

Similarly, if it's night as a turn begins, if the previous turn's active player cast two or more spells last turn, it becomes day. If it's day as a turn begins, and the previous turn's active player didn't cast a spell last turn, it becomes night. The first should be familiar to those of you who've visited Innistrad before. There are two ways for the game's day/night designation to change. As the spell resolves, it will simply enter the battlefield as Tavern Smasher. Even during night, if you cast Tavern Ruffian, it will be Tavern Ruffian on the stack. Note that this doesn't affect spells on the stack. If it's night, each of them will enter nightbound face up. If it's day, each double-faced card with daybound and nightbound will enter the battlefield with its daybound face up. And the whole game is either day or night.

The important thing is that once it's day or night, the game will be exactly one of those designations, day or night, going back and forth until the game ends. In some uncommon cases, it may become night first because a permanent with nightbound appears first. That's a little strange, we know, but when your opponent tries to cast Eliminate (from Core Set 2021) on it and can't, you'll be thankful. For example, the mana value of Tavern Smasher is 4. If you ever need to know the mana value of the back face of a transforming double-faced card, use the mana cost of the front face. The back faces of transforming double-faced cards don't have mana costs because they usually can't be cast transformed, although the new disturb ability provides an exception. One easy way to tell if a double-faced card is transforming as opposed to modal (like cards from previous sets, such as Strixhaven: School of Mages) is that each transforming double-faced card will have an ability that either transforms it into their other face or has it enter the battlefield or be cast transformed. Transforming double-faced cards like Tavern Smasher // Tavern Ruffian can be cast with their front faces up, and if they are put onto the battlefield without being cast, they are put onto the battlefield front face up. A Quick Interlude About Transforming Double-Faced Cards The most common way that will happen is if a permanent with daybound appears on the battlefield. When the game starts, it's neither day nor night.
