We had a broad range of responses from the highly technical to the very colloquial. One of our key indicators that an answer is on the “technical” end of the spectrum is that it mentions State-Based Actions. Gareth Pye was the first to give an answer that didn't mention SBAs and just answered the question, with an answer that was eerily close to our own. Markus Dietrich also gave an answer that avoided technical terms.

Even though Personal Tutor is about maximizing educational opportunities, that doesn't mean always packing as much detail into a ruling as you can. It means including information that the player will remember and use and expands his or her knowledge of the game. Unlike many of the more obscure scenarios presented by Personal Tutor, the majority of experienced Modern tournament players have seen the Goyf/Bolt interaction and know the ruling - even if they don't know the rules. The fact that you are being asked this question probably means you should lean toward an answer that is comprehensible without much detailed rules knowledge.

For this reason, we prefer the more colloquial answers. The players don't need to know the exact term for what happened to understand the interaction. Technical terms are just more likely to cause this player to tune out or get confused. At that point, they stop learning and just wait for you to get to the punchline (“It lives”) instead of understanding the order these things are checked.

Here is our answer:

Originally posted by Personal Tutor:

First Lightning Bolt deals 3 damage to Tarmogoyf. Then Lightning Bolt is put in the graveyard. Then the game looks at Tarmogoyf and sees that it's a 3/4 with 3 damage on it, so it isn't destroyed.

We're walking them through what happens, step-by-step, so they see the order the game looks at things. It's highly accurate without including any technical terms - there isn't a single word in this answer that players don't use anyway over the course of their game.

Thank you to everyone who participated this month - we'll be back again in October with another scenario. If you recently answered a player question that you think would make a great Personal Tutor scenario, or would like to join the team, please message Joshua Feingold. In the meantime, have a happy prerelease and remember to tailor your answers to your players so they learn something, even if you're eschewing the exact technical definition.