Judge's Den: The Second Layer

Welcome to the second week of our discussion on layers here on Wizardden.com. Today's Judge's Den article is covering the second layer, otherwise known as the control layer. With Dragonlord Silumgar in the format now understanding the control layer is very important.

There are seven layers in total, each with it's own article link here:

Copy Layer

Control Layer

Text Layer

Type Layer

Color Layer

Ability Layer

Power/ Toughness Layer

Remember the timestamps from the first article? They are the most important part of the control layer. Multiple control effects can apply to the same creature. The one that was put in place last will take precedence over the others. This also means that if that last control effect put on is a temporary one, the creature will go back to whoever has the next to last control effect put on it.

How about a nice convoluted example. I play a Seeker of the Way in a two headed giant game. My first opponent swaps it with a Perplexing Chimera while it is on the stack. This establishes the base line for the control of that Seeker as his. My teammate then uses Dragonlord Silumgar to get control of the Seeker. Our second opponent then uses Act of Treason to take control of the Seeker. At this point the control layer looks like this;

1. First Opponent
2. Teammate
3. Second Opponent

The last one has the timestamp advantage meaning the second opponent will have control of it until something changes on this layer. At this point the layer looks like a list of royal successors. If a player dies or loses their controlling effect, the creature will be given to the next person in line who still has a claim for it. If the owner of the card leaves the game then the card will be removed from the game entirely.

Thank you for reading. This has been (L2) Ariel Adamson with Wizardden.com. Be sure to check out nect week's article on the text layer.