Magic: The Gathering Comprehensive Rules

by Mark L. Gottlieb

  Removed from the Game

  A card removed from the game is out of play. The effect that removed the card may specify a way for it to return. Some objects use the expression “set aside” for situations in which a card removed from the game can return to play. See rule 217.7, “Removed from the Game.”

  Replacement Effect

  A replacement effect is a type of continuous effect that “watches” for a specified event and replaces it with a different one. See rule 419, “Replacement and Prevention Effects.”

  Replicate

  Replicate is a keyword that represents two abilities. The first is a static ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. The second is a triggered ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. “Replicate [cost]” means “As an additional cost to play this spell, you may pay [cost] any number of times” and “When you play this spell, if a replicate cost was paid for it, copy it for each time its replicate cost was paid. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any number of the copies.” See rule 502.52, “Replicate.”

  Requirement

  A requirement to attack or block is any effect that forces one or more creatures to attack or block. All attacks and blocks must still be legal. See rule 500, “Legal Attacks and Blocks.”

  Resolve

  When a spell or ability on top of the stack resolves, its controller carries out the instructions printed on the card, in the order written. When combat damage resolves, it’s dealt as previously assigned to the fullest extent possible. See rule 413, “Resolving Spells and Abilities.”

  Respond, Response (Informal)

  A player can choose to play an instant spell or activated ability when something else is already on the stack, rather than waiting for the earlier spell or ability to resolve first. The spell or ability is said to be played “in response to” the earlier spell or ability. See rule 408, “Timing of Spells and Abilities.”

  Restriction

  A restriction on attacking or blocking is any effect that could prevent a creature from attacking or blocking. All attacks and blocks must still be legal. See rule 500, “Legal Attacks and Blocks.”

  Reveal

  To reveal an object is to show that object to all players. If a one-shot effect reveals a card, the card is returned to its former state after all players have seen it. If the cost to play a spell or ability includes revealing a card, the card remains revealed from the time the spell or ability is announced until it leaves the stack.

  Ripple

  Ripple is a triggered ability that functions only while the card with ripple is on the stack. “Ripple N” means “When you play this spell, you may reveal the top N cards of your library, or, if there are fewer than N cards in your library, you may reveal all the cards in your library. If you reveal cards from your library this way, you may play any of those cards with the same name as this spell without paying their mana costs, then put all revealed cards not played this way on the bottom of your library in any order.” See rule 502.56, “Ripple.”

  Rules Text

  An object’s rules text defines many of that object’s properties. Changing an object’s rules text changes the object’s properties.

  Sacrifice

  To sacrifice a permanent, its controller moves it from the in-play zone directly to its owner’s graveyard. A player can’t sacrifice something that isn’t a permanent, or something that’s a permanent he or she doesn’t control. If an effect instructs a player to sacrifice a permanent that he or she doesn’t control, nothing happens. Sacrificing a permanent doesn’t destroy it, so regeneration or other effects that replace destruction can’t affect it.

  Scry

  Scry is a static ability that functions while a spell or ability is resolving. “Scry N” means “Look at the top N cards of your library. Put any number of them on the bottom of your library in any order and the rest on top of your library in any order.” See rule 502.36, “Scry.”

  Sealed Deck

  For sealed deck or draft play, only forty cards are required in a deck, and a player may use as many duplicates of a card as he or she has. Each player still needs small items to represent any tokens and counters, and some way to clearly track life totals. See rule 100.3.

  Search

  If you’re required to search a zone not revealed to all players for cards of a given quality, such as type or color, you aren’t required to find some or all of those cards even if they’re present; however, if you do choose to find cards, you must reveal those cards to all players. Even if you don’t find any cards, you are still considered to have searched the zone.

  If you’re simply searching for a quantity of cards, such as “a card” or “three cards,” you must find that many cards (or as many as possible). These cards often aren’t revealed.

  Example: If an effect causes you to search a player’s library for all duplicates of a particular card and remove them from the game, you may choose to leave some of them alone, but if an effect causes you to search your library for three cards and it contains at least three, you can’t choose less than three.

  Set Aside

  To set aside a card is to remove it from the game; however, the effect will specify some condition that allows the set-aside card to return to the game. See also Removed from the Game.

  Shadow

  Shadow is an evasion ability. Attacking creatures with shadow can’t be blocked by creatures without shadow, and attacking creatures without shadow can’t be blocked by creatures with shadow. See rule 502.8, “Shadow.”

  Shared Life Total

  The Two-Headed Giant multiplayer variant uses a shared life total. Each two-player team’s life total starts at 40, and the team loses if its life total reaches 0. Damage, loss of life, and gaining life happens to each player individually. The result is applied to the team’s shared life total. If an effect needs to know the value of any individual player’s life total, that effect uses the team’s life total divided by the number of players on the team (rounded up) instead. See rule 606, “Two-Headed Giant Variant.”

  Shield

  Replacement and prevention effects act like “shields” around whatever they’re affecting. See rule 419, “Replacement and Prevention Effects.”

  Shuffle

  To shuffle a deck, library, or pile is to make the order of that deck, library, or pile random. After a player shuffles a deck, library, or pile he or she owns, each opponent has the option to shuffle or cut that pile. See rule 101.1.

  Skip

  To skip an event, step, phase, or turn is to proceed past it as though it didn’t exist. Skipping an event, step, phase, or turn is a replacement effect. “Skip [something]” is the same as “Instead of doing [something], do nothing.” See rule 300.9 and rule 419.6e.

  Once a step, phase, or turn has started, it can no longer be skipped-any skip effects will wait until the next occurrence.

  Anything scheduled for a skipped step, phase, or turn won’t happen. Anything scheduled for the “next” occurrence of something waits for the first occurrence that isn’t skipped. If two effects each cause a player to skip his or her next occurrence, that player must skip the next two; one effect will be satisfied in skipping the first occurrence, while the other will remain until another occurrence can be skipped. See rule 419.6f.

  Snow

  Snow is a supertype. When a card refers to a “snow permanent,” it means a permanent with the snow supertype. When a card refers to a “snow Forest,” it means a Forest with the snow supertype, and so on. Some older cards were printed with the term “snow-covered” in their rules text. Except for card names, all instances of “snow-covered” are now “snow.” See rule 205.4e.

  Snow Landwalk

  Snow landwalk is a special form of landwalk. A creature with snow landwalk is unblockable as long as the defending player controls at least one snow land of the specified subtype. See rule 502.6, “Landwalk,” and rule 205.4e.

  Snow Mana

  The snow mana sy
mbol {S} represents a cost that can be paid with one mana produced by a snow permanent. This is a generic mana cost that can be paid with any color or, or colorless, mana. Effects that reduce the amount of generic mana you pay don’t affect {S} costs.

  Snow-Covered (Obsolete)

  Some older cards were printed with the term “snow-covered” in their rules text. Except for card names, all instances of “snow-covered” are now “snow.”

  Sorcery

  Sorcery is a type. The active player may play sorceries during his or her main phase when the stack is empty. A sorcery spell is put into its owner’s graveyard as part of its resolution. See rule 212.7, “Sorceries.”

  Sorcery Type

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

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

  Soulshift

  Soulshift is a triggered ability. “Soulshift N” means “When this permanent is put into a graveyard from play, you may return target Spirit card with converted mana cost N or less from your graveyard to your hand.”

  Source of an Ability

  The source of an ability is the object that generated it. See rule 402, “Abilities,” and rule 200.7.

  Source of Damage

  The source of damage is the object that dealt it. If an effect requires a player to choose a source of damage, he or she may choose a permanent, a spell on the stack (including one that creates a permanent), or any object referred to by an object on the stack (including a creature that assigned combat damage on the stack, even if the creature is no longer in play or is no longer a creature). A source doesn’t need to be capable of dealing damage to be a legal choice. See rule 419.8, “Sources of Damage.”

  Special Action

  Special actions don’t use the stack. The special actions are playing a land, turning a face-down creature face up, ending continuous effects or stopping delayed triggered abilities, ignoring continuous effects, and removing a card with suspend in your hand from the game. See rule 408.1i and rule 408.2, “Actions That Don’t Use the Stack.”

  Spell

  A nonland card becomes a spell when it’s put on the stack and remains a spell until it’s countered, it resolves, or it otherwise leaves the stack. A copy of a spell is also a spell, even if it has no card associated with it. See rule 213, “Spells,” and rule 401, “Spells on the Stack.”

  Splice

  Splice is a static ability that functions while a card is in your hand. “Splice onto [type or subtype] [cost]” means “You may reveal this card from your hand as you play a [type or subtype] spell. If you do, copy this card’s text box onto that spell and pay [cost] as an additional cost to play that spell.” Paying a card’s splice cost follows the rules for paying additional costs in rules 409.1b and 409.1f-h.

  You can’t choose to use a splice ability if you can’t make the required choices (targets, etc.) for that card’s instructions. You can’t splice any one card onto the same spell more than once. If you’re splicing more than one card onto a spell, reveal them all at once and choose the order in which their instructions will be followed. The instructions on the main spell have to be followed first.

  The spell has the characteristics of the main spell, plus the text boxes of each of the spliced cards. The spell doesn’t gain any other characteristics (name, mana cost, color, supertypes, types, subtypes, etc.) of the spliced cards. Text copied onto the spell that refers to a card by name refers to the spell on the stack, not the card from which the text was copied.

  Choose targets for the added text normally (see rule 409.1c). Note that a spell with one or more targets will be countered if all of its targets are illegal on resolution.

  The spell loses any splice changes once it leaves the stack (for example, when it’s countered, it’s removed from the game, or it resolves).

  Split Cards

  Split cards have two card faces on a single card. The back of a split card is the normal, full-size Magic card back. Split cards have two sets of characteristics: two names, two mana costs, and so on. They always have both sets, except when they’re spells on the stack. When you play a split card, you announce which side you’re playing. While it’s on the stack, the other side is ignored completely. See rule 505, “Split Cards.”

  Split cards have two mana costs with different colors of mana in them. That means they are multicolored cards while they’re not on the stack. A split card is a multicolored card on the stack only if the half that’s been played is multicolored.

  If an effect tells you to name a card, you must name all of a split card’s names.

  An effect that asks for a split card’s characteristic while it’s in a zone other than the stack gets both answers.

  An effect that performs a positive comparison or a relative comparison involving characteristics of one or more split cards in any zone other than the stack gets only one answer. This answer is “yes” if either side of those split cards would return a “yes” answer if compared individually.

  An effect that performs a negative comparison involving characteristics of one or more split cards in any zone other than the stack also gets only one answer. This answer is “yes” if performing the comparable positive comparison would return a “no” answer.

  Split Second

  Split second is a static ability that functions only while the spell with split second is on the stack. “Split second” means “As long as this spell is on the stack, players can’t play other spells or abilities that aren’t mana abilities.” See rule 502.58, “Split Second.”

  Stack

  A spell or ability goes on top of the stack when it’s played or put onto the stack. Combat-damage assignments also go on top of the stack as though they were a single object. Whenever all players pass in succession, the spell, ability, or combat damage on top of the stack resolves and the active player receives priority again. See rule 217.6, “Stack,” and rule 408.1, “Timing, Priority, and the Stack.”

  State-Based Effects

  State-based effects continually “watch” the game for a particular state. Whenever a player would receive priority, state-based effects are checked and applied. See rule 420, “State-Based Effects.”

  State Triggers

  State triggers are triggered abilities that watch for a game state rather than an event and trigger as soon as the game state matches the condition. Once a state trigger has triggered, it won’t trigger again until the ability it created has resolved, has been countered, or has otherwise left the stack. See rule 410.11.

  Static Ability

  Static abilities do something all the time rather than being played at specific times. Static abilities create continuous effects, which are active as long as the permanent with the ability remains in play and has the ability, or as long as the object with the ability remains in the appropriate zone. See rule 412, “Handling Static Abilities.”

  Status

  A permanent’s status is its physical state. There are three status categories, each of which has two possible values: tapped/untapped, flipped/unflipped, and face up/face down. Each permanent always has one of these values for each of these categories.

  Status is not a characteristic, though it may affect a permanent’s characteristics.

  Permanents come into play untapped, unflipped, and face up unless a spell or ability says otherwise.

  Step

  Some phases of the turn are further subdivided into steps. See section 3, “Turn Structure.”

  Storm

  Storm is a triggered ability that functions while the spell is on the stack. “Storm” means “When you play this spell, put a copy of it onto the stack for each other spell that was played before it this turn. If the spell has any targets, you may choose new targets for any number of the copies.” See rule 502.30, “Storm.”r />
  Subgame

  Some cards allow players to play a Magic subgame. A “subgame” is the game created by the card’s effect. See rule 506, “Subgames.”

  Substance

  Substance is a static ability with no effect. Certain older cards have received errata that give them substance for a brief period of time.

  Subtype

  A card can have one or more subtypes printed on its type line. Subtypes are always single words and are listed after a long dash. Each word after the dash is a separate subtype.

  Artifact subtypes are also called artifact types. Creature subtypes are also called creature types. Enchantment subtypes are also called enchantment types. Instant subtypes are also called instant types. Land subtypes are also called land types. Sorcery subtypes are also called sorcery types. Objects may have multiple subtypes.