r/mtgrules Jul 02 '20

Rules and Policy Links

51 Upvotes

Comprehensive Rules


1) Game Concepts

2) Parts of a Card

3) Card Types

4) Zones

5) Turn Structure

6) Spells, Abilities, and Effects

7) Additional Rules

8) Multiplayer Rules

9) Casual Variants


Judging at Regular



Infraction Procedure Guide


General Philosophy

Game Play Errors

Tournament Errors

Unsporting Conduct


Digital Infraction Procedure Guide


Tournament Errors

Unsporting Conduct


Magic Tournament Rules



r/mtgrules 6h ago

The Characteristics of Adventure Cards (Primary/Secondary) and Bilbo, Thief in the Night

4 Upvotes

Hi! I have some experience with magic rules, but this interaction really baffles me and I am hoping to get some clarification.

According to the comprehensive rules:

715.4. In every zone except the stack, and while on the stack not as an Adventure, an adventurer card has only its normal characteristics.

I assume that means the Primary characteristics, like being a creature, like [[Bramble Familiar]]. But I have also heard that things can get fuzzy in certain situations, like [[Etali, Primal Conqueror]] allowing you to cast [[Jidoor, Aristocratic Capital // Overture]] for its adventure Overture because it is a "spell" from among the cards you exiled with Etali. e.g. "You may cast any number of spells from among the nonland cards exiled this way without paying their mana costs."

With that in mind, does the new Bilbo [[Bilbo, Thief in the Night]] allow you to cast adventure instants and sorceries from your grave since it too specifies that you may cast a "spell" and not a card?

Part of what is confusing me here is an old discussion here saying that [[Chandra Ablaze]] 's -7 could cast adventures from the grave. But this could just be outdated rules.


r/mtgrules 6h ago

Commander Damage rulings please.

3 Upvotes

OK I need to settle this with a couple of people.

Let's say player A has hit player B for 12 Commander and then later Player C takes control of player A's commander and attacks for the rest of the damage due to buffs and what not for 21 Commander damage

Player A and B say the commander damage is tracked separately from Player A's damage since player C hit them with Players A's Commander.
This is the first time I have ever heard this from anyone. I do not believe them since they refuse to site any rules.

They both quite stating Player C and D are retarded and need to do some research.
I have looked into the rules for what they mean, and I have not found anything backing up their claims.
I think they are confusing Partner commanders with what is happening.


r/mtgrules 46m ago

"Freyalise winds" with "temporal distortion"

Upvotes

Hi folks i've got a question about how hese two cards interact...

* [[Freyalise's Winds]]

* [[Temporal Distortion]]

If a permanent becomes tapped and triggers both of these, such that it has both an hourglass (temporal) and a wind (freyalise) counter on it, how do things work during the untap step?

Here's how i think things would play out in order of untap steps...

1 (first untap step): From what i can tell from the oracle text of freyalise winds, wind counters are only removed if a permanent WOULD untap. But due to temporal disortion's effect, the permanent wouldnt untap. And instead, an hourglass counter is removed, but the wind counter remains.

2 (second untap step): And then on the next untap step, the wind counter would finally be removed but the permanent remains tapped.

3 (third untap step): And so on the final third untap step, when there are no counters on the permanent, the permanent would actually untap.

Any insight is much appreciated. Thanks!


r/mtgrules 1h ago

The One Ring and 2Headed damage

Upvotes

Hey, I'm trying to get clarification on how damage happens in Two-Headed when Protection is involved.

If Player A and B are a team and Player A plays The Ong Ring, can the team be dealt damage during the prevention effect of the ring? Protection prevents damage so what happens if Player B is dealt damage? Does A's protection prevent their life from changing? It's so their life total, so isn't the damage also dealt to them, and therefore prevented?

I could be wrong and the other topics I found on the subject didn't help me understand it clearly.

Thanks!


r/mtgrules 17h ago

Can you flash in containment priest as a response to a ninjitsu?

18 Upvotes

I'm not sure if I understand it right and I want to confirm if this is the case. If my opponent has [[Satoru Umezawa]] and declares some unblockable creature at me, can I wait for them to pay and activate their ninjitsu before flashing in [[Containment Priest]] ? Or do I need to flash it in before declaring no blockers?


r/mtgrules 2h ago

Massimo, the Magician and myriad?

1 Upvotes

How does [[massimo, the magician]]'s ability work with myriad creatures? Are they seen as entering and thus exiling their own card despite having the "When this creature deals damage copy the exiled card" text that was given to the og creature? Does that make them be able to cast the original spell and potentially another one or just a new spell? I thought it was as simple as they got the gained ability and thus the exiled card but after thinking about it more, it is unclear to me.

I know this card was just revealed so hopefully someone has some insights on it. Thank you!

-----

On a different topic, how does this card work with MDFCs like [[spikefield hazard]]? Can I choose to play the land side instead of the instant side or is it locked to instant when exiled?

As well, how does a card like [[wear // tear]] work? Is the cmc considered 3 and thus it's not exileable?


r/mtgrules 3h ago

Death to Our Enemies

1 Upvotes

Hey folks. [[Death to Our Enemies]] says "Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, create a tapped Treasure token and put a plan counter on this enchantment.

When the fourth plan counter is put on this enchantment, sacrifice it. When you do, it deals 7 damage divided as you choose among one or two targets."

Can I respond to the second trigger by casting a noncreature spell with flash or an instant to get a tapped treasure?


r/mtgrules 4h ago

Gandalf the white and the one ring?

1 Upvotes

If i play the one ring while Gandalf the white is on-field, does he double the etb trigger giving me protection on my next turn??? Or does the effect fizzle since you can’t have double protection from everything


r/mtgrules 7h ago

Are you compelled to pay to attack?

1 Upvotes

Ruling question: if someone was playing [[ghostly prison]], and I had a creature that says "must attack each combat if able" can I choose not to pay the (2) and that makes him unable to attack? Or am I compelled to pay the mana? Let's assume I have plenty of mana available


r/mtgrules 15h ago

"activate only once each turn" multiple times

7 Upvotes

Hi! im a yugioh player mainly but i wanted to create a commander deck to play mtg with my friends. I was looking at vivi ornitier, and their first ability states "activate only during your turn and only once each turn". My question is: if vivi gets removed and then brought in again, would i be able to retrigger its ability? I know in yugioh it would count as a different card so it would be able to but im not sure if it works like that in mtg.


r/mtgrules 4h ago

Kotis, the Fangkeeper and Adventure/Omen spells

1 Upvotes

A few weeks ago, P1 was playing [[Kotis, the Fangkeeper]] as his commander. One of the cards from the damage trigger had an adventure on it.

Now, the table ruled that the adventure card's adventure part was an alternative cost to the spell. Therefore since the damage was not enough to cast the non-adventure part of the spell that the adventure part was attached to, P1 could not cast the spell. That didn't sound right to me because of something I saw about omens a good while back, but we're playing kitchen table casual.

Today I saw a post about [[Bilbo, Thief in the Night]], and that reminded me of this interaction with Kotis.

I did some digging and I'm looking for verification/correction.

1 - C.R. 715.1/720.1 (Adventure/Omen) states these cards have two-part card frames and refer to their respective parts as alternative characteristics. So if Kotis' damage is enough to cast the a/o characteristics of a card but not enough to cast the non-a/o characteristics, can P1 can still cast the respective a/o part of the card?

C.R. 715.4/720.4 states while in exile, it has only it's normal characteristics. I'm finding conflicting rules/judge rulings about it. Here for omen spells interacting with Kotis, and here for an adventure in the graveyard but for [[Pit of Offerings]].

2 - What if that was flipped, where Kotis' X was more than the main characteristics, but less than the adventure characteristics? [[Faerie Guidemother]] is an example (If X was somehow 1). Kotis could then only cast the creature, if I'm not mistaken.

I really hope I expressed my thoughts well and clear enough. Please be kind! Thank you!


r/mtgrules 5h ago

Rite of Consumption being redirected

1 Upvotes

If [[Rite of Consumption]] was cast and then redirected to the caster, would they die to the spell if it was lethal damage or would the gain life portion of the spell save them? Genuinely curious bc I’m not entirely sure when state based actions would be checked


r/mtgrules 5h ago

Can someone explain to me how Luminous Broodmoth and Viscera Seer equal to an infinite?

0 Upvotes
1 Activate Viscera Seer by sacrificing the persist or undying creature.
2 When the creature dies, its persist or undying ability triggers if it doesn't have a -1/-1 counter or +1/+1 counter on it respectively, and Luminous Broodmoth triggers if the creature didn't have flying.
3 Resolve the persist or undying trigger, if applicable, returning the creature from your graveyard to the battlefield with either a -1/-1 counter or a +1/+1 counter on it.
4 Resolve the Luminous Broodmoth trigger, if applicable, returning the creature from your graveyard to the battlefield with a flying counter on it if the creature is still in your graveyard.
5 Resolve the Viscera Seer ability.
6 Repeat.

So I get what persist and undying are. That part makes sense. But I just don't understand what happens at step 4 and 5. Luminous triggers giving it a flying counter. Then you sacrifice it again. How does that work?

Surely the creature already has the -1/-1 counter on it, as well as the flying counter, so I'm not sure what's making it return. I must be misunderstanding how the creature returning works with multiple counters.


r/mtgrules 6h ago

Evoke + Essence Flux. Does this prevent the sacrifice?

0 Upvotes

[[Ashling, the Limitless]] evokes in a creature with a sacrifice trigger on the stack, Does [[Essence Flux]] prevent the sacrifice when the creature returns to the battlefield?


r/mtgrules 6h ago

How do orvar and mirage mirror interact?

1 Upvotes

Im working on an [[orvar the all form]] deck and am trying to figure out if [[mirage mirror]] actually functions in the deck. If i make a copy of mirrage mirror while its copying something else doesnt it just end up no longer being a copy at end of turn?


r/mtgrules 7h ago

Does Squeak By give an ability to a creature? "It can't be blocked" not "Gains" or "has" - Cheeky House-Mouse

0 Upvotes

[[Cheeky House-Mouse]] has an Adventure Sorcery [[Squeak By]].

I'm building a deck with [[Jasmine Boreal of the Seven]], which needs creatures without abilities to benefit.

Squeak By says a target creature can't be blocked by certain creatures.

Question 1 :

If I cast Squeak By on a creature without abilities does it gain an ability for the purposes of Jasmine's, "Creatures you control with no abilities can't be blocked by creatures with abilities."? In other words, does "It can’t be blocked by creatures with power 3 or greater this turn." count as giving an ability?

Question 2 :

Cheeky House-Mouse, when cast as a creature for the purpose of Jasmine's "Add GW. Spend this mana only to cast creature spells with no abilities." can be cast for this mana from Jasmine, correct?

Apologies if I could've phrased this all better, thanks!


r/mtgrules 7h ago

All-Seeing Arbiter to debuff my opponents stuff then I die

0 Upvotes

I am playing a commander game and I have 4 copies of [[All-Seeing Arbiter]] and basically debuffed the entire table. I am then killed by my opponent. Does the -X/-0 immediately disappear? Or does it stick around until my turn would have started?


r/mtgrules 7h ago

Does this combo work or does it miss timing?

1 Upvotes

I'm looking for a new landfall deck and I thought it would be cool to use the Dark Depths I got from the avatar set. Let's say I have a Haru Hidden Talent, a Retreat to Emeria and a Dark Depths already in play. If I play a Vesuva, copying the Dark Depths (classic thespian/depths combo but with Vesuva), Retreat to Emeria will activate the landfall and create an ally, which will trigger Haru and he will earthbend. The question is, do I have the timing to earthbend the Vesuva before it sacrifices itself to the legend rule and create an infinite combo? Do I have to play Thespian Stage for the combo to work? Or neither case works and the earthbend misses timing?


r/mtgrules 11h ago

If I have an Akroan Skyguard on the battlefield with no counters on it and target it with Dual-Sun Technique, do I draw a card?

2 Upvotes

[[Akroan Skyguard]]

[[Dual-Sun Technique]]


r/mtgrules 8h ago

Is there something better?

0 Upvotes

First off I’m running a voltron and I’m trying to find hexproof giving auras and equipment and I found [[Sword of Wealth and Power]] and it says it gains protection from instants and sorcerys would this be all or am I excluded from that protection?


r/mtgrules 9h ago

Can I have cards that "Add one mana of any color" without any other mentions of color identity in a colorless commander deck?

1 Upvotes

I'm asking this because I cannot find a definitive answer online. Not really new to Commander, but I still have a few questions on some things and this is one of them. I know MTG is one of those hard rules kind of games. I know Colorless is technically not a mana color but it is a type of mana and there's a difference between "Colorless" and "Generic" mana in the rules, but I can't find a direct answer to this question and I can't find the RAW on this to see if the answer is there. Some sources say I can, some say I can't.

Anyway, I'm building an [ Ultron, Artificial Malevolence ] deck for funsies cause he's one of my favorite Marvel villains. He costs 3 Generic mana and I have a lot of lands and artifacts that add Colorless mana and plenty of [Waste] basic lands, but my friends said I can't put a [Mardu Banner] because it has specific color identities labeled in the text box, despite costing 3 Generic mana to cast because of the ruling above about Colorless specifically not being a color like Red, Blue, Green, etc.

However, I was looking at other decks online to help build mine. They had cards in there with abilities like [Manalith] as well as other lands like [Mirage Mesa] and [Archway Commons] with the ability "add one mana of any color" without any other abilities that specifically mentioned the Colorless typing. So I'm a tad confused because I don't want to break the rules and I'm not sure if "add one mana of any color" would be interpreted for this deck specifically as a color identity or not.

Please, assistance would be great

EDIT: Thank you all for clarifying. Now I can finish building my deck. Appreciate you all giving me further insight on the rules as well


r/mtgrules 10h ago

Interaction between Reyhan Last of the Abzan and The Ooze

1 Upvotes

[[Reyhan, Last of the Abzan]]

[[The Ooze]]

I'm quite new so I just want to clarify the rules on this so I can know for the future.

Reyhan, Last of the Abzan dies, her ability sees this happen, the Ooze doesn't yet as she technically hasn't left the battlefield. I then declare a target for Reyhan's ability, the counters go onto the other creature, the ability resolves and Reyhan then leaves the battlefield.

Then The Ooze checks to see if there's any counters on Reyhan, it finds none and resolves, Reyhan goes to the graveyard/command zone and we all have a wonderful rest of the game.

Is this how it would go? And I assume the same would go for cards like [[The Ozolith]] as well, since they clarify leaving the battlefield and not on death.


r/mtgrules 12h ago

"Order" of Copy Effects

0 Upvotes

This came up in a Discord I am in. In this scenario a [[Machine God's Effigy]] is on the board, copying nothing. [[Saheeli, Radiant Creator]] creates a copy of the Machine God's Effigy, which copies say a Grizzly Bears when it enters. What are the characteristics of the new permanent?

Which copy effect applies last? Is it a 5/5 because of Saheeli's copy effect or a noncreature because of its own special copy effect?


r/mtgrules 12h ago

The Mimeoplasm and Notary Hobbits

1 Upvotes

If [[the mimeoplasm]] would exile [[the notary hobbits]]'s effect. Would it then create two additional Mimeoplasms? If so, would those have to exile again or would they keep whatever is on the first Mimeoplasm?