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Animate Dead on Inkwell Leviathan?

So I picked up the Graveborn Premium deck the other day, and I noticed something odd. One of the big fatties you can reanimate is Inkwell Leviathan, and one of the main cards to reanimate with is Animate Dead. My question is, can you use Animate Dead to target Inkwell Leviathan, which has shroud?

I also have another question about the deck. Being the creative deck builder I am, I noticed that Teneb, the Harvester would probably be a good addition as it fits the reanimator theme and only requires black to use its activation. But with it being a green creature (partially), would I be able to target Sphinx of the Steel Wind (which has Protection from Green) with Teneb's ability?
Posted 29 November 2011 at 17:37

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Alright, so i found out that targeting the Sphnix of Steel Wind with Teneb, the Harvester is ok, because Protection only cares about permanents on the battlefield. I'm still lost on the Animate Deadon Inkwell Leviathon though. I know I'm ok to target Inkwell Leviathon with Animate Dead as shroud also only cares about permanents on the battle field, my question is wouldn't shroud then cause Animate Dead to have an illegal target once Inkwell Leviathon is on the battle field, causing Animate Dead to go the graveyard, and subsequently Inkwell Leviathon?

Thanks for the help guys!
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Posted 30 November 2011 at 04:27

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Short Answer:
As far as I know, Yes you can use Animate Dead on a card with shroud in a graveyard such as Inkwell Leviathan, or Mist Leopard.




My reasoning (Warning: I am long winded)

Effects and keywords are not active in graveyards, so you can target it legally there, and attaching doesn't use the word target.
Shroud only affects the word target. Auras only "target" something when they are cast. Once an aura is attached, giving that creature shroud will NOT remove the aura.

Also, from the fourth ruling for Gigantiform:
[QUOTE]10/1/2009: Although the Gigantiform cast as a spell targets a creature, the Gigantiform put onto the battlefield as a result of the first one's triggered ability does not. It may be attached to a creature with shroud, for example. However, it may not be attached to a creature that couldn't be enchanted by it, such as a creature with protection from green...[/QUOTE]

Which tells me that shroud does not affect auras already on the battlefield. Therefore, Animate Dead is not affected by shroud.
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Posted 30 November 2011 at 05:59

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As a general rule Abilities on permanents are only active while that permanent is on the battlefield unless otherwise stated on the card.

So Sphnix of Steel Wind doesn't have protection while it's and the graveyard and Inkwell Leviathan doesn't have shround. You can target both.
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Posted 30 November 2011 at 12:07

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Animate dead will work on Inkwell Leviathan as shroud only blocks spells after it's applied. Animate Dead is applied to IL first, FOLLOWED by IL's shroud ability - so it doesn't block it.

In short shroud doesn't destroy previously casted effects. Hope that helps.
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Posted 02 December 2011 at 04:44

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