CODEX SHREDDER

an MTG deckbuilding companion

Work out a tricky interaction, settle a rules question, or paste your decklist and talk through what to cut, add, or swap. Every card and ruling is checked against Scryfall as you go, so the answer holds up.

Well met — I'm Shred. Bring me a rules question or a decklist to pick apart, and I'll check every card before I say a word about it.

¶ GENERIC CHAT GUESSES. CODEX SHREDDER CHECKS.

A generic assistant will confidently reference cards that don't exist. Shred looks every one up first — here's what that actually looks like mid-conversation.

RULES CHECK

You

Does Ward stop my own spells from targeting my permanent?

Confirming Ward's trigger condition only fires off an opponent's spells and abilities, not your own.

No — Ward only triggers off a spell or ability an opponent controls. Your own spells (or a teammate's, in some formats) can target that permanent freely; Ward does nothing there.

✓ward

DECKBUILDING

You

My Atraxa deck has five counter-doublers but almost nothing that actually drops counters. What am I missing?

Checking which cheap, colorless payoffs actually enter with +1/+1 counters for a doubler-heavy shell.

Hangarback Walker is the gap — it enters with X counters, so every doubler you're running multiplies its ETB, and it converts into Thopters when it dies.

✓Hangarback Walker

QUICK RULING

You

Can I still cast Toxic Deluge for X=0 if I'm sitting at 1 life?

Confirming Toxic Deluge's life-loss cost scales freely from 0 up, with no stated minimum.

Yes — Toxic Deluge's cost is any amount from 0 up to your life total, so X=0 is legal at 1 life. It just won't give -X/-X to anything that turn.

✓Toxic Deluge