Readers have been sending us questions about Nemesis since the day the expansion was released and we have been answering them individually. Following is a consolidation of those questions, grouped by color, card, and subject.

Special thanks are due to Aaron Martin and the other experts at Burke Centre Comics in Burke, Virginia, who lent their knowledge of the game to these answers. Readers are also encouraged to refer to Wizards of the Coast's Nemesis Prerelease FAQ.

Q: Angelic Favor: Can the Angel creature attack the turn it comes into play?

A: No, the Angel cannot be used as an attacker. It can only be summoned during combat, not before it, and is primarily intended for use as a surprise blocker.

Q: Lawbringer: Can it remove a red creature that has protection from white, such as Defender of Chaos?

A: No, because the Lawbringer targets a red creature, its ability would not work against one that had protection from white.

Q: Sivvi's Valor: Can damage redirected to the player subsequently be redirected or prevented by other means?

A: Yes, it could be redirected or prevented if some means of doing so were available (e.g., with an appropriate Circle of Protection).

Q: Accumulated Knowledge: The first time one of these is cast, is the number of cards drawn one or two?

A: One card is drawn the first time this spell is cast during a game; it does not go into a graveyard until after the spell has resolved.

Q: Seahunter: Can this mercenary card be brought into play by a black mercenary "recruiter" card?

A: Yes, it can, assuming the black mercenary could was able to recruit something that required 4 points of converted mana to summon (just like its red counterpart, Moggcatcher).

Q: Sliptide Serpent: If the serpent is used as an attacker or blocker and then returned to its owner's hand, does it still inflict combat damage? Does it receive combat damage?

A: Yes, the serpent would both inflict and receive combat damage. However, after damage was resolved, it could be returned to its owner's hand before being destroyed.

Q: Ascendant Evincar: Will his ability to give non-black creatures -1/-1 destroy non-black creatures with toughness of 1 as they come into play?

A: Yes, the Evincar's ability will immediately destroy such non-black creatures as they come into play. Their controller could sacrifice them, if that would somehow be useful.

Q: Can such creatures be regenerated, if applicable?

A: No. Even if regenerated, they would immediately be reduced to 0 toughness again and again, infinitely, until they left play.

Q: If the Ascendant Evincar becomes a non-black creature, will he suffer -1/-1 from his own ability?

A: Yes, in such a case he would effectively become a 2/2 creature. Whereas he gives just other black creatures +1/+1, he gives all non-black creatures -1/-1, including himself if he happens to have become another color or colorless by some means.

Q: Will the Evincar's ability to give non-black creatures -1/-1 affect creatures with protection from black?

A: Yes! Because his ability does not target them and is a global effect, their protection from black is notwithstanding against it.

Q: Death Pit Offering: Does it matter if there are no creatures in play to sacrifice when it is cast?

A: No it does not; the spell calls for those in play to be sacrificed, but does not demand a minimum number be sacrificed as part of its casting cost. If "all" is none, none are sacrificed.

Q: Flowstone Overseer/Slide/Strike/Surge: If a creature with toughness of 1 (or one that can only sustain 1 more point of damage) is given +1/-1, is it destroyed immediately or can it still inflict combat damage as an attacker or blocker?

A: Creatures with a toughness of 1, whether innately or as a result of damage, would be immediately destroyed by a Flowstone effect and could not subsequently inflict any sort of damage. Their controller could sacrifice them in response to the Flowstone effect, however.

Q: Can the +1/-1 effect be activated upon an attacker after blockers are declared in order to increase damage to blockers or a player?

A: Yes, the damage could be boosted after blockers are declared.

Q: Where mana has to be paid, are these effects "pumpable"?

A: Yes, they are, and would be limited only by the amount of mana available and the toughness of the creature in question.

Q: Laccoliths/Rupture: If their power is boosted with spells or abilities, is it their modified or base power that is considered when redirecting damage?

A: Their total power at the time damage is assigned, whether it has been augmented in some way or not, is the amount of damage that is either inflicted on a blocker or reassigned, as decided by the player.

Q: Moggcather: Can black mercenary "recruiters" be used to summon such red cards?

A: Yes, they can assuming they could summon a card with converted mana cost of 4 (in the same way that they could summon the blue Seahunter card).

Q: Overlaid Terrain: Can a land be played after this spell has been cast?

A: Yes, any time during a player's main phase (assuming one has not already been played during the turn).

Q: Saproling Burst/Cluster: Can the saproling counters brought into play with these spells attack the turn they are brought into play?

A: No, they have summoning sickness like any other creatures, and must wait until their controller's next turn before they can attack or tap.

Q: Belbe's Armor: Can a creature's toughness be boosted to the point where its power becomes 0 or less?

A: Yes; the amount a creature's toughness can be boosted is limited only by how much mana is available. Its power can be reduced by any amount without any sort of special effect.

Fading
Q: Can a fade counter be removed from a creature to activate an ability the turn it comes into play?

A: Yes. Simply removing a fade counter does not require a creature to tap and could be done at any time.

Q: Is a fade counter removed during the player's upkeep for enchantments like Parallax Wave, which do not state this?

A: Yes. A fade counter must be removed from a card that has fading during each upkeep phase. If a counter cannot be removed from such a card during the upkeep phase, it must be sacrificed.

Seals
Q: Can seals be sacrificed immediately after they are brought into play?

A: Yes, seals can be sacrificed at any time, even immediately after they are cast.

Enchantments
Q: Can creatures that cannot be the target of spells or abilities, such as Deadly Insect, be the recipient of friendly enchantments?

A: No, they could not be the targeted recipients of enchantments, whether friendly or not. However, they would be affected by non-targeting instants, sorceries, enchantments, and abilities, such as a Wildfire cast by an opponent or the ability of a friendly Stampede Driver to bestow trample.

Combat Damage
Q: If an ability is used to inflict lethal damage to an attacking or blocking creature is used, like that of the Ballista Squad, does the destroyed creature still get to inflict combat damage?

A: No. If a creature is destroyed before combat damage is resolved, its damage does not take effect.