Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v4.02 (part 3)
Zoe Stephenson
Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.daeghnao.com/magic/faq/
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Subject: 3.00: Advanced Discussion
This part of the FAQ deals with advanced issues that delve into parts
of the game that have changed, or which are complex. For beginners,
this section gives the answers to some difficult questions; for players
with more experience, the discussion should provide skills that will
help solve most Magic problems. For this part of the FAQ especially,
it's worth having the Comprehensive Rulebook available while reading.
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Subject: 3.01: Templating and identification
Magic card text uses specific templates to indicate that a particular
type of effect is intended. Some of the templates refer to the use
of particular words, some of the templates are simply idiomatic use
of English that Magic has adopted.
The templating has changed over the years, gradually improving to
eliminate ambiguities and inconsistencies. The following points
cover most of the templating found in card texts these days:
- Activated abilities are written with a cost, a colon and an effect.
The effect is a one-shot effect, containing instructions to follow.
The instructions may set up a continuous effect or a delayed triggered
ability.
- Triggered abilities are written using the word when, whenever or at.
They specify either a particular part of a step or phase to trigger at,
a particular event to trigger on, or a particulat state to trigger on.
When they resolve, they have a one-shot effect containing instructions
that may set up a continuous effect or a delayed triggered ability.
- Anything else, including the one-shot effect on a resolving spell or
ability, is a static ability. A static ability may have a one-shot
effect that is activated by spell resolution, or it may have a
continuous effect that is always active while it's in play.
- An instruction can refer to a permanent by its type, by just using
the type word alone. This always refers to a permanent of that type,
not to any other object with that type. So "creature" on its own
always means a creature permanent, and so on.
- A cost can include the tap-symbol. This stands for tapping the
permanent the ability is on, and this cost cannot be paid if the
permanent is a creature that its controller did not continuously
control since the beginning of his or her most recent turn. This is
different to a cost that involves tapping a particular type of
permanent; a creature that isn't eligible for paying a tap-symbol
tap cost may still be used to pay a more general tap-cost.
- An effect may have one instruction that is conditional on choosing
a particular option previously in the effect. This used the phrase
"if you do". It refers to the choice to perform the action, in case
a replacement effect intervened.
- An effect can place a restriction or compulsion on attacking or
blocking. The template for these effects applies only to the act
of declaring a creature as an attacking creature or a blocking
creature. It does not refer to other ways for a creature to become
an attacking or blocking creature.
- Effects often instruct a player to make a choice of some kind. The
only choices available are those that exist within the game. So, a
choice of permanent is limited to the permanents that exist at the
time, a choice of color to one of the five colors, and a choice of
creature type to an existing creature type on a card.
- An instruction can refer to the card that it's on by using the
card's name as a noun. The instruction refers only to that particular
instance of the card. This can get complicated when instructions move
between cards with copy, gain or grant effects:
- When one card copies another, the name references refer to the
card doing the copying.
- When one card grants new abilities to another, the name references
the card doing the granting.
- When one card gains the existing abilities of another, the name
references the card doing the gaining.
In some cases, a card will refer to itself using just the first part
of its name, rather than the whole name - this follows the same pattern:
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni {4}{B}{B} Legendary Creature - Rat Ninja 5/4
/ Ninjutsu {3}{B}{B}
/ Whenever Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni deals combat damage to a player,
you may put target creature card from that player's graveyard into
play under your control.
/ {1}{B}: Regenerate Ink-Eyes.
Even with all of these guidelines on the templating of Magic cards,
sometimes the templates are not followed strictly in order to fit
the text onto the card in all of the languages in which Magic is
printed.
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Subject: 3.02: Spiders and stone
The rules on the spider ability (the ability to block creatures with
flying, without actually having flying) have changed over the course
of the game. First they were mandatory, then they could have been
considered optional, then they were mandatory again but people often
read them as optional, then another wording change was used, and
finally the whole thing was replaced with a new ability, reach. So
now, the situation is as follows:
The spider ability itself:
Giant Spider {3}{G} Creature - Spider 2/4
/ Reach (This creature can block creatures with flying.)
Flying-evasion:
Stone Spirit {4}{R} Creature - Spirit 4/3
/ Stone Spirit can't be blocked by creatures with flying.
Nonflying-evasion:
Treetop Scout {G} Creature - Elf 1/1
/ Treetop Scout can't be blocked except by creatures with flying.
The Giant Spider can block a creature with flying, and it can block
the Stone Spirit, but it can't block the Treetop Scout.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.03: Time Vault
The wording and behaviour of Time Vault has changed over the course
of the game. Nowadays, it has a relatively simple wording:
Time Vault {2} Artifact
/ Time Vault comes into play tapped.
/ If Time Vault would become untapped, instead choose one - untap Time
Vault and you skip your next turn; or Time Vault remains tapped.
/ {T}: Take an extra turn after this one.
This wording uses a modal replacement (you choose which replacement to
apply when applying the replacement) and forces the controller to use
up a turn to have the untapping of the Time Vault actually succeed.
This removes a few extremely abusable loopholes with the previous
incarnations of the card, but copy effects and bounce effects can
still make for a potent combo.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.04: Trample vs. protection
The interaction between trample and protection has changed over the
course of the game. Nowadays, it's as follows:
Combat damage happens in two distinct steps, assignment and dealing.
In assignment, an object is put on the stack that records the source,
destination and amount of each piece of combat damage. If a creature
has trample, then it's legal to assign some or all of the damage from
that creature to the defending player, as long as the assignment
also assigns lethal damage to all creatures blocking the creature
with trample. Lethal damage is considered as however much damage is
needed to make up the difference between damage already on the creature
from before the assignment was made, and the toughness of the creature.
Effects that would alter the amount of damage that actually gets dealt
are not taken into account at this stage.
When the damage is dealt, there may be replacements that alter the
amount of damage or prevent it entirely. This is where the protection
can step in and shield the creature.
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Subject: 3.05: Order of triggered abilities
The way in which triggered abilities have been dealt with has changed
dramatically throughout the history of the game.
When any instruction is followed in the game, it may match the trigger
event of any number of triggered abilities. Each time this happens,
the triggered event triggers. When a player is in the process of
gaining priority to play spells and abilities, players put any triggered
abilities that have triggered onto the stack. First the active player
adds all the triggered abilities that he or she controls, in the
order of his or her choice, and then the non-active player does so.
With multiple non-active players, players go in turn order.
With this system, triggered abilities never go onto the stack while
another spell or ability is resolving. They always wait until a
player is about to gain priority.
Some damage prevention effects have "side-effects", extra things that
are written along with the damage prevention:
Brace for Impact {4}{W} Instant
/ Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target multicolored creature
this turn. For each 1 damage prevented this way, put a +1/+1 counter
on that creature.
These are not usually triggered abilities. They just happen as part
of the event that would have dealt the damage.
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Subject: 3.06: Flagbearers
The original Flagbearer text tried to constrain the target selection for
spells and abilities that could target them, but it was unclear whether
that constraint also affected spells and abilities that change targets.
Nowadays, the wording is clearer:
Standard Bearer {1}{W} Creature - Flagbearer 1/1
/ Whenever a spell or ability an opponent controls is put onto the
stack, if that spell or ability could target a Flagbearer in play
but doesn't, that opponent changes one of its targets to a Flagbearer.
This triggers once each time a spell or ability is played or copied.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.07: Attack and block restrictions / requirements
The rules handling multiple interacting attack and block modifications
have evolved throughout the game's history. Rule 500 defined legal
attacks and blocks, here is a quick summary of the current state of
affairs:
When you declare an attack, you may pay any costs that are needed to
allow creatures to attack, then pick a set of untapped creatures as
the attacking creatures. Check for any restrictions and requirements
that are violated - if there are, you have to choose a different
set of attackers. To perform this check, first make sure that all
of the restrictions are being met, then look at the requirements.
If the maximum possible number of requirements are being followed,
then the set of attackers is legal.
Example:
Player A controls:
Crazed Goblin {R} Creature - Goblin Warrior 1/1
/ Crazed Goblin attacks each turn if able.
Grizzly Bears {1}{G} Creature - Bear 2/2
Player B controls:
Silent Arbiter {4} Artifact Creature 1/5
/ No more than one creature can attack each combat.
/ No more than one creature can block each combat.
This situation has one requirement, the Crazed Goblin must attack.
It also has one restriction, at most one creature can attack.
The possible sets of attackers that Player A may declare are:
Just the Crazed Goblin: legal, as it satisfies the requirement
without violating the restriction.
The Crazed Goblin and the Grizzly Bears: illegal, as it does not
satisfy the restriction.
Just the Grizzly Bears: illegal, as attacking with just the Crazed
Goblin is legal and satisfies more requirements.
No creatures: illegal, as attacking with just the Crazed Goblin is
legal and satisfies more requirements.
The situation is analogous with blockers: all of the restrictions
must be met, and then a maximum number of requirements must also be
met. An example:
Player A controls:
Razorgrass Screen {1} Artifact Creature - Wall 2/1
/ Defender
/ Razorgrass Screen blocks each turn if able.
Grizzly Bears {1}{G} Creature - Bear 2/2
Player B controls:
Goblin War Drums {2}{R} Enchantment
/ Each creature you control can't be blocked except by two or more
creatures.
Player B is attacking with one creature. Player A's blocking options
are:
Both Razorgrass Screen and Grizzly Bears: legal, as the requirement
for the Razorgrass Screen to block is met, and the restriction for
at least two creatures to block the attacker is also met.
Just the Razorgrass Screen: illegal; while the requirement is met,
the restriction is not, and another legal block is available that
meets the requirements and also satisfies the restrictions.
Just the Grizzly Bears: illegal, as the requirement is not met, and
another legal block is available that does meet the requirement.
Neither creature: illegal, as there is a restriction that could be
met and the requirements can be met as well.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.08: Compost
There has been some debate over the years as to exactly which
circumstances will trigger a Compost. The main issue arises because
it's possible for the card to be black in the graveyard but not when
it's in the hand, or in play; it's also possible for the card to
be black in the hand or in play but not in the graveyard. Under the
current regime, the trigger event is considered to be a weird mix of
a leaves-play trigger and an ordinary trigger, so the following
results apply:
Compost {1}{G} Enchantment
/ Whenever a black card is put into an opponent's graveyard, you may
draw a card.
Black in opponent's hand, nonblack in opponent's graveyard: No trigger.
Black in play, nonblack in opponent's graveyard: Trigger.
Nonblack in opponent's hand, black in opponent's graveyard: Trigger.
Nonblack in play, black in opponent's graveyard: No trigger.
------------------------------
Subject: 3.09: Madness
Madness was originally a fairly complex series of triggers so that
the spell could be played using the system of priority. Since then,
other cards have been created that allow a spell to be played when
no player has priority. This created the opportunity to "clean up"
the madness rules. So, whereas before it was possible under some
circumstances to play a land inbetween the discard of the card and
playing the card for its madness cost, these days it's much simpler:
- playing or resolving a spell or ability, or dealing with the discard
to maximum hand size at cleanup, causes you to discard a card.
- the madness ability on the card allows you to replace the card going
to the graveyard with removing it from the game. Doing so triggers
an ability: "you may play this card for its mana cost. If you don't,
put it into your graveyard." Since the madness ability retains the
term 'discard' for this new event, it also triggers anything that
triggers on a discard.
- when a player would next get priority, the triggered ability goes on
the stack. When it resolves, you choose whether to play the removed
card or not. If so, its cost will be the madness cost instead of the
mana cost. If not, it's put into your graveyard.
Zoe Stephenson
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Subject: 2.0: Returning Player Questions
This part of the FAQ deals with players returning to the game after a
time away. It notes when particular changes were made to the rules,
card templates or game philosophy so that returning players can catch
up without being caught out.
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Subject: 2.1.00: 1993
Sets released: Alpha, Beta, Unlimited, Arabian Nights
The rules were in quite a state of flux, with many interactions
unexplored and undefined.
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Subject: 2.1.01: 1994
Sets released: Antiquities. Revised Edition, Legends, the Dark,
Fallen Empires
Major changes:
- The types 'poly artifact' and 'mono artifact' were dropped for
Revised Edition.
- The tilted-T tap symbol was introduced in Revised Edition.
- Legends introduced Enchant World, the Legend creature type and
Legendary lands, as well as gold-bordered cards with more than one
color.
Trivia:
- The original 'legend rule' restricted Legend cards to maximum one
of each name per deck as well as maximum one of any name in play.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.02: 1995
Sets released: Fourth Edition, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands
Major changes:
- Fourth edition contained a batch timing system that delayed damage
dealing until the end of the batch and contained an interrupt window
and a damage-prevention bubble.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.03: 1996
Sets released: Alliances, Mirage
Major changes:
- The card templating for instants and sorceries with an additional
cost changed in Mirage to writing the cost in the one-shot effect,
separated by a colon.
Trivia:
- Mirage was the first set that was designed as a block and with
limited play in mind as well as constructed. It also had 'theme decks',
the first preconstructed decks for an expansion.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.04: 1997
Sets released: Visions, Fifth Edition, Portal, Weatherlight, Tempest
Major changes:
- Fifth Edition tightened up the timing rules even further, bringing in
phase abilities, phase costs, pre-series and all sorts of long-forgotten
concepts.
- The card templating changed again; abilities with non-mana and
non-tap costs used to be phrased '{0}: <other cost> to <effect>'.
This was changed to the more modern '<other cost>: <effect>' to keep
all the costs on the same side of the colon.
- Fifth Edition saw the introduction of mana source cards.
- Fifth Edition forced players to play interrupt cards that targeted
a permanent using the timing rules for instant cards.
- Fifth Edition removed an older rule about 'pumping' that allowed
a player to announce and pay for multiple activations of an effect
at once.
- April 1997 introduced the modern 'Paris mulligan' rule; previously
a mulligan required either all land or no land in the hand and could
be taken only once, now the mulligan can be taken as many times as
desired with any hand, but reduces starting hand size by one each time
the mulligan is taken.
Trivia:
Portal was a vastly simplified version of the game, using just
creatures, sorceries and lands.
Iconic creatures Serra Angel and Sengir Vampire were dropped from
the base set for Fifth Edition.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.05: 1998
Sets released: Stronghold, Exodus, Portal: Second Age, Unglued, Urza's
Saga, Anthologies
Major changes:
- Exodus brought in a change to the card design to denote the card
rarity with the colour of the expansion symbol and the card number
and set size.
Trivia:
- Several cards from Urza's Saga were given errata to prevent their
comes-into-play abilities working unless they were played from your
hand; the errata were removed in 2006.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.06: 1999
Sets released: Urza's Legacy, Sixth Edition, Urza's Destiny, Portal:
Three Kingdoms, Starter, Mercadian Masques
Major changes:
- Sixth edition was a pretty complete rethink of the whole timing system
and card templating, ending up with the 'Grand Unified Timing System'
- No more batches, interrupt windows, damage prevention bubbles,
pre-series, phase abilities or phase costs.
- No more interrupt or mana source cards, these can be played as
instant cards under the new system.
- The stack was introduced.
- The term 'fast effect' was dropped from the rules.
- The term 'pseudospell' was dropped from the rules.
- The concept of setting up a prevention or replacement shield was
introduced.
- The term 'bury' was dropped from Magic vocabulary.
- The term 'successfully cast' was dropped as well.
- The ability 'haste' was introduced and the term 'summoning sickness'
was dropped.
- No more summon cards, replaced with creature cards instead.
- Creature cards with multiple-word creature types now count as each
separate creature type individually, with many older types being
hyphenated.
- No more 'fizzle', replaced with 'countered on resolution'.
- No more 'cast', replaced with 'play'.
- No more 'total mana cost', replaced with 'converted mana cost'.
- Triggered abilities never resolve at the pauses during a spell,
they all use the stack and resolve independently.
- Players lose from having 0 life almost immediately, rather than
waiting until the end of the phase.
- Combat became a phase of its own.
- Combat damage uses the stack.
- Protection no longer absorb all trample damage, as the damage
assignment ignores the protection ability.
- Tapped blockers now deal combat damage, they previously didn't.
- Tapped artifacts don't automatically turn off; Howling Mine, Static
Orb and Winter Orb got errata to preserve their turning off behaviour.
- The end of turn step / until end of turn wear-off distinction is
introduced.
- The Oracle was introduced.
- The core set has its own expansion symbol as of Sixth Edition.
- Urza's Legacy introduced premium (foil) cards.
- Urza's Legacy also marked a trend for effects that tap or untap
something to change from only being "target creature, artifact or land"
to "target permanent"
Trivia:
- No cards with trample were printed in Sixth Edition.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.07: 2000
Sets released: Nemesis, Starter 2000, Prophecy, Invasion, Beatdown
Major changes:
- Invasion introduced the split cards and rules for checking
characteristics of split cards.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.08: 2001
Sets released: Planeshift, Seventh Edition, Apocalypse, Odyssey
Trivia:
- Some time around here the rule on creature type changed, so that
when asked to name a creature type, only an existing creature type
could be chosen.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.09: 2002
Sets released: Torment, Judgement, Onslaught
Major changes:
- Onslaught brought back face-down creatures with more comprehensive
rules support.
Trivia:
- Torment contained more black cards at the expense of green and
white cards.
- Judgment contained more green and white cards at the expense of
black cards.
- Judgment introduced the cycle of Wishes, cards that retrieve other
cards from outside the game - an effect not seen since the Ring
of Ma'ruf.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.10: 2003
Sets released: Legions, Scourge, Eighth Edition, Mirrodin
Major changes:
- Eighth Edition brought a new card frame with room for more artwork
and text. The frame for artifacts was considered too close to the
frame for white cards in appearance.
- Eighth Edition introduced the 'basic' supertype to identify basic
lands by their type.
- Mirrodin block introduced the Equipment subtype.
Trivia:
- Legions contained only creature cards.
- Legions introduced the first creatures with double strike.
- Mirrodin block saw a change to the card distribution across the block.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.11: 2004
Sets released: Darksteel, Fifth Dawn, Unhinged, Champions of Kamigawa
Major changes:
- Darksteel introduced 'indestructible'.
- Fifth Dawn introduced a darker artifact frame to help distinguish
artifact cards from white cards.
- Champions of Kamigawa introduced a new Legend rule (if Legends share
a name, they are all put into their owners' graveyards, not just all
but the first) and removed the Legend creature type, creating 'Legendary
Creature'.
- Champions of Kamigawa introduced flip cards, cards with a compressed
card face on either end and a suitable picture in the middle.
- Champions of Kamigawa introduced a modification to the targeting rule
(targets only need to be unique for each instance of the qualifier
'target') to assist with splice cards.
- Champions of Kamigawa introduced the 'defender' ability, retroactively
added to all of the creatures with creature type Wall, to eliminate
the direct link between creature type and not being able to attack.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.12: 2005
Sets released: Betrayers of Kamigawa, Saviors of Kamigawa, 9th Edition,
Ravnica: city of Guilds
Major changes:
- Ravnica: City of Guilds introduced hybrid mana costs that can be
paid with one point of either of two specific colors of mana.
- Ninth edition introduced the Aura subtype and the enchant keyword.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.13: 2006
Sets released: Guildpact, Dissension, Coldsnap, Time Spiral
Major changes:
- Coldsnap changed the 'snow-covered' supertype to 'snow' and expanded
its use to nonland permanents.
- Time Spiral introduced a rule to make +1/+1 and -1/-1 counters on
a permanent disappear in pairs.
- With the online release of Mirage block cards, the rules for phasing
were updated. Phasing out no longer triggers leaves play abilities.
- Time Spiral introduced suspend, a way of playing a card for less
mana by having it resolve some turns in the future.
- Time Spiral introduced split second, an ability that prevents
players from responding to the spell that it's on. The flavour is
similar to that of the pre-6th Edition interrupts.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.14: 2007
Sets released: Planar Chaos, Future Sight, Tenth Edition, Lorwyn
Major changes:
- Future Sight introduced the idea of players being more like objects
in the game. For example, protection was extended so that it could
be gained by a player.
- Future Sight introduced new card types ostensibly from the future:
- The Planeswalker type was referred to but not used.
- The Tribal type was used - it attaches a creature type to a
non-creature card.
- Future Sight introduced new keyword abilities for exising
functionality:
- The ability reach was introduced to represent the ability of
a creature without flying to block a creature with flying.
- The ability deathtouch was introduced to represent the ability
of a creature to destroy creatures that it damages non-lethally.
- The ability shroud was introduced for permanents or players
that can't be the target of spells or abilities.
- The ability lifelink was introduced to cover some of the cases
where a creature's combat damage triggers life gain.
- Lorwyn introduced the Tribal type "properly", using it on a number
of cards to improve the flow of the "creature type matters" theme.
- Lorwyn introduced the changeling ability, which grants all creature
types.
- Lorwyn introduced actual Planeswalker cards. These cards have
abilities that you can play one of, once, during your main phase.
The card has a loyalty score and comes into play with that
many loyalty counters, and its abilities cost an increase or
decrease of a certain number of counters. The Planeswalker may
be damaged by effects that would deal non-combat damage to you
(as a redirection chosen by the effect's controller) and may be
attacked (you assign blockers for the Planeswalker as normal).
Minor changes:
- Planar Chaos introduced a "parallel universe" card frame.
- Future Sight introduced a "future worlds" card frame.
- Future Sight created a lot of combinations of ideas that had not
been tried before, and may never be tried again, such as a land,
an enchantment and an artifact with morph, and more general
typecycling abilities such as slivercycling.
- Some terms appeared on only a few cards in Future Sight: delve,
gravestorm, aura swap, grandeur, transfigure, fateseal, frenzy,
- Abilities champion, hideaway and evoke appeared in Lorwyn.
- The Kithkin and Treefolk creature types were used more in Lorwyn
block than ever before.
------------------------------
Subject: 2.1.15: 2008
Sets released: Morningtide
Minor changes:
- the abilities prowl, reinforce and kinship appeared in Morningtide.
Zoe Stephenson
Zoe Stephenson
------------------------------
Subject: 3.00: Advanced Discussion