Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules

by Mark L. Gottlieb

  Flash

  Flash is a static ability that functions in any zone from which you could play the card it’s on. “Flash” means “You may play this card any time you could play an instant.” See rule 502.57, “Flash.”

  Flashback

  Flashback appears on some instants and sorceries. It represents two static abilities: one functions while the card is in a player’s graveyard and the other functions while the card is on the stack. “Flashback [cost]” means “You may play this card from your graveyard by paying [cost] rather than paying its mana cost” and “If the flashback cost was paid, remove this card from the game instead of putting it anywhere else any time it would leave the stack.” Playing a spell using its flashback ability follows the rules for paying alternative costs in rules 409.1b and 409.1f-h. See rule 502.22, “Flashback.”

  Flavor Text

  This is text in italics (but not in parentheses) in the text box of a card. It provides a mood or gives interesting background detail for the game world but has no effect on play. See rule 207.2.

  Flip a Coin

  To flip a coin for an object that cares whether a player wins or loses the flip, the affected player flips the coin and calls “heads” or “tails.” If the call matches the result, that player wins the flip. Otherwise, the player loses the flip. Only the player who flips the coin wins or loses the flip; no other players are involved.

  To flip a coin for an object that cares whether the coin comes up heads or tails, each affected player flips a coin without making a call. No player wins or loses this kind of flip.

  If the coin that’s being flipped doesn’t have an obvious “heads” or “tails,” designate one side to be “heads,” and the other side to be “tails.” Other methods of randomization may be substituted for flipping a coin as long as there are two possible outcomes of equal likelihood and all players agree to the substitution.

  Flip Cards

  Flip cards have a two-part card frame on a single card. The text that appears right side up on the card defines the card’s normal characteristics. Additional alternative characteristics appear upside down on the card. The back of a flip card is the normal Magic: The Gathering card back. See rule 508, “Flip Cards.”

  The top half of a flip card contains the card’s normal name, text box, type line, power, and toughness. The text box usually contains an ability that causes the permanent to “flip” if certain conditions are met. The bottom half of a flip card contains an alternative name, text box, type line, power, and toughness. These characteristics are used only if the permanent is in play and only if the permanent is flipped.

  A flip card’s color, mana cost, expansion symbol, illustration credit, and legal text don’t change if the permanent is flipped. Also, any changes to it by external effects will still apply.

  In every zone other than the in-play zone, and also in the in-play zone before the permanent flips, a flip card has only the normal characteristics of the permanent. Once the flip permanent in the in-play zone is flipped, the normal name, text box, type line, power, and toughness of the flip permanent don’t apply and the alternative versions of those characteristics apply instead.

  If you control a flip permanent, you must ensure that it’s clear at all times whether the permanent is flipped or not, both when it’s untapped and when it’s tapped. Common methods for distinguishing between flipped and unflipped permanents include using coins or dice to mark flipped objects.

  Flipping a permanent is a one-way process. Once a permanent is flipped, it’s impossible for it to become unflipped. However, if flipped permanent leaves play, it retains no memory of its status.

  Floor Rules

  The current DCI Magic: The Gathering Floor Rules can be found at www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dci/doccenter/home.

  Flying

  Flying is an evasion ability. A creature with flying can’t be blocked by creatures without flying. A creature with flying can block a creature with or without flying. See rule 502.4, “Flying.”

  Forecast

  Forecast is a special kind of activated ability that can be played only from a player’s hand. It’s written “Forecast – [Activated ability].” A forecast ability may be played only during the upkeep step of the card’s owner and only once each turn. The controller of the forecast ability reveals the card with that ability from his or her hand as the ability is played. That player plays with that card revealed in his or her hand until the upkeep step ends or until it leaves the player’s hand, whichever comes first.

  Forest

  “Forest” is one of the five basic land types. Any land with the land type Forest has the ability “{T}: Add {G} to your mana pool.” See rule 212.6d.

  Forestcycling

  See Landcycling.

  Forestwalk

  See Landwalk.

  Free-for-All

  Free-for-All is a multiplayer variant in which a group of players complete as individuals against each other. See rule 605, “Free-for-All Variant.”

  Game Action

  Several steps contain actions that don’t use the stack. These actions are game actions. The game actions are phasing in and out at the start of the untap step (see rule 302.1), untapping at the start of the untap step (see rule 302.2), drawing a card at the start of the draw step (see rule 304.1), declaring attackers at the start of the declare attackers step (see rule 308.1), declaring blockers at the start of the declare blockers step (see rule 309.1), the active player discarding down to his or her maximum hand size at the start of the cleanup step (see rule 314), and removing damage from permanents and ending “until end of turn” effects at the start of the cleanup step (see rule 314). Mana burn at the end of a phase is also a game action (see rule 300.3).

  General

  The player seated in the middle of a team in the Emperor multiplayer variant is called the team’s emperor. The other players are called generals. See rule 607, “Emperor Variant.”

  Generic Mana Cost

  A generic mana cost is represented by a number in a gray circle. Any color of mana, as well as colorless mana, may be used to pay a generic mana cost. See rule 104.3b.

  Global Enchantment (Obsolete)

  Some older cards used the term “global enchantment.” These cards now say “non-Aura enchantment.” See also Aura and Enchantment.

  Graft

  Graft represents both a static ability and a triggered ability. “Graft N” means “This permanent comes into play with N +1/+1 counters on it” and “Whenever another creature comes into play, you may move a +1/+1 counter from this permanent onto that creature.” If a creature has multiple instances of graft, each one works separately.

  Grand Melee

  The Grand Melee variant is a modification of the Free-for-All variant. Grand Melee is normally used only in games begun with ten or more players. The Grand Melee variant allows multiple players to take turns at the same time. Moving turn markers keep track of which players are currently taking turns. Each turn marker represents an active player’s turn. See rule 608, “Grand Melee Variant.”

  The Grand Melee variant uses the following default options: (a) Each player has a range of influence of 1 (see rule 601), and (b) the attack left option is used (see rule 604). The attack multiple players and deploy creatures options aren’t used in the Grand Melee variant.

  Graveyard

  Each player’s discard pile is his or her graveyard. Countered spells, destroyed or sacrificed permanents, and discarded cards are put into their owner’s graveyard. See rule 217, “Zones.”

  Hand

  The hand is the zone where a player holds cards that haven’t been played yet. See rule 217, “Zones.”

  Haste

  Normally a creature can’t attack or use activated abilities with costs that include the tap symbol unless it’s been controlled by the player continuously since the beginning of that controller’s most recent turn. Haste is a static ability that allows a creature to ignore this rule. See rule 502.5, “Haste.”

/>   Haunt

  Haunt is a triggered ability. “Haunt” on a permanent means “When this permanent is put into a graveyard from play, remove it from the game haunting target creature.” “Haunt” on an instant or sorcery spell means “When this spell is put into a graveyard during its resolution, remove it from the game haunting target creature.” A card with haunt typically has another ability that triggers “when the creature this card haunts is put into a graveyard.” See rule 502.51, “Haunt.”

  Hidden Information (Informal)

  Some information within a Magic game isn’t known by all players. For example, face-down cards in any zone and the contents of players’ libraries and hands are hidden information. If an effect “reveals” a card that’s normally hidden, the card is public information as long as it remains revealed. See also Public Information.

  Horsemanship

  Horsemanship is an evasion ability. A creature with horsemanship can’t be blocked by creatures without horsemanship. A creature with horsemanship can block a creature with or without horsemanship. See rule 502.17, “Horsemanship.”

  Hybrid Mana Symbols

  Each of the hybrid mana symbols represents a cost which can be paid with one of two colors: {W/U} in a cost can be paid with either white or blue mana, {W/B} white or black, {U/B} blue or black, {U/R} blue or red, {B/R} black or red, {B/G} black or green, {R/G} red or green, {R/W} red or white, {G/W} green or white, and {G/U} green or blue. (A previous version of these rules referred to hybrid mana symbols as half-half mana symbols.)

  If

  See “Intervening ‘If’ Clause.”

  Illegal Action

  If a player realizes that he or she can’t legally take an action after starting to do so, the entire action is reversed and any payments already made are canceled. No abilities trigger and no effects apply as a result of an undone action. When reversing illegal spells and abilities, the player who had priority retains it and may take another action or pass. The player may redo the reversed action in a legal way or take any other action allowed by the rules. See rule 422, “Handling Illegal Actions.”

  Illegal Target

  If a spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are legal when it resolves. A target that’s removed from play, or from the zone designated by the spell or ability, is illegal. A target may also become illegal if its characteristics changed since the spell or ability was played or if an effect changed the text of the spell. See rule 413.2a.

  Illustration

  The illustration is printed on the upper half of a card and has no game significance. See rule 204, “Illustration.”

  Illustration Credit

  The illustration credit for a card is printed directly below the text box. The credit has no effect on game play. See rule 209, “Illustration Credit.”

  Imprint

  Imprint is an activated or triggered ability, written “Imprint – [text],” where “[text]” is an activated or triggered ability. Cards that are in the removed-from-the-game zone because they were removed from the game by an imprint ability are imprinted on the source of that ability. See rule 502.34, “Imprint.”

  Imprinted [type] card

  The phrase “imprinted [type] card” means the card of that type that’s imprinted on the permanent. If a permanent has more than one card of that type imprinted on it, each of those cards is an “imprinted [type] card.” See rule 502.34, “Imprint.”

  In Play

  In play is the zone in which permanents exist. When an artifact, creature, or enchantment spell resolves, it’s put into the in-play zone as a permanent. When a land is played, it’s put into the in-play zone as a permanent. Tokens also exist in this zone. See rule 217, “Zones.”

  Independent

  An effect is said to “depend on” another if it is applied at the same time as the other effect, and applying the other would change the text or the existence of the first effect, what it applies to, or what it does to any of the things it applies to. Otherwise, the effect is considered to be independent of the first effect. See rule 418.5, “Interaction of Continuous Effects.”

  Indestructible

  If a permanent is indestructible, rules and effects can’t destroy it. Such permanents are not destroyed by lethal damage, and they ignore the lethal-damage state-based effect (see rule 420.5c). Rules or effects may cause an indestructible permanent to be sacrificed, put into a graveyard, or removed from the game.

  Infinity Rule (Informal)

  There’s no such thing as “infinity” in Magic rules. Occasionally the game can get into a state where a set of actions could be repeated forever. The “infinity rule” governs how to break such loops. See rule 421, “Handling ‘Infinite’ Loops.”

  Instant

  Instant is a type. A player may play instants whenever he or she has priority. An instant spell is put into its owner’s graveyard as the last step of its resolution. See rule 212.5, “Instants,” and rule 409, “Playing Spells and Activated Abilities.”

  Instant Type

  Instant subtypes are always a single word and are listed after a long dash: “Instant – Arcane.” Instant subtypes are also called instant types. An instant subtype that’s also a sorcery subtype is also called a spell type.

  The list of instant types, updated through the Time Spiral set, is as follows: Arcane.

  Instead

  Effects that use the word “instead” are replacement effects. Most replacement effects use the word “instead” to indicate what events will be replaced with other events. See rule 419, “Replacement and Prevention Effects.”

  Interrupt (Obsolete)

  Some older cards used the term “interrupt” on the card’s type line. All interrupt cards are now instant cards. All abilities that were played as interrupts are now played like normal activated abilities (and are mana abilities if they produce mana).

  Intervening “If” Clause

  Triggered abilities with a condition directly following the trigger event (for example, “When/Whenever/At [trigger], if [condition], [effect]”) check for the condition to be true as part of the trigger event; if it isn’t, the ability doesn’t trigger. The ability checks the condition again on resolution. If it’s not satisfied, the ability does nothing. Note that this mirrors the check for legal targets. Note that this rule doesn’t apply to any triggered ability with an “if” condition elsewhere within its text. See rule 404.3.

  Island

  “Island” is one of the five basic land types. Any land with the land type Island has the ability “{T}: Add {U} to your mana pool.” See rule 212.6d.

  Islandcycling

  See Landcycling.

  Islandhome (Obsolete)

  Some older cards were printed with the term islandhome, which means “This creature can’t attack unless the defending player controls an Island” and “When you control no Islands, sacrifice this creature.” Cards that previously had islandhome now simply have the two parts of islandhome written out without using the keyword.

  Islandwalk

  See Landwalk.

  Keyword Ability

  Some abilities are very common or would require too much space to define on a card. These abilities list only the name of the ability as a “keyword”; sometimes reminder text summarizes the game rule. See rule 502, “Keyword Abilities.”

  Kicker

  Kicker is a keyword ability with a cost and an effect. Paying a spell’s kicker cost causes the spell to have an additional or alternative effect. See rule 502.21, “Kicker.”

  “Kicker [cost]” means “You may pay an additional [cost] as you play this spell.” You declare whether you intend to pay a spell’s kicker cost at the same time you would choose the spell’s mode (see rule 409.1b), and you actually pay the cost when you pay the rest of the spell’s costs (see rule 409.1f-h). Paying a kicker cost is always optional.

  A spell’s controller chooses targets (see rule 409.1d) for a kicker effect only if he or she declared the intention to pay the kicker
cost for that effect. If the spell’s controller declared that he or she wouldn’t pay a particular kicker cost, he or she doesn’t choose the targets for the effect associated with that kicker cost.

  Land

  Land is a type. Lands aren’t spells and don’t go on the stack; they are simply played from the hand. The active player may play a land once each turn during his or her main phase when he or she has priority and the stack is empty. If an object is both a land and another type, it can only be played as a land. It can’t be played as a spell. See rule 212.6, “Lands.”