doesn't affect those. Second, if you're holding a Consign to Memory, the trigger worth countering is the one that reads "When the last time counter is removed, you may cast it without paying its mana cost." Counter that, and Lotus Bloom is stuck in exile forever with no time counters left to ever trigger it again. It's effectively removed from the game.
Target Your Own Stuff for Delirium or Value
Spell Pierce
Unholy Heat
Sometimes you need Unholy Heat to deal six damage rather than two, but you're sitting at only three card types in the graveyard, missing instant. Here's the fix. Cast Unholy Heat, hold priority, then counter your own spell with Spell Pierce, paying the two-mana tax to keep Unholy Heat alive. Spell Pierce resolves first and is put into your graveyard, picking up the instant type just in time for Unholy Heat to check delirium when it finally resolves.
There are plenty of other opportunities to target yourself or your own cards with disruptive spells. Thoughtseize yourself, and you've got a free discard outlet, perfect for binning an Archon of Cruelty you plan to bring back with Persist. Solitude can exile one of your own creatures just as easily as an opponent's, and the life you gain off its power might be exactly what keeps you alive against a lethal burn spell. Keep an eye out for these unusual opportunities.
Fatal Push offers one of the cleverest versions of this trick. Its targeting is unrestricted: the mana value check only happens as a condition on resolution, not as part of choosing a target. That means you can legally point it at your own Quantum Riddler or Archon of Cruelty, watch it fail to do anything, and still get a card into your graveyard. If you need to hit six cards in the graveyard for Abhorrent Oculus's additional cost, that's a handy way to get there.
Know Your State-Based Actions
Dragon's Rage Channeler [2WvRbunjBiu5lxqc7wfVt6]
Unholy Heat
Creatures don't die due to having zero toughness or lethal damage during the resolution of a spell or ability. Instead, the game waits until that spell or ability has completely finished resolving, then checks state-based actions.
Take an Unholy Heat pointed at your Dragon's Rage Channeler. If you're sitting with three card types in the graveyard and missing an instant, the spell deals 2 damage to a 1/1 creature before landing in your graveyard as the fourth card type, granting delirium. This turns your Dragon's Rage Channeler into a 3/3 before the game ever checks whether it should be dead. By the time state-based actions catch up, it's a 3/3 with 2 damage marked, ready to soar in for the win.
Likewise, a 0/1 Wall of Roots can tap for convoke and gain a -0/-1 counter to effectively contribute two green mana while casting Chord of Calling. State-based actions aren't checked until the spell is fully cast. And if your Orcish Bowmasters cannot target your opponent due to Veil of Summer or a similar effect, then you can target an existing 1/1 Orc Army token with the ping, in which case it'll survive as a 2/2 with 1 damage. Knowledge of state-based actions provides plenty of opportunities like these.
You Can Adapt Twice
Emperor of Bones
Basking Broodscale
Adapt is an ability that effectively says, "If this creature has no +1/+1 counters on it, put some on. Otherwise, nothing happens." So, if Emperor of Bones or Basking Broodscale adapts and the opponent responds with a non-delirious Unholy Heat, you can simply adapt again in response.
When that ability resolves, the creature picks up enough counters to survive the removal. When the next adapt ability resolves, it won't do anything. But that's fine; the first one already did its job.
Apnap Decides the Fight Between Weapons Manufacturing and Ajani
Weapons Manufacturing
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
When both players have triggered abilities waiting to go on the stack, they resolve in APNAP order: active player, non-active player. The active player's triggers go on the stack first, so the non-active player's triggers will resolve first. That sounds like a technicality until you watch it decide a game.
Imagine you have a board with several Munitions tokens from your Weapons Manufacturing and an Engineered Explosives at zero counters versus your opponent's Cat token alongside Ajani, Nacatl Pariah. Sweep with Engineered Explosives, and all the tokens die simultaneously, each triggering an ability. If you sweep on your own turn, you're the active player, so your opponent's trigger resolves first, meaning that their Ajani transforms before your Munitions can deal 2 damage to it. Sweep on their turn instead, and the order flips: your trigger resolves first, letting you deal 2 damage to Ajani while he's still a creature. Generally speaking, you'll want to sacrifice Engineered Explosives during your opponent's turn in this scenario.
Tokens Aren't Cards
Dauthi Voidwalker
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
Cards like Dauthi Voidwalker and Leyline of the Void stop cards from going to the graveyard, which carries major consequences. For example, if Ocelot Pride dies and is exiled, Ajani, Nacatl Pariah won't see it as a card dying and won't trigger his transformation.
However, tokens aren't cards, so they aren't affected by Dauthi Voidwalker or Leyline of the Void. A Cat token dying still sends it briefly to the graveyard before it ceases to exist, triggering death abilities along the way and giving Ajani exactly the prompt he needs to flip. The same logic runs the other direction: exile an opponent's token with Solitude, and Ketramose, the New Dawn won't care since no card was put into exile.
Note, however, that Rest in Peace is worded differently. That enchantment affects cards and tokens all the same.
Ocelot Pride Makes Tokens That Never Have to Sacrifice Themselves
Ocelot Pride
Voice of Victory
At the end of your turn, if you gained life that turn and have the city's blessing after creating a 1/1 Cat, Ocelot Pride creates a copy of each token you control that entered this turn. In practice, that usually means doubling up on the 1/1 Cat token; on 2/1 Cat tokens from Ajani, Nacatl Pariah; or Treasure tokens from Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. But it also catches the 1/1 Warriors mobilized by Voice of Victory or a copy created by Reflection of Kiki-Jiki.
Here's the trick: The freshly minted copies of tokens that have to be sacrificed at end of turn don't carry that same self-destruct instruction. They simply stay on the battlefield forever. So, Ocelot Pride and Voice of Victory combine into a powerful way to widen your army permanently.
There's a bonus wrinkle worth knowing for Mardu Energy decks: if an Orcish Bowmasters Army token entered this turn and you trigger Ocelot Pride with the city's blessing already active, you'll get a second 0/0 Army token. It won't live, but it'll still trigger Guide of Souls on its way out.
The Back Face of the Legend of Roku Is Colorless
The Legend of Roku
Ajani, Nacatl Pariah
Another strange interaction can happen when you've transformed Ajani into Ajani, Nacatl Avenger and start looking for a second red permanent to fuel his middle ability. The Legend of Roku's front face is red, so it fits the bill perfectly. Its back face, however, is colorless.
Once the Saga reaches its third chapter and transforms into Avatar Roku, the card carries no color identity at all. It's a colorless permanent that won't enable Ajani's reflexive trigger, no matter how badly you need it to.
Ragavan Pilfers Some Cards, But Not All
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer [1k3ugm2CtV4JKAFThBwuPI]
Quantum Riddler
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer lets you cast the card he exiles. But "cast" means something very different than "play," which rules out lands entirely. Alternative costs, on the other hand, are generally fair game. For example, you may cast an exiled Solitude for its evoke cost by exiling a white card from your hand. That's part of the reason why an opponent under attack from Ragavan might consider fetching a surveil land to have some control over what they're about to hand you.
But Ragavan's ability has its limits. Crashing Footfalls has no mana cost and isn't in your hand, so suspending or casting it is off the table. The same goes for warping an exiled Quantum Riddler; though you're still free to cast it for 3UU. Warp specifically requires casting from hand, whereas Ragavan lets you play cards from exile. Rebound has a similar interaction. If you cast an exiled Ephemerate, it simply won't return at the next upkeep because its rebound clause only fires when the spell was cast from hand in the first place.
If you hit an Ajani, Nacatl Pariah off the top of your opponent's deck and a Cat dies, resist the urge to transform him. Doing so would exile Ajani and return him under his owner's control, meaning straight back to your opponent. The same caution should apply to a stolen Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student. Drawing a third card in a turn would not be wise.
Shadowspear's Forgotten Ability Has Its Moments
Shadowspear's ability to remove hexproof and indestructible reads like flavor text most of the time, but it can come up in fringe situations. For example, it can strip hexproof off Scion of Draco; nullify Veil of Summer's protection on opposing permanents; or make Kaito, Bane of Nightmares vulnerable to creature removal. Be sure to recognize these opportunities when they appear.
What's Next for Modern?
In Modern, a deep understanding of niche interactions, unusual use cases, and subtle rules quirks can give even the most seasoned players an edge in close matches. If you're looking to put these skills to the test, the current Modern round of Regional Championship Qualifiers runs through August 2. You can find an event near you by checking with your local game store or visiting your regional organizer's website. These RCQs feed into Modern Regional Championships held in September and October 2026, which in turn qualify players for the first Pro Tour of 2027.
Before any of that, though, Modern will take center stage at Pro Tour Magic: The Gathering® | Marvel Super Heroes at MagicCon: Amsterdam on July 17–19, 2026. Exciting times are ahead for the Modern format. Grab your deck, learn it inside and out, and maybe we'll see you on the big stage next!
