#characteristic-defining abilities

[magicjudge]

Hi Judge!

This is a question I had a while ago but just remembered after playing a game today.

What would happen if I target a voice of resurgence token with Cephalid Facetaker? Would it stay a 1/4 or would the voice of resurgence token ability overwrite that?

When Cephalid Facetaker becomes a copy of another creature, it doesn't copy that creatures base P/T or any abilities that define its base P/T. That means that Cephalid Facetaker just becomes a 1/4 Elemental with its unblockable ability and nothing else.

[magicjudge]

If I use the Scarab God’s ability to create a token of something like a Tarmogoyf, will it be a 4/4 or will it be a */*+1?

It will be 4/4.

When an effect copies or creates a copy of something, except that it keeps certain other characteristics, then those characteristics and any abilities that define them won’t be copied over. This means that not only is your token Tarmogoyf 4/4 instead of */1+*, it doesn’t even have the ability that defines its P/T.

The token will just be a black 4/4 Zombie named Tarmogoyf with no abilities.

[magicjudge]

How do Pack Rat and Scarab God/God-Pharoah's Gift interact?

You’ll get a Pack Rat token that’s always 4/4 and is a Zombie. Any copies it creates will also be always 4/4 and Zombies. (The tokens also don’t even have Pack Rat’s first ability that defines its P/T.)

[magicjudge]

How does the scarab god's second ability interact with creatures like lord of extinction (and friends)?

Not particularly well.

The Scarab God’s ability overrides all information about the copy’s creature types, color, and power/toughness. This means that no information related to those characteristics are copied, including any characteristic-defining abilities.

A token copy of Lord of Extinction created by the Scarab God won’t have the “Lord of Extinction’s power and toughness are each equal to...” ability, meaning that it won’t have any abilities at all. (And yes, it would be now buffed by Muraganda Petroglyphs.)

[magicjudge]

If I use mimeoplasm to exile a consuming aberration from a grave (for the counters) does it count it's power.

Yes.

It will give The Mimeoplasm counters equal to the number of cards in all opponents’ graveyards at the time it was exiled from your graveyard.

[magicjudge]

If Tarmogoyf is the target of Merfolk Trickster's enter the battlefield ability, does goyf become a 0/0 or 0/1. My money is on 0/0, but the toughness stat block makes me wonder.

Tarmogoyf will be 0/1.

When Merfolk Trickster’s trigger resolves, it removes Tarmogoyf’s abilities, including the ability that defines its power and toughness. This means that the asterisks in its P/T box aren’t referencing anything, so we use 0 for their value. This makes Tarmogoyf a 0/(1+0) = 0/1 creature.

[magicjudge]

I was told that Lord of Extinction's power/toughness ability works even while it's in the graveyard, but you say Sylvan Advocate doesn't. Can you help point out how to tell the difference? Or was my friend wrong about this?

Right, so Lord of Extinction’s ability that sets its power and toughness is what’s called a “characteristic-defining ability”, or CDA.

CDAs are abilities that function in all zones and include not only effects that define a creature’s power and/or toughness (e.g. Lord of Extinction, Vile Aggregate, Tarmogoyf), but also effects like devoid that set a card’s color, or changeling that sets its creature types.

[magicjudge]

What is the value of the Vile Aggregate's power when it's not on the field? Is it 0 or the number of colorless creatures I control?

It’s always equal to the number of colorless creatures you control, no matter what zone it’s in.