Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v2.13 (index)
Patrik Linell
Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.angelfire.com/nf/ccgheaven/rulesfaq.html
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Welcome to the FAQ for rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules
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Last Modified: February 19, 2001
By Patrik Linell (thekin...@hotmail.com), based on the FAQ by Laurie
Cheers, which was in turn based on the FAQ by Bill Dugan.
Copyright (c) 2001 Patrik Linell. All rights reserved. This article is
freely distributable except that it may not be sold nor included in any
compilation (book, magazine, disk, CD-ROM, or otherwise) which is for sale,
without the express written consent of the author. See bottom of the last
part of this document for additional legal restrictions and disclaimers, and
copyright information.
URL: http://www.angelfire.com/nf/ccgheaven/rulesfaq.html
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Recent Changes:
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2.13: Updated the tournament information after tip from Eric Nikitin
(thanks!).
2.12: Took over from Laurie Cheers, which in itself meant some changes.
Added a couple of questions, corrected a few minor errors, and made some
other minor changes.
2.11: Added a few questions, and made numerous minor corrections and
improvements.
2.1: Added Recent Changes section, and made numerous minor corrections.
2.0: Original rewritten FAQ.
==================
Further Reading:
==================
So, what happens if your question _isn't_ frequently asked, and isn't in
this document? Well, here are a few other places you could turn to.
Obviously enough, asking your question on the newsgroup
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules
is a good way to get it answered... That's what it's there for, after all.
Don't worry about whether your question's 'stupid', or has been asked
before... even if it's a frequently asked one in this FAQ, that you've been
unable to find or haven't understood the answer to. The group is extremely
newbie friendly, and the people there are very patient about explaining
things. After all, that's why they hang out there.
The files "rule-general" and "rule-cards" are very highly recommended, and
available from http://www.crystalkeep.com/magic/rules/index.html
They're very complete, very long and very reliable... except in occasional
places where they specifically state they haven't yet been updated to the
latest rules. References to those files are occasionally made in this FAQ.
The Oracle- the official listing of all cards ever printed, updated to the
current wording templates- is also an excellent resource. If your question
revolves around the wording on a card that's not from the latest set, you
should check out "http://www.wizards.com/DCI/Oracle.asp" before continuing.
All the individual Oracle files for the different sets have been joined
together in one big searchable file, at:
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Corner/4968/ORAC_ALL.txt
Finally, for those who want a rulebook, there are two you might want to try.
The latest, up-to-datest, technically accurate rulebook is at
http://www.wizards.com/DCI/oracle/CompRuleBook-11-1-99.txt
However, note that this is _not_ a book for new players. It's pretty
unfriendly and dry in the way it is set out, because its main purpose is to
give definitive answers, not to teach people to play. For an easier rulebook
to learn the game from, you may want to try the rather outdated Fifth
Edition rulebook, available at
http://www.wizards.com/magic/advanced/5E/Fifth_Ed_Rulebook/Welcome.asp.
Some of its technical details (perhaps most) are now wrong, but it takes the
material far slower, and explains things much more clearly. When you're just
beginning to learn the game, most of the differences between 5th and 6th
edition rules aren't very important.
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Newsgroup Stuff:
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If you're a new player, you'll almost certainly come across unfamiliar terms
and acronyms while reading this FAQ, or the magic.rules newsgroup... so here
are some of the most common ones.
Cardset Names:
UL or UN: Unlimited 3E or RV: Third Edition, or "Revised".
4E: Fourth Edition 5E: Fifth Edition
6E: Sixth Edition, or "Classic".
PO: Portal P2: Portal Second Age UG: Unglued
P3K: Portal- 3 Kingdoms SR: Starter CH: Chronicles
AN: Arabian Nights AQ: Antiquities LE or LG: Legends
DK: The Dark
IA: Ice Age HL: Homelands AL: Alliances
MI: Mirage VI: Visions WL: Weatherlight
TE or TM: Tempest ST: Stronghold EX: Exodus
US or U>: Urza's Saga UL or UY: Urza's Legacy* UD: Urza's Destiny
MM: Mercadian Masques NE: Nemesis
*yes, UL is also used for Unlimited. Sorry.
Card Names:
Dual Land: One of the ten multicolored lands that count as two basic
land types, from Revised and before: Bayou, Taiga, Tropical Island,
etc.
Painland: One of the ten multicolored lands from Tempest, Ice Age and
6th Edition. They can be tapped for colorless mana, or for mana of
either of 2 colors- but if tapped for colored mana, they deal you
damage. For example: Skyshroud Forest, Caldera Lake, Adarkar Wastes,
etc. Note that City of Brass isn't usually considered a painland.
Mishra Land, Man Land, Legacy Land: Animatable lands- Mishra's Factory,
and the five colored ones from Urza's Legacy: Forbidding Watchtower,
Treetop Village, etc. (The term Legacy Land doesn't include Mishra's
Factory, for obvious reasons.)
Tim: Prodigal Sorceror ("There are some who call me ... Tim.")
Icy: Icy Manipulator
Llany, Lawnmower Elf: Llanowar Elf
CoP: Circle Of Protection
RoP: Rune of Protection
MoLaG: Mask of Law and Grace
MoR: Mother of Runes
...and so on. You get the idea.
Misc terms and acronyms:
"~" or "~this~": Commonly used to stand for the cardname, when quoting card
text. (e.g. "When ~ comes into play, ...")
Sac: Sacrifice
Bounce: return a permanent to its owner's hand
RFG: remove a card from the game
animate: make into a creature
Transmog, Transmogrify: make a creature into an artifact creature
LIFO: Last In, First Out (explains stack timing)
CIP: Comes Into Play (or an ability that triggers on this occurrence.)
EOT: End of Turn
187: A creature with a CIP ability that destroys or bounces a
permanent, such as a Nekrataal. (187 is apparently the Californian
police radio code for a homicide.) By extension any CIP ability.
781: A creature with a leaves-play ability. (Geddit?)
Cantrip: A card that tells you to draw another card at the beginning
of the next upkeep, or at the time it resolves.
MtG: Magic- The Gathering.
WotC, WoC: Wizards Of The Coast, publishers of Magic.
DCI: Duelists Convocation International, the authority that oversees
official Magic tournaments.
Symbols:
G: One green mana.
R: One red mana.
W: One white mana.
B: One black mana.
U: One blue mana. (to distinguish it from the B for black.)
T or {tap}: the tap symbol.
These symbols are combined in a way that mimics the way the corresponding
symbols are written on cards. So for example, a Dark Ritual produces "BBB",
a Ranger en-Vec costs "1WG", and an Ivy Seer's ability costs "2G, T".
======================
How to use this FAQ:
======================
First of all, take a look at the Index to the Index, below. It gives the
headings for each of the sections, and gives you a general idea of what they
apply to.
Many questions appear under more than one heading, because they involve
concepts from more than one area. So if you're not sure which one to try,
just pick any one that sounds like it might be appropriate. I've tried to
err on the side of inclusiveness as far as this is concerned.
(Please Note: Questions involving more than two players aren't covered in
the official Magic rules, and therefore aren't covered in this FAQ.
Multiplayer games have to use house rules, so you'll probably have to decide
amongst your fellow players what happens in the situation you've
encountered.)
When you've picked your heading, scroll down to it (or just tell your
newsreader to search for the text "Section X", where X is the section
number) and see if your question, or one like it, is included there. Answers
to Yes or No questions - and a few other questions which can be answered
briefly enough - are given right there in the index. But if you want to know
why that answer is the right one, or you want to know how to work it out
next time, then you'll want to read the main part of the FAQ. Go to the
appropriate posting, and tell your viewer to search for the question number
given.
Feedback on questions that aren't under the right headings- or indeed, any
other aspect of this FAQ, especially when you've found wrong answers- is
very welcome. You can email me at thekin...@hotmail.com.
=====================
Index to the Index:
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1: VFAQ - Very frequently asked questions.
2: The New Rules - Questions whose answers changed in 6th Edition.
3: Mana & Sources - Questions about mana and mana production.
4: Abilities - How abilities work, when they apply, and so on.
5: Costs - What a cost is... and more.
6: Effects - Questions about the meaning of certain effects.
7: Artifacts - Questions about artifact-related topics.
8: Lands - Questions about land-related topics.
9: Creatures - Questions about creature-related topics.
10: Combat - Questions related to the combat phase.
11: Damage - Questions about Damage and Damage Prevention.
12: Color - Questions about the colors of magic.
13: Enchantments - About Local Enchantments. (and counters, too).
14: Targetting - Questions in which targets are involved.
15: Protection - Questions involving "Protection from <quality>".
16: Regeneration - Questions about regeneration.
17: Trample - Questions about trample.
18: Misc Abilities - All other basic abilities: Banding, Phasing, etc.
19: Tournaments - Questions about tournament play.
20: Timing - Can I cast a spell before my opponent? and more.
21: Specific Cards - Questions revolving around particular cards.
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The FAQ Index:
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Section 1- Very Frequently Asked Questions
D.01 If I play a non-creature permanent, then immediately turn it into
a creature, can it attack or tap this turn? (A: No)
F.01 What does protection protect against? (A: ONLY Damaging,
Enchanting, Blocking, and Targetting.)
F.02 Will a Protection from White creature be killed by a Wrath of
God? (A: Yes)
G.02 How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
H.04 When a creature dies, can I regenerate it later on in the turn?
(A: No)
H.07 What can I regenerate from? (A: Destroy effects only)
H.08 Can I regenerate from a Sacrifice? (A: No)
Section 2- The New Rules:
A.02 What is a "Mana Source"? (A: An Instant or a Mana Ability.)
A.03 What is an Interrupt? (A: An Instant, generally.)
A.08 What's the difference between a "Creature - X" card and a
"Summon X" card? (A: None, it's just a different name)
A.15 What does "countered on resolution" mean? (A: fizzled)
A.21 What's "the stack"? What is "priority"?
A.24 What is the "converted mana cost" of a card?
B.01 Will combat damage that's been redirected still be considered
combat damage? (A: Yes)
B.04 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player they
protect? (A: Yes, if there's a choice as to who they protect)
B.05 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the damage?
(A: No)
E.03 Will a blocking creature still deal combat damage if it gets
tapped? (A: Yes)
E.05 Can a Giant Spider block a Treetop Ranger? (A: Yes)
G.02 How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
G.03 How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change their
toughnesses, after they've blocked?
G.04 How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
H.05 Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die? (A: Yes)
H.06 Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap? (A: No, that won't work)
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
(A: Yes)
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (like that of Llanowar Elves) be
countered? (A: No)
K.11 Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"? (A: No, just on 8 cards)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
K.16 Which Artifacts recieved the "as long as ~ is untapped" errata?
(A: Winter Orb and Howling Mine only)
P.02 What does "Obsolete" mean?
P.04 Can I use old cards and 6th edition cards in the same games,
despite the rules-change? (A: Yes)
P.06 What does "errata" mean?
Section 3- Mana Sources and Mana:
A.02 What is a "Mana Source"? (A: An Instant or a Mana Ability)
A.05 What does "Mana" or "Mana Pool" mean? Is it my lands? (A: NO!)
A.25 What's Mana Burn?
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
(A: Yes)
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (e.g. Llanowar Elves) be countered?
(A: No)
Section 4- Abilities:
(This section covers the general properties and timing aspects of
abilities. For questions on specific abilities, try Misc Abilities
(12). For questions about the costs of abilities, try Costs(5).)
A.02 What is a "Mana Source"? (A: "play this ability as a Mana Source"
denotes abilities that are now Mana Abilities)
A.03 What is an Interrupt? (A: "play this ability as an Interrupt" no
longer has any meaning, so ignore that text)
A.10 What's a "pseudospell"?
J.03 Does "X: do Y" on an instant/sorcery mean I can pay X several
times to get Y to happen several times? (A: No)
J.08 Can I pay for two abilities with one sacrifice? (A: No)
J.09 If my Prodigal Sorceror is enchanted with Hermetic Study, can I
tap it to deal 2 damage? (A: No)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.04 Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying something?
(A: No)
K.05 Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target? (A: Yes)
K.06 If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to me,
do I have to target it? (A: Yes)
K.07 Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability? (A: No)
K.08 Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
(A: Yes)
K.09 Can I Counterspell a permanent's ability? (A: No)
K.10 If something is tapped, can it still use abilities that don't
require it to tap? (A: Yes)
K.11 Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"? (A: No, just on 8 cards)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
K.13 If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play", will
that trigger when something that's already in play gets turned into a
creature? (A: No)
K.14 Can use an ability multiple times? E.g. pump up a Shade more than
once per turn, or use Pestilence several times in a row? (A: Yes)
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
K.16 Which Artifacts recieved the "as long as ~ is untapped" errata?
(A: Winter Orb and Howling Mine only)
L.01 Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed? (A: No)
L.02 I cast Replenish. Opalescence and a Pandemonium/Angelic Chorus are
coming into play at the same time- will the ability trigger? (A: Yes)
Section 5- Costs:
J.01 What's the difference between a cost and an effect?
J.02 How do I tell whether something is a cost or an effect?
J.03 Does "X: do Y" on an instant/sorcery mean I can pay X several
times to get Y to happen several times? (A: No)
J.04 If a spell is countered, do you still have to pay its cost?
(A: Yes)
J.05 Can additional costs be reduced by Medallions? (A: Yes)
J.06 Are additional costs considered part of a spell's mana cost, for
Aluren, or for Rebel searching abilties? (A: No)
J.07 Can I destroy a Mogg Fanatic in response to it sacrificing itself?
(A: No)
J.08 Can I pay for two abilities with one sacrifice? (A: No)
J.09 If my Prodigal Sorceror is enchanted with Hermetic Study, can I
tap it to deal 2 damage? (A: No)
Section 6- Effects:
A.06 What's a "permanent"? (A: A card or token in play)
A.07 What's the difference between a "creature" and a "creature card"?
A.10 What does "resolve" mean? (A: To take effect after being played)
A.13 What does "counter" mean? (A: Remove a spell or ability from the
stack without it having an effect.)
A.23 What's the difference between "playing" and "putting into play"?
A.24 What is the "converted mana cost" of a card?
C.09 If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I allowed
to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest? What if I'm told
to search for a Basic Forest card? (A: First is ok; Second isn't.)
H.10 Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped? (A: Yes)
J.01 What's the difference between a cost and an effect?
J.02 How do I tell whether something is a cost or an effect?
Section 7- Artifacts:
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
K.16 Which Artifacts recieved the "as long as ~ is untapped" errata?
(A: Winter Orb and Howling Mine only)
C.03 Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact' or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color? (A: No)
C.06 If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
(A: No)
C.07 If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
(A: No)
Section 8- Lands:
A.05 What does "Mana" or "Mana Pool" mean? Is it my lands? (A: NO!)
A.09 What's a "spell"? (A: Anything on the stack- but note, lands
never go onto the stack.)
C.05 Do basic lands have colours? (e.g. Are swamps black?) (A: No.)
C.08 Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp? (A: No.)
C.09 If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I allowed
to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest? What if I'm told
to search for a Basic Forest card? (A: First is ok; Second isn't.)
Section 9- Creatures:
(obviously, most of the other sections involve creatures as well,
especially Combat(10). This one contains mostly the questions that
didn't fit anywhere else.)
A.04 What is "summoning sickness"?
A.07 What's the difference between a "creature" and a "creature card"?
A.08 What's the difference between a "Creature - X" card and a "Summon
X" card? (A: Nothing, it's just a name-change)
D.01 If I play a non-creature permanent, then immediately turn it into
a creature, can it attack or tap this turn? (A: No)
D.02 If I play a creature on my opponent's turn, can it tap for its
abilities? Can it attack or tap on my turn after that? (A: No; yes)
D.03 Can a summoning-sick creature tap for Field Surgeon's ability?
(A: Yes)
D.04 When something asks me to choose a creature type, can I choose
"blue" or "artifact" or "opponent's"? (A: No, only things like
"Goblin", "Legend", "Platypus", etc.)
D.05 If I gain control of my opponent's creatures, will they have
summoning sickness?
D.06 If a creature's toughness is reduced to 0, will it die? (A: Yes)
K.13 If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play", will
that trigger when something that's already in play gets turned into a
creature? (A: No)
Section 10- Combat:
(See the sections Trample(17) and Misc Abilities(18) for more
questions associated with the combat phase. See also Damage(11) for
questions about damage, including combat damage.)
E.01 What is the overall structure of the combat phase?
E.02 Can I Terror an attacker to stop its combat damage? (A: Yes)
E.03 Will a blocking creature still deal combat damage if it gets
tapped?
E.04 Can I untap something and make it stop attacking? (A: No)
E.05 Can a Giant Spider block a Treetop Ranger? (A: Yes)
Section 11- Damage:
(See the section Combat(10) for questions specifically related to
combat damage.)
B.01 Will combat damage that's been redirected still be considered
combat damage? (A: Yes)
B.02 Can damage be redirected to a Fog Bank or a Gaseous Formed
creature? (A: Yes)
B.03 Can I get an en-Kor to redirect more damage than is needed to kill
the creature he's moving it onto? (A: Yes)
B.04 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player they
protect? (A: Yes, if there's a choice as to who they protect)
B.05 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the damage?
(A: No)
Section 12- Color:
C.01 Can I Terror a red-and-black creature? (A: No)
C.02 Can I use CoP:Black against a red-and-black creature? (A: Yes)
C.03 Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact' or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color? (A: No)
C.05 Do basic lands have colours? (e.g. Are swamps black?) (A: No)
C.06 If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
(A: No)
C.07 If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
(A: No)
C.08 Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp? (A: No)
M.02 If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it? (A: No)
M.04 If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one? (A: Yes)
Section 13- Enchantments (and Counters):
A.13 What does "counter" mean? (A: Remove a spell or ability from the
stack without it having an effect.)
M.06 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.08 I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they sit
on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
(A: Nothing, it's just a name-change.)
M.09 Do "Enchant X" cards fall off when their enchantee stops being
an X? (A: Yes)
M.10 Will Enchantments saying "play ~ only on X" fall off if the
enchantee stops being an X? (A: Yes)
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
M.12 Will +1/+1 counters fall off if they're not on a creature?
(A: No)
M.13 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something regenerates?
(A: No)
M.14 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out?
(A: No)
M.15 What is a "global enchantment"?
(A: A permanent of type "Enchantment" or "Enchant World")
M.16 What is a "local enchantment"?
(A: A permanent of type "Enchant Creature", "Enchant Land", etc)
Section 14- Targeting:
A.15 What does "countered on resolution" mean? (A: fizzled)
B.04 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player they
protect? (A: Yes, if there's a choice as to who they protect)
B.05 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the damage?
(A: No)
K.05 Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target? (A: Yes)
K.06 If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to me,
do I have to target it? (A: Yes)
M.01 What does it mean for a spell to "target" something?
M.02 If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it? (A: Yes)
M.03 Can I cast Reckless Spite targetting only one creature, or the
same creature twice? (A: No)
M.04 If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one? (A: Yes)
M.05 How well does Deadly Insect's ability protect it?
M.06 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.08 I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they
sit on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
(A: Nothing, it's just a name change)
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
M.18 If I try to counter an Urza's Rage (or something else that is
uncounterable) with an Absorb/Undermine, will I still gain 3 life/
will my opponent still lose 3 life? (A: Yes)
Section 15- Protection:
F.01 What does protection protect against? (A: ONLY Damaging,
Enchanting, Blocking, and Targetting)
F.02 Will a Protection from White creature be killed by a Wrath of
God? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
Section 16- Regeneration:
A.01 What does "bury" mean? (A: Destroy, can't regenerate)
D.06 If a creature's toughness is reduced to 0, will it die? (A: Yes,
and it can't regenerate)
H.04 When a creature dies, can I regenerate it later on in the
turn? (A: No)
H.05 Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die? (A: Yes)
H.06 Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap? (A: No)
H.07 What can I regenerate from? (A: Destroy effects only)
H.08 Can I regenerate from a Sacrifice? (A: No)
H.10 Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped? (A: Yes)
M.13 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something regenerates?
(A: No)
Section 17- Trample:
G.01 How does Trample work?
G.02 How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
G.03 How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change their
toughnesses, after they've blocked?
G.04 How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
G.05 What's the difference between Trample and the ability "~ may deal
its combat damage to defending player as though it weren't blocked."?
Section 18- Misc Abilities:
(This section covers individual one-word abilities. For questions on
abilities in general, try Abilities(4).)
E.06 What's the difference between Cycling (2) and "(2), Sacrifice ~:
draw a card"?
H.01 What is Banding and why would I use it?
H.02 What does Phasing mean?
M.14 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out? (A:
No)
H.03 What is Echo good for?
J.05 Can Buyback or Gloom costs be reduced by Medallions? (A: Yes)
Section 19- Tournaments:
P.01 What is a "sideboard"?
P.03 How do I "Mulligan"?
P.04 Can I use old cards and 6th edition cards in the same games,
despite the rules-change? (A: Yes)
P.05 What cards can I play with in a tournament?
P.06 What does "errata" mean?
P.07 In a tournament where (for example) Ice Age isn't legal, am I
allowed to play with an Ice Age card that was reprinted in a legal
set? (A: Yes)
Section 20- Timing:
A.10 What does "resolve" mean? (A: To take effect after being played)
A.12 What do "respond" and "in response" mean?
A.19 Who is the "active player"? (A: The one whose turn it is)
A.21 What's "the stack"? What is "priority"?
A.22 What does "play" mean?
E.02 Can I Terror an attacker to stop its combat damage? (A: Yes)
J.07 Can I destroy a Mogg Fanatic in response to it sacrificing itself?
(A: No)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.04 Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying something?
(A: No)
L.01 Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed? (A: No)
L.02 I cast Replenish. Opalescence, Pandemonium and Angelic Chorus are
coming into play at the same time- will their abilities trigger? (A:
Yes)
L.03 What happens first, if two things say they happen "when" or
"whenever" an event occurs? Can I cast Instants in-between them?
L.04 Both players want to cast Shock, and both are on 2 life. Who
dies? (A: Whoever cracks first.)
L.05 If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen
"At end of turn", when will that actually be?
(A: The end of the _next_ turn)
L.06 If events in the End-Of-Turn step start an effect that lasts
"Until end of turn", when will that actually wear off?
(A: In the Cleanup step of that same turn)
Section 21- Specific Cards:
(This section covers various particular cards which turn up very frequently
in questions. If your question involves a card because it has a particular
ability, and the card's not here, try looking up that ability instead.)
Aluren
J.06 Are additional costs considered part of a spell's mana cost, for
Aluren, or for Rebel search abilties? (A: No)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger? (A: it works with Aluren)
Deflection
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
Humility/Humble
N.05 How do Opalescence and Humility interact? (A: messily)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.07 Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability? (A: No)
K.08 Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
(A: Yes)
L.01 Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed? (A: No)
Lifeline
N.01 Does Lifeline work for everyone, or just me? (A: Everyone)
N.02 Two Mogg Bombers + Lifeline = Infinite Damage? (A: No)
L.05 If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen "At
end of turn", when will that actually be?
(A: The end of the _next_ turn)
Misdirection
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
Mother of Runes
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
Opalescence
M.15 What is a "global enchantment"?
N.04 How do Opalescence and Humility interact?
Pariah
N.10 What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me? (A: No and no. They effectively cancel out.)
Phyrexian Dreadnought
N.05 If I play a Dreadnought, and choose not to sacrifice creatures,
will abilities that trigger "Whenever a creature comes into play"
be able to trigger off it? (A: No)
Planar Void
N.09 What happens if a card that says "when ~ leaves play, return it to
owner's hand" goes to the graveyard from play, where there's a Planar
Void out?
Treacherous Link
N.10 What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me? (A: No and no. They effectively cancel out.)
Yavimaya Elder
N.06 If I sacrifice a Yavimaya Elder to its ability, will I get to
search for 2 lands before or after I draw a card? (A: Before)
Yawgmoth's Will
N.07 Can I cycle a card from the graveyard once I've cast Yawgmoth's
Will? Can I discard from the graveyard? Can I use Elvish Spirit
Guide's ability from the graveyard? Can I use Sneak Attack to get
creatures out of the graveyard? (A: No to all)
N.08 Will Yawgmoth's Will remove itself from the game when it finishes
resolving? (A: Yes)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require for
the ability to trigger? (A: It doesn't work with Will.)
Urza's Armor
N.11 Does Urza's Armor protect completely against Pestilence and Thrashing
Wumpus? (A: Yes)
_________________________________________________________________________
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Patrik Linell
Terminology:
A.01 Q: What does "bury" mean?
A: "Bury X" is an old term for "Destroy X. It can't be regenerated".
The term was discontinued when Tempest came out.
A.02 Q: What is a "Mana Source"?
A: A Mana Source used to be an 'ultra fast' spell type that couldn't be
countered or responded to in any way. The term was introduced to Magic with
5th Edition rules, and was removed again for 6th Edition. Nowadays any spell
of type Mana Source is played as a normal Instant, and abilities that used
to say "play this as a Mana Source" are now played as Mana Abilities. Any
card that previously used the term "Mana Source" now uses the term "Instant"
instead. (see A.6 in "rule-general", for details on mana abilities.)
A.03 Q: What is an Interrupt?
A: An Interrupt used to be a special type of spell that was able to
'interrupt' other spells. The term was discontinued when 6th Edition came
out, so now spells of type Interrupt are played as a normal Instant. Cards
that referred to Interrupts (e.g. Avoid Fate) now refer to Instants instead.
Abilities that said "play this as an Interrupt" are now played as normal
(Instant-speed) Abilities unless they produce mana- in which case they're
played as Mana Abilities. (see A.6 in "rule-general" for details on mana
abilities.)
A.04 Q: What is "summoning sickness"?
A: Summoning sickness used to be the name for the effect that prevents
creatures from attacking or using Tap abilities on the turn they're played.
The effect now has no official name. The term was only officially used for
5th Edition rules, but earlier editions did mention it. Creatures that used
to be "unaffected by Summoning Sickness" now have the ability "Haste", which
works in exactly the same way.
A.05 Q: What does "Mana" or "Mana Pool" mean? Is it my lands?
A: No. Repeat after me: Mana is not the same thing as lands. This is
the biggest difference between the Starter edition and grown-up Magic, and
has proved to be one that causes a lot of confusion. In Starter, lands are
simply tapped to pay for spells. In Magic, however, lands are tapped to add
Mana to the player's Mana Pool. It usually stays there for a moment. After
that, the Mana is taken from that Pool to pay for spells or other mana
costs.
Basically, your Mana Pool can be thought of as a bowl containing your
money. The points of Mana (coins) in the pool aren't represented by anything
physical, because there's not usually many of them, and they aren't around
for very long.
So, as an example, Dark Ritual is an Instant spell that adds BBB (that's 3
black mana) to your pool when it resolves, just as if you'd tapped 3 swamps.
Afterwards, you can take that mana out of your pool and use it to cast black
spells. See also Mana Burn, qn 25.
A.06 Q: What's a "permanent"?
A: A permanent is a card or token that's in play- and _only_ one that's
in play. Note that Instants and Sorceries are never permanents, and neither
are cards in your hand, graveyard or library. (See also qns 07 & 09).
A.07 Q: What's the difference between a "creature" and a "creature
card"?
A: A "creature" is a term reserved for a permanent. In other words, the
only way something can be a "creature" is for it to be in play. Anywhere
else, the thing is just a "creature card" (or "creature spell", if it's on
the Stack). The same applies to the terms "land", "artifact" and
"enchantment" too.
So Unsummon, which says "Return target creature to its owner's hand",
can't be used to retrieve creature cards from your graveyard, because
they're not creatures.
A.08 Q: What's the difference between a "Creature - X" card and a
"Summon X" card?
A: "Summon X" is the old term for "Creature - X". It was discontinued
when 6th edition came out. There's no difference while you're playing the
game; only the wording has changed.
A.09 Q: What's a "spell"?
A: Don't laugh: this is often a trick question to new players. A spell
is a card on the stack, and _only_ one on the stack- in other words, a card
becomes a spell as you cast it, and stops being one when it resolves. Note
that when playing a land, it doesn't go onto the stack; Lands can't ever
become spells. (see qn 21 for more.)
A.10 Q: What's a "pseudospell"?
A: It's a marker on the stack to represent an ability. When a spell is
played, the spell card itself gets put onto the stack (see qn 21). However,
when an ability of a permanent is played there isn't an appropriate card
handy- so what gets put on the stack instead is a pseudospell, as a marker.
A.11 Q: What does "resolve" mean?
A: Spells, and most abilities cannot take effect as soon as they are
announced (see qn 21)- there's time for other players to use abilities and
Instant spells in response to them. Only after everyone's finished
responding can your spell actually 'resolve': that is, have its effect.
A.12 Q: What do "respond" and "in response" mean?
A: Because a spell or ability cannot resolve as soon as it is cast (see
qn 21), there is a time when abilities and Instant spells can be cast "in
response" to it- in other words, they are announced and put onto the stack
above it. Things done in response to a spell or ability will resolve first.
The spells most commonly cast in response to something are those that will
counter it- Counterspell, Quash and so forth.
A.13 Q: What does "counter" mean?
A: To "counter" a spell is to cause it to go to the graveyard without
having its effect. Also, "counters"- as in "put a +1/+1 counter on this
creature"- are small markers to put on your cards, such as glass beads or
dice.
A.14 Q: What does "fizzle" mean?
A: This is the old term for "be countered on resolution". It was
discontinued when 6th Edition came out. And now you'll ask...
A.15 Q: What does "countered on resolution" mean?
A: This is what happens to a targeted spell or ability that finds its
targets are all illegal. (This usually means that in response to the spell
they've gained Protection, or been destroyed, or something of the sort).
When it tries to resolve, a spell will check its targets (if it has any) for
legality- and if none of them are legal, it will be countered instead of
resolving. And yes, this really does counter the spell: Multani's Presence
will trigger off it. (see qns 01-04, section M, for more details.)
A.16 Q: Who is the "controller" of a card?
A: The controller of the card is the player who can use its abilities,
attack with it, and so on. If a card says "you", it's always talking to its
controller. Which player is it? That depends. Usually, the controller and
the owner (see below) of a card are the same player, but there are many
effects that can change that. Generally speaking, if you put a card into
play, and no effects apply that could change its controller, then you
control that card.
A.17 Q: Who is the "owner" of a card?
A: The 'owner' of a card is the player who brought it to the game, and
who started the game with it in his library (see qn 18, however). The
'owner' of a token is the player who controlled the spell or ability that
created it. (e.g.: Waiting in the Weeds is a spell that creates Cat tokens
under the control of various players... but the caster of Waiting in the
Weeds owns them all.)
A.18 Q: What's "ante"? What's an "ante card"?
A: The exception to the 'ownership' rule above. "Playing for ante" was
an optional rule that was discontinued when 5th Edition came out- apparently
because it fell foul of anti-gambling laws. At the beginning of the game you
turned face-up the top card of your opponent's deck, and he did the same to
you. The two cards were set aside, in a special "ante" zone. Whoever won the
game got to keep both those cards, permanently.
An "Ante card" is a card which can affect the ante zone, or which can
change ownership of a card- such as Demonic Attorney, or Amulet of Quoz. All
such cards say "Remove this card from your deck before playing, if not
playing for ante". Naturally, all of them are banned in tournaments, where
games aren't played for ante.
A.19 Q: Who is the "active player"?
A: The player whose turn it is. Usually if both players can do
something, the active player gets to do so first... including making choices
(which means that when the opponent chooses, he knows what choice was made)
and putting triggered abilities onto the stack (which means the opponent's
abilities will resolve first). (See qn 3 in section L, and qn 21 in this
section.)
A.20 Q: What is a "modal" spell?
A: A "modal" spell is, in general terms, one which can do more than one
thing. All modal spells, under the current wordings, have to say "Choose
one-", followed by a list of possible effects. The Charms from Mirage and
Visions- Hope Charm, Seedling Charm and so on- are the most obvious modal
spells. Healing Salve and Parch are also well known examples. Notice that
Disenchant is _not_ a modal spell, because it doesn't say "Choose one-
destroy target artifact, or destroy target enchantment".
The distinction is important, because when you announce a modal spell, you
choose what mode it'll use right then, instead of waiting until it resolves.
Suppose, for example, you cast Parch and choose its "Deal 4 damage to target
blue creature" mode. Your opponent makes the creature nonblue in response.
Parch will be countered on resolution (see qn 15)- it won't be able to
change its mode to deal 2 damage.
A.21 Q: What's "the stack"? What is "priority"?
A: The Stack is a timing system, intended to stop Magic from turning
into a fast-talking contest. It's a zone of play, like your graveyard or
your library. When a spell is announced, it cannot take its effect straight
away- instead, it's put on top of the stack, and other players are given the
opportunity to respond to it with their own spells. The responses will
resolve first... and when people have finished responding, eventually the
original spell will resolve. (Note that this also applies to abilities.) The
player who "has priority" at any particular time is the one who's currently
allowed to add things to the stack. Here's a brief flowchart showing how the
system works.
In each step of the turn, the active player has priority to begin with.
I: The player who has priority may announce a spell: he puts the spell
onto the stack, chooses its mode and its targets, and pays its costs. If he
chooses to do so, then he gets priority again- repeat this step. Otherwise,
he "passes priority" to his opponent- go to [II].
II: Now, that player's opponent has priority, so he can play his own
spells on the top of the stack. If he chooses to do so, then he'll be the
one who priority again- we return to [I]. Otherwise, we go on to [III].
III: The players have both passed, so they've both declared that they're
not going to respond to the current spell. If the stack is empty, then the
current step of this turn will end. Otherwise, the top item of the stack
resolves and is removed (in the case of an Instant or Sorcery it will go to
the graveyard. Other types of spell will go into play, and pseudospells from
abilities will be removed from the game). After that, the active player gets
priority again. We return to I.
A.22 Q: What does "play" mean?
A: Too many things. But the main source of confusion is this: To play a
land means to lay it down as your special once-per-turn action. To "play" a
spell or ability means to _announce_ it and pay its costs. The "Play" zone,
on the other hand, is the main area of the game, where Lands can be put, and
where Creature, Artifact and Enchantment spells end up when they resolve.
An ability that triggers when a spell is "played" will do so as soon as
that spell is announced- and its effect will occur before the triggering
spell can resolve. Abilities that used to refer to something being
"successfully cast", which has no meaning under 6th Edition rules, have all
had errata to use the term "played".
All of which leads to the following question:
A.23 Q: What's the difference between "playing" and "putting into
play"?
A: To "play" a spell or ability means to announce it, as I said above.
In other words, you pay its costs, choose its targets, and put it onto the
stack. To "put a card into play" means to put it into the "play" zone, the
active zone of the game.
This means that it's possible to "play" an Instant or Sorcery spell, but
not possible to "put it into play". A spell or ability that tells you to
"put a creature into play", such as Flash, is not telling you to "play" it.
In the same way, cards that allow you to "put a land into play" won't
obstruct your normal ability to play a land each turn... and also won't
trigger Burgeoning, for example, which triggers whenever somebody _plays_ a
land.
Yes, I freely admit this distinction is confusing, and yes, a simple
change of wording would make it a great deal clearer. Sorry, but WotC just
refuse to see this as a problem. See also qn 11, section K.
A.24 Q: What is the "converted mana cost" of a card?
A: The total amount of mana in its mana cost. For example, a Warrior
Angel costing 4WW has a converted mana cost of 6. This doesn't take into
account cost modifiers, so the Warrior Angel will still have a converted
mana cost of 6 even if a Pearl Medallion or a Gloom is out. This also means
that Urza's Incubator doesn't allow you to use a Mercenary or Rebel search
ability to find more expensive creatures than you usually could.
A.25 Q: What's Mana Burn?
A: It's not usually a very important effect. It means that if you tap
some lands for mana, but you don't spend all of that mana, then at the end
of the phase, you'll lose an amount of life equal to the mana you had left.
Sounds stupid, right? Why would you ever tap a land if you didn't want to
spend the mana? Well, it starts to make sense when you realise some things
can make more than one point of mana.
For example, Dark Ritual is a spell that adds BBB to your mana pool. So if
you use it to cast something that only costs 2 mana, you'll have 1 left
over, which will make you lose 1 life if you can't spend it before the end
of the phase.
==========
Damage
B.01 Q: Will combat damage that's been redirected still be considered
combat damage?
A: Yes. The rule that said it wasn't was removed when 6th Edition came
out. Wall of Essence suddenly became very powerful when combined with en-Kor
creatures.
B.02 Q: Can damage be redirected to a Fog Bank or a Gaseous Formed
creature?
A: Yes. The complication here used to be that the abilities of these
cards said "~ cannot deal or receive combat damage". They have now been
errata'd to say "prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to or dealt
by ~". Therefore, the damage will be redirected just fine, but it gets
prevented when it tries to land.
B.03 Q: Can I get an en-Kor to redirect more damage than is needed to
kill the creature he's moving it onto?
("0: The next 1 damage that would be dealt to Foo en-Kor
this turn is dealt to target creature you control instead.")
A: Yes. When you use its ability, it creates itself a "shield" which
turns "damage to me" into "damage to target creature". Later, when it's
actually dealt damage, these shields are all applied before that damage
lands anywhere. So "50 damage to me" can be turned into "50 damage to target
creature", which then lands on the poor creature in one big lump.
B.04 Q: Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player
they protect?
A: Yes, when there's a choice. Healing Salve, for instance, now says
"Prevent the next 3 damage to _target_ creature or player". Circles of
Protection don't target anything, though, because the only person they can
protect is their controller. Compare this with...
B.05 Q: Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the
damage?
A: No. For example, Cho-Arrim Alchemist says, in part, "The next time a
source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that
damage". It doesn't use the word 'target', so it doesn't target the source.
======
Color
C.01 Q: Can I Terror a red-and-black creature?
("Destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature. It can't be
regenerated.")
A: No. A Red-and-black creature is black. Therefore, it isn't
non-black, regardless of what other colors it might be. (Similarly, it's
red, therefore it's not non-red. It's non-blue, non-green and non-white
though.)
C.02 Q: Can I use CoP:Black against a red-and-black creature?
("1: The next time a black source of your choice would deal
damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.")
A: Yes- it's black, regardless of what other colors it might be.
C.03 Q: Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact', or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color?
A: No. When asked to choose a color, you have to choose one of the five
'primary' colors of magic. None of those above are considered to be real
colors, and neither are 'brown', or 'land', etc...
C.05 Q: Do basic lands have colors? (e.g. Are swamps black?)
A: No. Lands only have a color if something gives them one- otherwise,
they're just colorless. So if you're asked to reveal a black card from your
hand, you can't reveal a swamp.
C.06 Q: If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
A: No. Being an artifact and being colorless usually go together... but
that's only because the artifact cards that have been printed so far haven't
got any colors in their casting costs. It's not an intrinsic property.
C.07 Q: If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
A: No. see the question above.
C.08 Q: Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp?
A: No, because it doesn't say it does. There are only 6 cards that have
been printed that count as swamps- Swamp, Snow-covered Swamp, Underground
Sea, Bayou, Badlands and Scrubland. The last four are Dual Lands that _say_
they count as swamps. See the following...
C.09 Q: If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I
allowed to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest?
What if I'm told to search for a basic Forest card?
A: Yes; no. A Forest card is anything named Forest or of subtype
Forest. That includes Dual Lands. However, a basic Forest card only includes
ones that count as basic Forests; that is, only Forests and Snow-Covered
Forests.
========
Creatures
D.01 Q: If I play a non-creature permanent, then immediately turn it
into a creature, can it attack or tap this turn?
A: No. All permanents have "the property formerly known as summoning
sickness" (see qn 4, section A) when they come into play- but the difference
is, only creatures are affected by it. When the permanent becomes a
creature, its 'latent' sickness becomes relevant and the creature can't
attack.
D.02 Q: If I play a creature on my opponent's turn, can it tap for its
abilities? Can it attack or tap on my turn after that?
A: No; Yes. Creatures can only tap or attack if they've been under the
control of their current controller since the beginning of his most recent
turn. So on your opponent's turn, they can't do so- however, on your turn,
they've been under your control since the start of that turn... so yes they
can.
D.03 Q: Can a summoning-sick creature tap for Field Surgeon's ability?
(the ability's cost is "Tap an untapped creature you control")
A: Yes. The only thing summoning-sickness prevents is attacking, and
the payment of abilities that **use the Tap symbol**. Since Field Surgeon
uses the word 'tap' instead of the tap symbol, any creature you control can
be tapped for it.
D.04 Q: When something asks me to choose a creature type, can I choose
"blue" or "artifact" or "opponent's"?
A: No. The "Creature type" of a card is the word(s) written after
Creature or Summon, on the middle line of the card. So for example, you
could choose "Elf" for Extinction, and have it affect a Priest of Titania.
Choosing "Goblin" will not let you affect a Goblin King, though, since that
says "Creature - Lord", rather than "Creature - Goblin".
Note that Artifact creatures generally don't have any creature type at
all- specifically, "Artifact" is not a creature type. That means most of
them can't be affected by Extinction or Urza's Incubator. All Gnomes and
Golems, however, have errata to actually have the creature types Gnome and
Golem respectively, and some Artifact Creatures also count as Walls.
You can also make up your own creature types - attack your opponent with a
horde of Pikachu tokens if you want - but you aren't allowed to choose the
name of an existing Magic card, unless it's also the type of an existing
creature. So even though there are cards called Shapeshifter and Splinter,
you can choose them as your creature type because there exist cards that can
produce creatures of those types.
However, you can't choose Kindle, because nothing produces creatures of
that type.
D.05 Q: If I gain control of my opponent's creatures, will they have
summoning sickness?
A: Yes, because they haven't been under your control continuously since
your turn began.
D.06 Q: If a creature's toughness is reduced to 0, will it die?
A: Yes. A creature with toughness 0 is put straight into its owner's
graveyard and can't regenerate.
======
Combat
E.01 Q: What is the overall structure of the combat phase?
A: The Combat Phase is divided into 5 steps. Note that there is only
ever _one_ combat phase in a turn. You can't "attack with this thing, see
what happens to it, then attack with this other thing" or whatever. All
attackers attack simultaneously, and all blockers block simultaneously, and
then damage is dealt, and then combat finishes.
1: Beginning of Combat:
Instants can be played. This is the last chance for the defending player
to tap creatures in order to prevent them from attacking.
2: Declare Attackers:
The active player declares which creatures are attacking, then taps them
and pays any other costs for them to attack. Then Instants can be played.
This is the last chance for the attacking player to tap or destroy creatures
in order to prevent them from blocking.
3: Declare Blockers
The defending player declares which creatures are blocking which. Then
Instants can be played. This is the last time when changing a creature's
power, or destroying a creature, will change the amount of damage it can
deal.
4: Combat Damage
Combat Damage from surviving creatures is assigned to the creatures
they're fighting, in whatever pattern their controllers want. Then Instants
can be played. This is a good time to play damage-prevention or redirection
abilities, and it's the last chance to increase a creature's toughness in
order to let it survive.
Then the damage will resolve, and lethally damaged creatures will die, and
players on 0 life will lose the game. Then Instants can be played again. At
this point it's too late to do anything very useful, except killing
creatures in order to prevent their "at end of combat" abilities from
happening.
Note that if creatures with First Strike are involved, the Combat Damage
step will actually happen twice- in the first one, only creatures with first
strike will deal damage. In the second one, only the creatures that haven't
already dealt their damage will do so.
5: End of Combat
Abilities that trigger "at end of combat" will do so, and go onto the
stack (see qn 21, section A). Then Instants can be played.
E.02 Q: Can I Terror an attacker to stop its combat damage being
dealt?
A: Yes. If you play your spell before the Combat Damage step (see
above), then the destroyed creature won't be around to deal any damage.
Alternatively, if you _want_ to take damage, but don't like the creature's
special damage-side-effects, then you can destroy it during the the first
part of the Combat Damage step.
E.03 Q: Will a blocking creature still deal combat damage if it gets
tapped?
A: Yes. The rule that prevented this was removed when 6th Edition
came out. (Note that tapped creatures still can't block- the change is just
that if something becomes tapped _after_ it has blocked, it will deal its
damage normally.)
E.04 Q: Can I untap something and make it stop attacking?
A: No. Tapping is just one of the costs in order to attack: once
something has actually started to attack, it doesn't care whether it's
tapped or not.
E.05 Q: Can a Giant Spider block an Treetop Ranger?
("Treetop Ranger can't be blocked except by creatures with
flying."; "Giant Spider may block as though it had flying.")
A: Yes. The most 'intuitive' answer in this case isn't obvious, but the
current rulings state that it can do so.
======
Protection
F.01 Q: What does protection protect against?
A: Contrary to some people's beliefs, having Protection from a property
does not mean that a creature is completely and utterly immune to everything
with that property. Instead, Protection from <quality> only works against
four things... remember them by "D,E,B,T".
Cannot be D amaged by <quality> sources.
Cannot be E nchanted by <quality> enchantments.
Cannot be B locked by <quality> creatures.
Cannot be T argeted by <quality> spells and abilities.
F.02 Q: Will a Protection from White creature be killed by a Wrath of
God?
(White sorcery- "destroy all creatures".)
A: Yes, it will. Wrath of God does not target the creature (see qn 01,
section M), and does nothing else that Protection can help against. (it
_destroys_ the creatures, instead of damaging them.) Therefore the
protection is ineffective, and the creature is killed.
======
Trample
G.01 Q: How does Trample work?
A: Trample is an ability that makes it less effective to block your
creatures. In general terms, if your creature assigns enough damage to kill
all the creatures blocking it, then you can choose to have any remaining
damage "trample over" onto to the player you're attacking.
e.g: a 3/3 Trample creature is blocked by a 1/1. It assigns one damage to
the 1/1, which is equal to its toughness and enough to kill it. The other 2
damage can be assigned to the player or the creature, as you want. (and
since the creature's almost certainly going to die anyway, you might as well
put it onto the player.)
G.02 Q: How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
A: Trample (which changed when Urza's Saga came out) affects the way
you _assign_ damage- it doesn't care how much of the damage will actually
get through, or whether the creature will end up dying. Therefore, these
Damage Prevention effects are ignored when assigning Trample damage. (Note
that the Urza's Saga rules sheet claims Gaseous Form works differently from
Protection and other effects. Since then it has recieved errata to make it
work the same way.)
e.g: a 3/3 Trample creature is blocked by a 1/1 Gaseous Formed creature.
It assigns one damage to the 1/1, and the other two damage can go to the
player. The one damage will of course be prevented, and the 1/1 will live-
but the player will still take 2 damage.
G.03 Q: How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change
their toughnesses, after they've blocked?
A: If all the blocking creatures have been killed or turned into
noncreatures by the time you come to assign the damage, then there are
obviously no blocking creatures that aren't already lethally damaged.
Therefore all the damage 'tramples through' to the defending player.
However, note that this only applies if the blockers are killed in the
Declare Blockers step (see qn 01, section G). Once the Combat Damage step
has begun, trample damage has already been fixed, so it doesn't achieve as
much if you kill the blockers at that time.
The same applies to changing the toughness of creatures: If a 3/3 blocking
creature gets +0/+1 in the Declare Blockers step, that's one less damage
that can trample over. However, if it gets that bonus during the Combat
Damage step, then the amount of damage that's been assigned won't change- it
will still take 3, and the same amount of damage will trample over to the
player. However, since the creature's toughness is now 4, it will survive
that 3 damage.
G.04 Q: How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
A: Banding and Defensive Formation allow your opponent, instead of you,
to assign your damage. Since Trample is always optional, he can choose not
to use it. Trample is essentially useless against these abilities.
G.05 Q: What's the difference between Trample and the ability
"~ may deal its combat damage to defending player as though it
weren't blocked."?
A: A creature with Trample can only damage the player if it deals
enough to kill all its blockers. This new ability, on the other hand, can
damage the player regardless of whether the creature can kill its blockers;
essentially, it ignores them entirely. Note also that it's an all-or-nothing
effect: either it damages the player, or it damages the blockers. You can't
choose to have it deal some of the damage to its blockers and some to the
player.
======
One-word Abilities
H.01 Q: What is Banding and why would I use it?
A: Banding is easily the most complex ability in Magic, and it allows
small creatures to gang up to defeat larger ones. It has two distinct parts.
1) When you attack, you can form your attacking creatures into "bands",
each of which can consist of any number of creatures with Banding, and up to
one without it. If a creature blocks any member of the band, the rest of the
band is blocked by that creature too, even if that creature couldn't usually
block them.
e.g. a Metathran Soldier ("~ is unblockable") and a Kjeldoran Warrior
("banding") attack banded together. A creature blocks the Warrior, and
therefore blocks the Soldier as well, even though that's usually impossible.
NB: Banding creatures together does _not_ make them into 'all one big
creature', or allow them to share their abilities, or anything like that.
The _only_ thing it means is that if you block any one creature, you block
all the creatures. Note also that you cannot 'band to block'. You can't
"band several creatures together and block an attacker with one of them,
thus causing all those creatures to block that attacker, even though they
couldn't normally do so". This part of the ability only works when
attacking.
2) The second part takes effect when combat damage from a creature is due
to be distributed among a group of creatures and/or players. (This happens
most often when several creatures block the same attacker, or when an
attacking band gets blocked... but it can also happen in other situations,
such as when a Wall of Glare blocks several attackers.) If at least one of
the creatures in the group has Banding, then that creature's controller
distributes the damage instead of the controller of the creature that's
dealing the damage. He is free to put more-than-lethal damage on a creature,
in order to save the others.
e.g. a 3/3 creature is blocked by three 1/1 creatures, one of which has
Banding. The controller of the 1/1s gets to distribute the 3 damage, so he
can put it all on the same one... which splats it very convincingly, but
saves the other two.
(Note that the condition for this part is is "at least one of the creatures
has Banding", and not "all but one of the creatures has Banding", which was
the requirement for the first part to work.)
So, why would you want to use this ability? It seems like a disadvantage
to have all your creatures get blocked if any one of them is. However,
consider the following situation.
Your opponent has two 3/3 creatures. You have three 2/2 banding creatures.
Attacking with them usually would mean that two would be blocked and killed,
with your opponent losing only 2 life and no creatures. However, attacking
with them banded together means your opponent has to choose-
1) if he blocks with one 3/3, it will die and none of your creatures will
(because you can choose to put 1 damage on each of them, which they're able
to survive.)
2) If he blocks with both 3/3s, both of his will die and only one of yours
will (because you can put all 6 damage on the same one.)
3) If he doesn't block, he'll lose 6 life.
You can see that using Banding here makes your position as an attacker much
stronger than it was before.
H.02 Q: What does Phasing mean?
A: Phasing is a 'disadvantage' ability, which essentially means you
only have your creature (or whatever it is that has the ability) on
alternate turns.
At the start of your turn, just before everything untaps, all your stuff
with Phasing phases out. (note that your opponent's stuff stays where it is-
it's just the active player who does this.)
Most players turn their cards face down to show they're phased out. While
something is phased out, it's essentially out of the game- it can't be
targetted, can't attack, can't use its abilites and so on.
At the same time, all your stuff that's already phased out phases back in.
They'll still have all the counters and enchantments that were on them when
they phased out, and so on. Creatures that phase in have Haste until their
controller's next turn begins.
So, for example- You play a Breezekeeper, a 4/4 phasing creature. You
can't attack with it this turn because it just came into play. It can block
in your opponent's turn.
On your next turn, it phases out. So you can't attack with it this turn. It
can't block on your opponent's turn.
On your turn after that, it phases back in- so you can finally attack with
it, or block on your opponent's turn.
On your turn after that, it phases back out... you get the picture?
Phasing details:
If a creature phases out tapped, it will phase back in tapped. Since this
normally happens at the start of the turn, just before you untap everything
anyway, it doesn't usually matter.
When a creature phases out, abilities that trigger "when ~ leaves play"
will do so. When it phases in, abilities that trigger "when ~ comes into
play" will _not_ do so. Other than reasons of game balance- this would be
too powerful with Bone Shredders, for example- there's no real explanation
for this behaviour. Just stick Vanishing on your Thalakos Seer and enjoy it.
H.03 Q: What is Echo good for?
A: Echo is a "Disadvantage" ability that makes you pay twice for your
permanents. It's good because the cost you pay each time is actually very
low. For example, compare Pouncing Jaguar (2/2 Echo for G) with Grizzly
Bears (2/2 for 1G). The Jaguar has a low cost compared to the Bears, and
would just be ridiculously good if it didn't have echo. As it is, you can
usually play Jaguars on your first turn... which gives you a great
advantage.
H.04 Q: When a creature dies, can I regenerate it later on in the
turn?
A: No. Regeneration is an effect that _prevents a creature from dying_.
It's not an effect that brings a creature back after it's died. When you use
an ability that says it "Regenerates" a creature, it creates an effect that
says "The next time this turn that this creature would be destroyed, instead
tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat". Therefore,
you have to use regeneration abilities _before_ the creature dies, not
afterwards.
H.05 Q: Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die?
A: Yes. You have to Regenerate a creature _before_ it gets destroyed-
and it doesn't matter if there aren't any effects that can do that in view.
Therefore, yes- you can sink mana into a regenerator.
H.06 Q: Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap?
A: No. Setting up a regeneration shield on a creature will not activate
any of the regeneration side-effects. They will only take place when the
shield gets _used_- in other words, to make a regeneration ability tap
something, you'll have to do something to _destroy_ the creature. If you're
going to do that, you'd probably prefer to kill the thing instead of just
tapping it. (In other words, Yavimaya Hollow cannot be used as an Icy
Manipulator.)
H.07 Q: What can I regenerate from?
A: A creature can regenerate from any effect that would "destroy" it-
but only those. Note the rules will "destroy" lethally damaged creatures,
too... which is why you can regenerate from lethal damage. But creatures
that are removed from the game, sacrificed etc, cannot be regenerated.
H.08 Q: Can I regenerate from a Sacrifice?
A: No. It isn't a "destroy" effect.
H.10 Q: Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped?
A: Yes. When it would get destroyed, the replaced effect will try to
tap it- but will do nothing, because it's already tapped. The creature will
still survive.
H.11 Q: What's the difference between Cycling (2) and "(2), Sacrifice
~: draw a card"?
A: Cycling, as is stated on every card that has it, is an ability that
lets you discard the card _from your hand_. The ability above is a normal
ability- that is, one that can only be used while the card is _in play_. So
the difference between them is that you can Cycle the first one as soon as
you draw it, while the second one has to be played (or otherwise put into
play) before you can draw a card from it.
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
citizen.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
Patrik Linell
Cost
J.01 Q: What's the difference between a cost and an effect?
A: A Cost is something that happens at the time a spell or ability is
announced. It must be done successfully for the announcement to be legal.
An Effect, on the other hand, is something that happens when a spell or
ability _resolves_. It doesn't matter whether an effect succeeds: the game
will just do as much of it as possible, and continue.
J.02 Q: How do I tell whether something is a cost or an effect?
A: In general, the mana cost in the top right hand corner of a spell is
its cost, and the text in the text-box of the spell is its effect. In the
case of an ability, the text before the colon is its cost, and the text
after it is its effect.
Note that many spells have, or can be given, "additional costs"- costs
required to cast them, besides the mana cost. These are treated in the same
way as normal costs. They are indicated in various ways, the current one
being the clearest: "As an additional cost to play ~, do Q". Older versions
include "At the time you play ~, do Q", and also the one in the following
question...
J.03 Q: Does the wording "X: do Y" on an instant or sorcery mean I can
pay X several times to get Y to happen that many times?
A: No. This isn't an ability the spell gives you, it's just an obsolete
way of indicating an additional cost for the spell. The modern wording for
these cards is:
"As an additional cost to play ~, do X. do Y".
This makes it clear- an additional cost is paid once, and once only.
J.04 Q: If a spell is countered, do you still have to pay its cost?
A: Yes. By the time it can be countered it's been announced, had its
targets and mode chosen, and had its cost paid. You've lost the mana for
good. Also, anything that happened when that spell was "played" or
"successfully cast" (see qn 22, section A) will still happen.
J.05 Q: Can additional costs be reduced by Medallions?
A: Yes. Additional costs are always added before cost reductions are
applied- so having 3 Pearl Medallions in play will cancel out Gloom, as far
as playing spells is concerned.
J.06 Q: Are additional costs considered part of a spell's mana
cost, for Aluren, or for Rebel search abilties?
A: No. Aluren and the Rebels consider only the converted mana cost of
the card, which ignores any cost modifiers.
J.07 Q: Can I destroy a Mogg Fanatic in response to it sacrificing
itself?
("Sacrifice Mogg Fanatic: Mogg Fanatic deals 1 damage to target
creature or player.")
A: No. There are two reasons why this won't prevent the damage: the
first being that it sacrifices itself as the _cost_ of its ability: by the
time you can respond to it, the Fanatic is gone. The second reason is the
so-called Silver rule of Magic: ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT
ALTER THE ABILITY. The ability has already been announced, so you'll need
something that can counter an ability- Interdict, for example- to prevent it
from dealing damage now.
J.08 Q: Can I pay for two abilities with one sacrifice?
A: No. You can't pay two costs with one payment- you wouldn't try to
cast two Giant Growths with one green mana, would you? Other costs, like
Sacrifices, work in exactly the same way. You can't buy two cans of drink
from two machines with just one coin.
J.09 Q: If my Prodigal Sorceror is enchanted with Hermetic Study, can I
tap it to deal 2 damage?
A: No. The PS has two separate copies of the ability "T: ~ deals 1
damage to target creature or player". You can't pay for both the abilities
with one tap, in the same way as you can't cast two Giant Growths with 1
green mana.
Note, however, that a Goblin Medics enchanted with Hermetic Study _can_
deal 2 damage with a single tap, because its ability _triggers_ on tapping,
rather than tapping as part of its cost.
("Whenever Goblin Medics becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to target
creature or player.")
======
Abilities
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
A: Yes. Dark Ritual is a normal Instant spell, and can be countered
just like any other.
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (like that of Llanowar Elves) be
countered?
A: No. A Mana Ability, although it has no specific rule saying it can't
be countered, won't get put onto the stack and therefore cannot be responded
to. It literally doesn't give anything time to counter it.
K.03 Q: If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect?
A: Yes. ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT ALTER THE ABILITY-
the so-called Silver rule of Magic. In other words, once an ability has been
announced, it is definitely going to resolve, unless something counters it-
and that something must explicitly _say_ that it can counter an ability (see
qn 9). Note, as well, that among the things that say they do so are the
rules themselves (see qn 15, section A).
So then, using (for example) an Icy Manipulator to tap a Prodigal
Sorceror, in response to its ability being announced, will have no effect
whatsoever. The Prodigal Sorceror tapped as the _cost_ for its ability: in
other words, by the time you can respond with the Icy, you'd be tapping
something that's tapped already.
K.04 Q: Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying
something?
A: No. Again let me say, ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT
ALTER THE ABILITY. The creature's ability goes onto the stack as soon as it
comes into play. Even if you Terror the creature in response, the ability
will still be there, and will resolve.
K.05 Q: Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target?
A: Yes. Its ability won't be able to go onto the stack, because it has
no legal targets- but the creature will still come into play and stay there
happily.
K.06 Q: If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to
me, do I have to target it?
A: Yes. Unless the ability says "may", it's not optional... if there
are any legal targets, you're forced to choose and destroy something.
K.07 Q: Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability?
A: No. The text "This is/counts as a <type/color>", is _not_ defining
an ability... it's just a characteristic of the card. For example, a Crimson
Kobold, which has the text quoted above, will still be red if Humbled, and
will still be red while in a player's library or graveyard. Similarly, a
Plateau ("This counts as a plains and a mountain") will still count as both
those things when it's not in play.
K.08 Q: Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
A: Yes, it does. Humbling the Soldier will make it blockable.
There are two points of confusion here, the first being a ruling about Cloak
of Mists, which is a creature enchantment saying "enchanted creature is
unblockable". The Cloak itself has an ability, but does not _grant_ an
ability to the creature it enchants. Therefore, Humbling the Misted creature
can't stop it being unblockable.
The second confusing point is the "This is/counts as a ..." rule (see the
question above). That rule only applies to colors and types, not to
unblockability.
K.09 Q: Can I Counterspell a permanent's ability?
A: No. Counterspell can only target a "Spell". To counter an "Ability",
you need one of the six cards that say they can do so: Rust, Brown Ouphe,
Ayesha Tanaka, Diplomatic Escort, Interdict or Bind. Nothing else in the
game can counter an ability, except the rules.
K.10 Q: If something is tapped, can it still use abilities that don't
require it to tap?
A: Yes. For example, Skyshroud Elf has two abilities: "T: add G to your
mana pool", and "1: add W or R to your mana pool". It's perfectly legal to
tap the Elf for G, and then use its ability to convert that G to W or R.
K.11 Q: Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"?
A: No, not in general. Only 8 cards currently have this restriction:
the "Free" permanents (Cloud of Faeries, Peregrine Drake, Palinchron, Great
Whale, Treachery, Priest of Gix), and two cards that were deemed too
powerful without it (Karmic Guide and Iridescent Drake).
Note that the "free" non-permanent spells- Time Spiral, Rewind, Snap and
Frantic Search- do NOT have this restriction.
K.12 Q: What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
A: "putting into play from your hand" with Sneak attack, Elvish Piper,
Quicksilver Amulet etc won't trigger the ability. "playing from elsewhere"
with Aerial Caravan, Yawgmoth's Will, Temporal Aperture, etc won't trigger
the ability. Using things like Aluren, North Star, Vernal Equinox and Dream
Halls, however, _will_ allow it to trigger- they do indeed allow you to
"play" the creature from your hand, although you can do so at an unusual
time and/or paying unusual costs to do so.
K.13 Q: If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play",
will that trigger when something that's already in play gets
turned into a creature?
A: No. "Coming into play" requires moving from a different zone into
the Play zone. Simply changing forms while you're there doesn't work.
K.14 Q: Can use an ability multiple times? E.g. pump up a Shade more
than once per turn, or use Pestilence several times in a row?
("B: Foo Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn."; "B: Pestilence
deals 1 damage to each creature and each player.")
A: Yes. Unless there is a specific restriction on an ability ("play
this only once per turn", "pay only BBB in this way each turn", etc), you
can play an ability as many times as you can afford.
K.15 Q: Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped?
A: Yes. The rule that prevented this was discontinued for 6th Edition.
Certain artifacts have been errata'd to include the restriction "as long as
~ is untapped" though, so that their abilities still work the same way. And
now you'll ask...
K.16 Q: Which Artifacts received the "as long as ~ is untapped"
errata?
A: Only Howling Mine and Winter Orb, so far. Some were hoping that at
least Static Orb would get it, too... but at the moment only Howling Mine
and Winter Orb (and Storage Matrix, which was recent enough to have the
restriction printed on the card) are limited in this way.
======
Timing
L.01 Q: Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed?
(Monk Realist: a creature with the ability: "When Monk
Realist comes into play, destroy target enchantment.";
Humility: enchantment with the ability: "All creatures lose
all abilities and are 1/1.")
A: No. The Continuous Effect of Humility removes the Monk's ability
before it gets a chance to trigger, so it fails to destroy anything.
L.02 Q: I cast Replenish. Opalescence, Pandemonium and Angelic Chorus
are coming into play at the same time- will their abilities
trigger?
A: Yes, for the same reason as in qn 21, section D; the Continuous
Effect of Opalescence will animate the enchantments before their abilities
get a chance to trigger... so by the time they can do so, they will see that
these cards that came into play are currently creatures. Their abilities
trigger both off themselves and off each other. (but not off the
Opalescence, because it can't animate itself.)
L.03 Q: What happens first, if two things say they happen "when" or
"whenever" an event occurs? Can I cast Instants in-between
them?
A: Abilities that say something happens "at" a time, or "when" or
"whenever" an event/gamestate occurs are Triggered Abilities. Here's how to
determe what order the abilities happen in, if they both trigger at the same
time- APNAP order. That is, the abilities controlled by the A ctive P layer
will be put onto the stack (in an order of that player's choice), followed
by those of the N on-A ctive P layer (in an order of that player's choice).
Then, because of the way the stack works, those abilities will resolve off
the stack in _reverse_ order: the Non-Active Player's, followed by the
Active Player's.
Here's an example of how this works.
Example 1:
A Weatherseed Treefolk is in play. (it has the ability "When Weatherseed
Treefolk is put into a graveyard from play, return Weatherseed Treefolk to
its owner's hand."). There is a Planar Void in play. ("Whenever a card is
put into a graveyard, remove that card from the game."). The Treefolk is
killed and goes to the graveyard- what happens to it?
Well, this depends on which card is controlled by which player. If the
same player controls both, he or she can put the abilities onto the stack in
an order of his or her choice- that player may have it return to its owner's
hand or leave the game, whichever is desired.
If the active player controls the Void and the non-active player controls
the Treefolk, then the non-active player's ability will go onto the stack
last, and resolve first: the Treefolk will return to its owner's hand.
If the non-active player controls the Void and the active player controls
the Treefolk, then the non-active player's ability will go onto the stack
last, and resolve first: the Treefolk will leave the game.
L.04 Q: Both players want to cast Shock, and both are on 2 life. Who
dies?
A: The player who cracks first, generally speaking. When he announces
his Shock, his opponent can respond to it with her own Shock (see qn 21,
section A). Things resolve in Last In - First Out (LIFO) order, so the
responding Shock will resolve first. If each player knows that the other has
a Shock, this situation is a stalemate.
L.05 Q: If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen
"At end of turn", when will that actually be?
A: At the end of the _next_ turn. "At end of turn" means "At the
beginning of the end-of-turn step"... which has already happened this turn.
Therefore the effect will wait until the _next_ end-of-turn step that comes
around... which is in the _next_ turn. (Try reading it again; you'll get
it.) However, don't confuse this with...
L.06 Q: If events in the End-Of-Turn step start an effect that lasts
"Until end of turn", when will that actually wear off?
A: During that same turn. "Until end of turn" effects wear off during
the _Cleanup_ step, which will be repeated if anything unusual happens. In
other words, it's not possible to get an "until end of turn" effect to last
until the following turn.
Yes, this means there'd be quite an important difference between an
ability that said "Creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn" and an ability
that said "Creatures get +1/+1; at end of turn, they get -1/-1.". It's
counterintuitive and messy. Blame WotC, not me. You know you want to.
=========
Targeting and enchanting
M.01 Q: What does it mean for a spell to "target" something?
A: The term "target" is a great deal more specific than most players
seem to realise. For a start, the only thing that can ever "target" anything
is a spell or ability on the stack. Continuous abilities, for example, never
target anything. In addition to that, only spells and abilities that
specifically use the word "target" target anything. An effect that does
something to "all creatures" or to "any creature" or to "enchanted creature"
or to "a creature of your choice" does _not_ target those creatures!
And finally, at the time you play a local enchantment spell, it will be
targeting the permanent you cast it on (but will stop doing so once it's
come into play... see qn 08, section M). The exception proves the rule, I
suppose.
M.02 Q: If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it?
("Destroy target nonblack, nonartifact creature.")
A: No. The Terror checks its targets twice- once when it is announced,
and then again when it resolves. Therefore, when the Terror resolves, it
will see that its target is no longer a nonartifact creature. All its
targets are illegal, and therefore the Terror will be "countered on
resolution".
M.03 Q: Can I cast Reckless Spite targetting only one creature, or the
same creature twice?
("Destroy two target nonblack creatures...")
A: No. You have to choose a separate, legal, creature for each of its
targets. If your opponent doesn't control two creatures, you'll have to have
it destroy one of yours. If there's only one nonblack creature in play, it
can't be cast at all.
M.04 Q: If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one?
A: Yes. When the spell checks its targets, it will see that one of them
is illegal, and will fail with respect to that one. There are still some
legal targets, however, so it will not be "countered on resolution".
Therefore, it does as much as possible- namely, it destroys the other
creature.
M.05 Q: How well does Deadly Insect's ability protect it?
("Deadly Insect cannot be the target of spells or abilities".)
A: What it says is that that spells and abilities that want to target
it (see qn 01) cannot do so. However, this doesn't prevent it from being
enchanted, though it does prevent enchantment spells from being cast on it.
Any other effect (e.g. Wrath of God, Earthquake, Diabolic Edict, etc) will
get through its defence just fine.
M.06 Q: Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect?
("Move target enchantment enchanting a creature or land to
another permanent of that type.")
A: Yes. Enchantment Alteration doesn't say it targets the permanent the
enchantment is moving onto- therefore it doesn't. Deadly Insect's ability
only stops spells and abilities that say they "target" it, so it can't
prevent this.
M.07 Q: Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color?
A: No. Enchantment Alteration must move the enchantment onto another
legal enchantee. It's not legal for an enchantment to enchant a protected
creature (because protection includes "can't be enchanted by <quality>
enchantments, which Deadly Insect does not), so this isn't a legal play.
M.08 Q: I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they
sit on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
A: Nothing much. Effects that used to say that enchantments couldn't
"target" something now say they can't "enchant" it. The change simply makes
it so that only things that can ever "target" anything are spells and
abilities on the stack.
M.09 Q: Do "Enchant X" cards fall off when their enchantee stops being
an X?
A: Yes. There is a state-based effect that checks more-or-less
continuously for local enchantments enchanting the wrong things. If it finds
one, it will put the enchantment into the graveyard.
M.10 Q: Will Enchantments saying "play ~ only on X" fall off if the
enchantee stops being an X?
A: Yes. The current wording for this is "~ can only enchant an X",
which is clearer. The state-based effect checks for this as well.
M.11 Q: Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color?
A: Yes. One of the properties of Protection is "cannot be enchanted by
<quality> enchantments". The state-based effect checks for this as well.
M.12 Q: Will +1/+1 counters fall off if they're not on a creature?
A: No. They won't have any effect on it, but they will stay on.
M.13 Q: Do enchantments & counters fall off when something
regenerates?
A: No. Regeneration _replaces_ destruction; It doesn't say "Oops, that
thing was destroyed- come back here!", it says "Go away destruction- leave
my creature alone." Regenerated things never actually leave play, so there's
no reason for anything to fall off them.
M.14 Q: Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out?
A: No. This is a special property of Phasing: Unlike any other change
of zone, it doesn't remove enchantments or counters. The enchantments phase
out with the enchantee, and will phase back in with it, too.
M.15 Q: What is a "global enchantment"?
A: Any "Enchant World" or "Enchantment" card. Note that the things made
by Soul Sculptor are global enchantments.
("Target creature becomes an enchantment and loses all abilities
until a player plays a creature spell.")
M.16 Q: What is a "local enchantment"?
A: Any "Enchant XXX" card, other than an "Enchant World". For example,
Licids can turn themselves into local enchantments.
M.17 Q: Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter-
itself, with Deflection or Misdirection?
A: No, there's a rule that states spells can't target themselves, so
this isn't legal. However, you _are_ able to make it target the Deflection.
The Deflection will have resolved and gone to the graveyard before the
Counterspell, so the Counterspell won't be able to find it, and will be
countered on resolution. That gives the same effect.
(If it _were_ possible for a spell to target itself, then it would be
possible to do so when casting Arcane Denial. It'd be an Ancestral Recall
with the option to counter things...)
M.18 Q: If I try to counter an Urza's Rage (or something else that is
uncounterable) with an
Absorb/Undermine, will I still gain 3 life/will my opponent still
lose 3 life?
A: Yes. Urza's Rage can be targeted by Absorb and Undermine perfectly
well, and so they won't be countered upon resolution. They resolve alright
(although they do nothing to Urza's Rage), and the extra effect of
lifegain/lifeloss will occur.
======
Questions on Specific Cards
N.01 Q: Does Lifeline work for everyone, or just me?
A: Everyone. The card is obviously extremely badly worded, and has been
errata'd to say "Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard and another
creature is in play, return the first creature from **that** graveyard to
play under its owner's control at end of turn". (emphasis mine.)
N.02 Q: Two Mogg Bombers + Lifeline = Infinite Damage?
A: No. 6th Edition rules were changed specifically to prevent this loop
from working. If a creature dies after Lifeline has brought it back, it's
missed its chance to come back again this turn, so it will wait... and come
back at the end of _next_ turn. (See qn 05, section L, for a more detailed
explanation.)
N.04 Q: How do Opalescence and Humility interact?
A: Complicatedly. With just one Opalescence, all other Enchantments
(including Humility) will be 1/1 no-abilities. Opalescence doesn't animate
itself, so it will be an enchantment as usual.
With two Opalescences, we have a dependancy loop (Humility depends on
Opalescence because it can make creatures, Opalescence depends on Humility
because it can remove its abilities). So the result depends on the order
they came into play.
With the order Op, Op, Hu: All enchantments (including both Ops and Hu)
are 1/1 no-abilities.
With the order Op, Hu, Op: All enchantments except the first Op are 1/1
no-abilities. The first Op is still an enchantment.
With the order Hu, Op, Op: All creatures are 1/1 no-abilities. All
enchantments are normal X/X enchantment creatures with abilities.
N.05 Q: If I play a Dreadnought, and choose not to sacrifice creatures,
will abilities that trigger "Whenever a creature comes into
play" be able to trigger off it?
A: No. Phyrexian Dreadnought currently requires you to sacrifice
creatures 'before it comes into play'. If you fail to do so, it will go to
the graveyard _instead_ of coming into play, so it won't trigger these
abilities.
N.06 Q: If I sacrifice a Yavimaya Elder to its ability, will I get to
search for 2 lands before or after I draw a card?
("When Yavimaya Elder is put into a graveyard from play, you
may search your library for up to two basic land cards,
reveal them, and put them into your hand. If you do, shuffle
your library.
2, Sacrifice Yavimaya Elder: Draw a card.")
A: Before. (This card badly needs some reminder text.) The breakdown of
events goes: You announce the ability, putting a "draw a card" effect onto
the stack and sacrificing the Elder. The triggered ability gets put onto the
stack. Then it resolves, and you search. Then the "draw a card" effect
resolves, and you draw.
N.07 Q: Can I cycle a card from the graveyard once I've cast
Yawgmoth's Will? Can I discard from the graveyard? Can I use
Elvish Spirit Guide's ability from the graveyard? Can I use
Sneak Attack to get creatures out of the graveyard?
A: No, no, no and no. All Yawgmoth's Will does is break the rule that
you can't _play_ cards except from your hand: that is, it just lets you cast
spells or lay lands from your graveyard. However, it does not allow you to
treat cards as if they were in your hand for any purpose other than that.
For example, discarding, using their abilities, counting the number of cards
in your hand, and so on. (see qn 23, section A, for more on the distinction
being made here.)
N.08 Q: Will Yawgmoth's Will remove itself from the game when it
finishes resolving?
A: Yes. It will usually be the first card that gets removed from the
game by the effect.
N.09 Q: What happens if a card that says "when ~ leaves play, return
it to its owner's hand" goes to the graveyard from play, when
there's a Planar Void out?
(Planar Void - "Whenever a card is put into a graveyard, remove
that card from the game.")
A: Depends on who controls what. If the same player controls both the
Void and the dead card, he can choose which of the effects happens first...
and would usually choose to have the card bounce, thus preventing the Void
from RFGing it.
If different players control the two cards, then the ability controlled by
the non-active player will resolve first (see qn 3, section L) and the other
one will be unable to have any effect.
N.10 Q: What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me?
A: No, and no. A replacement effect, like the ones Pariah and
Treacherous Link both have, can only replace each game event _once_. So if a
"Damage is dealt to you" event occurs, the Pariah will replace that with a
"Damage is dealt to creature" event, which Treacherous link will then
replace with a "Damage is dealt to you" event. Now, Pariah would like to
replace that. However, it's already affected this event once and can't do so
again. Therefore, the damage will be dealt to you after all. By a similar
sequence of events, damage to the creature will end up being dealt to the
creature.
As you can see, the Pariah and Treacherous Link will essentially cancel
each other out.
N.11 Q: Does Urza's Armor protect completely against Pestilence and
Thrashing Wumpus?
A: Yes it does. These two cards deal one damage at a time, and each
time damage is dealt to you while you have Urza's Armor in play that damage
is reduced by 1. In this case the reduction reduces the damage to 0.
======
O.01 Q: Where is section O?
A: There is no section O. Move along. These aren't the droids you're
looking for.
======
Tournaments and Rulebooks
P.01 Q: What is a "sideboard"?
A: A sideboard is something you only use in a tournament. In casual
play, there's no need or purpose for one, since people can usually tweak
their decks however they want anyway.
In a limited tournament, your sideboard consists of all the cards you
drafted but aren't currently using. After each round you can move cards
between your sideboard and your deck, in whatever numbers you want. (Though
be careful not to take out so many that you're below the minimum deck-size
for the tournament you're in.)
In a constructed-deck tournament, if you have a sideboard, it must contain
exactly 15 cards. After each round, you can substitute cards in your deck
for cards in your sideboard, on a 1-for-1 basis (so there will always be 15
cards in it).
The sideboard usually consists of cards that help the deck against certain
kinds of opposition. For instance, a white deck might include Circles of
Protection against various colors, in its sideboard. Putting them in the
main deck would be wasteful, because most of the time the opponent wouldn't
be playing the right colors. However, once the player has seen what his
opponent's deck contains, he can put the right circles into his deck, to use
in the next round.
P.02 Q: What does "Obsolete" mean?
A: Stating that a term or ability is "obsolete" is WotC's way of saying
that it won't appear in future cardsets. Note that when an entry in the
rulebook says "(Obsolete)", only the _term_ itself is obsolete- the
information the entry gives is still accurate. You can still play with any
cards that have abilities that are 'obsolete', both in tournaments and in
casual games... but until the older rules appendix to the rulebook is
released, it won't be 100% certain how these things work under the current
rules.
P.03 Q: How do I "Mulligan"?
A: At the beginning of each game, when you've drawn and examined your
hand of 7 cards, you may "mulligan"- that is, shuffle your hand back into
your library and draw 6 new cards. If you're still not happy with what
you've drawn, you may "mulligan" again, drawing only 5 cards this time, and
so on down to 1. This is known as a "Paris Mulligan", because it was first
introduced for a tournament in Paris.
Note that there used to be a rule that let you take a "no-land mulligan"
or an "all-land mulligan"- if your hand contained no land cards, or nothing
but land cards, you could shuffle it back in and draw a full 7 cards. This
is no longer part of the official rules, but it's often allowed in nostalgic
casual games.
P.04 Q: Can I use 6th edition cards in the same games as older ones,
despite the changes to the rules?
A: Certainly, yes. Many of the problems they had when writing the 6th
edition rules came from ensuring that old cards would still work.
Most older cards have had their wordings changed a little, to fit in with
the current (mostly a lot clearer) templates. Check out the Oracle
(http://www.wizards.com/DCI/Oracle.asp) if you want to see how an older card
is worded under the new rules.
P.05 Q: What cards can I play with in a tournament?
A: That depends on the tournament. In a sealed-deck or booster-draft
tournament, you just get to play with the cards you're given on the day, of
course.
In a Type 1 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from all Magic card
sets, any extension of the basic set, and all promotional cards released by
Wizards of the Coast, Inc, but not cards listed on WotC:s site as being
banned in Type 1. Also, you may only have one each of the cards on the
restricted list as given on WotC:s site.
In a Type 1.5 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from all Magic card
sets, any extension of the basic set, and all promotional cards released by
Wizards of the Coast, Inc, but not cards listed on WotC:s site as being
banned in Type 1.5.
In an Extended tournament, your deck may consist of cards from Fifth
Edition, Sixth Edition, and any expansion sets from Ice Age onward.
Expansion sets older than Ice Age are not legal in Extended. In addition,
you may use the ten "dual lands", last reprinted in Revised. There is a
short banned list on WotC:s site for Extended, and those cards are not legal
for use in Extended.
In a Type 2 tournament, your deck may consist of cards from the following
sets: Sixth Edition, Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy, Invasion and
Planeshift (from March 1st 2001), but not cards listed as being banned on
WotC:s site. Currently, no cards are banned in Type 2.
P.06 Q: What does "errata" mean?
A: Sometimes WotC decides to change the wording on a card. Sucks, yes,
but sometimes cards have misprints, are poorly worded, or are way too
powerful, and "errata" are issued to actually rephrase the card. The best
source for errata is the Oracle (at http://www.wizards.com/DCI/Oracle.asp).
If a card has errata, you're supposed to play by the new text in all
situations. Playing by the old text is not an option. (unless of course it's
a casual game and the players all want to do so.)
P.07 Q: In a tournament where (for example) Ice Age isn't legal, am I
allowed to play with an Ice Age card that was reprinted in a
legal set?
A: Yes. Note that it will be treated as if it were a copy of the card
from the legal set. For example, if you play with a copy of Squall from
Starter, which has casting cost 1G, then it will be treated as if it were
the Squall from Mercadian Masques, which has casting cost 2G.
======
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
Patrik Linell
============================================================
==================
Recent Changes:
==================
==================
Further Reading:
==================
Cardset Names:
Card Names:
Misc terms and acronyms:
Symbols:
G.02 How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
G.03 How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change their
toughnesses, after they've blocked?
G.04 How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
H.05 Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die? (A: Yes)
H.06 Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap? (A: No, that won't work)
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
(A: Yes)
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (like that of Llanowar Elves) be
countered? (A: No)
K.11 Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"? (A: No, just on 8 cards)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
K.16 Which Artifacts recieved the "as long as ~ is untapped" errata?
(A: Winter Orb and Howling Mine only)
P.02 What does "Obsolete" mean?
P.04 Can I use old cards and 6th edition cards in the same games,
despite the rules-change? (A: Yes)
P.06 What does "errata" mean?
Section 3- Mana Sources and Mana:
A.02 What is a "Mana Source"? (A: An Instant or a Mana Ability)
A.05 What does "Mana" or "Mana Pool" mean? Is it my lands? (A: NO!)
A.25 What's Mana Burn?
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
(A: Yes)
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (e.g. Llanowar Elves) be countered?
(A: No)
Section 4- Abilities:
(This section covers the general properties and timing aspects of
abilities. For questions on specific abilities, try Misc Abilities
(12). For questions about the costs of abilities, try Costs(5).)
A.02 What is a "Mana Source"? (A: "play this ability as a Mana Source"
denotes abilities that are now Mana Abilities)
A.03 What is an Interrupt? (A: "play this ability as an Interrupt" no
longer has any meaning, so ignore that text)
A.10 What's a "pseudospell"?
J.03 Does "X: do Y" on an instant/sorcery mean I can pay X several
times to get Y to happen several times? (A: No)
J.08 Can I pay for two abilities with one sacrifice? (A: No)
J.09 If my Prodigal Sorceror is enchanted with Hermetic Study, can I
tap it to deal 2 damage? (A: No)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.04 Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying something?
(A: No)
K.05 Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target? (A: Yes)
K.06 If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to me,
do I have to target it? (A: Yes)
K.07 Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability? (A: No)
K.08 Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
(A: Yes)
K.09 Can I Counterspell a permanent's ability? (A: No)
K.10 If something is tapped, can it still use abilities that don't
require it to tap? (A: Yes)
K.11 Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"? (A: No, just on 8 cards)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
K.13 If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play", will
that trigger when something that's already in play gets turned into a
creature? (A: No)
K.14 Can use an ability multiple times? E.g. pump up a Shade more than
once per turn, or use Pestilence several times in a row? (A: Yes)
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
A.23 What's the difference between "playing" and "putting into play"?
A.24 What is the "converted mana cost" of a card?
C.09 If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I allowed
to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest? What if I'm told
to search for a Basic Forest card? (A: First is ok; Second isn't.)
H.10 Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped? (A: Yes)
J.01 What's the difference between a cost and an effect?
J.02 How do I tell whether something is a cost or an effect?
Section 7- Artifacts:
K.15 Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped? (A: Yes)
K.16 Which Artifacts recieved the "as long as ~ is untapped" errata?
(A: Winter Orb and Howling Mine only)
C.03 Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact' or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color? (A: No)
C.06 If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
(A: No)
C.07 If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
(A: No)
Section 8- Lands:
A.05 What does "Mana" or "Mana Pool" mean? Is it my lands? (A: NO!)
A.09 What's a "spell"? (A: Anything on the stack- but note, lands
never go onto the stack.)
C.05 Do basic lands have colours? (e.g. Are swamps black?) (A: No.)
C.08 Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp? (A: No.)
C.09 If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I allowed
to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest? What if I'm told
to search for a Basic Forest card? (A: First is ok; Second isn't.)
Section 9- Creatures:
(obviously, most of the other sections involve creatures as well,
especially Combat(10). This one contains mostly the questions that
didn't fit anywhere else.)
A.04 What is "summoning sickness"?
A.07 What's the difference between a "creature" and a "creature card"?
A.08 What's the difference between a "Creature - X" card and a "Summon
X" card? (A: Nothing, it's just a name-change)
D.01 If I play a non-creature permanent, then immediately turn it into
a creature, can it attack or tap this turn? (A: No)
D.02 If I play a creature on my opponent's turn, can it tap for its
abilities? Can it attack or tap on my turn after that? (A: No; yes)
D.03 Can a summoning-sick creature tap for Field Surgeon's ability?
(A: Yes)
D.04 When something asks me to choose a creature type, can I choose
"blue" or "artifact" or "opponent's"? (A: No, only things like
"Goblin", "Legend", "Platypus", etc.)
D.05 If I gain control of my opponent's creatures, will they have
summoning sickness?
D.06 If a creature's toughness is reduced to 0, will it die? (A: Yes)
K.13 If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play", will
that trigger when something that's already in play gets turned into a
creature? (A: No)
Section 10- Combat:
(See the sections Trample(17) and Misc Abilities(18) for more
questions associated with the combat phase. See also Damage(11) for
questions about damage, including combat damage.)
E.01 What is the overall structure of the combat phase?
E.02 Can I Terror an attacker to stop its combat damage? (A: Yes)
E.03 Will a blocking creature still deal combat damage if it gets
tapped?
E.04 Can I untap something and make it stop attacking? (A: No)
E.05 Can a Giant Spider block a Treetop Ranger? (A: Yes)
Section 11- Damage:
(See the section Combat(10) for questions specifically related to
combat damage.)
B.01 Will combat damage that's been redirected still be considered
combat damage? (A: Yes)
B.02 Can damage be redirected to a Fog Bank or a Gaseous Formed
creature? (A: Yes)
B.03 Can I get an en-Kor to redirect more damage than is needed to kill
the creature he's moving it onto? (A: Yes)
B.04 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player they
protect? (A: Yes, if there's a choice as to who they protect)
B.05 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the damage?
(A: No)
Section 12- Color:
C.01 Can I Terror a red-and-black creature? (A: No)
C.02 Can I use CoP:Black against a red-and-black creature? (A: Yes)
C.03 Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact' or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color? (A: No)
C.05 Do basic lands have colours? (e.g. Are swamps black?) (A: No)
C.06 If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
(A: No)
C.07 If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
(A: No)
C.08 Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp? (A: No)
M.02 If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it? (A: No)
M.04 If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one? (A: Yes)
Section 13- Enchantments (and Counters):
A.13 What does "counter" mean? (A: Remove a spell or ability from the
stack without it having an effect.)
M.06 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.08 I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they sit
on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
(A: Nothing, it's just a name-change.)
M.09 Do "Enchant X" cards fall off when their enchantee stops being
an X? (A: Yes)
M.10 Will Enchantments saying "play ~ only on X" fall off if the
enchantee stops being an X? (A: Yes)
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
M.12 Will +1/+1 counters fall off if they're not on a creature?
(A: No)
M.13 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something regenerates?
(A: No)
M.14 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out?
(A: No)
M.15 What is a "global enchantment"?
(A: A permanent of type "Enchantment" or "Enchant World")
M.16 What is a "local enchantment"?
(A: A permanent of type "Enchant Creature", "Enchant Land", etc)
Section 14- Targeting:
A.15 What does "countered on resolution" mean? (A: fizzled)
B.04 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player they
protect? (A: Yes, if there's a choice as to who they protect)
B.05 Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the damage?
(A: No)
K.05 Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target? (A: Yes)
K.06 If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to me,
do I have to target it? (A: Yes)
M.01 What does it mean for a spell to "target" something?
M.02 If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it? (A: Yes)
M.03 Can I cast Reckless Spite targetting only one creature, or the
same creature twice? (A: No)
M.04 If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one? (A: Yes)
M.05 How well does Deadly Insect's ability protect it?
M.06 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.08 I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they
sit on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
(A: Nothing, it's just a name change)
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
M.18 If I try to counter an Urza's Rage (or something else that is
uncounterable) with an Absorb/Undermine, will I still gain 3 life/
will my opponent still lose 3 life? (A: Yes)
Section 15- Protection:
F.01 What does protection protect against? (A: ONLY Damaging,
Enchanting, Blocking, and Targetting)
F.02 Will a Protection from White creature be killed by a Wrath of
God? (A: Yes)
M.07 Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color? (A: No)
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
Section 16- Regeneration:
A.01 What does "bury" mean? (A: Destroy, can't regenerate)
D.06 If a creature's toughness is reduced to 0, will it die? (A: Yes,
and it can't regenerate)
H.04 When a creature dies, can I regenerate it later on in the
turn? (A: No)
H.05 Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die? (A: Yes)
H.06 Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap? (A: No)
H.07 What can I regenerate from? (A: Destroy effects only)
H.08 Can I regenerate from a Sacrifice? (A: No)
H.10 Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped? (A: Yes)
M.13 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something regenerates?
(A: No)
Section 17- Trample:
G.01 How does Trample work?
G.02 How does Trample work against Protection or Gaseous Form?
G.03 How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change their
toughnesses, after they've blocked?
G.04 How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
G.05 What's the difference between Trample and the ability "~ may deal
its combat damage to defending player as though it weren't blocked."?
Section 18- Misc Abilities:
(This section covers individual one-word abilities. For questions on
abilities in general, try Abilities(4).)
E.06 What's the difference between Cycling (2) and "(2), Sacrifice ~:
draw a card"?
H.01 What is Banding and why would I use it?
H.02 What does Phasing mean?
M.14 Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out? (A:
No)
H.03 What is Echo good for?
J.05 Can Buyback or Gloom costs be reduced by Medallions? (A: Yes)
Section 19- Tournaments:
P.01 What is a "sideboard"?
P.03 How do I "Mulligan"?
P.04 Can I use old cards and 6th edition cards in the same games,
despite the rules-change? (A: Yes)
P.05 What cards can I play with in a tournament?
P.06 What does "errata" mean?
P.07 In a tournament where (for example) Ice Age isn't legal, am I
allowed to play with an Ice Age card that was reprinted in a legal
set? (A: Yes)
Section 20- Timing:
A.10 What does "resolve" mean? (A: To take effect after being played)
A.12 What do "respond" and "in response" mean?
A.19 Who is the "active player"? (A: The one whose turn it is)
A.21 What's "the stack"? What is "priority"?
A.22 What does "play" mean?
E.02 Can I Terror an attacker to stop its combat damage? (A: Yes)
J.07 Can I destroy a Mogg Fanatic in response to it sacrificing itself?
(A: No)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.04 Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying something?
(A: No)
L.01 Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed? (A: No)
L.02 I cast Replenish. Opalescence, Pandemonium and Angelic Chorus are
coming into play at the same time- will their abilities trigger? (A:
Yes)
L.03 What happens first, if two things say they happen "when" or
"whenever" an event occurs? Can I cast Instants in-between them?
L.04 Both players want to cast Shock, and both are on 2 life. Who
dies? (A: Whoever cracks first.)
L.05 If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen
"At end of turn", when will that actually be?
(A: The end of the _next_ turn)
L.06 If events in the End-Of-Turn step start an effect that lasts
"Until end of turn", when will that actually wear off?
(A: In the Cleanup step of that same turn)
Section 21- Specific Cards:
(This section covers various particular cards which turn up very frequently
in questions. If your question involves a card because it has a particular
ability, and the card's not here, try looking up that ability instead.)
Aluren
J.06 Are additional costs considered part of a spell's mana cost, for
Aluren, or for Rebel search abilties? (A: No)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger? (A: it works with Aluren)
Deflection
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
Humility/Humble
N.05 How do Opalescence and Humility interact? (A: messily)
K.03 If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect? (A: Yes)
K.07 Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability? (A: No)
K.08 Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
(A: Yes)
L.01 Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed? (A: No)
Lifeline
N.01 Does Lifeline work for everyone, or just me? (A: Everyone)
N.02 Two Mogg Bombers + Lifeline = Infinite Damage? (A: No)
L.05 If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen "At
end of turn", when will that actually be?
(A: The end of the _next_ turn)
Misdirection
M.17 Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter- itself,
with Deflection or Misdirection?
Mother of Runes
M.11 Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color? (A: Yes)
Opalescence
M.15 What is a "global enchantment"?
N.04 How do Opalescence and Humility interact?
Pariah
N.10 What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me? (A: No and no. They effectively cancel out.)
Phyrexian Dreadnought
N.05 If I play a Dreadnought, and choose not to sacrifice creatures,
will abilities that trigger "Whenever a creature comes into play"
be able to trigger off it? (A: No)
Planar Void
N.09 What happens if a card that says "when ~ leaves play, return it to
owner's hand" goes to the graveyard from play, where there's a Planar
Void out?
Treacherous Link
N.10 What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me? (A: No and no. They effectively cancel out.)
Yavimaya Elder
N.06 If I sacrifice a Yavimaya Elder to its ability, will I get to
search for 2 lands before or after I draw a card? (A: Before)
Yawgmoth's Will
N.07 Can I cycle a card from the graveyard once I've cast Yawgmoth's
Will? Can I discard from the graveyard? Can I use Elvish Spirit
Guide's ability from the graveyard? Can I use Sneak Attack to get
creatures out of the graveyard? (A: No to all)
N.08 Will Yawgmoth's Will remove itself from the game when it finishes
resolving? (A: Yes)
K.12 What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require for
the ability to trigger? (A: It doesn't work with Will.)
Urza's Armor
N.11 Does Urza's Armor protect completely against Pestilence and Thrashing
Wumpus? (A: Yes)
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
Patrik Linell
Terminology:
A.07 Q: What's the difference between a "creature" and a "creature
card"?
A: A "creature" is a term reserved for a permanent. In other words, the
only way something can be a "creature" is for it to be in play. Anywhere
else, the thing is just a "creature card" (or "creature spell", if it's on
the Stack). The same applies to the terms "land", "artifact" and
"enchantment" too.
So Unsummon, which says "Return target creature to its owner's hand",
can't be used to retrieve creature cards from your graveyard, because
they're not creatures.
A.08 Q: What's the difference between a "Creature - X" card and a
"Summon X" card?
A.23 Q: What's the difference between "playing" and "putting into
play"?
==========
Damage
B.01 Q: Will combat damage that's been redirected still be considered
combat damage?
A: Yes. The rule that said it wasn't was removed when 6th Edition came
out. Wall of Essence suddenly became very powerful when combined with en-Kor
creatures.
B.02 Q: Can damage be redirected to a Fog Bank or a Gaseous Formed
creature?
A: Yes. The complication here used to be that the abilities of these
cards said "~ cannot deal or receive combat damage". They have now been
errata'd to say "prevent all combat damage that would be dealt to or dealt
by ~". Therefore, the damage will be redirected just fine, but it gets
prevented when it tries to land.
B.03 Q: Can I get an en-Kor to redirect more damage than is needed to
kill the creature he's moving it onto?
("0: The next 1 damage that would be dealt to Foo en-Kor
this turn is dealt to target creature you control instead.")
A: Yes. When you use its ability, it creates itself a "shield" which
turns "damage to me" into "damage to target creature". Later, when it's
actually dealt damage, these shields are all applied before that damage
lands anywhere. So "50 damage to me" can be turned into "50 damage to target
creature", which then lands on the poor creature in one big lump.
B.04 Q: Do Damage Prevention effects now target the creature/player
they protect?
A: Yes, when there's a choice. Healing Salve, for instance, now says
"Prevent the next 3 damage to _target_ creature or player". Circles of
Protection don't target anything, though, because the only person they can
protect is their controller. Compare this with...
B.05 Q: Do Damage Prevention effects now target the source of the
damage?
A: No. For example, Cho-Arrim Alchemist says, in part, "The next time a
source of your choice would deal damage to you this turn, prevent that
damage". It doesn't use the word 'target', so it doesn't target the source.
======
Color
C.01 Q: Can I Terror a red-and-black creature?
("Destroy target nonartifact, nonblack creature. It can't be
regenerated.")
A: No. A Red-and-black creature is black. Therefore, it isn't
non-black, regardless of what other colors it might be. (Similarly, it's
red, therefore it's not non-red. It's non-blue, non-green and non-white
though.)
C.02 Q: Can I use CoP:Black against a red-and-black creature?
("1: The next time a black source of your choice would deal
damage to you this turn, prevent that damage.")
A: Yes- it's black, regardless of what other colors it might be.
C.03 Q: Can I choose 'gold', 'artifact', or 'colorless' when asked to
choose a color?
A: No. When asked to choose a color, you have to choose one of the five
'primary' colors of magic. None of those above are considered to be real
colors, and neither are 'brown', or 'land', etc...
C.05 Q: Do basic lands have colors? (e.g. Are swamps black?)
A: No. Lands only have a color if something gives them one- otherwise,
they're just colorless. So if you're asked to reveal a black card from your
hand, you can't reveal a swamp.
C.06 Q: If something becomes an artifact, does it become colorless?
A: No. Being an artifact and being colorless usually go together... but
that's only because the artifact cards that have been printed so far haven't
got any colors in their casting costs. It's not an intrinsic property.
C.07 Q: If something becomes colorless, does it become an artifact?
A: No. see the question above.
C.08 Q: Does a Polluted Mire (which has the ability T: add B to your
mana pool) count as a Swamp?
A: No, because it doesn't say it does. There are only 6 cards that have
been printed that count as swamps- Swamp, Snow-covered Swamp, Underground
Sea, Bayou, Badlands and Scrubland. The last four are Dual Lands that _say_
they count as swamps. See the following...
C.09 Q: If I'm told to search my library for a Forest card, am I
allowed to get a Dual Land that says it counts as a Forest?
What if I'm told to search for a basic Forest card?
A: Yes; no. A Forest card is anything named Forest or of subtype
Forest. That includes Dual Lands. However, a basic Forest card only includes
ones that count as basic Forests; that is, only Forests and Snow-Covered
Forests.
========
Creatures
D.01 Q: If I play a non-creature permanent, then immediately turn it
into a creature, can it attack or tap this turn?
A: No. All permanents have "the property formerly known as summoning
sickness" (see qn 4, section A) when they come into play- but the difference
is, only creatures are affected by it. When the permanent becomes a
creature, its 'latent' sickness becomes relevant and the creature can't
attack.
D.02 Q: If I play a creature on my opponent's turn, can it tap for its
abilities? Can it attack or tap on my turn after that?
A: No; Yes. Creatures can only tap or attack if they've been under the
control of their current controller since the beginning of his most recent
turn. So on your opponent's turn, they can't do so- however, on your turn,
they've been under your control since the start of that turn... so yes they
can.
D.03 Q: Can a summoning-sick creature tap for Field Surgeon's ability?
(the ability's cost is "Tap an untapped creature you control")
A: Yes. The only thing summoning-sickness prevents is attacking, and
the payment of abilities that **use the Tap symbol**. Since Field Surgeon
uses the word 'tap' instead of the tap symbol, any creature you control can
be tapped for it.
D.04 Q: When something asks me to choose a creature type, can I choose
"blue" or "artifact" or "opponent's"?
A: No. The "Creature type" of a card is the word(s) written after
Creature or Summon, on the middle line of the card. So for example, you
could choose "Elf" for Extinction, and have it affect a Priest of Titania.
Choosing "Goblin" will not let you affect a Goblin King, though, since that
says "Creature - Lord", rather than "Creature - Goblin".
Note that Artifact creatures generally don't have any creature type at
all- specifically, "Artifact" is not a creature type. That means most of
them can't be affected by Extinction or Urza's Incubator. All Gnomes and
Golems, however, have errata to actually have the creature types Gnome and
Golem respectively, and some Artifact Creatures also count as Walls.
You can also make up your own creature types - attack your opponent with a
horde of Pikachu tokens if you want - but you aren't allowed to choose the
name of an existing Magic card, unless it's also the type of an existing
creature. So even though there are cards called Shapeshifter and Splinter,
you can choose them as your creature type because there exist cards that can
produce creatures of those types.
However, you can't choose Kindle, because nothing produces creatures of
that type.
D.05 Q: If I gain control of my opponent's creatures, will they have
summoning sickness?
======
Combat
E.03 Q: Will a blocking creature still deal combat damage if it gets
tapped?
A: Yes. The rule that prevented this was removed when 6th Edition
came out. (Note that tapped creatures still can't block- the change is just
that if something becomes tapped _after_ it has blocked, it will deal its
damage normally.)
E.04 Q: Can I untap something and make it stop attacking?
A: No. Tapping is just one of the costs in order to attack: once
something has actually started to attack, it doesn't care whether it's
tapped or not.
E.05 Q: Can a Giant Spider block an Treetop Ranger?
("Treetop Ranger can't be blocked except by creatures with
flying."; "Giant Spider may block as though it had flying.")
A: Yes. The most 'intuitive' answer in this case isn't obvious, but the
current rulings state that it can do so.
======
Protection
F.01 Q: What does protection protect against?
A: Contrary to some people's beliefs, having Protection from a property
does not mean that a creature is completely and utterly immune to everything
with that property. Instead, Protection from <quality> only works against
four things... remember them by "D,E,B,T".
Cannot be D amaged by <quality> sources.
Cannot be E nchanted by <quality> enchantments.
Cannot be B locked by <quality> creatures.
Cannot be T argeted by <quality> spells and abilities.
F.02 Q: Will a Protection from White creature be killed by a Wrath of
God?
======
Trample
G.03 Q: How does Trample work if I kill the blockers, or change
their toughnesses, after they've blocked?
A: If all the blocking creatures have been killed or turned into
noncreatures by the time you come to assign the damage, then there are
obviously no blocking creatures that aren't already lethally damaged.
Therefore all the damage 'tramples through' to the defending player.
However, note that this only applies if the blockers are killed in the
Declare Blockers step (see qn 01, section G). Once the Combat Damage step
has begun, trample damage has already been fixed, so it doesn't achieve as
much if you kill the blockers at that time.
The same applies to changing the toughness of creatures: If a 3/3 blocking
creature gets +0/+1 in the Declare Blockers step, that's one less damage
that can trample over. However, if it gets that bonus during the Combat
Damage step, then the amount of damage that's been assigned won't change- it
will still take 3, and the same amount of damage will trample over to the
player. However, since the creature's toughness is now 4, it will survive
that 3 damage.
G.04 Q: How does Trample work against Banding/Defensive Formation?
A: Banding and Defensive Formation allow your opponent, instead of you,
to assign your damage. Since Trample is always optional, he can choose not
to use it. Trample is essentially useless against these abilities.
G.05 Q: What's the difference between Trample and the ability
"~ may deal its combat damage to defending player as though it
weren't blocked."?
======
One-word Abilities
H.04 Q: When a creature dies, can I regenerate it later on in the
turn?
A: No. Regeneration is an effect that _prevents a creature from dying_.
It's not an effect that brings a creature back after it's died. When you use
an ability that says it "Regenerates" a creature, it creates an effect that
says "The next time this turn that this creature would be destroyed, instead
tap it, remove all damage from it, and remove it from combat". Therefore,
you have to use regeneration abilities _before_ the creature dies, not
afterwards.
H.05 Q: Can I regenerate a creature that's not about to die?
A: Yes. You have to Regenerate a creature _before_ it gets destroyed-
and it doesn't matter if there aren't any effects that can do that in view.
Therefore, yes- you can sink mana into a regenerator.
H.06 Q: Does this mean I can play regeneration abilities on my
opponents creatures, to make them tap?
A: No. Setting up a regeneration shield on a creature will not activate
any of the regeneration side-effects. They will only take place when the
shield gets _used_- in other words, to make a regeneration ability tap
something, you'll have to do something to _destroy_ the creature. If you're
going to do that, you'd probably prefer to kill the thing instead of just
tapping it. (In other words, Yavimaya Hollow cannot be used as an Icy
Manipulator.)
H.07 Q: What can I regenerate from?
A: A creature can regenerate from any effect that would "destroy" it-
but only those. Note the rules will "destroy" lethally damaged creatures,
too... which is why you can regenerate from lethal damage. But creatures
that are removed from the game, sacrificed etc, cannot be regenerated.
H.08 Q: Can I regenerate from a Sacrifice?
A: No. It isn't a "destroy" effect.
H.10 Q: Can I regenerate a creature that's already tapped?
A: Yes. When it would get destroyed, the replaced effect will try to
tap it- but will do nothing, because it's already tapped. The creature will
still survive.
H.11 Q: What's the difference between Cycling (2) and "(2), Sacrifice
~: draw a card"?
A: Cycling, as is stated on every card that has it, is an ability that
lets you discard the card _from your hand_. The ability above is a normal
ability- that is, one that can only be used while the card is _in play_. So
the difference between them is that you can Cycle the first one as soon as
you draw it, while the second one has to be played (or otherwise put into
play) before you can draw a card from it.
Patrik Linell
This is a dummy entry, containing no useful info of any sort. Move along,
Patrik Linell
Cost
J.06 Q: Are additional costs considered part of a spell's mana
cost, for Aluren, or for Rebel search abilties?
A: No. Aluren and the Rebels consider only the converted mana cost of
the card, which ignores any cost modifiers.
J.07 Q: Can I destroy a Mogg Fanatic in response to it sacrificing
itself?
("Sacrifice Mogg Fanatic: Mogg Fanatic deals 1 damage to target
creature or player.")
A: No. There are two reasons why this won't prevent the damage: the
first being that it sacrifices itself as the _cost_ of its ability: by the
time you can respond to it, the Fanatic is gone. The second reason is the
so-called Silver rule of Magic: ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT
ALTER THE ABILITY. The ability has already been announced, so you'll need
something that can counter an ability- Interdict, for example- to prevent it
from dealing damage now.
J.08 Q: Can I pay for two abilities with one sacrifice?
A: No. You can't pay two costs with one payment- you wouldn't try to
cast two Giant Growths with one green mana, would you? Other costs, like
Sacrifices, work in exactly the same way. You can't buy two cans of drink
from two machines with just one coin.
J.09 Q: If my Prodigal Sorceror is enchanted with Hermetic Study, can I
tap it to deal 2 damage?
A: No. The PS has two separate copies of the ability "T: ~ deals 1
damage to target creature or player". You can't pay for both the abilities
with one tap, in the same way as you can't cast two Giant Growths with 1
green mana.
Note, however, that a Goblin Medics enchanted with Hermetic Study _can_
deal 2 damage with a single tap, because its ability _triggers_ on tapping,
rather than tapping as part of its cost.
("Whenever Goblin Medics becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to target
creature or player.")
======
Abilities
K.01 Can mana-producing spells (e.g. Dark Ritual) be countered?
A: Yes. Dark Ritual is a normal Instant spell, and can be countered
just like any other.
K.02 Can mana-producing abilities (like that of Llanowar Elves) be
countered?
A: No. A Mana Ability, although it has no specific rule saying it can't
be countered, won't get put onto the stack and therefore cannot be responded
to. It literally doesn't give anything time to counter it.
K.03 Q: If I kill/tap/Humble/etc a creature when it uses its ability,
does the ability still take effect?
A: Yes. ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT ALTER THE ABILITY-
the so-called Silver rule of Magic. In other words, once an ability has been
announced, it is definitely going to resolve, unless something counters it-
and that something must explicitly _say_ that it can counter an ability (see
qn 9). Note, as well, that among the things that say they do so are the
rules themselves (see qn 15, section A).
So then, using (for example) an Icy Manipulator to tap a Prodigal
Sorceror, in response to its ability being announced, will have no effect
whatsoever. The Prodigal Sorceror tapped as the _cost_ for its ability: in
other words, by the time you can respond with the Icy, you'd be tapping
something that's tapped already.
K.04 Q: Can Terroring a 187 creature stop it from destroying
something?
A: No. Again let me say, ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN ABILITY DOES NOT
ALTER THE ABILITY. The creature's ability goes onto the stack as soon as it
comes into play. Even if you Terror the creature in response, the ability
will still be there, and will resolve.
K.05 Q: Can I play a 187 creature if it has nothing to target?
A: Yes. Its ability won't be able to go onto the stack, because it has
no legal targets- but the creature will still come into play and stay there
happily.
K.06 Q: If I play a 187 creature and its only legal target belongs to
me, do I have to target it?
A: Yes. Unless the ability says "may", it's not optional... if there
are any legal targets, you're forced to choose and destroy something.
K.07 Q: Does "This card is a red card" count as an ability?
A: No. The text "This is/counts as a <type/color>", is _not_ defining
an ability... it's just a characteristic of the card. For example, a Crimson
Kobold, which has the text quoted above, will still be red if Humbled, and
will still be red while in a player's library or graveyard. Similarly, a
Plateau ("This counts as a plains and a mountain") will still count as both
those things when it's not in play.
K.08 Q: Does "Metathran Soldier is unblockable" count as an ability?
A: Yes, it does. Humbling the Soldier will make it blockable.
There are two points of confusion here, the first being a ruling about Cloak
of Mists, which is a creature enchantment saying "enchanted creature is
unblockable". The Cloak itself has an ability, but does not _grant_ an
ability to the creature it enchants. Therefore, Humbling the Misted creature
can't stop it being unblockable.
The second confusing point is the "This is/counts as a ..." rule (see the
question above). That rule only applies to colors and types, not to
unblockability.
K.09 Q: Can I Counterspell a permanent's ability?
A: No. Counterspell can only target a "Spell". To counter an "Ability",
you need one of the six cards that say they can do so: Rust, Brown Ouphe,
Ayesha Tanaka, Diplomatic Escort, Interdict or Bind. Nothing else in the
game can counter an ability, except the rules.
K.10 Q: If something is tapped, can it still use abilities that don't
require it to tap?
A: Yes. For example, Skyshroud Elf has two abilities: "T: add G to your
mana pool", and "1: add W or R to your mana pool". It's perfectly legal to
tap the Elf for G, and then use its ability to convert that G to W or R.
K.11 Q: Is it true that CIP abilities now no longer trigger unless the
card was "played from your hand"?
A: No, not in general. Only 8 cards currently have this restriction:
the "Free" permanents (Cloud of Faeries, Peregrine Drake, Palinchron, Great
Whale, Treachery, Priest of Gix), and two cards that were deemed too
powerful without it (Karmic Guide and Iridescent Drake).
Note that the "free" non-permanent spells- Time Spiral, Rewind, Snap and
Frantic Search- do NOT have this restriction.
K.12 Q: What does the "if you played it from your hand" errata require
for the ability to trigger?
A: "putting into play from your hand" with Sneak attack, Elvish Piper,
Quicksilver Amulet etc won't trigger the ability. "playing from elsewhere"
with Aerial Caravan, Yawgmoth's Will, Temporal Aperture, etc won't trigger
the ability. Using things like Aluren, North Star, Vernal Equinox and Dream
Halls, however, _will_ allow it to trigger- they do indeed allow you to
"play" the creature from your hand, although you can do so at an unusual
time and/or paying unusual costs to do so.
K.13 Q: If something happens "Whenever a creature comes into play",
will that trigger when something that's already in play gets
turned into a creature?
A: No. "Coming into play" requires moving from a different zone into
the Play zone. Simply changing forms while you're there doesn't work.
K.14 Q: Can use an ability multiple times? E.g. pump up a Shade more
than once per turn, or use Pestilence several times in a row?
("B: Foo Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn."; "B: Pestilence
deals 1 damage to each creature and each player.")
A: Yes. Unless there is a specific restriction on an ability ("play
this only once per turn", "pay only BBB in this way each turn", etc), you
can play an ability as many times as you can afford.
K.15 Q: Do the abilities of Artifacts work while they're tapped?
A: Yes. The rule that prevented this was discontinued for 6th Edition.
Certain artifacts have been errata'd to include the restriction "as long as
~ is untapped" though, so that their abilities still work the same way. And
now you'll ask...
K.16 Q: Which Artifacts received the "as long as ~ is untapped"
errata?
A: Only Howling Mine and Winter Orb, so far. Some were hoping that at
least Static Orb would get it, too... but at the moment only Howling Mine
and Winter Orb (and Storage Matrix, which was recent enough to have the
restriction printed on the card) are limited in this way.
======
Timing
L.01 Q: Monk Realist vs Humility: does Humility get destroyed?
(Monk Realist: a creature with the ability: "When Monk
Realist comes into play, destroy target enchantment.";
Humility: enchantment with the ability: "All creatures lose
all abilities and are 1/1.")
A: No. The Continuous Effect of Humility removes the Monk's ability
before it gets a chance to trigger, so it fails to destroy anything.
L.02 Q: I cast Replenish. Opalescence, Pandemonium and Angelic Chorus
are coming into play at the same time- will their abilities
trigger?
A: Yes, for the same reason as in qn 21, section D; the Continuous
Effect of Opalescence will animate the enchantments before their abilities
get a chance to trigger... so by the time they can do so, they will see that
these cards that came into play are currently creatures. Their abilities
trigger both off themselves and off each other. (but not off the
Opalescence, because it can't animate itself.)
L.03 Q: What happens first, if two things say they happen "when" or
"whenever" an event occurs? Can I cast Instants in-between
them?
L.04 Q: Both players want to cast Shock, and both are on 2 life. Who
dies?
A: The player who cracks first, generally speaking. When he announces
his Shock, his opponent can respond to it with her own Shock (see qn 21,
section A). Things resolve in Last In - First Out (LIFO) order, so the
responding Shock will resolve first. If each player knows that the other has
a Shock, this situation is a stalemate.
L.05 Q: If events in the End-Of-Turn step cause something to happen
"At end of turn", when will that actually be?
A: At the end of the _next_ turn. "At end of turn" means "At the
beginning of the end-of-turn step"... which has already happened this turn.
Therefore the effect will wait until the _next_ end-of-turn step that comes
around... which is in the _next_ turn. (Try reading it again; you'll get
it.) However, don't confuse this with...
L.06 Q: If events in the End-Of-Turn step start an effect that lasts
"Until end of turn", when will that actually wear off?
A: During that same turn. "Until end of turn" effects wear off during
the _Cleanup_ step, which will be repeated if anything unusual happens. In
other words, it's not possible to get an "until end of turn" effect to last
until the following turn.
Yes, this means there'd be quite an important difference between an
ability that said "Creatures get +1/+1 until end of turn" and an ability
that said "Creatures get +1/+1; at end of turn, they get -1/-1.". It's
counterintuitive and messy. Blame WotC, not me. You know you want to.
=========
Targeting and enchanting
M.01 Q: What does it mean for a spell to "target" something?
A: The term "target" is a great deal more specific than most players
seem to realise. For a start, the only thing that can ever "target" anything
is a spell or ability on the stack. Continuous abilities, for example, never
target anything. In addition to that, only spells and abilities that
specifically use the word "target" target anything. An effect that does
something to "all creatures" or to "any creature" or to "enchanted creature"
or to "a creature of your choice" does _not_ target those creatures!
And finally, at the time you play a local enchantment spell, it will be
targeting the permanent you cast it on (but will stop doing so once it's
come into play... see qn 08, section M). The exception proves the rule, I
suppose.
M.02 Q: If Terror's target becomes black before it resolves, will it
still destroy it?
("Destroy target nonblack, nonartifact creature.")
A: No. The Terror checks its targets twice- once when it is announced,
and then again when it resolves. Therefore, when the Terror resolves, it
will see that its target is no longer a nonartifact creature. All its
targets are illegal, and therefore the Terror will be "countered on
resolution".
M.03 Q: Can I cast Reckless Spite targetting only one creature, or the
same creature twice?
("Destroy two target nonblack creatures...")
A: No. You have to choose a separate, legal, creature for each of its
targets. If your opponent doesn't control two creatures, you'll have to have
it destroy one of yours. If there's only one nonblack creature in play, it
can't be cast at all.
M.04 Q: If one of Reckless Spite's targets becomes black before it
resolves, will it still destroy the other one?
A: Yes. When the spell checks its targets, it will see that one of them
is illegal, and will fail with respect to that one. There are still some
legal targets, however, so it will not be "countered on resolution".
Therefore, it does as much as possible- namely, it destroys the other
creature.
M.05 Q: How well does Deadly Insect's ability protect it?
("Deadly Insect cannot be the target of spells or abilities".)
A: What it says is that that spells and abilities that want to target
it (see qn 01) cannot do so. However, this doesn't prevent it from being
enchanted, though it does prevent enchantment spells from being cast on it.
Any other effect (e.g. Wrath of God, Earthquake, Diabolic Edict, etc) will
get through its defence just fine.
M.06 Q: Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a Deadly
Insect?
("Move target enchantment enchanting a creature or land to
another permanent of that type.")
A: Yes. Enchantment Alteration doesn't say it targets the permanent the
enchantment is moving onto- therefore it doesn't. Deadly Insect's ability
only stops spells and abilities that say they "target" it, so it can't
prevent this.
M.07 Q: Can Enchantment Alteration move an enchantment onto a creature
with protection from that enchantment's color?
A: No. Enchantment Alteration must move the enchantment onto another
legal enchantee. It's not legal for an enchantment to enchant a protected
creature (because protection includes "can't be enchanted by <quality>
enchantments, which Deadly Insect does not), so this isn't a legal play.
M.08 Q: I understand Enchantments no longer 'target' the things they
sit on, they just 'enchant' them. What does this change mean?
A: Nothing much. Effects that used to say that enchantments couldn't
"target" something now say they can't "enchant" it. The change simply makes
it so that only things that can ever "target" anything are spells and
abilities on the stack.
M.09 Q: Do "Enchant X" cards fall off when their enchantee stops being
an X?
A: Yes. There is a state-based effect that checks more-or-less
continuously for local enchantments enchanting the wrong things. If it finds
one, it will put the enchantment into the graveyard.
M.10 Q: Will Enchantments saying "play ~ only on X" fall off if the
enchantee stops being an X?
A: Yes. The current wording for this is "~ can only enchant an X",
which is clearer. The state-based effect checks for this as well.
M.11 Q: Will an Enchantment fall off if the enchantee gains protection
from its color?
A: Yes. One of the properties of Protection is "cannot be enchanted by
<quality> enchantments". The state-based effect checks for this as well.
M.12 Q: Will +1/+1 counters fall off if they're not on a creature?
A: No. They won't have any effect on it, but they will stay on.
M.13 Q: Do enchantments & counters fall off when something
regenerates?
A: No. Regeneration _replaces_ destruction; It doesn't say "Oops, that
thing was destroyed- come back here!", it says "Go away destruction- leave
my creature alone." Regenerated things never actually leave play, so there's
no reason for anything to fall off them.
M.14 Q: Do enchantments & counters fall off when something phases out?
A: No. This is a special property of Phasing: Unlike any other change
of zone, it doesn't remove enchantments or counters. The enchantments phase
out with the enchantee, and will phase back in with it, too.
M.15 Q: What is a "global enchantment"?
A: Any "Enchant World" or "Enchantment" card. Note that the things made
by Soul Sculptor are global enchantments.
("Target creature becomes an enchantment and loses all abilities
until a player plays a creature spell.")
M.16 Q: What is a "local enchantment"?
A: Any "Enchant XXX" card, other than an "Enchant World". For example,
Licids can turn themselves into local enchantments.
M.17 Q: Can a Counterspell be made to target- and thus counter-
itself, with Deflection or Misdirection?
A: No, there's a rule that states spells can't target themselves, so
this isn't legal. However, you _are_ able to make it target the Deflection.
The Deflection will have resolved and gone to the graveyard before the
Counterspell, so the Counterspell won't be able to find it, and will be
countered on resolution. That gives the same effect.
(If it _were_ possible for a spell to target itself, then it would be
possible to do so when casting Arcane Denial. It'd be an Ancestral Recall
with the option to counter things...)
M.18 Q: If I try to counter an Urza's Rage (or something else that is
uncounterable) with an
Absorb/Undermine, will I still gain 3 life/will my opponent still
lose 3 life?
======
Questions on Specific Cards
N.05 Q: If I play a Dreadnought, and choose not to sacrifice creatures,
will abilities that trigger "Whenever a creature comes into
play" be able to trigger off it?
A: No. Phyrexian Dreadnought currently requires you to sacrifice
creatures 'before it comes into play'. If you fail to do so, it will go to
the graveyard _instead_ of coming into play, so it won't trigger these
abilities.
N.06 Q: If I sacrifice a Yavimaya Elder to its ability, will I get to
search for 2 lands before or after I draw a card?
("When Yavimaya Elder is put into a graveyard from play, you
may search your library for up to two basic land cards,
reveal them, and put them into your hand. If you do, shuffle
your library.
2, Sacrifice Yavimaya Elder: Draw a card.")
A: Before. (This card badly needs some reminder text.) The breakdown of
events goes: You announce the ability, putting a "draw a card" effect onto
the stack and sacrificing the Elder. The triggered ability gets put onto the
stack. Then it resolves, and you search. Then the "draw a card" effect
resolves, and you draw.
N.07 Q: Can I cycle a card from the graveyard once I've cast
Yawgmoth's Will? Can I discard from the graveyard? Can I use
Elvish Spirit Guide's ability from the graveyard? Can I use
Sneak Attack to get creatures out of the graveyard?
A: No, no, no and no. All Yawgmoth's Will does is break the rule that
you can't _play_ cards except from your hand: that is, it just lets you cast
spells or lay lands from your graveyard. However, it does not allow you to
treat cards as if they were in your hand for any purpose other than that.
For example, discarding, using their abilities, counting the number of cards
in your hand, and so on. (see qn 23, section A, for more on the distinction
being made here.)
N.08 Q: Will Yawgmoth's Will remove itself from the game when it
finishes resolving?
A: Yes. It will usually be the first card that gets removed from the
game by the effect.
N.09 Q: What happens if a card that says "when ~ leaves play, return
it to its owner's hand" goes to the graveyard from play, when
there's a Planar Void out?
(Planar Void - "Whenever a card is put into a graveyard, remove
that card from the game.")
A: Depends on who controls what. If the same player controls both the
Void and the dead card, he can choose which of the effects happens first...
and would usually choose to have the card bounce, thus preventing the Void
from RFGing it.
If different players control the two cards, then the ability controlled by
the non-active player will resolve first (see qn 3, section L) and the other
one will be unable to have any effect.
N.10 Q: What happens if damage is dealt to my creature when it has my
Pariah and a Treacherous Link on it? Is the game a draw? Is it
impossible to damage me?
A: No, and no. A replacement effect, like the ones Pariah and
Treacherous Link both have, can only replace each game event _once_. So if a
"Damage is dealt to you" event occurs, the Pariah will replace that with a
"Damage is dealt to creature" event, which Treacherous link will then
replace with a "Damage is dealt to you" event. Now, Pariah would like to
replace that. However, it's already affected this event once and can't do so
again. Therefore, the damage will be dealt to you after all. By a similar
sequence of events, damage to the creature will end up being dealt to the
creature.
As you can see, the Pariah and Treacherous Link will essentially cancel
each other out.
N.11 Q: Does Urza's Armor protect completely against Pestilence and
Thrashing Wumpus?
======
======
Tournaments and Rulebooks
P.07 Q: In a tournament where (for example) Ice Age isn't legal, am I
allowed to play with an Ice Age card that was reprinted in a
legal set?
A: Yes. Note that it will be treated as if it were a copy of the card
from the legal set. For example, if you play with a copy of Squall from
Starter, which has casting cost 1G, then it will be treated as if it were
the Squall from Mercadian Masques, which has casting cost 2G.
======