Council's Judgment, Conspiracy
Last Modified 05.07.2020
The Conspiracy set was originally designed for the game with multiple players. If you are not familiar with the set, it is strongly advised to get boosters and play at least one draft. It’s really funny. In contrast to the Un-sets (where only basic lands are legal in tournament formats), all the cards of the Conspiracy, which have a card type other than “Conspiracy” legal for play in formats of Legacy and Vintage, this means that you can meet them at every day tournaments. Today we will look at one of these cards.
Oracle Text:
Sorcery
Will of the council — Starting with you, each player votes for a nonland permanent you don’t control. Exile each permanent with the most votes or tied for most votes.
Let’s say you cast Council’s Judgment. When it resolves, all players, starting with you and continuing turn order begin to vote for a nonland permanent are not your control. At the end of voting, counts the votes. The permanent with most voted is exiled. If the highest number of votes scored 2 or more different permanents, all of them are exiled.
In dueling game (in vacuum, of course) the text Council’s Judgment can be read as: “You vote for a nonland permanent an opponent controls. If the opponent votes for the same permanent, the permanent will be exiled. If the opponent votes for another permanent, then both of the chosen permanent are expelled.”
It turns out that your opponent has the choice between two evils. Since the vote occurs as Council’s Judgment resolves, the opponent can’t do anything — “responce” to the resolution of a spell is impossible.
Note that the game takes into account only the maximum number of votes, i.e. if there is a winner and two second places devide an equal number of votes, the game is only interested in the winner.
No player may vote for a land permanents, even if this land has any other card types.
No player may vote for a permanent you control. Note that auras and equipment attached to any objects that can be controlled by different players.
Player, who dosn’t control Council’s Judgment, may vote for permanents he or she controls!
In order to understand details, we need to check rules:
Vote
701.29a Some spells and abilities instruct players to vote for one choice from a list of options to determine some aspect of the effect of that spell or ability. To vote, each player, starting with a specified player and proceeding in turn order, chooses one of those choices.
701.29b The listed choices may be objects, words with no rules meaning that are each connected to a different effect, or other variables relevant to the resolution of the spell or ability.
- Bite of the Black Rose instructs to vote for sickness or psychosis.
- Custodi Squire instructs to vote for seartain type of card in your graveyard.
701.29c If the text of a spell or ability refers to “voting,” it refers only to an actual vote, not to any spell or ability that involves the players making choices or decisions without using the word “vote.”
For exsample, the ability of Grudge Keeper will trigger when someone votes as Bite of the Black Rose resolves, but wiil ingnore making choice for Archangel of Strife, since “chose” is not “vote.”
701.29d If an effect gives a player multiple votes, those votes all happen at the same time the player would otherwise have voted.
For exsample, effact Brago’s Representative allow to vote twice. When that player will vote he will vote twice in row.
Since voting doesn’t target the permanent, neither Protection from white no Hexproof or Captivity can save this premanent from exile.
A player can easily vote for True-Name Nemesis even if it has protection from this player.
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn will be safely exiled, despite its protection from colored spells.
Perhaps Council’s Judgment is the perfect way to get rid of the enemy’s Progenitus.
Since we are not talking about targets, casting Redirect to Council’s Judgment completely useless, but intercepting control of this spell is very useful. Commandeer will help you.
Indestructible and Regeneration couldn’t help against Council’s Judgment because it exiles permanents
If a commander exiled, its owner may put it into the command zone as SBA.
NB A player may not abstain from voting.
For example, if there are five players, you and two other players voted for Chains of Mephistopheles, one for Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir and one for Perplexing Chimera, then the Chains will be exile.