Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

Magic: The Gathering Rules FAQ, v1.2.3 (1/6)

546 views

Skip to first unread message

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part1
Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

Weez's Magic: The Gathering(R) Rules FAQ
Version: 1.2.3
Last Modified: November 9, 1998
By Bill Dugan <bdu...@flash.net>
Copyright (c) 1997-8 Bill Dugan. 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.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

========================================================================
Changes from the last few versions of this FAQ:

--> 1.2.3: Added and clarified Urza's Saga questions, and moved them
to Part 1 for technical reasons.
--> 1.2.2: Added a few Urza's Saga questions; rewrote Trample section;
temporarily removed table of contents.
--> 1.2.1: Finally expunged the outdated term "fast effect"; finally
added a definition of phasing instead of saying RTFM; minor fixes.
--> 1.2.0: Added a couple Exodus notes, fixed a couple of interrupt
inaccuracies, revised Copy Cards entry, fixed www links, and I
finally call them 'batches' instead of 'spell stacks'.
--> 1.1.9: en-Kor + Mogg Maniac or Wall of Souls or Trample damage;
fixed WWW links; side effects of damage when damage is prevented;
rules triggers considered "faster" than mana sources.
--> 1.1.8: Fixed most items listed in 1.1.7 due to Bethmo's rulings
of February 1998.
--> 1.1.7: Notes on Wall Of Roots + Magma Mine + Stasis combo; Cursed
Scroll and multiple-targets rule; Propaganda + Hand To Hand;
Mishra's Factory with counters on it; Humility vs. Nature's Revolt;
updates on mox.perl.com, Bethmo, and a few little fixes.
--> 1.1.6: Tweaked Verdant Force to reflect the new errata-that-was-
not-called-errata. Tweaked Furnace of Rath to reflect the new
stupid quadruple-trample-damage ruling.
--> 1.1.5: Notes about Humility, "ability" definition, series vs.
batches, "permanently gain control" phrasing, "at end of turn"
vs. phasing, Furnace of Rath, Verdant Force, Recycle + Eureka,
and Fire Whip vs. Ray of Command.
--> 1.1.4: Added Tempest FAQs section; adjusted for new Abeyance
ruling; fixed all WWW links for the www.wizards.com reorganization.

ARTICLE #1 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

IMPORTANT NOTICE 1:

IF YOU HAVE A RULES QUESTION, E-MAILING IT TO ME IS THE SLOWEST AND
LEAST RELIABLE OF YOUR OPTIONS. Please e-mail it to the much more
knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives of Wizards
Of The Coast, at ques...@wizards.com, or ask your question in the
Usenet newsgroup rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules, where you can
usually get good information. I do not work for WotC and am not
affiliated with them in any way, other than as a customer. I just like
Magic and want to provide the FAQ as a resource for those who find the
Magic groups for the first time and want to grab the FAQ first thing.
The rules newsgroup has lacked a FAQ for quite some time, and I'm happy
to fill the void with this small offering.

Please e-mail suggestions for the FAQ and corrections to me at
bdu...@flash.net. This FAQ will be posted about every 5 days to the
newsgroups rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules, rec.answers, and
news.answers.

IMPORTANT NOTICE 2:

There are 3 answers that are *very* frequently given on the Magic rules
newsgroup. (Two of these answers are confusing, the third is a lazy
question.) If you are a newcomer to the game, one of the following
answers is probably the one you seek if you're reading this FAQ. :)

Very Frequent Answer #1: LAST-IN, FIRST-OUT. If someone casts
a spell or announces an ability, you *may* respond to that spell
or ability before it resolves, by announcing your own spells and
abilities. Your opponent may then respond to *your*
announcement with *his* own announcement. And so forth. When
everyone is done with their announcements, then the *last* spell
or ability that was announced resolves *first*. Carry out the
action specified on the card. Then the *next-to-last* spell or
ability that was announced resolves. And so forth until you
have resolved all the spells that have been announced. See the
SPELL STACK chapter of this FAQ for more on the spell stack.

Very Frequent Answer #2: ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN EFFECT DOES NOT
ALTER THE EFFECT. So, your Icy Manipulator will not prevent an
opponent from using his Tim (or any other permanent) in
response. See the SPELL STACK chapter of this FAQ for more on
spell stacks, and the "Timing, Timing, Timing" chapter of this
FAQ for more on timing.

Very Frequent Answer #3: To answer the question "What is phasing?"
the concise answer is: RTFM! It's on page 1 of the Mirage
rulebook. Sigh. Or, see part 6.

IMPORTANT NOTICE 3:

I must ***highly*** recommend the files "rule-general.txt" and
"rule-cards.txt" which contain all rulings ever made in the game of
Magic: The Gathering. They are MUCH more definitive and authoritative
than this FAQ. They are currently about 1MB total and can be found at
<http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/magic.html> where Stephen D'Angelo
has been kind enough to provide them. These files are updated monthly
or so with new rulings.

UNIMPORTANT NOTICE 4:

Historically, the terms "ability" and "effect" have been loosely and
interchangeably used. Lately it has seemed useful to differentiate
between them, and I grudgingly made a little effort to do so here,
seeing as how WotC certainly has been trying to distinguish between the
two. With cards like Humility, the definition is quite important.

From the 5E Glossary: "Abilities. Many permanents have abilities, which
generally are played as instants ... See also continuous abilities;
banding; first strike; flying; landhome; landwalk; protection; rampage;
regeneration; trample." [Shadow too, now.]

Example: "I activate Tim's ability. The ability resolves, so the
ability's effect occurs now. Take 1, sucker."

However, old habits die hard, and the phrase "spells and effects" rolls
trippingly off the tongue much easier than "spells and abilities" ...
for now. Be generous in your hearts in forgiving us the occasional
lapse.

========================================================================

1 ABOUT THIS FAQ

"Magic: The Gathering", a Richard Garfield Game, is a collectible
trading-card game published by Wizards Of The Coast, Inc. This FAQ
contains many questions, with answers, about the game that are
frequently seen on rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules.

This FAQ does not substitute for the "Magic: The Gathering" rulebook
which is included in every starter deck (excepting Tempest). You won't
learn how to play Magic just by reading this FAQ, and in this FAQ the
author has not attempted to address the questions "What is Magic?" nor
"How do I play?" This FAQ is not an authority of last resort and it
doesn't even address most rules questions -- just lots of the most
commonly seen ones.

I decided to write this FAQ because at the date of inception, no other
FAQ is regularly posted to the rules newsgroup, and I'm happy to help
out the newbies. Every newsgroup deserves its FAQ.

CONVENTION: For convenience and easier reading, I am sometimes going to
use the name "Weez" as the player whose turn it is, and "Kirk" as the
opposing player.

2 NET RESOURCES

Q: Where can I look for cool Magic stuff on the Internet?

A: There are some excellent, excellent Magic resources out there.

I must especially refer you -- as I'll refer many times throughout this
FAQ -- to the "rule-general.txt" and "rule-cards.txt" files at
http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/magic.html where Stephen D'Angelo has
been kind enough to write and maintain them. They are accurate,
authoritative (with a disclaimer), and very large.

I would also like to especially call attention to the awesome power of
the MoxPerl Cardlist Generator, now found at:

http://mox.perl.com/cgi-bin/MxScreen

The Cardlist Generator is a form that will cough up a list of, say, all
White cards that include the phrase "3 damage" on the card, or of all
Red or Blue creatures in MI/VI/WL with a power of 3 or more. It's a
terrific resource for you to search for cards that fit your deck's
theme. As of this writing, the form is current through Exodus. Highly,
highly recommended.

Here are the Net resources I use:

http://www.wizards.com/ <-- Updated moderately often.
Great for getting news on new
expansions, tournaments, etc.
At this moment, seems to lack
much reference material.

http://mox.perl.com/cgi-bin/MxScreen <-- Awesome search engine,
now updated through
Urza's Saga and with a new
interface.

http://www.thedojo.com/ <-- "The Magic Dojo", currently
the premier strategy site,
very frequently updated.

http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~edney/faq.html <-- The FAQ for the
MTG-STRATEGY-L
mailing list.

You can quickly look up a card's text at:

http://mox.perl.com/deckmaster/cards/thallid_devourer.html

... just substitute whatever card name is appropriate instead of Thallid
Devourer, which you'll hopefully never have to look up. Use lowercase
only, and underscore _ instead of space. You can also quickly look up
a card's text on IRC on the #mtg channel by typing

/msg demitwang what is thallid devourer

Of special note is Stephen D'Angelo's WWW and FTP sites, where you can
obtain the famous "rule-general.txt" and "rule-cards.txt" files which
detail every ruling about Magic that you will ever want to know about.
HIGHLY recommended as a first reference if you have ANY rules question!
They are updated about every month and are an invaluable resource which
I use all the time.

http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/magic.html
ftp://ftp.activesw.com/pub/sdangelo/magic/

RIP: The ITIS site at http://www.itis.com/deckmaster/ closed in June
1997. This used to house a wealth of articles and reference info, and
was especially great for the nostalgia of when giants walked the earth:
old articles speculating on strategies on "this new Third Edition Set"
and the like. The itis site states it closed at WotC's request; a WotC
employee has stated that this was a volunteer site, and WotC declined to
pay bills that were submitted to WotC out of the blue. In any case,
it's really unfortunate we no longer have this resource. <Eulogy off.>

Usenet newsgroups:

rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.marketplace.sales
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.marketplace.trades
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.marketplace.auctions
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc

Some more WWW links suggested by you the readers:

http://pugetsound.com/eagles/magic/ <-- Comprehensive Resource List
http://www.xs4all.nl/~bpm/mtgbugs.html <-- PC game buglists page
http://www.planeswalker.com/apprentice <-- "Apprentice 32" page; play
over the Internet free
http://www.gathering.net <-- Official Magic Online page;
play over the Internet
if you own the PC game

There are a few other references to WWW pages sprinkled throughout this
document; try using your word processor to search the text of this FAQ
for "http" or "www" to find pages of particular note.

3 NEWSGROUP TALK

Q: What are all these abbreviations?

A: Here are a few.

UL: Unlimited
3E: Third Edition (sometimes called Revised, or Revised Third Edition)
RV: Same as 3E
4E: Fourth Edition (sometimes called Revised Fourth Edition)
5E: Fifth Edition
AN: Arabian Nights
AQ: Antiquities
LG: Legends
DK: The Dark
CH: Chronicles
IA: Ice Age
HL: Homelands
AL: Alliances
MI: Mirage
VI: Visions
WL: Weatherlight
TM: Tempest
ST: Stronghold
EX: Exodus
US: Urza's Saga

Tim: Prodigal Sorceror ("There are some who call me ... Tim.")
Icy: Icy Manipulator

StP: Swords To Plowshares
CoP: Circle Of Protection
BoW: Bazaar of Wonders (You get the idea...spur-of-the-moment acronyms
are often used excessively on the newsgroups at the expense of
clarity. Everyone please stop it. Thank you.)

sac: Sacrifice
LIFO: Last In, First Out (describes batch timing)
TE: Triggered Effect
CE: Continuous Effect
CIP: Come Into Play
DQotD:Dumb Question Of The Day

Cantrip: A card that tells you to draw another card at the beginning
of the next turn. Some cantrips: Flare, Arcane Denial, Feral
Instinct, Bandage.

MtG: Magic: The Gathering
WotC: Wizards Of The Coast, publishers of your favorite game
DCI: Duelists Convocation International, the authority that oversees
official Magic tournaments.

G: One green mana.
R: One red mana.
W: One white mana.
B: One black mana.
U: One blue mana.
1W: One generic *and* one white mana. Note that the number 1 refers
to the amount of generic mana, not the amount of white mana.
3UWW: Three generic mana, one blue mana, and two white mana. (6 total)

4 URZA'S SAGA QUESTIONS

Q: Tolarian Academy is broken!!

A: Not here, it isn't. Go see if it's broken over at the .strategy
newsgroup.

Q: When a "sleeping enchantment" like Opal Gargoyle animates into a
creature, is it still an enchantment?

A: No, despite the card text. The Urza's Saga rulings state now, in a
REVERSAL, that a card that changes form into some other type of card
ceases to be the previous type of card unless the card says so. And
there's new errata to all old Magic cards that change form, adding that
they all still count as the previous type. For instance,
Transmogrifying Licid now has been errataed to say "...counts as an
artifact creature" instead of as an artifact. Under this new rules
reversal, the card as written would change the creature to an artifact
only, and not a creature. Was a reversal necessary? Are reversals
confusing to players who don't read the rules updates every month?
Debate this on .rules if you feel like it.

Q: Does Lifeline work for all players or just its controller?

A: All players. The card's wording is truly terrible, isn't it? There
is errata to Lifeline which makes it currently read: "Whenever a
creature is put into a graveyard and another creature is in play, put
that creature back into play under its owner's control at end of turn."

Q: Lifeline plus Wrath of God when multiple creatures are in play.
What happens?

A: The creatures all come back into play at end of turn. This defies
logic, but a close reading of the rules shows that if a triggered
ability triggers upon a permanent leaving play, it will trigger based on
the characteristics of the permanent just before it left play. Since
each creature in play shared the board with other creatures, Lifeline
triggers multiple times simultaneously, and all the creatures come back
at end of turn.

Q: Lifeline plus two Mogg Bombers. Infinite damage?

A: Well, it's "unbounded" damage, meaning you can elect to repeat the
combo as many times as you want (see "Infinity" in this FAQ). But yes,
you can deal 3 million points of damage if you want. There are several
unbounded Lifeline combos. Discuss them on the .strategy newsgroup and
enjoy.

Q: Lifeline plus Ball Lightning. What happens?

A: As WotC says delicately, "Lifeline and Ball Lightning interact in a
very messy way." To cut to the chase:

If the same player controls Lifeline and Ball Lightning, then Ball
Lightning will be buried, Lifeline will bring it back into play, Ball
Lightning will be buried again, and this will repeat as many times as
you'd like, according to the standard rules about unbounded loops. The
end result:

1. If Ball Lightning was buried at end-of-turn due to its effect, Ball
Lightning ends up in play.
2. If instead Ball Lightning died before end-of-turn (e.g. from combat
or a Terror) then Ball Lightning ends up in the graveyard.

If instead different players control Lifeline and Ball Lightning, then
there will be no loop of burial and rebirth, and:

3. If the active player controls Ball Lightning, it ends up in play.
4. If instead the non-active player controls Ball Lightning, it ends up
in the graveyard.

Yes, this is way too arcane for a novice to handle.

For more information, see the "Infinity" section of this FAQ.

Q: Does Cave Tiger get +2/+2 if it's blocked by two creatures?

A: Yes. The wording is less clear than, say, Pygmy Troll, but fits in
with the Urza's Saga templating: All triggered abilities in Urza's Saga
begin with "when" or "whenever".

Q: Do I have to pay the Echo cost on the turn a creature phases in?

A: Yes. In fact you have to pay its Echo cost _every_ turn it phases
in, or bury it.

Q: Does Serra Avatar get shuffled into the library if it's countered?

A: Yes. There is errata to say Serra Avatar is shuffled into its
owners library "if it is put into a graveyard from anywhere". This
includes from play, from being Milled, or from being countered.

Q: Serra Avatar is killed while Humility is in play, or someone cast
Humble on it. Is it shuffled into the library?

A: No. It has no abilities when it hits the graveyard, so the
nonexistent abilities do not trigger.

Q: Is Abundance and Sylvan Library a good combo?

A: Yes. Yes, it is. The Abundance can replace all your card draws,
and since Sylvan Library makes you replace cards that you drew this
turn ... well, you didn't draw any this turn, so you don't have to put
any back. It is a nice combo. Play it, and enjoy.

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #1 OF 6 OF FAQ

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part2

Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

ARTICLE #2 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

5 MIRAGE RULES, 5E RULES, 6E RULES, AND WHERE TO GET RULINGS ON THE NET

Q: Sometimes I hear people (including this FAQ) talk about Mirage
rules, or Fifth Edition rules, or Fourth Edition or Sixth Edition or
Urza's Saga rules. What's the difference in the rules of all the
different card sets?

A: The rules of Magic change over time to fix things that seem wrong
with the game. You don't have to play by different rules when you play
with different card sets; you just play by the most recent rules.

The UL rules had many vague areas which were clarified in 3E rules. 4E
introduced many clarifications and additions, and Mirage/5E rules (which
are the same) made some more changes. The Trample rules changed with
the release of Urza's Saga. Sixth Edition will include more changes.

Sixth Edition will simplify the rules further; we have been told that
Interrupts and damage prevention steps will disappear and be replaced by
Instants; that tapped artifacts will be "on"; and that you may play your
spell *then* tap lands to pay for it.

If you've been out of it for a while, pages 1 through 6 of the Mirage
rulebook detail the important changes introduced in Mirage/5E rules.
Find one. When 6E is released, buy a starter and read up.

"Oracle" is a comprehensive guide to all rules of the game, including
the correct wording, including errata, of all Magic cards ever printed.
When "Oracle" is finished, in all DCI tournaments you must play all
Magic cards as worded in "Oracle". At the time of this writing,
"Oracle" is mostly done and is available for download as an Acrobat file
from www.wizards.com.

Q: I have a question about card xxxxxxxx. My friends and I aren't in
agreement, and I can't find the answer here. Where should I look?

A: The best place to get card rulings is the pair of giant text files
that contain all rulings on every single Magic card. These files are
called "rule-cards.txt" and "rule-general.txt" and they are updated
monthly. Stephen D'Angelo has been nice enough to keep writing them as
time goes on. You can get them at:

http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/magic.html
ftp://ftp.activesw.com/pub/sdangelo/magic/

If the ruling isn't here, check the most current version of "Oracle" at
www.wizards.com.

If you can't find your ruling here, you might want to skim the Usenet
newsgroup rec.games.trading-cards.magic.rules and if you don't find the
ruling there, post and ask.

If you can't find an immediate answer at any of these locations, you
could ask for a definitive answer by e-mailing ques...@wizards.com
and asking. Generally your question will be answered in a day or two.
Be nice to the people at this address. They are very terse, presumably
due to the e-mail load, but they have answers. (Technically, their
answers are not the final word, but errors are rare.)

If you and a friend have a disagreement about a ruling that you can't
resolve on the spot, the rulebook suggests you flip a coin to decide
whose interpretation should be used for the remainder of the match, and
find out the official ruling later.

Q: Who Can I Trust? David DeLaney posted one ruling, and Stephen
D'Angelo contradicts him in "rule-cards.txt", and I e-mailed
ques...@wizards.com and got a third answer, and my friend remembers
that Aahz posted a fourth answer, and I personally remember Mark
Rosewater giving a fifth!

A: The best rule is, if you are unsure about a ruling that may come up
while playing your deck, go to the head judge at the tournament you're
at, and ask what *his* ruling will be. Then you'll know in advance how
it'll go down.

Bethmo became the Rules Manager at WotC in January, 1998, so her word is
final. (She took over from Tom Wylie.) The netrep who puts in many
hours answering questions on the rules newsgroup is currently David
DeLaney. Dan Gray is the netrep for the JUDGES-L list, and Paul Barclay
is another official netrep. There are other netreps for WotC's other
mailing lists. If you read any posts or e-mails that were written by
any of these people, then they are authoritative. If they contradict
each other, well, there's a problem, and you should point it out to both
parties and ask what the real ruling is.

As Stephen D'Angelo notes, the wonderful "rule-general.txt" and "rule-
cards.txt" files are not really official documents from WotC, but are
compilations of official rulings, made by an official observer.
Of course, I rely on them anyway.

Q: What is "errata"?

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, guess where, "rule-cards.txt" on D'Angelo's
site.

If a card has been errata'ed, you *must* play by the new errata'ed text
in all situations. Playing by the old card text is not an option.

For example, Impulse tells you to draw 4 cards, put one in your hand,
put the other 3 on the bottom of your library, and then shuffle your
library. The "shuffle your library" part was a mistake, so WotC
errata'ed the card to exclude that sentence.

6 COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS THAT COULD BE FOUND BY READING THE MANUAL

Q: Does Dark Ritual stay on the board after I cast it, and take effect
every single turn thereafter?

A: No. Dark Ritual puts BBB in your mana pool when it resolves, and
that's it. Instants, Interrupts, Sorceries, and Mana Source spells all
are "one-shot" spells and are placed in the graveyard when they
resolve...unlike permanents, which stay in play on the board when they
resolve.

Q: What is a "permanent"?

A: Any artifact, creature, enchantment, or land. This includes token
creatures. The term "permanent" refers to the fact that these cards sit
around on the table "permanent"ly (until somebody gets rid of them), as
opposed to things like sorceries, instants, and interrupts, which don't
sit around on the table. [5E rulebook, page 14]

Q: What is a "spell"?

A: Don't laugh: to a novice, this may be a trick question. In Magic,
the term "spell" is specifically used for a card *after* you have
announced you are casting the spell but *before* it resolves. Thus, a
spell whose effect is "Counter target spell." only works on spells that
have not yet resolved.

Placing a land is not casting a spell, and cannot be responded to.

Q: What do you mean? What's "resolve"?

A: If you want to cast a spell, its effect does not happen immediately.
See "BATCHES", below, for a description of what exactly occurs when
you cast a spell.

Q: What is ante? What is an "ante card"?

A: Playing for ante is an optional (and, sadly, unpopular) rule in
which, at the very beginning of the game right after you cut your
opponent's deck, you turn face-up the top card of your opponent's deck,
and he does the same to you. The two cards are set aside, out of the
game. Whoever wins the game wins both those cards, permanently.

"Ante card" means either (a) a card that has been selected as the ante
wager in a particular game ("I *couldn't* win! My Torch got ante'd!"),
or (b) any card whose effects involve ante, such as Demonic Attorney,
Darkpact, Amulet of Quoz, or Jeweled Bird ("I bought a Beta starter, and
two out of my three rares were ante cards! Way-hew!")

In Microprose's computer version of Magic, most games in Shandalar are
played for ante, so you get to use the ante cards like Bronze Tablet.

Sadly, you'll notice that no ante cards have been introduced or
reprinted since Homelands. Looks like those Timmerian Fiends were the
last hurrah. Go ahead, go look 'em up, I know you have to.

Q: What color is a gold-bordered card?

A: It's considered to be all mana colors shown at the top of the card.
The gold border of some cards just indicates that they cost more than on
color of mana to cast. "Gold" is not a card color.

Q: Can I Terror a gold-bordered, red-and-black creature?

A: No. A permanent that costs multiple mana colors is considered a
card of all those mana colors. So since your creature is considered
a black creature (among other things), it cannot be Terrored.

Q: Can I use a CoP: Black against a gold-bordered, red-and-black
creature?

A: Yes. Since the creature has a black mana symbol at the top of the
card (among others), he is considered a black source of damage (among
others).

Q: How long does the xxxxxxxx spell (or ability) last? The card
doesn't say.

A: [Mirage rulebook, page 28] "Spells and abilities that have a
continuous effect don't wear off unless they specify that they last for
a certain duration..." So if you use Mist Dragon's "Flying" ability, it
does indeed stay flying forever unless something makes it lose flying.

Q: Who is the "owner" of a card?

A: The owner is the person who started the game with that card in his
deck. Certain ante-related spells can change card ownership in the
middle of a game.

No, we aren't really interested in hearing contrived stories about how
you gave your opponent a dollar in the middle of a game to purchase the
Tim he just laid out on the table, and then tapped your Despotic Scepter
to bury it.

Q: Who is the "controller" of a permanent?

A: The controller is usually the person who brought the permanent into
play. When you bring a permanent into play, you are its controller
until some spell or effect changes the controller, like Control Magic,
Ray of Command, or Gauntlets of Chaos.

If a card changes controllers, any enchantments upon the controlled card
do *not* change controllers: for instance, if Weez casts Control Magic
on Kirk's Drudge Skeletons upon which Kirk placed a Firebreathing
enchantment, then Weez becomes the controller of the Drudge Skeletons,
but Kirk is still the controller of the Firebreathing enchantment,
because Control Magic only changes the controller of the creature, not
the enchantments on it. Only Kirk may pump mana into the Firebreathing.

7 BATCHES

Q: What's a "batch" and what do I get out of it? What are you people
talking about? What's this last-in, first-out thing? I find it really
confusing, scary, and threatening.

A: Relax, it ain't that bad. First I'll give a simple explanation of
all the steps that happen when you cast a spell. (Or activate an
ability.) Then I'll give lots of examples.

By the way, the "rule-general.txt" file contains the definitive list of
all the timing info you could ever want. Consult it for the definitive,
technical answers to everything. Also see the section of this FAQ
entitled TIMING, TIMING, TIMING, which has FAQs on timing. OK, here we
go.

The simple explanation of a batch: When you announce a spell or
ability, its effect does not happen immediately. Rather, it is said to
begin a "batch". After you have announced the spell or ability and paid
all casting costs, your opponent may respond by announcing *his own*
spell or ability. You can respond to his response by announcing more
responses of your own, which *he* can respond to, ad nauseum until
nobody has any more spells or abilities to announce.

At this point, all the spells and abilities start to "resolve". The
last spell or ability that was announced resolves first. When a spell
or ability resolves, it takes effect immediately. Then the second-to-
last spell or ability resolves. Work your way down the list, resolving
them in this LIFO -- "last-in, first-out" -- manner, until finally the
original spell or ability resolves. Then you're done.

There are a few exceptions to the above timing rules. The first two to
deal with are (1) damage prevention steps and (2) regeneration.

(1): A damage prevention step occurs when a creature is damaged at any
point during a batch. This damage prevention step is sort of a "time
out" from the batch to allow damage to be applied (and possibly
prevented). During the damage prevention step, either player may cast
spells or use abilities that (a) prevent damage; (b) redirect damage;
(c) are usable only when someone or something is damaged (such as Eye
for an Eye); (d) are interrupts targeting something that has already
been legally announced. (You may also cast mana sources, of course.)

(2): If a creature is destroyed or suffers lethal damage at any time
during a batch, its controller may regenerate the creature if he has an
appropriate spell or ability to do so. This may insert extra steps in
the middle of a batch, too.

There are two more major exceptions to these rules about batches, but
we'll discuss them in examples #5 and #7, respectively.

EXAMPLE #1: SIMPLE BATCH EXAMPLE #1

1. Weez taps a mountain and announces he's casting Lightning Bolt on
Kirk's 1/1 Whirling Dervish.
2. Kirk responds by tapping one Forest and announcing he's casting
Giant Growth on the Whirling Dervish.
3. Neither player has any more spells or abilities to announce, so they
start to resolve in LIFO ("last-in, first-out") order.
4. Step #2 resolves. The Whirling Dervish is now a 4/4 creature until
the end of the turn.
5. Step #1 resolves. A damage prevention step occurs. No players
announce any damage prevention effects, so the Dervish takes 3
points of damage. This doesn't exceed its toughness of 4, so it
doesn't die.
6. All spells have now resolved. The batch is done.

EXAMPLE #2: SIMPLE BATCH EXAMPLE #2

Note how important the order of casting spells is by comparing example
#2 to example #1. Under old timing rules previous to Mirage/5E, the
Dervish would have survived in either case, because under the old rules,
all damage dealt during the batch was postponed until the end of the
batch. No more.

1. Kirk taps one Forest and announces he's casting Giant Growth on his
1/1 Whirling Dervish.
2. Weez taps a mountain and announces he's casting Lightning Bolt on
the Dervish.
3. Neither player has any more spells or abilities to announce, so they
start to resolve in LIFO order.
4. Step #2 resolves. A damage prevention step occurs. No players
announce any damage prevention effects, so the Dervish takes 3
points of damage. This exceeds its toughness of 1, so the Dervish
dies and goes to the graveyard.
5. Step #1 attempts to resolve, but fizzles because the target is not
in play.
6. All spells have now resolved. The batch is done.

EXAMPLE #3: SIMPLE BATCH EXAMPLE #3

This example illustrates one important point: ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN
EFFECT DOES NOT ALTER THE EFFECT. Note that in this example Tim is
buried in step #4, Tim's ability still follows through in step #5.

1. Weez taps his Tim and announces he's shooting Kirk.
2. Kirk responds by casting Terror on Tim.
3. Neither player has any more spells or abilities to announce, so they
start to resolve in LIFO order.
4. Step #2 resolves. Tim is buried.
5. Step #1 resolves. A damage prevention step occurs. No player
announces any damage prevention effects, so Kirk takes 1 point of
damage.
6. All spells have now resolved. The batch is done.

EXAMPLE #4: SIMPLE BATCH WITH TWO DAMAGE PREVENTION EFFECTS

In this example, Kirk has three Horrible Hordes (2/2) in play, and Weez
has one Serra Angel (4/4, Flying) in play.

1. Weez taps three Mountains and announces he's casting Earthquake
for two.
2. Kirk responds by announcing a Vertigo on Weez's Serra Angel. Kirk
certainly wants the Serra to get hurt by that Earthquake.
3. Neither player has any more spells or abilities to announce, so they
start to resolve in LIFO order.
4. Step #2 resolves. Weez's Serra Angel loses flying.
5. A damage prevention step occurs because in step #4, Vertigo
deals 2 damage to the Serra Angel. No player announces any damage
prevention effects, so the Serra Angel takes 2 points of damage.
6. Step #1 resolves.
7. A damage prevention step occurs because in step #6, Earthquake is
going to deal 2 points of damage to all players and all creatures
without flying. However, Kirk announces he's casting the spell
Reflect Damage, which redirects all damage dealt by one source to
that source's controller.
8. No player announces any response to the casting of Reflect Damage
in step #7, so it starts to resolve.
9. Reflect Damage resolves, redirecting all the damage dealt by that
Earthquake. A total of 12 points of damage is redirected to Weez.
10. Weez announces he's casting Ivory Charm to prevent 1 point of the 12
points of damage. Note we're still in the same damage prevention
step that began at step 7 -- Kirk and Weez can sit around and cast
damage prevention and redirection spells all day and they'll remain
in the same damage prevention step until they are done doing so.
11. No player announces any response to the casting of Ivory Charm, so
it starts to resolve.
12. Ivory Charm resolves and reduces the damage to 11 points.
13. The damage prevention step that started in step #10 is now done.
Weez takes 11 points of damage and wishes he hadn't ever heard of
earthquakes.

The interesting part about example #4 is that damage prevention and
redirection spells were announced in steps #7 and #10, which technically
were in the middle of a bunch of spells *resolving*. With normal spells
this is not possible -- Weez could not have announced a Terror at any
point from step #4 on, because in all of these steps, both players had
already declared they were not going to announce any more spells or
abilities, and the batch hadn't finished resolving. The only reason the
Reflect Damage and Ivory Charm *could* be played was that these are
damage prevention (and redirection) spells.

EXAMPLE #5: BATCH EXAMPLE WITH INTERRUPTS

Now is a good time to discuss the third exception to the basic rules of
the batch that I discussed above: INTERRUPTS! Counterspell,
Deflection, and Sleight Of Mind are examples of interrupts.

The rule for interrupts is that if you announce an interrupt, it may
only be responded to by interrupts. So an interrupt is going to resolve
before any Instants can be announced.

Here's a step-by-step explication of the interrupt example given on
pages 38 and 39 in the Mirage rulebook. Names have been changed to
match this FAQ. :)

1. Weez taps ten Mountains and announces he's casting a 9-point
Fireball on Kirk.
2. Kirk responds by tapping an Island and announcing he's casting
Hydroblast on the Fireball.
3. Weez responds by tapping a Swamp and announcing he's casting
Deathlace on his own Fireball.
4. Kirk responds by tapping another Island and announcing he's
casting another Hydroblast on the Fireball.
5. No player announces any further spells or abilities, so they start
to resolve.
6. Step #4 resolves. The Fireball is countered. It's put into the
graveyard.
7. Step #3 tries to resolve, but fizzles, since the Fireball is no
longer a "spell" -- it's just a card sitting in Weez's graveyard.
8. Step #2 tries to resolve, but fizzles also.
9. Step #1 would try to resolve, but the Fireball has been
countered.

EXAMPLE #6: BATCH EXAMPLE WITH MANY INTERRUPTS

1. Weez taps two Plains and announces he's casting Balance.
2. Kirk taps two Islands and announces he's casting Arcane Denial.
3. Weez taps two Islands and announces he's casting Counterspell on
Kirk's Arcane Denial.
4. Kirk taps two Islands and announces he's casting Counterspell on
Weez's Counterspell.
5. Weez taps two Islands and announces he's casting Memory Lapse on
Kirk's Counterspell.
6. Kirk pitches a Recall out of the game to announce he's casting
Force Of Will on Weez's Memory Lapse.
7. Weez taps two Islands and announces he's casting Arcane Denial on
Kirk's Force of Will.
8. No player announces any further interrupts (actually they are both
laughing hysterically by now), so the interrupts start to resolve.
9. Step #7 resolves. Kirk's Force of Will (step 6) is countered, and
placed in Kirk's graveyard.
10. Step #6 tries to resolve but it was countered by step #9.
11. Step #5 resolves. Kirk's Counterspell (step 4) is countered, and
placed on top of Kirk's library (due to the Memory Lapse wording).
12. Step #4 tries to resolve, but it was countered by step #11.
13. Step #3 resolves. Kirk's Arcane Denial (step 2) is countered, and
placed in Kirk's graveyard.
14. Step #2 tries to resolve but it was countered by step #13.
15. All interrupts have now resolved. Either player may respond to step
#1 with instants again. Weez does indeed respond by sacrificing
all his 16 lands, one at a time, to his Zuran Orb. (This is really
16 separate announcements, each in response to the previous one, and
then 16 separate resolutions, but for the sake of brevity I'm
including them as one step, since Kirk has no response to any of the
announcements.)
16. No player announces any further spells or abilities, so all
remaining spells in the batch start to resolve.
17. Step #15 (well, actually, 16 separate effects) resolve. Weez gains
32 life.
18. Step #1 resolves. Kirk must sacrifice all his land (since Weez
doesn't have any land because of step #15), all his creatures (since
Weez has none), and discard all his cards (since Weez has none
left).

On the next turn's upkeep, Weez must draw 1 card and Kirk may draw up to
2 cards, because of the one Arcane Denial that successfully resolved in
step #9. Here's what a tab-indented representation of the above batch
might look like.

Announce Balance
Announce Kirk's Arcane Denial
Announce Weez's Counterspell
Announce Kirk's Counterspell
Announce Weez's Memory Lapse
Announce Kirk's Force Of Will
Announce Weez's Arcane Denial
Resolve Weez's Arcane Denial
(Force Of Will was countered)
Resolve Memory Lapse
(Counterspell was countered)
Resolve Counterspell
(Arcane Denial was countered)
Announce Zuran Orb (16 separate times)
Resolve Zuran Orb (16 separate times)
Resolve Balance

Note that in step #15, Weez would have to announce each Zuran Orb land
sacrifice as a separate ability activation, responding to the previous
land sacrifice with another one. The sixteen separate announcements
(and the sixteen separate resolutions) were condensed into step #15 and
step #17 for brevity's sake.

EXAMPLE #7: BATCH EXAMPLE WITH A TRIGGERED EFFECT INCLUDED

The last big exception to the batch rules listed so far is Triggered
Effects [Mirage rulebook, p. 40-41]. Triggered effects are effects
generated by permanents in play that say "When XXX happens, YYY
happens." Examples are pretty common, and can be seen in Psychic Venom,
Grave Pact, Soul Net, Funeral March, Crystal Golem, Skulking Ghost,
Endangered Armadon, and the assignment of the -1/-1 flanking penalty.
Triggered effects happen "faster than interrupts" and will resolve
before any Interrupts (or other instants) can be announced.

In this example, Weez has Grave Pact in play.

1. Weez activates his Mogg Fanatic's ability, sacrificing it and
targeting Kirk's Nekrataal.
2. Grave Pact triggers when Mogg Fanatic hits the graveyard upon its
sacrifice. (This is before either player may cast any instants
or even interrupts like Interdict.) Kirk chooses to sacrifice
the Nekrataal that got targeted.
3. Either player may now respond to step 1. Neither player does, so
the batch starts to resolve.
4. Step #1 tries to resolve but fizzles, since the Nekrataal isn't
in play any longer.

That's it. The batch is complete.

Note that whenever a player announces a spell or ability, there are
specific rules for who gets "priority" -- that is, they may announce the
next response:

a. Player whose spell is most recently "being cast" (and is thereby the
legal target for interrupts) may announce interrupts.
b. The other player may announce interrupts.
c. Active player may announce instants.
d. Non-active player may announce instants.

(This used to be different at various times in the history of the game.)

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #2 OF 6 OF FAQ

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part3

Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

ARTICLE #3 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

8 TOURNAMENT PLAY

Q: What's a tournament like?

A: You should go play in a tournament if you haven't yet; it's lots of
fun. Everybody brings the decks they constructed at home with their own
cards (and usually a few extra cards they want to trade). You will have
to pay a few bucks at the door. If it's a Sealed Deck tournament,
you'll also have to buy the cards at retail prices (give or take).
Then everybody is assigned to an opponent and you play best two games
out of three. Some tournaments are single-elimination, meaning if you
lose any match you are out of the tournament. Harsh! Others are run
"Swiss style", meaning you can play many games in the tournament even if
you lose every single one. Until you decide to drop out, you continue
to play all day against equally ranked opponents, even after you are
mathematically eliminated from being a contender. Often, in Swiss
tournaments, after all the rounds are complete, the top eight players
then play a single-elimination mini-tournament to determine the winner.

If you have a disagreement or any question about the rules in any
situation, raise your hand and shout "JUDGE!" A judge will scurry over
and rule. You have to abide by the judge's rule, even if you can show
later that he's wrong. You can try to persuade the judge, but don't
argue with him. If you still disagree, you may appeal to the head
judge. For more floor rules and other tournament info, see:
http://www.wizards.com/DCI/MTG_DCI_Rules.html

I advise you: Before going to the tournament, look up the list of card
sets that are legal in the tournament type you want to play, and the
banned and restricted lists. The judges feel bad when they have to
eject a player who, say, puts a Mishra's Factory in their Type 2 deck.

Some parts of the "friendly" Magic games you may be accustomed to won't
hold here -- nobody is going to tell you what colors their deck is, or
what cool combos they have, at least until the match is over. (And
often not even then.) Some of the people you play may be real jerks.
Unfortunately, there is no tournament penalty against jerks. Most
people are friendly, though, at least in my experience. Be aware that
there are some people who are *extremely* intolerant and will not give
you a single break -- if you tap a land for mana and then decide you
want to take it back because you don't want to cast the spell after all,
they won't let you take it back, and you'll have to take mana burn, and
they will bark rules at you throughout the match. If it gets really
unpleasant, you can always call a judge over and tell him to make the
rules-barker calm down a little.

On the other hand, many expert players, and most of the "pro" players,
will gladly offer advice on your deck after the match, and will tell you
what they would have done in your place, let you know about little
mistakes you made during the game, and so forth. Ask them! It's
probably the fastest way to learn how to improve your play.

Before the tournament begins, the tournament organizers may require you
to give the judges a written list of the cards in your deck. This list
can be used to resolve any complaints about sideboard cheating (see
below).

Q: What's Sealed Deck?

A: It's really fun. In a Sealed Deck tournament, you don't bring your
own cards from home. All the players in the tournament purchase a
sealed starter deck, along with a couple of boosters. The choice of set
is decided by the tournament organizers, and everybody gets the same
sets (example: One TM starter and two EX boosters). All players open
their packs simultaneously and assemble decks with a minimum size of 40
cards. The remainder of the cards are your sideboard, and in most
tournaments, between games (within a 2-of-3 match) you may sideboard
cards into your deck without having to swap cards *out*. A very common
optional Sealed Deck rule is to give each player 4 or 5 extra basic
lands of their choice before play begins. Ante used to be a pretty
common option in Sealed Deck, but ante tournaments are rare these days,
more's the pity.

Some people scorn Sealed Deck because they say too much is dependent
upon the random distribution of cards: a terrific player may be fatally
handicapped by a poor draw of cards. Others say that in the long run,
the randomness will even out and good players will rise to the top, just
as in the world's "mundane" card games like poker or bridge. If you'd
like to stick your oar in, rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy is the
place for you.

Q: What's Sealed Deck Booster Draft? (Also known as Pass The Trash)

A: My favorite variation of Sealed Deck. All players get several
booster packs of various editions. Suppose each player gets one booster
pack each of MI, 5E, and VI. All players simultaneously open a pack
that the judge names -- let's suppose it's the 5E pack, which is a pack
of 15 cards. Each player then chooses and keeps *one* card from that
booster pack, and passes the remaining 14 cards to the player on his
left. When this happens, each player receives 14 cards from the player
to his right. Each player picks up these 14 cards, chooses and keeps
*one* card, and passes the remaining 13 cards to the left. This
continues until all the cards are gone, and each player will have 15
cards of his choice sitting in front of him. This continues with the
other packs (MI and VI in our example), usually alternating so you pass
to the right sometimes instead of to the left all the time. Then after
pondering the cards, each player gets to go up to the front of the room
and get a lot of land, and then make a deck out of the cards he has
selected.

Booster Draft leads to much more powerful and consistent decks than
traditional Sealed Deck play -- players usually pick a couple of colors
at the beginning based on the first couple of passes, and then only
select cards from those colors as they are passing -- and you often get
to see more 'themed' decks. In Booster Draft it becomes more possible
to build a deck themed around an Elder Dragon Legend, which is really
funny and is certainly worth style points. There is also the added
strategic element of trying to 'screw your neighbor' as you try to make
sure you don't pass him a consistent selection of good cards in the same
color. Disadvantages include a lengthier time before you get to play,
especially if there are players unfamiliar with the cards who have to
read each one before deciding whether to choose it or pass it. Another
disadvantage is that often somebody will unwittingly (or wittingly) take
2 cards instead of one, screwing up the passing and making everybody
disgruntled. Players can collectively fix this problem by counting the
number of cards that's passed to them, each time there's a pass.

Q: What's Rochester Draft?

A: People sit around the table in groups of 8 people. Sixteen cards
are placed face-up in front of them. Usually this means the contents of
a booster pack, plus one randomly selected common card from another
booster pack. The person who gets the first draw picks whichever card
he wants. Then the players take turns going around the table and pick
the one card they each want. Then the players all draw again in reverse
order until all 16 cards are gone. Then 16 new cards are placed on the
table and the draw is conducted again in reverse order. This leads to a
new level of strategy in which you will choose which cards to draft
based on your opponents' draws as well as your own developing deck.
This tournament format also gives you a big advantage if you have an
eidetic memory.

Q: What's Grandmaster?

A: In Grandmaster, all tournament players purchase one sealed starter
deck. Each player assembles one 40-card-minimum deck out of the cards
in the starter deck. There is no sideboard. In each match, whoever
wins the match collects *all* his opponent's cards. Then in the next
round, all the players assemble new decks from scratch with all the
cards they have won so far in the tournament. The winner of the
Grandmaster tournament thus gets all the cards from the tournament.

Q: What's the Duelists' Convocation (DCI)? What are DCI points?

A: "The Duelists' Convocation International (DCI) is the governing
authority for all officially sanctioned Magic: The Gathering tournaments
and events. The DCI establishes the official rules for sanctioned
tournaments, tracks and rates its members' tournament records, and
offers membership in the largest Magic: The Gathering competitive play
organization in the world."

Every time you play in a DCI-sanctioned tournament, you gain (or lose)
points in every Magic match you play; the number of points depends on
your present rating relative to your opponent's. The point system is
based on the point system used in chess tournament play. The DCI keeps
track of your points, and invites something like the top 25 highest-
ranked players to the Pro Tour each year.

See http://www.wizards.com/DCI/Welcome.html for more information on how
to score the big money and prizes.

Q: What's a "sideboard"?

A: Your sideboard is a small number of cards -- 15 cards in most
tournaments -- that you can swap in and out of your deck after game 1
and after game 2 of each match. For instance, if you are playing a
White deck, you might have four CoP: Black cards in your sideboard.
After the first game against your opponent, when you see he's playing
Black, you can swap the four CoPs into your deck. For each card you
insert from your sideboard, you must take a card *out* of your deck and
put it in the sideboard stack (i.e. out of your deck).

After each match (note the difference between "match" and "game"), you
must restore your deck and sideboard to their original states.

Sealed Deck tournaments treat sideboards a little differently: All
cards not in your deck are considered your sideboard, so most likely
you'll have around 50 cards in your sideboard. In most Sealed Deck
tournaments, after game 1 and after game 2 of each match, you may
sideboard as many cards in or out of your deck as you wish, as long as
you remain above the 40-card minimum deck size.

However, you aren't allowed to adjust your deck between matches. You
need to start each match with the same deck you started all the rest of
your matches with -- unless the tournament is being played for ante, in
which case you can adjust as you wish after each match.

Q: Can I sideboard cards in before game 1? I happen to know my
opponent likes playing Blue decks, and I brought this Tsunami along just
in case....

A: No, this is cheating and if you are caught you will be kicked out of
the tournament, remembered as a cheater, and get paper cuts every time
you shuffle a Magic deck for the rest of your life.

Q: What does "banned" mean?

A: "Banned" cards can't be used in certain types of tournaments. For
instance, Shaharazad is banned in all Magic tournaments because it
requires the players to play a "sub-game" of Magic which would take
forever while all the other players stand around and wait. Mind Twist
and Channel are banned because it's thought they are too powerful. For
a list of banned and restricted cards in a given tournament type (see
below), see:

http://www.wizards.com/DCI/MTG_DCI_Unirules.html

...then scroll down (about halfway down the page) to the tournament type
you want to check.

Q: What does "restricted" mean?

A: If a card is "restricted", you can have only one of them in your
deck. For an up-to-date list of banned and restricted cards in a
given tournament type, go to:

http://www.wizards.com/DCI/MTG_DCI_Unirules.html

...and scroll down (about halfway down the page) to the tournament type
you want to check. Examples of restricted cards in Type 1 tournaments
include Balance, Fork, and Black Lotus.

Q: What is a Type 1 tournament? ("Classic")
Q: What is a Type 2 tournament? ("Standard")
Q: What is a Type 1.5 tournament? ("Classic Restricted")
Q: What is an Extended tournament?
Q: What cards are restricted and banned in Type (insert type here)?

A: All these questions are fully answered at the DCI's web site.
Currently the DCI's format chart is available at:

http://www.wizards.com/DCI/MTG_DCI_Formats.html

Scrolling down to the CARD SETS PERMITTED IN CONSTRUCTED FORMATS chart,
you can see that, for instance, as of July 1 1998, the legal card sets
in Type 2 are 5E, MI, VI, WL, TM, ST, and EX.

Banned and restricted lists are also at the DCI's web site, currently
at:

http://www.wizards.com/DCI/MTG_DCI_Unirules.html

Brief descriptions:

Type 1: Any cards ever printed.
Type 2: The most recent "basic set" (5E, right now) along with the
last two major expansions (MI and TM, currently) and all
*their* expansions (VI, WL, ST, and EX, currently). Hence,
5E will be kicked out when 6E appears, and the Urza's Saga
expansion will kick out MI, VI, and WL.
Type 1.5: Any cards ever printed, but with a much larger banned and
restricted list than Type 1.
Extended: All card expansions from The Dark forward, and all basic
set cards from 3E forward.

Each of these tournament types has its own banned and restricted card
list.

Q: Can I use Portal cards in tournaments?

A: You may use a Portal card only if a card with the same name has been
printed in a set that is legal in the tournament you're playing, and you
still have to go by the wording on the card that's in the legal set.
For instance, in Type 2, you may play with a Giant Spider from Portal,
but you have to use the exact card text from the 5E Giant Spider. (Lots
of people like to use the basic land from Portal in their tournament
decks cos it looks cool.)

Q: What are the Power 9?

A: Black Lotus, the five Moxes, Time Walk, Ancestral Recall, and
Timetwister.

9 COSTS VS. EFFECTS

Q: My opponent Counterspelled my 10-point Fireball. Do I get a refund
of the casting cost? Or do I have 11 mana still in my mana pool?

A: No. All costs are paid upon announcement of the Fireball; the
required 11 mana were sucked up immediately when you announced the
Fireball.

Q: My opponent Counterspelled my spell that says I have to discard a
card when I cast it (or sacrifice a creature, or do any other strange
action as part of casting the spell). Do I still have to discard the
card?

A: It depends on the card phrasing. If the card says "Do X to do Y" or
"X: Do Y", then X is a *cost* of the spell, and this cost must be paid
along with all other costs upon announcement of the spell. Examples
include Kaervek's Spite (ouch), Burnt Offering, Surge Of Strength,
Withering Boon, Recall, and the special "pitch" substitute casting cost
spells like Force Of Will. So if your Surge Of Strength is countered,
yes, you have to discard a card out of your hand anyway, because
technically you have to do so when you announce the spell. If your
Kaervek's Spite is countered, well, it's been nice knowing you.

If, however, the card discard is *not* phrased "Do X to do Y" or "X: Do
Y", then the discard (or sacrifice, etc.) occurs upon successful
*resolution* of the spell, so if the spell is countered, you don't have
to discard. Examples include Balduvian Horde and Kjeldoran Dead.

Cards printed since Mirage always use the phrasing "X: Do Y". For
instance, Withering Boon is an interrupt costing B1 which states "Pay 3
life: Counter target summon spell." Because of the "X: Do Y" phrasing,
the payment of 3 life is a cost of the spell and is paid immediately
upon spell announcement.

The critical question is simply: "Is the card phrased "Do X to do Y" or
"X: Do Y", or is it not?"

Q: My opponent used his Brown Ouphe (or Interdict, or Rust) to counter
the ability of my Jester's Cap. Do I still have to sacrifice the Cap?

A: Yes, for the same reason stated above: Jester's Cap sacrifices
itself as part of the *cost* of its ability. This cost must be paid
upon announcement of the ability. Whether or not the ability is
countered has no bearing upon the required payment of costs, which
occurs before any other spells or abilities (such as the Brown Ouphe's
ability) may even be announced.

Q: Is tapping a permanent considered part of its cost?

A: Yes. Tapping a Forest is the cost of generating one green mana with
that Forest.

10 READING THE CARDS

Q: The 5E version of Ball Lightning states "At end of any turn, bury
Ball Lightning." Does this really mean "At end of any turn *I choose*"?

A: You wish. Unfortunately, the text "At end of any turn" on some
newer Magic cards means: "At end of every turn", if applicable. If you
have Ball Lightning in play and your turn ends, you have to bury Ball
Lightning.

Q: If the latest version of a card has different wording than earlier
editions of the card, do I have to play by the new wording? For
instance, the 3E Fog prevents a Thicket Basilisk from stoning its
blockers, but the 4E Fog lets the Basilisk stone away through the Fog.

A: Current DCI rules for tournaments say "All cards will be interpreted
according to the wording on the latest printed version of the cards,
plus any errata."

In any tournament, for ease of deck assembly, you're allowed to use old
editions of any cards (or even Portal cards, for that matter), but you
must play by the wording on the latest version of the card. So,
technically, as of the date of this writing you have to use the wording
on the 5E version of Fog.

Keep in mind that if WotC has issued any errata on a card, you *must*
play the card according to that errata.

Q: Can I Chaoslace Justice to make an infinitely recursive damage loop
which will deal infinity damage to my opponent?

A: No. If you read the card, you'll see that Justice doesn't affect
enchantments, and Justice itself is an enchantment.

Q: Can I use my Icy Manipulator to tap my opponent's Gloom so it
doesn't have any effect?

A: No. If you read the card, you'll see that the Icy cannot target
enchantments.

News flash! As of Tempest, we finally do have tapped enchantments: when
you activate a Licid and jump it on a creature, the Licidchantment is a
tapped enchantment. Tapped enchantments are still "on".

Q: Ice Cauldron?? Please explain this because I don't have time to
read a book's worth of microtext.

A: It lets you pay part of a spell's cost now, and part later. If you
have 7 Mountains in play and a Fireball in hand, for instance, you could
wait until the end of your opponent's turn and then activate the Ice
Cauldron. Suppose you pump all 7 red mana into the Ice Cauldron along
with the Fireball. Then during your turn, you get to untap, upkeep, and
draw, as usual ... then you can tap your 7 Mountains again and cast the
Fireball out of the Cauldron for a total of 13 points of damage instead
of just 6! Yeah, it's not that great, but it's interesting.

Another use of Ice Cauldron is to yank a particularly interesting card
out of your hand at the speed of an instant, with or without mana
pumped in, to save it from a discard spell.

Q: What in the hell is this Necropotence card? Why would I want to use
this?

A: This type of question belongs in the newsgroup
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy rather than in the rules
newsgroup. Briefly, though, Necropotence is usually considered one of
the very best card-drawing abilities in Magic -- it lets you draw *many*
cards each turn by paying 1 life for each one, rather than drawing just
*one* card for free each turn.

11 COMBAT

Q: I attack with my Polar Kraken, but my opponent casts Terror on it
and says the Kraken deals him no damage. Can he do that?

A: Yes. I recommend you read the combat section of the wonderful
"rule-general.txt" file.

In summary, here is an abbreviated list of the steps that happen in
combat.

1. Main player announces his attack phase.
2. Pause; here you can announce spells and abilities. (Flood, Icy
Manipulator are good here for the defender.) If any spells or
abilities are declared by the defender, the attack is aborted -- the
main player may start over from scratch by announcing again he
intends to attack. (See below for commentary.)
3. Attacker taps his attacking creatures and announces banding if any.
The attack is now underway.
4. Pause; here you can announce spells and abilities. (Maze Of Ith or
Delirium or any creature removal spells like Terror are good here.)
5. Defender declares blocking. Flanking penalties are assigned to
defenders right here before step #6 happens.
6. Pause; here you can announce spells and abilities. This is the last
time you can announce most spells and abilities during combat. If
you wait any longer to cast Giant Growth, combat will be over before
you can cast it. (Good time for surprise effects like Hatred or
Guided Strike. Also a good time for attacker to use Flood or Icy
Manipulator if he is OK with letting his attacking creatures be
blocked, but wants the blocking creatures to deal no damage in
combat.)
7. Damage dealing and damage prevention steps for all creatures
absorbing first strike damage. These steps only occur if there are
creatures with First Strike in combat at this time.
8. Damage dealing and damage prevention steps for non-first-strike
damage for all creatures that survived step #7 (if any).

That's it. Damage dealing and damage prevention steps are separate
steps (within #7 and #8 above). Other steps may be inserted throughout
combat depending on the spells cast in the middle of combat. These will
most likely be damage prevention steps (or regeneration effects) due to
flanking, or spells and effects that damage or destroy creatures.

Q: What do you mean, the attack is aborted in step #2 if the opponent
announces any spells or abilities? Can my opponent stop me from
attacking, turn after turn, by repeatedly activating his Mist Dragon
10,000 times in a row until I get bored announcing my attack phase?

A: If the opponent declares any spells or abilities in response to your
attack announcement, the attack is indeed aborted. You haven't attacked
yet, however, so it's legal (and common) to again announce your
intention to attack. Or, you can decide to forget about it and proceed
with the turn without ever attacking. You can declare your intention to
attack as many times as you want in a turn, as long as you haven't ever
gotten to step #3.

If your opponent announces his Mist Dragon ability 10,000 times in a
row, the rules say that at the instant of the ten-thousandth
announcement during a turn, at the speed of a mana source, you can (a)
strike him in the teeth with your knuckles, and (b) call a judge and
complain that your idiot opponent is stalling.

Q: I'm attacked with a 2/2 Gray Ogre and I block with my 1/1 Tim. Can
I tap Tim to deal another point to the Gray Ogre to finish it off?

A: No. If a blocking creature is tapped at any point in the damage
dealing step, it deals no damage in combat. For Tim to finish off the
Gray Ogre, he would have to remain untapped throughout the damage
dealing step and also use his special ability, but this is not
possible if you tap him to deal damage. (If you wait until the damage
*prevention* step then it's too late for you to announce Tim's ability,
as only damage prevention effects may be used in the damage prevention
step.)

Q: Can I use Skull Catapult or Goblin Bombardment or Mogg Fanatic or
Tim after my creature takes lethal combat damage but before it goes to
the graveyard?

A: No, and here's why. In combat, when you enter the damage dealing
step, it is not legal to announce instants (exceptions listed later).
After damage is dealt, you go straight to the damage prevention step,
and again it is still not legal to announce instants (exceptions later).
At the end of damage prevention, creatures with lethal damage go to the
graveyard. Then combat ends. THEN you are in the active player's main
phase and you may once again play instants like Skull Catapult's
ability, but of course by this time all creatures that have taken lethal
combat damage are already in the graveyard, and may not be sacrificed to
Skull Catapult.

The exceptions to the above paragraph: spells that state they must be
played during those steps (Eye for an Eye); damage prevention and
redirection spells and effects (during damage prevention); interrupts
that target an already-legally-announced spell; and mana sources.

Note that of course you may block with a creature and then sac it to
Skull Catapult _before damage dealing_. If you do this then obviously
the creature deals no combat damage -- it won't be around to do so.

Q: I'm attacked with a 1/1 Llanowar Elf, and I block with my 1/1 Samite
Healer. Can I let the Samite Healer kill the Elf and then tap the
Samite Healer to prevent the 1 damage to himself so he survives?

A: Yes. You let the entire damage dealing step happen, so each
creature deals 1 damage to the other. Then during the damage prevention
step that follows, you tap your Samite Healer to prevent the 1 damage to
himself. Sammy lives, Llanowar Elf dies. This is not a violation of
the rule stated in the Skull Catapult question because the Samite Healer
did not become tapped at any point in the damage *dealing* step.

Q: What are these rumors you can't announce spells or abilities during
the damage prevention step?

A: These rumors are true. In the damage prevention step, you can only
cast spells and use abilities that (1) prevent damage; (2) redirect
damage; (3) are usable only when someone or something is damaged (e.g.
Eye for an Eye). You can also cast (4) mana sources; and (5) any
interrupt, as long as it interrupts something that has already legally
been announced in this step. But it's too late to cast Giant Growth if
you have waited all the way until the damage prevention step.

Q: I can't respond to Kor Chant by sacrificing my Mogg Fanatic?

A: Nope. Kor Chant is great. Suppose Weez attacks Kirk with a 2/1
Seeker of Skybreak, and Kirk blocks with Mogg Fanatic. Weez casts Kor
Chant to redirect Mogg Fanatic's damage back to Mogg Fanatic. Kirk
can't respond with Mogg Fanatic's ability, because it's not a damage
prevention or redirection ability. Mogg Fanatic dies and Weez laughs.

Q: Can I sacrifice my Bottle Gnomes for 3 life after it blocks and
kills an attacking Pincher Beetles?

A: No. Again, you can't announce "normal" instant-speed abilities,
like that of Bottle Gnomes, during the damage dealing or damage
prevention steps of combat.

Q: Can I blink my Blinking Spirit back to my hand after it takes lethal
damage?

A: No. After a creature takes lethal damage, it goes to the graveyard
at the speed of a rule-trigger, and you don't have time to announce the
Blinking Spirit ability, Boomerang, pumping white mana into a Holy
Armor, or any other effect. Of course, you may perform any of these
effects between the blocking step and the damage dealing step, which
will probably do what you want.

Q: Weez attacks with a Pearled Unicorn. Can Kirk cast Twiddle to untap
the Unicorn and prevent the attack?

A: No. Untapping a creature does not prevent the attack. The Pearled
Unicorn will merely be attacking while being untapped -- after all,
there's no rule stating a creature must remain tapped throughout an
attack for the attack to keep going. This is a common misconception
among novices, especially anyone who has ever been annoyed by a Maze Of
Ith (whose ability is to untap target attacking creature *and prevent it
from dealing or receiving combat damage*).

Q: Does flanking happen before First Strike combat damage?

A: Yes. The flanking penalty occurs as a triggered effect when the
block is assigned. This happens way before any damage dealing step
takes place.

Q: What happens when my 1/1 regenerating Drudge Skeletons block a 1/1
flanking Mtenda Herder?

A: The Mtenda Herder will be blocked, but it will survive combat
whereas the Drudge Skeletons will be killed and you won't be able to
save them with regeneration. (The -1/-1 flanking penalty will remain on
the Drudge Skeletons if you pay B to regenerate them, so they will
immediately die again. Repeat ad nauseum.)

Q: If damage with a side effect is dealt to a creature or player, and
the damage is reduced to zero, or it's all prevented, by something like
Healing Salve or Circle of Protections or Protection From Color, then
does the creature or player suffer those side effects? Hypnotic
Specter, Lowland Basilisk, Incinerate are examples.

A: No. If damage is prevented, or reduced to zero, then the creature
or player has not taken any damage and doesn't suffer the side effect.

Q: If I block with my en-Kor creature and redirect combat damage to
Wall of Souls or Wall of Essence, do the walls' special effects trigger?

A: No. When you redirect damage, it keeps all its attributes except
its "trample" and "combat" attributes. It's no longer combat damage, so
the walls' effects don't trigger.

Q: Can I block War Mammoth with my 2/2 en-Kor creature and redirect all
3 points to itself, so it dies and I don't have to take trample damage?

A: Well, with the new Trample rules (see "TRAMPLE"), this trick no
longer applies. The attacking player may assign 2 damage to the en-Kor
creature and 1 damage to the defending player directly. That 1 extra
point of damage was never assigned to the en-Kor creature, so you can't
redirect it.

Q: If my 2/2 en-Kor creature blocks a 10/10 Serra Avatar, can I
redirect the 10 points of damage to my Mogg Maniac, 1 point at a time,
so it deals 10 to my opponent? Or does Mogg Maniac die as soon as I
redirect 1 damage to it?

A: You can redirect all 10 to Mogg Maniac because you are in a damage
prevention step, and creatures don't go to the graveyard until the end
of the damage prevention step. You have plenty of time to redirect the
10 damage to Mogg Maniac, one point at a time.

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #3 OF 6 OF FAQ

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part4

Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

ARTICLE #4 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

13 PROTECTION FROM COLOR [5E rulebook, page 30]

Q: Does Wrath Of God bury my Black Knight even though it has Protection
From White?

A: Yes. Protection From White does *not* mean "Totally immune to all
white spells and effects". Creatures with Protection From White have
the following features:

1. Cannot be targeted by white spells or effects. For information on
targeting, see the TARGETING chapter of this FAQ.
2. All damage from white sources is reduced to zero.
3. Cannot be blocked by any white creature.
4. Any white enchantments that somehow got on the creature fall off
immediately.

Since Wrath Of God is not a targeted effect, Black Knight is indeed
buried.

Q: Does Balance affect my Black Knight even though it has Protection
From White?

A: Yes. Balance tells each player to sacrifice creatures, and
sacrificing a creature is not a targeted effect. For information on
targeting, see the TARGETING section of this FAQ.

Q: Can I sacrifice my White Knight to a Lord of the Pit, even though
White Knight has Protection From Black?

A: Yes. Sacrificing is not a targeted effect. For information on
targeting, see the TARGETING section of this FAQ.

Q: Can I use Crown of the Ages to move an Enfeeblement to my opponent's
White Knight?

A: No. The new target does have to be legal.

Q: What happens if a creature with Protection From Color somehow gets
an Enchant Creature of that color on it? For instance, I have Empyrial
Armor on my Freewind Falcon, and my opponent Sleights the Falcon to have
Protection from White.

A: The enchantment falls off the creature at the speed of a rules-
trigger effect.

14 TRAMPLE [New rules are in the Urza's Saga starter deck insert; older
rules are in the 5E rulebook, page 21]

The Trample rules changed significantly with the release of Urza's Saga,
first seen at the prerelease tournaments in September 1998. The goal of
the rules changes was simplification. Note that the insert in Urza's
Saga starter decks uses new templating. "Assigns damage" is now called
"Deals damage", and the old term "deals damage" now is called
"successfully deals damage". I am going to split the difference here
and use the terms "assigns damage" and "successfully deals damage".

Trample is no longer a damage redirection ability. You simply assign
damage to creatures and players, as appropriate, at the time that combat
damage is assigned. When you attack with a creature with Trample, if
you are going to be able to deal lethal damage to the blocking creature,
then *at the time you assign damage*, you assign some of your damage to
the blocker, and if you assign lethal damage, then you may assign some
of your damage to the defending player. You get to split the damage any
way you want between the blocker and the defending player. You can only
assign damage to the defending player if the blocker is assigned
*lethal* damage.

Also, if multiple creatures block, you can only assign damage to the
defending player if you assign lethal damage to *all* blocking creatures
first.

* In the above two paragraphs, "lethal damage" is determined *without*
considering abilities like Protection From, or automatic reduction to
zero, or any damage prevention, or anything of the sort. You just look
at the amount of damage compared to the blocking creature's toughness,
taking into account any previous damage the blocking creature has taken.
See the examples below.

Yes, it's annoying that a set of rules were changed when they weren't
broke. But the new rules *do* simplify several categories of rulings
that used to be complicated.

Example 1: Weez attacks Kirk with Ball Lighting (6/1 Trample). Kirk
blocks with a Gray Ogre (2/2). During the damage dealing step of
combat, Weez chooses to assign 2 damage to the Gray Ogre and 4 damage to
Kirk. Then in the damage prevention step, Kirk casts Healing Salve on
the Gray Ogre to prevent its 2 damage and save it completely; he still
takes 4 damage from the Ball Lightning's Trample damage.

Example 2: Weez attacks Kirk with Colossus of Sardia (9/9 Trample).
Kirk blocks with Benalish Hero (1/1 Banding). During the damage dealing
step of combat, since Kirk gets to assign damage, he chooses to assign
all 9 damage to the Benalish Hero, and none to himself. Benalish Hero
dies; Kirk takes no damage. Yes, this defies logic.

Example 3: Weez attacks Kirk with Force of Nature (8/8 Trample). Kirk
blocks with Cerulean Wyvern (3/3 Protection from Green). During the
damage dealing step of combat, Weez assigns 3 damage to Cerulean Wyvern
and 5 damage to Kirk. At the beginning of the damage prevention step of
combat, the Cerulean Wyvern's Protection from Green ability reduces the
3 damage to zero, so it doesn't die, but Kirk takes all 5 points of
Trample damage.

Q: My War Mammoth (3/3 Trample) attacks and is blocked by Wall Of
Shadows (0/1, damage dealt to Wall Of Shadows in combat is reduced to
zero). How much trample damage spills over to my opponent?

A: Zero, 1, or 2, depending on how you assign your damage. Most likely
you'll assign 1 damage to Wall of Shadows, and 2 damage to the defending
player. At the beginning of the damage prevention step, all the damage
on the Wall of Shadows will be reduced to zero, but the damage assigned
to the defending player is unaffected. (REVERSAL; used to be "None".)

Q: My War Mammoth is blocked by a creature with the Gaseous Form
enchantment on it. How much trample damage spills over?

A: All 3 points. A creature with Gaseous Form cannot receive damage in
combat. Therefore, the attacker must assign all 3 points of damage to
the defending player.

Q: My War Mammoth is blocked by a Blinking Spirit and my opponent
blinks it back to his hand after blocking but before damage dealing, to
prevent the Blinking Spirit from dying. How much trample damage does my
opponent take?

A: All 3 points. Since there is no blocker to assign damage to, you
must assign all 3 points of combat damage to the defending player.

Q: My War Mammoth (3/3 Trample) is blocked by a Scryb Sprite with
Carapace on it (1/3). My opponent regenerates the Scryb Sprite by
sacrificing the Carapace on it. How much trample damage spills over?

A: The new Urza's Saga Trample rules actually simplify this question,
compared to any version of the old rules. You must assign all 3 damage
to the Scryb Sprite, since its toughness is 3. You can't assign any
Trample damage to the defending player -- you only did 3 points of
damage. Then, in the damage prevention step, you can regenerate Scryb
Sprite by sacrificing Carapace. Damage is removed as normal for
regeneration; Scryb Sprite survives as a 1/1 and the defending player
takes no Trample damage, since of course you didn't assign any when it
was time to do so.

Q: Furnace of Rath is in play. My War Mammoth (3/3 Trample) attacks
and is blocked by a 1/1 Scryb Sprite. How much damage does the
defending player take?

A: The answer is "0, 2, or 4, depending on how you assign damage". In
the damage dealing step, you can choose to assign 1, 2, or 3 damage to
the Scryb Sprite, and it is doubled upon assignment. The remainder of
the 3 combat damage is assigned to the defending player, and *that*
damage is doubled.

So if you choose to assign 1 damage to the Scryb Sprite, this damage is
doubled by Furnace of Rath to 2. Then you assign 2 damage -- the
remainder of War Mammoth's 3 combat damage -- to the defending player,
and this 2 damage is doubled to 4.

Under the old rules, he took 10, because 3 damage was assigned to Scryb
Sprites, which doubled to 6, and then 5 Trample damage was redirected at
Trample-redirection time, which was redoubled to 10. Stupid, huh? The
new rule is intuitively better when it comes to Furnace of Rath.

15 BANDING AND ASSIGNING TO BLOCK

Q: I attack with Noble Elephant banded with Burning Shield Askari. My
opponent blocks with a Jungle Wurm. I say the Jungle Wurm dies (4
damage plus -1/-1 from flanking); my opponent says there's no flanking
penalty and it doesn't die. Who's right?

A: It depends on which creature your opponent *assigned* the Jungle
Wurm to block. If Jungle Wurm was assigned to block Burning Shield
Askari, the Jungle Wurm is going to receive a flanking penalty.
However, your opponent *should* assign the Jungle Wurm to block the
Noble Elephant, which does not have flanking and will not give the
Jungle Wurm a flanking penalty.

Note the subtle difference between the terms "block" and "assigned to
block". No matter which creature the Jungle Wurm is *assigned* to
block, it does *block* both creatures in the band, because that's how
the banding rules work. But a careful player will think about where he
assigns his blockers.

Q: I attack with Lim-Dul's Paladin banded with a Benalish Hero. My
opponent says he's assigning his Raging Spirit to block the Benalish
Hero and my Paladin is just a plain old 0/3 creature. I say it's a 6/6
trampler, or my opponent loses 4 life. Who's right?

A: He is. Lim-Dul's Paladin gets +6/+3 if any creatures are *assigned*
to block it -- your opponent assigned a creature to block the Hero, not
the Paladin. And the Paladin will cause the defending player to lose 4
life if it attacks and is not blocked -- but the Paladin *is* considered
blocked because a member of the band it's in has been blocked. Your
Paladin remains a measly 0/3 creature and your opponent is right to
laugh.

16 INFINITY

Q: Can I pump my Fallen Angel up to a power of 9 trillion by means of
Enduring Renewal and Ornithopter?

A: Yes. There are many Enduring Renewal combos that lead to a trillion
power, or life, or damage, or Pegasus tokens. Most of them involve
creatures with a zero casting cost along with a sacrifice ability like
Ashnod's Altar or Goblin Bombardment or maybe Atog.

Q: I have another infinite combo.

A: Neat. People may be interested in discussing your combo on
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy. Merlyn wrote and maintains a
good article on infinite mana "engines" and what to do with them. The
address is now <http://www.visi.com/~westley/infinite.html>.

Q: What are the rules on activating something infinite times?

A: (REVERSAL) For a player-controlled loop like Fallen
Angel/Ornithopter/Enduring Renewal, you demonstrate the loop a few times
and then state how many times you want it to occur, in the form of a
finite, positive integer ("nine trillion, please"). You can't choose
"infinity".

For a loop that the players have no control over, like Ivory Gargoyle
plus AEther Flash, you demonstrate the loop a few times, both players
name a finite, positive integer, as above, and the loop is considered to
happen a number of times equal to the larger of the two numbers chosen.
Then you take a look at what happens at the "end of the loop" and that's
how the cards end up. Just go read "rule-general.txt". This system is
not perfect and there are a few combos that demonstrate how wrong it is.
But they had to come up with something.

Q: Why doesn't Wizards Of The Coast issue errata to the cards to
prevent this (almost) infinite pumping? It obviously means the game is
broken.

A: In a practical sense, most players believe infinite combos are not a
serious problem. Infinite combos offend our sense of 'rightness', but
in actual decks they are rare and fragile and thus aren't much of a
problem. If you see an Ashnod's Altar or an Enduring Renewal then
you're going to Disenchant it pretty quickly, or else laugh. Also it
seems that any attempt to prevent infinite pumping would prevent any
future cards that have activation costs of zero mana, which seems
unnecessarily restrictive.

Q: Frenetic Efreet is the best creature in Magic because you can just
flip the coin infinite times in a batch until it comes up in your favor,
right?

A: No. The first coin flip that resolves is going to be the only
relevant coin flip, because when it resolves, the Frenetic Efreet is
either going to be buried or phased out. All subsequent coin-flip
resolutions fail, because Frenetic Efreet will no longer be in play.
Remember, if you use the Efreet's ability and flip a coin, you're in the
middle of the *resolution* steps of the batch, and you can't declare any
new abilities (like more coin-flip ability activations) until the batch
is complete.

Q: Do I get infinite card draws by casting Eureka while I have Recycle
in play?

A: No. You _play_ the Eureka, which then lets you _put into play_ the
other permanents; you aren't _playing_ them as spells being cast.
[DeLaney, 11/28/97]

Q: What about my Wall of Roots / Stasis / Magma Mine combo?

A: "Wall of Boom" was a short-lived combo that was ruled legal at some
PTQ's in January 1998, in which the perpetrators used a very
questionable combo to generate infinite mana at a point in between turns
in which there used to be a little bubble of time that only existed for
the purpose of activating Time Vault.

The errata of February 1998 eliminated this "between turns" step. Good
riddance to a lot of useless discussion on .rules.

17 TIMING, TIMING, TIMING

Q: Where are some good references on timing?

A: Good question -- spell timing (and the timing of the separate steps
in combat) is probably the #1 source of confusion in Magic. Must be why
Portal is full of just Sorceries.

The authoritative timing reference is now the "rule-general.txt" file
(see the first article of this FAQ) where you can read to your heart's
content on continuous effects, phase effects, triggered effects,
specialized effects, instants, interrupts, mana sources, and all the
timing implications thereof.

Q: Weez has a Tim. Kirk has a Royal Assassin. Neither one has
summoning sickness. If Weez's Tim shoots the Royal Assassin, and Kirk
responds by shooting Tim with the Royal Assassin, what happens?

A: Both die. Here's the sequence of events in the batch.

1. Weez taps Tim and announces he's shooting Kirk's Royal Assassin.
2. Kirk responds with the Royal Assassin's ability, tapping him and
announcing he's going to destroy Tim.
3. No more spells or abilities are declared, so they start resolving,
last-in, first out.
4. Step 2 resolves. Tim is destroyed.
5. Step 1 resolves. A damage prevention step occurs. Royal Assassin
takes 1 point of damage and dies.

The very important note here is in step 5. Note that in step 5, step 1
resolved even though Tim left play way back in step 4. This is a good
illustration of the rule that ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN EFFECT DOES NOT
ALTER THE EFFECT.

Q: What's faster, a Sorcery or an Instant or an Interrupt or a Mana
Source? What about continuous effects, triggered effects, and rule
triggers?

A: Here's a list of all the types of effects and spells, in "speed"
order, roughly from fastest to slowest -- but read the notes below for
extremely important caveats!

Continuous Ability
Mana Source
Rules Trigger
Triggered Ability
Interrupt
Instants / abilities of permanents / Phase Abilities
Cast a Sorcery / Cast an Enchantment / Cast a Summon / Cast an Artifact

Note for old timers who are catching up: Continuous Abilities,
Triggered Abilities, and Phase Abilities were formerly called Continuous
Effects, Triggered Effects, and Phase Effects, in that order.

Conspicuously missing from the above list: Playing a land, which is not
considered a spell and can't be responded to. Also, there are many
spells that fall into the catchall category of "specialized effects",
which means "This spell happens at an unusual time". This category is
so broad that WotC doesn't like to use the term anymore.

Continuous Abilities are abilities like those of Kismet, Castle,
Unholy Strength, Lord of Atlantis, Blood Moon, Null Rod, and Pacifism.
You can tell if something is a Continuous Ability because the card
text specifies an effect that is clearly not a one-shot effect, does
not have an activation cost (this would make it a normal ability), and
does not use terms like "When" or "If" or "Whenever" (this would make
it a triggered ability). Many continuous abilities are generated by
permanents, as in the cards listed above; but many are set up by a
one-shot spell or ability, and last for a given duration. Examples of
this latter type include Giant Growth, Abeyance, and the continuous
abilities set up by Goblin Soothsayer and Fallen Angel. Note that
NONE of the cards listed here is itself a continuous ability; all the
cards just set up a continuous ability. (So don't let Junior con you
by saying you can't Counterspell his Giant Growth.)

Mana Sources [p. 43, 5E rulebook] are abilities that give you mana.
They are usually effects generated by permanents, like tapping a land
or a Llanowar Elf for mana. There are also a few Mana Source spells,
like Dark Ritual and Culling The Weak. Mana Sources are announced and
resolve all at once, and they cannot be countered. Basically you may
cast a Mana Source at any time when you might need mana.

Commentary: This list considers Continuous Effects to be "faster"
than Mana Sources because all Continuous Effects are *always* on,
before, during, and after you announce a mana source you want to
announce. But Mana Sources are faster than Rules Triggers or any
Triggered Events. If you bring a duplicate Legendary Land into play,
you may tap it for mana before it goes into the graveyard. See
rule-general.txt if you're interested.

Rules Triggers: Basically anything where the _rule book_ (not a card)
tells you to do something when a certain condition is met. Rules
triggers work like triggered effects, but they resolve before dealing
with any normal triggered effects. Some rules triggers include burial
of an enchantment because its target is not valid; burial of a
duplicate Legend; burial of an existing Enchant World when a new
Enchant World is brought into play; burial of a creature due to
landhome.

Triggered Abilities are basically worded "If this happens, do that."
(Triggered Abilities in Urza's Saga always start with "When" or
"Whenever". They are usually specified on permaments, but sometimes
are set up by a one-shot spell or ability and last (that is, the
effect will trigger if its conditions are met) for a given duration
(example: Berserk's destroy effect). A effect is a Triggered Ability
if it specifies that its effect occurs *when* some condition is met.
There is usually no activation cost. Examples:

(Wild Growth) Whenever enchanted land is tapped for mana, it produces
an additional G.

(Opal Gargoyle) When one of your opponents successfully casts a
creature spell, if Opal Gargoyle is an enchantment, Opal Gargoyle
beomes a 2/2 creature with flying that counts as a Gargoyle.

(Ghost Hounds) ...If assigned to block any white creatures or any
white creatures are assigned to block it, Ghost Hounds gain first
strike until end of turn.

(Thicket Basilisk) If Thicket Basilisk blocks or is blocked by any
non-Wall creature, destroy that creature at end of combat.

Commentary: Note that each of the last 2 examples is a triggered
effect which sets up another type of effect. (Ghost Hounds starts a
continuous effect lasting until end of turn; Thicket Basilisk causes
an end-of-phase ability to happen later.) Don't let this confuse you:
the "If..." makes it clear that these are normal triggered effects.

If multiple triggered effects are supposed to go off at the same
time, they are played in series, rather than in a batch
[5E rulebook page 40]. The active player deals with his effects in
whatever order is desired, one after the other. Then the non-active
player deals with *his* effects in series. See rule-general.txt for
more on this timing.

Interrupts [p. 42, 5E rulebook] are spells of type "Interrupt" (e.g.
Counterspell, Meddle, Purelace, Fork), and effects of permanents that
state that they are played as interrupts (e.g. Brown Ouphe, Stromgald
Cabal). In general, Interrupts target other spells and abilities with
the intent of modifying them before they resolve. You can use
interrupts to interrupt other interrupts. :) Interrupts are faster
than instants; an interrupt will resolve before any instants can even
be announced. See the INTERRUPTS section of this FAQ for a bit more
on interrupt timing.

Commentary: Some old cards labeled as "Interrupt" have errata to make
them "Mana Source" cards, like Songs of the Damned and all pre-Mirage
Dark Rituals. Also, there are several interrupts that may target
either a spell or a permanent (e.g. Pyroblast). If you choose to cast
such a spell on a permanent, the spell is always played at the speed
of an Instant.

Instants, abilities of permanents, and phase abilities (collectively,
"instants") all occur at the same speed. Whenever an instant is
announced, any other instants (or abilities of permanents) may be
announced in response, before the instant resolves. If you get
confused when a bunch of instants are being played, just keep cool and
remember that no spell or ability has *any* effect until it actually
resolves in the batch. (See the BATCHES section.)

Phase abilities are things you are told to do during a specific phase.
For example, Unstable Mutation requires you to put a -1/-1 counter on
the enchanted creature during your upkeep. They are announced and
resolve just like instants. There is also something called a phase
cost, which is very similar; it specifies a bad thing that will happen
if you don't pay the cost. Phase costs are also played as instants,
with the cost being paid upon announcement. Lord of the Pit has a
phase cost.

The slowest spells in Magic are the casting of Sorcery, Enchantment,
Summon, and Artifact spells. There are also certain abilities of
permanents that say they are played as sorceries, like Snake Basket's
ability. Note that these spells do not *resolve* slower than
Instants! All these spells follow exactly the same sequence and have
the same timing and life cycle rules as Instants. The only 2
differences from Instants are (1) you can only cast these 4 types of
spells during your main phase, and (2) you may announce an Instant in
response to another spell, if you want to.

Q: OK, so since an Instant is faster than a Sorcery, does that mean
that if my opponent casts Fireball, I can stop him, back up, and cast
Vision Charm to change all his Mountains to Swamps so he can't cast it?

A: No, no, no. This is governed by who has priority in being able to
cast a spell. The "speed" of spells above really is only relevant to
the *order* in which things happen, and to what spells can be used to
respond to other spells. Announcement is another matter.

Q: OK, so who announces first? Let's say I attack with my Scryb
Sprites; I have a Giant Growth in my hand, and my opponent has a
Lightning Bolt in his hand. We both know what each other has. We stare
at each other for about 5 minutes, waiting for the other person to cast
his spell, because the last person to cast his spell will be the winner
of the fight....

A: Luckily, the rules are specific on preventing this "stalemate"
problem. Each phase begins in the "neutral state". Whenever the game
is in the neutral state, the active player decides whether they want to
start a batch. If they don't, the opponent gets a chance to start a
batch. If they don't, the phase ends. So, in the above example, if the
active player says "I'm not going to do anything", then the defending
player can say "I'm not going to do anything", and at this point neither
player may reverse his decision; the phase has ended.

If either player does start a batch, the active player has the option of
responding to it with spells or abilities. If he doesn't, the opponent
may. If they don't, the batch begins resolving. (See the BATCHES part
of this FAQ.) Once the batch has finished resolving, the phase goes
back to the "neutral state" and the active player has priority again.

Q: Isn't a cost faster than an effect? So if AEther Flash is in play,
can I cast a 1/1 creature, and before AEther Flash kills it, sacrifice
it to my Fallen Angel?

A: No, you can't do this. Costs are indeed paid before effects can
happen (obviously), but you still have to follow the rules of timing.
Triggered effects like AEther Flash trigger and resolve before Fallen
Angel's ability -- a normal Instant-speed effect -- can even be
announced.

Q: Weez says that since it's his turn, he can announce whatever spells
he wants before I get a chance to. What's up with that?

A: Weez is right in a couple of respects. (a) Once a batch is
complete, the phase goes back to the "neutral state" and the active
player gets to announce the next spell or effect. (b) When any player
announces a spell or effect, the active player gets to announce a fast-
effect response first.

Here's an example of how (a) could be used to Weez's advantage.

* Weez casts Goblin Artisans and then successfully sacrifices them as
the cost of a Goblin Grenade; Kirk can't do anything about it even
though he has a Terror in his hand. Reason: The Goblin Artisans card
is considered a "spell" rather than a "creature" until the Goblin
Artisans resolve -- they cannot be Terrored until they resolve. But
once they resolve, their batch is complete and Weez, the main
player, gets to announce the next spell, which is going to be his
Goblin Grenade. Goblin Grenade includes as a *cost* the sacrifice of
a Goblin, and costs are paid immediately, so the Goblin Artisans can
be sacrificed -- and thus the Goblin Grenade cost successfully
paid -- even before Kirk can announce his Terror. By the time Kirk
can legally announce his Terror, the Goblin Artisans are no longer in
play.

Here is an ILLEGAL misinterpretation of the rule.

* Weez casts Scryb Sprites. Weez then casts Land Tax. Kirk responds
to the Land Tax by shooting the Scryb Sprites with his Tim. Weez
says "No, I cast Holy Armor on the Scryb Sprites, which I can do
faster than your Tim activation, because I'm the current player."
Kirk responds by saying "You are a bonehead: We're in the middle of
a batch, your Land Tax hasn't resolved yet, and you're trying
to cast an Enchantment? Get outta here." Kirk is correct on all
counts here.

Q: My opponent has Shackles on my Acidic Sliver. If I pay 2 and sac
the Acidic Sliver to activate its ability, does my opponent get to save
his Shackles by paying W?

A: No. The sacrifice of Acidic Sliver is a cost, and Shackles enters
the graveyard immediately upon the sacrifice of Acidic Sliver. By the
time your opponent can legally announce any spells or effects, Shackles
is already in his graveyard and can't be activated.

Q: Weez has Land Tax in play. Weez has a Plains and a Strip Mine in
play, and Kirk has two Forests in play. Weez claims it is legal to tap
and sacrifice the Strip Mine to target one of Kirk's Forests, and then
use Land Tax before the Strip Mine ability resolves so he can fetch 3
land out of his library, and then let the Strip Mine go ahead and
resolve, leaving each player with only 1 land in play. Is this legal?

A: Yes. Land Tax's ability is a phase ability and its controller may
announce its activation at any point during upkeep. It's legal to
activate at any time you could announce any other instant, including in
the middle of a chain of effects such as the Strip Mine example.

Q: Weez casts Terror on Kirk's Witch Hunter. Kirk responds by using
the ability of Ashnod's Transmogrant, which turns the Witch Hunter into
an artifact creature. Is Witch Hunter buried?

A: No. The legality of the target of all spells and effects is checked
twice: Once upon spell announcement and once when the spell resolves.
Witch Hunter was a legal target when Weez announced his Terror, but when
the Terror resolved Witch Hunter was no longer a legal target (being an
artifact creature). Terror fizzles and the creature lives. This is not
a re-enactment or a hypothetical question; it is a true story, and no
names have been changed. :(

Q: What is the sequence of events if several conflicting effects are
supposed to happen at the same time?

A: Good question. When two things are supposed to happen with the same
timing, they usually don't actually occur simultaneously -- you usually
have to deal with them in series, in a specific order. The "rule-
general.txt" file has a "Simultaneous" entry you might want to read.
Here are three popular notes about simultaneous stuff.

* Remember that batches (i.e. most things you do in Magic) aren't
simultaneous -- remember the LIFO rule.

* When several triggered effects are supposed to have the same timing,
the active player deals with all his TEs in whatever order he desires,
then the other player deals with all *his* TEs in whatever order he
desires.

* When multiple permanents enter the graveyard simultaneously (e.g.
your 3 Atogs die from combat damage or an Earthquake), their controller
gets to choose the order they enter the graveyard.

So if a Dream Fighter blocks a creature with flanking, both the flanking
penalty and the Dream Fighter's phase-out are supposed to happen as
triggered effects upon the declaration of blocking. Let's figure it
out. First you resolve the active player's effect -- a flanking penalty
(-1/-1) occurs, which kills the Dream Fighter. Then you resolve the
other player's effect -- the Dream Fighter's effect goes off and the
attacking creature phases out.

Q: My opponent casts Chaos Charm, intending to deal 1 damage to my
creature. When I cast Deflection to make it target his Blistering
Barrier, can I respecify which Chaos Charm effect is going to be used?
I want to choose the wall-destroying effect instead of the deal-1-damage
effect.

A. No. When a spell is announced, all its inherent characteristics are
"locked in" and are not subsequently changeable (or even looked up again
upon resolution) unless the spell says so. So you can't change the mode
of Chaos Charm when you Deflect it.

Q: I have a Portcullis question.

A: See "rule-cards.txt".

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #4 OF 6 OF FAQ

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part5

Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

ARTICLE #5 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

18 MISHRA'S FACTORY QUESTIONS

Q: Can I attack with Mishra's Factory the turn I put it down?

A: No, rodent. You may only attack with a creature if the permanent
*started* the current turn on your side. This applies whether or not
the card was a creature at the time.

Q: Do counters remain on a Mishra's Factory after it de-animates? For
instance, if Kirk shoots Weez's Mishra's Factory with a Serrated Arrows,
what happens to the counters at the end of the turn when the Mishra's
Factory is no longer a creature?

A: The counters do remain on Mishra's Factory, but they are just dead
weight until the creature animates again. When Weez re-animates his
Mishra's Factory, it will be only a 1/1 creature because of the Serrated
Arrow counter.

Q: What about Enchant Creature cards that were played on an animated
Mishra's Factory? What happens to them?

A: They fall off the Factory when it de-animates at the end of the
turn, and go back to their owner's graveyard.

These rules apply to any non-creature that temporarily becomes a
creature and reverts back to its normal existence with such cards as
Animate Artifact and Living Plane.

Q: Why the discrepancy between the behavior of counters and the
behavior of Enchant Creature cards? Isn't this discrepancy
contradictory, confusing, and counterintuitive?

A: Yes.

Q: Do counters, like those from Serrated Arrows or Contagion or Spike
Drone, affect Mishra's Factory?

A: Yes. In February 1998, Mishra's Factory (and other cards like
Chimeric Sphere) was errataed to say that its ability gave it a 2/2
_base_ power and toughness. You apply counters to the base power and
toughness of a creature (and then other effects after that) to come up
with the creature's power and toughness.

This question was interesting for about one month in early 1998 when
various powerful judges ruled that a clear bug in the rules caused
Mishra's Factories to be immune from all counters. No more. Good.

19 RAY OF COMMAND

Q: Ray Of Command says I can steal my opponent's creature for a turn
and attack with it or use any of its abilities. Can I cast Ray Of
Command on Weez's Colossus of Sardia during Weez's turn, and attack Weez
with the Colossus right away in the middle of his turn?

A: No. You get only one attack phase per turn, and it's during your
turn. You may not attack during your opponent's turn, and you may not
attack a second time during your own turn. The Ray Of Command wording
is unfortunately confusing on this point -- the card's wording could be
interpreted as meaning you get a free attack phase, and this is
definitely not the case.

Q: My opponent attacks me with two Hill Giants. Can I Ray Of Command
one of them before declaring blocking, and then use it to block the
other one, so they both die?

A: Yup. You rule.

Q: If I Ray of Command my opponent's Alabaster Dragon, then Reality
Ripple it, do I get to keep it for the rest of the game because it
wasn't returned to my opponent at the end of the turn?

A: No. Ray of Command lasts until the end of the turn or until the
creature phases out, whichever comes first. But note that the creature
won't phase in until *your* next untap phase.

20 COPY CARDS

First go and read the "Copy cards" entry in the "rule-general.txt" file,
which will answer most questions about copy cards. All old copy rulings
were repealed on 3/31/98 and replaced with a new set of rulings you
should read.

Q: Can I cast Animate Artifact on my Aladdin's Lamp and then Clone it?

A: No. Copy cards like Clone, Vesuvan Doppleganger, and Dance Of Many
were all errataed to say things like "Clone comes into play as a copy of
target creature card or creature token." An animated Aladdin's Lamp
isn't a creature card.

Q: If I cast Sleight Of Mind or Magical Hack on a creature and then
Clone it, does the Clone have the original text or the Sleighted/Hacked
text?

A: The original text. This is a welcome REVERSAL. "When something
copies a card or token, it reads all the base characteristics of the
card or token, ignoring any changes made by other spells or abilities."
[WotC Rules Team, 3/31/98]

21 TAPPING STUFF

General note for beginners on tapping things: You should learn to
distinguish between tapping something as a cost, and tapping something
as an effect. This is super important when reasoning out the timing of
effects. When you want to Tim your opponent, the *cost* of Tim's
ability is to tap Tim. Once you tap your Tim to shoot your opponent,
the cost of Tim's ability has already been paid. If your opponent wants
to use his Icy Manipulator to tap your Tim in response, it won't
matter -- you have already paid the cost of Tim's ability, and the Tim
effect is going to occur whether or not your opponent uses an Icy.

This is also important when reasoning out whether some effects are
legal. It's OK to target a tapped creature with a "Tap target creature"
ability if the tap is the *effect* and not the *cost*. Similarly,
Tradewind Rider's ability can't be paid by attempting to tap two tapped
creatures.

Q: Does an artifact turn off when it becomes tapped?

A: Yes, unless it's an artifact creature or artifact land. For
instance, you can't activate the second ability on a tapped Phyrexian
Furnace ... but a tapped Clay Statue *can* regenerate.

There are 3 artifact abilities which do *not* turn off when the artifact
is tapped: (1) Phase costs (like upkeep costs) must still be dealt
with; (2) abilities used to untap the artifact are usable; (3) any time
the card says something happens while it's tapped, like Mana Vault
damage.

The "Tapped artifacts have no effect" rule has led to a lot of
confusion, as many novice players believe that the rule also extends to
all other permanents. Untrue: it only applies to artifacts.

Q: Does a tapped creature deal damage?

A: A tapped *defending* creature deals no combat damage if it is
tapped, or becomes tapped, at any point in the damage dealing step.

For example, if Weez attacks with a 6/4 Craw Wurm and Kirk declares he's
blocking with a 4/5 Ernham Djinn, then Weez casts Jolt on the Ernham to
tap it after the block and before the damage dealing step, then since
the Ernham is tapped during the damage dealing step it deals no damage
to the Craw Wurm. The Ernham is killed by the Craw Wurm, and the Wurm
survives to live a rich life crashing about in the jungle.

Q: If I cast Fire Whip on a creature with summoning sickness, can I tap
it immediately to shoot my opponent?

A: You used to be able to, except Fire Whip now has errata: "Play only
on a creature you control. Enchanted creature gains 'T: This creature
deals 1 damage to target creature or player.' Sacrifice Fire Whip:
Fire Whip deals 1 damage to target creature or player." The second
sentence of this errata means that since the ability is now one of the
*creature's* abilities requiring a tap as a cost, rather than an ability
of Fire Whip, the creature can't use the ability when it has summoning
sickness.

Q: Can I tap a creature with summoning sickness to pump up Llanowar
Behemoth? Including itself? What about summoning a creature and
immediately tapping it to activate Tradewind Rider?

A: Yes, this is all legal. Summoning sickness is defined in the 5E
rulebook thusly: "If you haven't had control of a creature since the
start of your most recent turn (counting the current one), you can't use
any of its abilities with "T" in the activation cost, and you can't
attack with it." Quite simply, Llanowar Behemoth's ability doesn't
include the "T" symbol as part of the cost, and Tradewind Rider doesn't
make use of any "T"-costing ability on the creatures you choose to tap.

Q: Does Abeyance prevent me from tapping land for mana?

A: Not any more. As of October 1997, a rules change states that
"Nothing [that is, no spell or effect] can prohibit mana sources from
being played; for example, Abeyance can't prohibit you from playing
activated abilities played as mana sources." So, if you've been hit by
Abeyance during your upkeep, you can still tap three Mountains for mana
and summon a Ball Lightning during your main phase, and then attack.
No prob!

Note that the above ruling only applies to spells and effects. *Rules
of the game* can still prevent mana sources from being played. For
example, a Llanowar Elf with summoning sickness can't be tapped for
mana, because summoning sickness is a rule of the game. But a Llanowar
Elf with Serra Bestiary on it can still be tapped for mana.

This ruling has led to some interesting threads on .rules regarding the
First Rule of Magic (cards' rules override rulebook rules). Participate
if you dare.

Q: While my creature is tapped, can I use my creature's ability that
doesn't require a tap?

A: Yes. Brothers of Fire is a good example. You can attack with them
and then after the attack, deal damage with them using their ability
even though they are tapped.

Q: Can Kirk tap my Ivory Tower to prevent me from gaining life at the
beginning of my upkeep?

A: With a 4E Ivory Tower, no, because the Ivory Tower's ability occurs
at the beginning of upkeep and the Ivory Tower ability triggers before
any effects can be announced.

Q: Can Kirk tap my Black Vise to prevent him from taking damage at the
end of his upkeep?

A: Yes.

Q: Weez taps his 4 Craw Wurms and declares he's attacking Kirk. Kirk
activates his Flood ability three times, tapping three of the Craw
Wurms. Weez says all four Craw Wurms are already on their way and that
tapping them won't stop their attack. Can I have a ruling?

A: Weez talked too fast and has to let Kirk use the Flood.
Technically, the very first step in an attack is your announcement that
you are attacking. (See the "COMBAT" section earlier in this FAQ.)
This announcement occurs even before you tap your attacking creatures.
Kirk should use his Flood ability as a response to the attack
announcement. At that point the attack is aborted, and Weez may decide
whether or not to re-declare an attack.

If Weez *did* announce his attack, and Kirk did not respond to this with
his Flood, and Weez then tapped his four Craw Wurms and attacked, and
*then* Kirk announced his use of the Flood ability, then Kirk is dumb,
and the Flood came in too late to stop the Wurms.

In normal Magic play between friends, about 98% of people do not
actually say "I'm announcing my attack phase" -- though it is standard
practice to start doing so if you see a Flood or Icy Manipulator in
play. In the first case above with Weez and Kirk, Weez must take back
his hasty tapping of the Craw Wurms, and allow Kirk the opportunity to
react to Weez's attack announcement. Then play resumes as normal --
Kirk can choose to use his Flood as much as he wishes. Any use of Flood
before Weez taps his creatures to attack will abort the attack, and then
Weez may choose whether or not he wants to redeclare another attack.

Q: My opponent says he can use his Icy Manipulator to prevent my Tim
from having any effect. Whenever I try to shoot my opponent with Tim,
my opponent responds by declaring he's tapping Tim with his Icy, and
says Tim deals no damage because Tim is tapped before he gets to shoot.
Is this for real?

A: No. ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN EFFECT DOES NOT ALTER THE EFFECT.
The above is a VERY common misunderstanding.

Q: What if my opponent taps my Tim? Can I shoot my opponent in
response?

A: Yes, you can and should respond to his Icy announcement by
announcing you're shooting him with Tim as a response.

Q: I use my Icy Manipulator on my opponent's creature. He responds by
using his Icy on my Icy, claiming my Icy has no effect because it is
tapped. What's the ruling?

A: Icy, icy, icy, blah blah blah. Remember, once somebody announces an
effect, ALTERING THE SOURCE OF AN EFFECT DOES NOT ALTER THE EFFECT.
So here's the batch:

1. I announce I'm using Icy on my opponent's creature.
2. Opponent announces he's using his Icy on my Icy.
3. No more effects are announced, so they start to resolve.
4. Step #2 resolves. My Icy is tapped (it already is, so no real
effect).
5. Step #1 resolves. The target creature is tapped.

So, an Icy won't *stop* another Icy ... all it'll do is force your
opponent to use it in response if he wants to use it at all before his
next untap phase.

Q: What's Icy Manipulator good for then, with all these restrictions?

A: This type of question belongs in the newsgroup
rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy rather than in the rules

newsgroup, but briefly, Icy is great for:

* Preventing a creature from attacking, by tapping the creature in
response to your opponent's attack announcement
* Preventing a creature from blocking, by tapping it before the
blocking step of your attack
* After you attack and the defending player declares his blocking,
force one of his creatures to deal zero damage by tapping it before
the damage dealing step
* Force your opponent to use an ability when *you* choose -- for
instance, I would prefer my opponent use his Tim before combat,
rather than in the middle of combat
* Great combinations with Winter Orb, Howling Mine, and many other
artifacts -- constructing this list is left as an exercise for the
reader. :)

22 PUMPING

Q: I have an enchantment/creature/artifact that says "B: Do Something"
without a tap symbol. Can I pump 10 mana into this card for one lump
effect? Or do I have to pump in 1 mana ten times for ten separate
activations? Examples: Pestilence, Shivan Dragon, Rocket Launcher,
Dungeon Shade.

A: Each activation of an ability printed on a permanent is separate.
So to deal ten points of Pestilence damage, you must play the ability
ten times, each time paying B and dealing 1 damage each time. Ten
separate 1-point packets of damage are generated.

Previous to June 1996, it was also legal to pay BBBBBBBBBB (10 black
mana) for one large lump of ten points of damage. This new rule marked
a significant change: it made a Pestilence deck (Pestilence + CoP: Black
combo) really lame instead of being pretty cool.

It should also be pointed out that it's still legal to pump B into
Pestilence, then respond to this activation with another B before it
resolves, then respond to *this* activation with another B before *it*
resolves, and so forth, so it's still possible to deal 10 points of
Pestilence damage within a single batch. The 10 points of damage
are just 10 separate 1-point packets of damage, each one inflicted when
its respective Pestilence activation resolves. Note that the Drudge
Skeletons you have in play will have to regenerate once for each point
of Pestilence you fire off.

Note that the above rule is overruled by some pumpable cards which state
on the card you may only activate them once per turn (or whatever), like
the moshin' Grizzled Wolverine.

One final note: If you are in a tournament, tap BBBBB, and say
"I pump my Fetid Horror for 5", then you are technically announcing that
you are pumping B, then responding to this announcement with another
pump for B, and so forth, 5 times total. It is then legal for your
opponent to respond to your *last* announcement by casting Incinerate on
the Fetid Horror. Incinerate resolves first, Fetid Horror dies, all
your activations then fizzle. It would have been smarter for you to tap
B, let it resolve, then tap B, then let *it* resolve, etc.

Q: I attack with my Shivan Dragon and pump it up 1 so it's a 6/5. My
opponent blocks with a Serra Angel and Giant Growths it, so the Serra is
a 7/7. Can I still respond by pumping up my Shivan to 7/5?

A: Sure. When anybody announces an ability, anyone may respond to that
ability with another spell or ability. You may use an ability printed
on a card as many times as you want, as long as the card doesn't say
otherwise and as long as you can keep paying the costs associated with
that ability.

23 REGENERATION [5E rulebook, page 19]

Q: Can I regenerate a creature that is in my graveyard?

A: No. You only get one opportunity to regenerate a creature: When it
has taken lethal damage (or received a "destroy" effect). If the
creature enters the graveyard, you've waited too long, and it's too late
to regenerate the creature.

Q: Can I regenerate a creature more than once a turn, even when tapped?

A: Yes, as long as you're able to keep paying the regeneration cost.
You can regenerate them whenever they have received lethal damage or a
"destroy" effect. It doesn't matter whether the creature is tapped.

Q: My nasty opponent just used an Enchantment (or used some spell or
ability to place a counter on my creature, or attacked with a flanker)
to reduce my creature's toughness to zero. Can I regenerate it?
(Example: My opponent attacked with a flanker, and I blocked with Wake
of Vultures, making it a 2/0 creature.)

A: You aren't going to be able to save the creature. If your creature
has a zero toughness due to an enchantment or a counter or a flanking
penalty or some other "...until end of turn" effect, then you *can* pay
the mana to regenerate your creature, but once it regenerates, the
counter (or enchantment, or "until end of turn" effect) remains on the
creature, it still has zero toughness, and it is going to die again
immediately. You can regenerate it *again*, but it's going to die
again...you get the idea. If you have the need to waste some mana and
sac some creatures, you can regenerate the Vultures as many times as you
want, but it'll end up in the graveyard when you run out of creatures
and mana.

Q: If I regenerate my creature which has an Enchant Creature upon it,
does the enchantment fall off the creature? After all, the creature was
just sorta killed....

A: No. Regenerating your creature prevents it from hitting the
graveyard, so enchantments, counters, and any other effects on the
creature remain.

Q: Can I regenerate a creature that I have sacrificed?

A: No.

Q: Can I regenerate a creature that hasn't been killed?

A: No.

Q: Can I regenerate a creature that has been destroyed by a Shatter or
a Nevinyrral's Disk?

A: Yes, creatures can regenerate from destroy effects.

Q: Can I regenerate a creature that has been buried by things like
Terror?

A: No. "Bury" effects are flatly unpreventable when they resolve.

Q: My opponent attacks with a Dread Specter and I block it with my
Locust Swarm. Do I have to regenerate the Locust Swarm once or twice to
save it?

A: Twice. You have to regenerate it when it takes 2 points of damage
from the Dread Specter if you want to save it the first time. Then at
the end of combat, the Dread Specter's ability triggers, and you'll have
to regenerate the Locust Swarm again to save it.

24 CREATURE TYPES

See the "Creature Type" entry in "rule-general.txt" for notes on
creature types: http://www.activesw.com/~sdangelo/magic/rule-general.txt

Q: An-Zerrin Ruins causes a "creature type" to not untap, and
Extinction destroys "all creatures of any creature type of your choice".
What's a creature type? Can I choose "blue", or "ugly", or "yours"?

A: Look at the word after "Summon" to see what a card's creature type
is. If Extinction were cast on "Zombie", then any card that says
"Summon Zombie" or "Summon Zombies" (or "Summon Zombie-ess" if
"Zombie-ess" is the feminine form of the noun) would be destroyed.
Also, any creatures that count as Zombies for any other reason are
destroyed -- the Sarcomancy and Feast Or Famine tokens, for instance.
Zombie Master is not destroyed even though he has "Zombie" in his name,
because he is a "Summon Lord", not "Summon Zombie".

You can cast An-Zerrin Ruins or Extinction choosing any word that occurs
after the word "Summon", including "Legend". You can *not* choose
"Artifact Creature" because an Artifact Creature is not a "Summon"
spell: it is a type of permanent, and is hence not a creature type.

Q: Does Zombie Master's ability affect himself?

A: No. While Zombie Master is in play, all Zombies get swampwalk and
"B: Regenerate". However, Zombie Master is a "Summon Lord" card. If he
were a "Summon Zombie" card then he would indeed have gotten his bonus
himself. You'll notice a similar situation with Lord Of Atlantis and
the other "lords".

Q: Does Zombie Master's ability affect Feast Or Famine tokens?

A: Ya. Feast Or Famine may bring a 2/2 Zombie token creature into
play. Since Feast Or Famine specifies that it's a Zombie token, the
token gets all rights and privileges associated with a full-fledged
Zombie. Similarly, Goblin Warren tokens are full Goblins and are thus
subject to bonuses from Goblin King and Goblin Shrine, and are
sacrificable to Goblin Grenade.

Q: Does Kaysa's ability affect herself?

A: Yes. While Kaysa is in play, all your green creatures get +1/+1;
since Kaysa is a green creature, and she's yours, she gives herself
+1/+1 as well.

25 TARGETING [5E rulebook, page 37]

Q: What is a targeted spell or effect?

A: A targeted spell or effect is a spell that includes the term
'target' in the card text.

The distinction between targeted and non-targeted spells and effects is
important when discussing Protection from Color creatures, "die-when-
you-sneeze-at-them" creatures like Skulking Ghost and Tar Pit Warrior,
and the nontargetable creatures like Autumn Willow, Deadly Insect,
Jolrael's Centaur, and Pincher Beetles.

Some old cards prior to 4E had unclear wording, but 4E and newer cards
all actually have the term "target" on the card if it's a targeted spell
or effect. (Apparently the concept of targeting is something that
appeared late in the evolution of the design of the game, and in the
initial editions of Magic cards there was no special effort made to
identify targeted spells.)

For instance, the spells Wrath Of God, Armageddon, Inferno, Anarchy,
Earthquake, Savage Twister, and Hurricane, and the effects of
Pestilence, Nevinyrral's Disk, Crypt Rats, Winter Orb, and Crusade are
all *non*-targeted effects.

Examples of *targeted* effects include the spells Terror, Lightning
Bolt, Power Sink, Boomerang, casting any local enchantment upon a
permanent, or the effects of Tim, Sorceress Queen, Zhalfirin Commander's
WW1 effect, or moving a +1/+1 counter from a Spike Worker onto another
creature. There are countless other examples.

The sacrifice of a permanent is not a targeted effect. So the spell
Balance is a non-targeted effect, because it requires sacrifices of
permanents, hence Balance can be used to get rid of an Autumn Willow or
Black Knight.

The -1/-1 flanking penalty is not a targeted effect. (So you shouldn't
block a flanker with Deadly Insect unless you're OK with losing the
Insect and the Insect dealing no damage to the flanker.)

Q: What happens if a target becomes illegal before the spell resolves?

A: The spell will fizzle if all targets are invalid upon resolution.
Legal targeting is checked twice: Once upon announcement and once upon
resolution. So, if Kirk casts Terror on Weez's Serra Angel, but Weez
casts the interrupt Sleight of Mind on the Terror to change Terror's
wording from "Bury target non-black creature" to "Bury target non-white
creature", then the legal-targeting check upon resolution fails and the
Terror fizzles. Weez's Serra Angel lives.

Q: What happens if I cast Ashes To Ashes on my opponent's two Mahamoti
Djinns, and he responds by Unsummoning one of them? Does Ashes To Ashes
fizzle because only one of the two target creatures is still in play?

A: No. The remaining creature is still removed from the game. If a
spell has multiple targets, it does not fizzle unless *all* targets are
invalid at resolution; if any targets remain valid at resolution, then
all of the remaining valid targets are still affected. So in the above
example, the remaining Mahamoti Djinn is removed from the game, and the
caster of Ashes To Ashes takes 5 points of damage, as noted on the card.
If *both* Djinns had been Unsummoned, then Ashes To Ashes would have
fizzled and the caster would not have taken any damage.

Interestingly, if you Ashes To Ashes two Skulking Ghosts, both of the
Ghosts are buried as a triggered effect, Ashes To Ashes fizzles against
all its targets, and you take no damage. :)

Q: If I Flare my opponent's Skulking Ghost or Tar Pit Warrior, do I get
to draw the extra card? If I use Granger Guildmage's red-mana ability
to shoot Skulking Ghost or Tar Pit Warrior, do I take a damage?

A: The answer is 'no' to all these questions. If any spell targets
(only) Skulking Ghosts or Tar Pit Warriors, then the Ghost or Warrior is
buried as a triggered effect upon the mere announcement of the spell.
The spell is therefore going to fizzle, and all the things that happen
upon the resolution of the spell (or ability) will not happen --
including the drawing of a cantrip card or the damage dealt by the
Granger Guildmage.

Q: Can I use Crown of the Ages to move an enchantment onto my
opponent's Autumn Willow?

A: Yes. Autumn Willow (and Deadly Insect, and Jolrael's Centaur)
cannot be declared as a target of a spell or effect, true, but
Enchantment Alteration targets an enchantment, not the creature you're
moving it onto. When the enchantment moves onto Autumn Willow, it's
just a permanent moving to a new creature; the enchantment doesn't re-
target the new creature. Weird, yes, but that's the rule. See "Moving
Enchantments" in rule-general.txt.

Q: Can I use Crown of the Ages to move an Enfeeblement to my opponent's
White Knight?

A: No. The new target does have to be legal.

Regarding the seeming contradiction between the last two points, if you
move Enfeeblement onto Autumn Willow, Enfeeblement is constantly
checking to see if Autumn Willow is a legal target for Enfeeblement, and
it is, because this checking doesn't make Enfeeblement a spell or
effect. Enfeeblement is a permanent. Autumn Willow's targeting
protection is only against spells and effects.

A: The enchantment falls off the creature at the speed of a rules-
trigger effect.

Q: Can I specify one thing as a target more than once? Check this out!
On turn 1, I drop a Mountain, tap it for R, cast Firestorm, discard 5
cards out of my hand, and target my opponent 5 times for 5 packets of 5
damage each; 25 points of damage and I win! Sure glad I thought of
that!

A: Easy, turbo. "If a spell or ability targets more than one thing,
you can't choose the same thing as more than one target." [5E rulebook,
p. 37] This rule also affects spells like Choking Vines and Fireball.

Q: OK, then you can't shoot me with your Cursed Scroll because you
already targetted me once when you chose me to guess what card you hold,
nyahh nyahhhh!

A: Silence! Cursed Scroll (and 15 other cards) were errataed in
February 1998 to change "target opponent" to "an opponent". "Okay, you
may all cheer now and then go back to frantically making Cursed Scroll
decks. Whee." [DeLaney]

Q: If I cast Fire Whip on my creature and my opponent casts Ray of
Command to control the creature, does Fire Whip fall off?

A: Yes. The "play only on a creature you control" is unfortunately
very misleading; this phrase is also WotC's template for "this
enchantment falls off right away if control changes".

Q: Can I cast Deflection (or Rebound) on a "bad spell" like Doomsday or
Lich to aim it at my opponent?

A: No. You'll notice that neither Doomsday nor Lich says that the
"target player" does something. They only affect you.

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #5 OF 6 OF FAQ

Bill Weez Dugan

unread,

Oct 22, 1999, 3:00:00 AM10/22/99

Archive-name: games/magic-t-g/rules/part6

Posting-Frequency: About every 5 days
URL: http://www.flash.net/~bdugan/magicfaq.html

ARTICLE #6 OF 6 OF FAQ
========================================================================

26 PHASING

Q: What is phasing? Can anyone sum it up for me in one sentence?

A: Phasing is an ability which is completely explained on Page 1 of the
Mirage rulebook; unfortunately, it is not mentioned at all in the 5E
rulebook. You should go buy a Mirage starter and read the real
definition of phasing; also, you will be buying cards from a really fun
set.

A summary: When a permanent "phases out", as a creature does if someone
casts Reality Ripple on it, it leaves play; turn the card upside down.
It is considered out of the game for all purposes; it cannot be
targeted; it cannot be sacrificed; Wrath of God and Nevinyrral's Disk
will not kill it; Keldon Warlord will not grow because you possess it --
you don't. It is out of play for all purposes.

At the beginning of your untap phase, all your phased-out cards phase
in, simultaneously. At exactly the same moment, if you control any
permanents with the ability "Phasing", all these permanents which are in
play all phase out simultaneously. For instance, Sandbar Crocodile is a
creature with Phasing. If you summon it on turn 5, then at the
beginning of your untap phase on turn 6, it will phase out. Then at the
beginning of your untap phase on turn 7, it will phase in, and you can
attack with it, or whatever. At the beginning of your untap phase on
turn 8, it will phase out. Then back in on turn 9. Etc.

Come-into-play effects don't happen when a permanent phases out, but
leaves-play effects do. Token creatures are buried if they phase out,
because they leave play in doing so.

Q: If Dream Fighter blocks or is blocked by a creature, do the
creatures phase out before damage is dealt?

A: Yes. They phase out as a triggered effect when the block occurs.

Q: If Weez attacks with a flanker and Kirk blocks the flanker with
Dream Fighter, does Dream Fighter die? Do the creatures phase out?

A: The -1/-1 flanking penalty and the Dream Fighter's phase-out ability
are both triggered effects that trigger at the same time. The TEs occur
in series: active player's first, then the other player's. So the
-1/-1 flanking penalty occurs to the Dream Fighter, which dies. Then
the Dream Fighter's phase-out ability is triggered (even though Dream
Fighter is in the graveyard by now), and the attacking flanker phases
out.

Q: Why doesn't the Crystal Golem card just say "Phasing"?

A: Crystal Golem's effect is very different from phasing. Creatures
with phasing phase out at the beginning of your untap phase, at the same
moment that all phased-out creatures phase in. Say that five times
fast, please. Crystal Golem, on the other hand, phases out at the end
of each of your turns, so your opponent can't kill it with Sorceries.

Q: What happens to the Cumulative Upkeep on a permanent that has
phasing?

A: You are supposed to track cumulative upkeep with counters. (This is
a rules change as of December 1996.) During your upkeep, for each
cumulative upkeep cost associated with a permanent, you pay the upkeep
cost as an instant, and when this payment resolves, the permanent gets a
counter. "That is, you either pay the cost to add a cumulative upkeep
counter, or pay nothing and suffer the consequences." Here are an
example from the Rules Team Rulings of December 3, 1996:

"For example, when Glacial Chasm comes into play, it has no cumulative
upkeep counters. If you pay its cumulative upkeep cost once, then it
gains a counter when that upkeep effect resolves, increasing the amount
you will pay the next time. But if you respond to the upkeep effect by
phasing Glacial Chasm out [say, with Reality Ripple], then no counter is
added to it during resolution, so the upkeep cost doesn't increase after
all. Turning it into a swamp with Orcish Farmer does not remove these
counters, and so no longer resets the upkeep cost." ["no longer" refers
to the fact that earlier rulings allowed cumulative upkeep to reset
under certain circumstances.]

To answer the original question: Because of this rule, the permanent
doesn't accumulate cumulative upkeep counters on turns in which it is
phased out during the upkeep phase, and the cumulative upkeep resumes
where it left off on turns in which it's phased in during the upkeep
phase.

Q: If I cast Teferi's Curse on my opponent's Balduvian Horde to give it
phasing, does my opponent have to discard a card each time it phases in?

A: No. When permanents phase in, the "come into play" effects do not
occur.

Q: If I cast Teferi's Curse on my opponent's Phyrexian War Beast to
give it phasing, does my opponent have to take a damage and sacrifice a
land every time it phases out?

A: Yes. When permanents phase out, their "leave play" effects occur.

Q: At the beginning of my opponent's turn, can I Terror his creature
that has phasing before it phases out?

A: No. All creatures with phasing phase out (and all phased-out
permanents phase in) at the very beginning of their controller's untap
phase. You can't announce any spells or effects during the untap phase,
or at any time before then during his turn.

Q: My opponent shoots my Taniwha with a Serrated Arrow token. Taniwha
phases out at the beginning of my next untap phase. When Taniwha phases
back in at the beginning of my *next* untap phase, is the Serrated Arrow
token still there?

A: Yes. Enchantments, counters, and permanent changes to the card
(e.g. it has been Laced or Sleighted) all phase out along with the
creature and are going to phase in along with the creature. [Mirage
rulebook, page 1] So when Taniwha phases back in, the Serrated Arrow is
still stuck in his side.

Q: If my creature has a destroy-at-end-of-turn effect on it, and I
phase it out with Reality Ripple before the end of my turn, is it
destroyed?

A: "At end of turn" effects of any permanent do not happen if you phase
the permanent out before the end of your turn, and moreover, the effects
don't linger on when the permanent phases back in next turn. For
instance, if you cast Lightning Reflexes on your Atog as an instant,
then after combat Reality Ripple Atog out, the Lightning Reflexes phases
out along with Atog. Next turn, when Atog and Lightning Reflexes phase
in, Lightning Reflexes has completely forgotten its end-of-turn effect
and stays on Atog forever.

Note however! Many old "at end of turn" effects, like Ball Lightning,
have been errataed to be "at end of _any_ turn" effects, which are _not_
avoided by phasing out the permanent. If you phase out a Ball Lightning
before the end of your turn, then when it phases back in, it's still
going to be buried at the end of _that_ turn.

Q: I want to play a Taniwha (7/7 Legend with Trample and Phasing) deck.
If I have a phased-out Taniwha on the table and cast another Taniwha,
does it get buried because it's the second identical Legend on the
table? What about when phasing occurs at the beginning of each of my
untap phases?

A: Both Taniwhas are going to survive. Phased-out creatures all phase
in at the exact same moment that your creatures with Phasing all phase
out, and the two groups of creatures don't see each other.

Q: I Ray of Command my opponent's creature and then phase it out with
another spell. Do I get to keep it forever?

A: No. Ray of Command lasts until the end of the turn or until the
creature phases out, whichever comes first. But note that the creature
won't phase in until *your* next untap phase.

27 RECKLESS EMBERMAGE

Q: Can I pump a Reckless Embermage more times than it has toughness,
dealing lots of damage but killing the Embermage in the process?

A: Yes. You can activate Reckless Embermage as many times as you'd
like, as long as the "excessive" pumping is done in the same batch as
the "death blow". Suppose you activate the Embermage five times, each
time in response to the previous activation. The five activations will
resolve, LIFO, just like any other batch. The fifth activation resolves
first. The fourth activation will kill the Embermage, but this doesn't
prevent the third, second, and first activations from continuing to
resolve, for 5 points of damage total.

28 SUMMON SPELLS AND BRINGING CREATURES INTO PLAY WITHOUT SUMMON SPELLS

Q: I use Helm of Obedience to Helm my opponent's Benthic Djinn into
play on my side. Can my opponent cast Withering Boon ("Counter target
summon spell") to counter the Djinn?

A: No. Lucky you. Bringing a creature into play with a Helm of
Obedience is not considered casting a summon spell. It is an effect of
the Helm. The same goes for the Flash spell, and for using the ability
of Spirit of the Night's three pets to bring it into play.

Q: Can I cast Remove Soul or Withering Boon on an artifact creature?

A: No. These two spells counter *summon* spells, and artifact
creatures are not summon spells.

Q: Can I cast Remove Soul or Withering Boon when my opponent brings a
creature into play with Animate Dead?

A: No. A summon spell is not being cast; the only spell being cast is
Animate Dead, which is a global enchantment spell.

Q: What about Remove Soul on creatures cast with Aluren?

A: Creatuers cast with Aluren are still summon spells and can be
countered with Remove Soul.

29 MANA SOURCES

Q: Is card xxxx now considered a Mana Source since it provides mana?

A: See the "rule-cards.txt" file, which now includes errata changing
several Interrupts to Mana Source cards, including Dark Ritual,
Sacrifice, Burnt Offering, and Songs of the Damned.

Q: Can I cast Mystical Tutor to go get a land from my library, since
Mystical Tutor lets me go get a mana source?

A: No. A land is not a "Mana Source". A land is a "Land". The land's
*ability* is a mana source. Mystical Tutor lets you get a spell that is
a Mana Source itself, not any card (land, Llanowar Elves, etc.) that has
a mana source effect.

Q: Can I Counterspell a Dark Ritual?

A: No. Mana sources like Dark Ritual are announced and resolve all at
once, before any other spells or abilities (or even triggered effects)
may be announced, and mana sources cannot be countered.

Q: Will Hesitation counter a Dark Ritual?

A: Well, Dark Ritual will resolve completely, and then Hesitation will
trigger and attempt to counter it, but the Dark Ritual already resolved,
so the Hesitation was wasted uselessly.

Q: Can I use a Brown Ouphe or the Rust spell to counter the effect of a
Charcoal Diamond?

A: No, because Charcoal Diamond says to play its effect as a mana
source, and mana sources can't be countered.

Q: May I lay down a Soldevi Excavations, *not* sacrifice an island, and
tap it for 1U when it gets destroyed?

A: No. Come-into-play costs associated with a permanent must be fully
paid (or the consequence of not paying must be fully suffered) before
you may use activated abilities of the permanent. This is a REVERSAL --
an old ruling used to allow this play, and it was pretty damn cool, too.

30 PITCH SPELLS

Q: If I want to cast Force of Will on my opponent's Kaervek's Torch by
pitching a card, do I still have to pay 2 additional generic mana as
specified on Kaervek's Torch?

A: Yes. Pitching a card to cast a pitch spell like Force of Will
relieves you of the necessity to pay the casting cost printed on the
card. Additional costs will still have to be paid. This also goes for
situations like casting Scars of the Veteran while pitching a white card
while a Gloom is in play -- you still have to pay 3 additional generic
mana. Similarly, if you have Aluren in play and want to play White
Knight while Gloom is in play, Aluren takes care of the WW but you have
to pay the extra cost of (3).

Q: If my opponent pitches a blue card to cast Force of Will, can I
Spell Blast it for zero mana since he didn't pay any mana to cast the
spell?

A: No. Force of Will is considered for all purposes to cost 3UU even
if it were cast by pitching a blue card instead.

31 DISCARDING CARDS

Q: Sand Golem and Guerrilla Tactics have special effects if "a spell or
effect controlled by an opponent causes you to discard" the card. What
happens if I comply with Stupor's "choose and discard a card" effect by
choosing to discard Sand Golem or Guerrilla Tactics? Since I had to
choose the card to lose, did Stupor really *cause* me to discard the
card?

A: Yes. The fact that you selected which card (rather than your
opponent selecting which card) is irrelevant; your opponent's effect
did, in fact, cause you to discard the card, so you get the benefit.

32 INTERRUPTS

Q: I read that under the current 5E rules, the only spell you can
legally interrupt is the most recently cast spell. What?!

A: Interrupt timing can be even more confusing than regular timing.
There is a rule stating "Interrupts can target only the spell or effect
that they interrupt." [5E rulebook, page 42] The term "interrupt" is
what is confusing here. Read the second "interrupt" in that sentence as
"targeted at announcement" and you'll get it.

This entire rule is only applied in really weird situations. It is the
reason that you can't cast Deflection to retarget a Counterspell to
itself. Here's an example.

Weez casts Armageddon
Kirk casts Hydroblast on Armageddon
Kirk casts Chaoslace on Armageddon

Kirk's Chaoslace is legal -- he is casting it *in response* to his
Hydroblast, but he has chosen to have the Chaoslace *interrupt* the
Armageddon. (Note the difference between the verbs "respond to" and
"interrupt".) The Chaoslace resolves and turns the Armageddon red, and
then Hydroblast counters the red Armageddon. Note that Weez cannot cast
Deflection on the Chaoslace to Deflect it to the Hydroblast nor to the
Chaoslace nor even to the Deflection -- in this example, Kirk is
interrupting Armageddon with Chaoslace, and so Chaoslace has no other
legal target. If Weez tries to cast Deflection to retarget it, Kirk
will laugh in Weez's face, reminding the poor bastard that there's no
other legal target for the Chaoslace, so the Deflection announcement
isn't even legal.

Q: Weez casts Armageddon. Kirk responds by casting King Cheetah. Can
Weez respond to that by Counterspelling his own Armageddon?

A: No. After Weez announces Armageddon, both players have the chance
to announce interrupts, and if none are announced, *then* either player
may announce instants in response to the Armageddon. Once both players
have declined to announce any interrupts to Armageddon, no interrupts to
Armageddon may be announced later in the batch. "The interrupt window
is closed."

Q: If I Pyroblast my opponent's Tim, can my opponent respond by Timming
me? Pyroblast is an interrupt and resolves faster than Tim's ability
can be announced, right?

A: If an interrupt targets a permanent, then the interrupt is played as
an instant. This is a rules change as of 5E for all interrupts. See
the rules text (in italics) on the 5E version of Pyroblast or
Hydroblast. So yes, Tim is going to pop you for a point before he burns
up.

33 VISIONS QUESTIONS

WotC wrote a Visions FAQ which is currently at:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/FAQ/Visions_FAQ.html

Q: When I cast Blanket of Night, it sez my Mountain also counts as a
Swamp. May I tap it for B?

A: Yes.

Q: Ogre Enforcer has two Enfeeblements on it. Does it die?

A: At this point the ruling is "no, it stays around with 0 toughness,
and dies if you then deal 1 or more damage to it." Pretty stupid, isn't
it? The logic is that unfortunately the Mirage rulebook says that a
creature with zero toughness has lethal damage, so some rules lawyers
jumped all over this to insist that Ogre Enforcer doesn't die. What the
hell ever. Hopefully somebody at WotC will realize this is really dumb,
and errata the card to correct this embarassment of a ruling.

Q: Can I cast Nekrataal or Man o'War if there are no other creatures in
play? Can I cast Uktabi Orangutan if there are no artifacts in play?

A: Yes. The "come into play" effect simply fizzles if there are no
legal targets; the creature itself is fine. Note that if there are no
other creatures in play when Man o'War comes into play, then Man o'War
will boomerang *itself* to the owner's hand. (Nekrataal can't bury
itself because it's a black creature and hence not a legal target.)

Compare Nekrataal's wording with Harvest Wurm, which says you have to
pull a land from your graveyard to your hand when it comes into play "or
bury Harvest Wurm". Since there is no "or" wording on Nekrataal, he's
going to be OK if his effect fizzles.

Q: City of Solitude says players may only play spells or 'abilities'
during their own turn. What's an ability? What about Winter Orb?

A: The vague wording on City of Solitude has been errata'ed to "Each
player may play spells and abilities requiring activation costs only
during his or her turn."

Q: Does City of Solitude prevent me from casting a Dark Ritual?
Remember that Mana Sources can't be countered!

A: Due to the Abeyance ruling, you CAN cast a Dark Ritual on your
opponent's turn while City of Solitude is out. (REVERSAL)

Q: Why would I play Knight of the Mists? This card sucks!

A: It doesn't suck if your opponent has a Knight in play....

Q: My opponent has Underworld Dreams out and casts Prosperity for 10
cards. The third card I draw is Ivory Charm. When I draw the fourth
card due to Prosperity, may I cast the Ivory Charm to prevent the point
of Underworld Dreams damage?

A: Well, when you're told to draw X cards, Underworld Dreams triggers
separately for each card you draw. However, the triggers don't resolve
until the entire draw effect has completed. So once you're done drawing
the 10 cards, you're hit with 10 separate triggered effects of 1 damage
each, and yes you may use the rad Ivory Charm you drew as card #3.

34 TEMPEST QUESTIONS

WotC's Tempest FAQ is at:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/FAQ/Tempest_FAQ.html

Q: Who gets the Verdant Force token creatures?

A: The controller. Verdant Force was errataed in mid-December 1997 in
a welcome REVERSAL from an earlier ruling which stated the active player
got the token creature each upkeep.

Q: I have a question about Furnace of Rath.

A: Yeah, yeah. It's a continuous effect. Multiple Furnaces are
applied in sequence, so the damage increases exponentially. Damage from
a trampler is assigned separately to blockers and the defending player,
and doubled separately (not redoubled like it used to be). Anything
else?

Q: I have a Sandstone Warrior (1/3) with a -1/-1 counter on it, Unholy
Strength also on it, and Humility is in play. How big is it??

A: As of 2/1998, the rules changed a little. (a) Start with the
creature's base power and toughness. (b) Apply plusses and minuses from
all counters. (c) Apply all other effects, in the order in which they
were played.

So, at step (a) the Sandstone Warrior is a 1/3; after step (b) it's a
0/2; and then we apply Humility and Unholy Strength in the order in
which they were played. If Humility had been played first, the creature
ends up a 3/2; if Unholy Strength had been played first, the creature
ends up a 1/1.

This rule about applying continuous effects in the order they came into
play seems like a strange rule, but it's been around since the beginning
of the game (as far as I know). It has always applied to conflicts like
Conversion vs. Blood Moon vs. Phantasmal Terrain.

Q: Does Humility remove Trample? Pincher Beetles' "untouchable"
ability? Shadow?

A: Yes. [5E manual, page 65]

Q: Do the Sliver additions apply to just my own Slivers, or also to my
opponent's Slivers?

A: "All Slivers" means "All Slivers". All Slivers, including your
opponent's Slivers, get the Sliver additions. All Slivers.

Q: If I Interdict my opponent's Jester's Cap when he activates it, is
the Cap still sacrificed?

A: Yes. Sac'ing the Cap is part of the cost of its ability, and is
paid upon the announcement of activating the cap. You get to cast
Interdict *after* this when the Cap is already in the graveyard. Cool,
yes?

Q: My opponent taps out to cast a big creature in his hand. Can I
Interdict the last land he taps so he doesn't get the mana and has to
take mana burn?

A: No, you can't Interdict a land being tapped for mana, because mana
sources cannot be countered. When the Interdict card mentions land
abilities, it's talking about non-mana-source land abilities, like
animating Mishra's Factory or destroying a land with Strip Mine.

Q: Is the Buyback cost considered part of the casting cost of the spell
for purposes of Spell Blast (or whatever)?

A: No. Although you must have the buyback mana in your mana pool
before announcing the spell, the buyback cost is an extra cost. So you
can Spell Blast your opponent's Elvish Fury for just U1.

Q: My opponent has Humility in play. If I cast Nekrataal, does it
still bury a creature?

A: Yes, because the Nekrataal bury effect is a come-into-play effect,
not a creature ability.

Q: I have Nature's Revolt and Humility in play. What are the lands?
Can they still be tapped for mana, since the lands are creatures, and
Humility makes creatures lose their abilities?

A: The shroud was lifted from this mystery with the 2/98 rules team
clarifications. Normally, you apply continuous effects in the order in
which they were played. However, when doing this, "if an effect depends
on some characteristic, you must first evaluate anything that might
change that characteristic...."

This seems to mean that since Humility's effect operates on creatures,
and Nature's Revolt creates creatures, you have to apply Nature's Revolt
first. This wording is vague and we have been promised a more airtight
rule.

Simply, as stated in the clarification, "Humility turns all creatures
into 1/1 creatures with no special abilities, even those that become
creatures after Humility is played."

Q: The Licids say "loses this ability". What ability?

A: The ability which that text is a part of. For instance, you can pay
G and a tap to make Nurturing Licid turn into a creature enchantment
which jumps onto target creature, and it "loses this ability". Meaning,
you can't then pay another G to jump the Licid over to another creature.
As mentioned later, though, you may pay G to end the effect and turn it
back into a 1/1 creature; after you do so, you may again jump it onto
another creature.

Q: I jump my Licid onto my creature; the Licid taps as part of the cost
of this. Is the Licidchantment "on" even though it's tapped?

A: Yes. Tapped enchantments are still "on", unlike tapped non-creature
artifacts.

Q: Legacy's Allure sez I "permanently gain control of target creature".
Does "permanently" mean my opponent can't subsequently Control Magic the
creature?

A: No. The "permanently" (the word is used on several Tempest cards)
is just a reminder that control doesn't revert back at any point (unless
you do something about it, like Capsize or Ray of Command the creature).

Q: If I have a Propaganda and also a Hand To Hand in play, can my
opponent attack me?

A: As of April 1998, yes. Propaganda's payment of 2 is now considered
a payment for attacking rather than being a normal instant-speed
ability, so it's no longer affected by Hand To Hand. (Formerly, this
combo prevented your opponent from attacking you at all.)

35 EXODUS QUESTIONS

WotC's Exodus FAQ: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/FAQ/Exodus_FAQ.html

Q: I have Equilibrium in play. Can I cast Nekrataal and pay 1 extra to
boomerang it back into my hand immediately?

A: No. That issue of The Duelist was in error. You may activate
Equilibrium "whenever you successfully cast a creature spell".
"Successfully cast" means that you've announced the spell and the
interrupt window has closed, and the spell wasn't countered. Your
Nekrataal hasn't resolved by the time you can activate Equilibrium, and
hence isn't yet a creature and can't be targeted by Equilibrium. If you
already have a Nekrataal in play and you cast a second one, then you can
bounce the first one if you want.

Q: If I have two Oath of Druids, can I activate them both?

A: If you have -two- fewer creatures than your opponent, yes.

36 THE COMPUTER (or, Microprose's Magic: The Gathering game)

First off, before the first question, note that it is *imperative* that
you get the latest update.

Version 1.25 of Magic: The Gathering is current as of this writing.
Version 2.15 of Spells of the Ancients is current as of this writing.
Version 1.3 of Manalink is current as of this writing.

See http://www.gathering.net/downloads.html for the latest downloads.

The Manalink addon is available as a free download; it lets you play
against other people over the Internet, via the TEN service.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~bpm/mtgbugs.html (inactive?) is a WWW page devoted
to bugs in the computer game.

Q: The computer cheated! It did xxxx.

A: Possible, but double-check your rules knowledge before asserting
this. Overall, Microprose did an outstanding job of observing the
rules.

That said, it's true that there are a very few rules problems. See the
WWW page cited above for user reports of rules bugs in each version of
the game.

If you'd like to post to the .rules newsgroup about bugs in the rules, I
advise you to ensure you're playing with the 1.25 update, or twelve-and-
a-half-year-olds will mock you for not being With It.

Q: The computer's Nafs Asp...

A: Stop! Don't even finish that sentence. I, too, thought they
screwed up on the rules. Read the Nafs Asp card reeeeally carefully.
The scales will fall from your eyes as your whole world brightens, and
you decide to create a Nafs Asp deck.

Q: The computer is so stupid! It did xxxx.

A: Well, yeah, the computer has made many, many plays that no human has
ever made. It Blights your Strip Mines, Wild Growths *your* Plains,
Disenchants its own artifact creatures, uses Phantasmal Terrain to turn
your mono-red deck's Mountain into a Swamp while it has islandwalkers in
play, and mana burns itself just because it lusts after the searing kiss
of mana burn. But in defense of the game designers and programmers, we
must acknowledge that cooking up some convincing AI was a *huge*
project, one that no sane person would want. If you think you can do a
better job and create "Deep Blue" for Magic, go ahead, but remember I
told you that in a chess algorithm you never have to wonder whether your
opponent is holding a Force Spike.

I would note that the first two game patches improved the computer's
playing ability, but the "Spells of the Ancients" version 2.0 update
seems to have made the computer dumber, particularly in deciding what
creatures should attack. The poor guy hasn't a clue how to use Icy
Manipulator, thinks your Royal Assassins are Mons Goblin Raiders, and
thinks your Spirit Shackles say "Enchanted creature gains the desire to
attack".

37 LEGAL STUFF

This entire FAQ is copyright (c) 1997-8 Bill "Weez" Dugan. All rights
reserved. Bill "Weez" Dugan has no connection with, endorsement by, or
affiliation with Wizards Of The Coast, other than as a consumer of their
fine products. Also I'm a Level II judge now, which still means I'm a
consumer of their product. :-\

You have the right to distribute this document for free as long as the
entire document, including the headers and this legal information, is
distributed complete and intact with no editing. You do NOT have the
right to sell this document, and this document may not be included in
any other document or compilation that is for sale, including any book,
magazine article, disk, or CD-ROM, without my express written permission
(on paper).

WIZARDS OF THE COAST, Magic: The Gathering, Arabian Nights, Antiquities,
Legends, The Dark, Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Chronicles, Homelands,
Alliances, Mirage, Visions, Fourth Edition, Fifth Edition, and Revised
Edition are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Dang, I guess that
means they will only ever get to make two sequels to Monopoly, because
"Fourth Edition" is trademarked by WotC! "Weatherlight", "Tempest",
"Stronghold", "Exodus", and "Urza's Saga" are probably trademarks, too,
so they're going to cancel those Biblical and Shakespearean card games
now. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The author disclaims all responsibility for inaccurate or misleading
information in this FAQ. This article is provided as-is, without any
express or implied warranties. The author assumes no responsibility for
errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the
information contained herein (e.g. you lost the Nationals because you
followed the rules as written in this FAQ.) The author also disclaims
any claim that he is a dedicated answerer of rules questions, or even
that he is not the worst Magic player ever.

A non-legal aside: Thanks to Ingo Warnke for pointing out various
inaccuracies in my batch examples in version 1.0.1 of the FAQ,
to Merlyn for infinite mana combos, to David Johnson for a pretty
thorough review of 1.1.2, and for everyone who e-mails me with fixes.
Your contributions do make this FAQ accurate and hence helpful!

One final disclaimer: Some of the questions answered in this FAQ really
are not actually "Frequently" asked (e.g. activate Land Tax in the
middle of a Strip Mine effect). I've got to trim this FAQ down.

========================================== END OF ARTICLE #6 OF 6 OF FAQ

0 new messages