_Magic: The Gathering_(R) Rulings & Errata
A Summary of Recent Rulings
December 2003
Compiled by the Magic Rules Team
ERRATA –- ORACLE WORDING CHANGES
* Goblin Welder
Goblin Welder's ability was one of the very few abilities to do two different effects simultaneously. This has been corrected so that the artifact in play is sacrificed before the other artifact card comes into play.
The new Oracle wording of Goblin Welder is as follows:
Goblin Welder
{R}
Creature -- Goblin
1/1
{T}: Choose target artifact a player controls and target artifact card in that player's graveyard. If both targets are still legal as this ability resolves, that player sacrifices the artifact in play, then puts the other artifact card from his or her graveyard into play.
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* Relentless Assault
Relentless Assault's wording has been modified to prevent a strange interaction if it's played during a player's end step (which is possible if a Spellweaver Helix is imprinted with Relentless Assault and Ghitu Fire). The new wording will create a new main phase and combat phase only if it resolves during a player's main phase.
The new Oracle wording of Relentless Assault is as follows:
Relentless Assault
{2}{R}{R}
Sorcery
Untap all creatures that attacked this turn. After this main phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
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* Seize the Day
Seize the Day's wording has been modified in the same way as Relentless Assault's wording.
The new Oracle wording of Seize the Day is as follows:
Seize the Day
{3}{R}
Sorcery
Untap target creature. After this main phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)
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* Dominating Licid
Dominating Licid's most recent Oracle wording didn't interact correctly with the current continuous-effect rules. This new wording corrects that problem by making the "You control enchanted creature" ability into its own ability.
The new Oracle wording of Dominating Licid is as follows:
Dominating Licid
{1}{U}{U}
Creature -- Licid
{1}{U}{U}, {T}: Dominating Licid loses this ability and becomes an enchant creature enchanting target creature. It gains "{U}: End the effect that created this ability."
You control enchanted creature.
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* Transmogrifying Licid
Transmogrifying Licid's most recent Oracle wording didn't interact correctly with the current continuous-effect rules. The new wording corrects that problem by splitting "enchanted creature gets +1/+1" and "enchanted creature is an artifact that's still a creature."
The new Oracle wording of Transmogrifying Licid is as follows:
Transmogrifying Licid
{3}
Artifact Creature -- Licid
2/2
{1}, {T}: Transmogrifying Licid loses all abilities and becomes an enchant creature enchanting target creature. It gains "Enchanted creature gets +1/+1," "Enchanted creature is an artifact that's still a creature," and "{1}: End the effect that created this ability."
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* Dralnu's Crusade
Dralnu's Crusade's most recent Oracle wording didn't interact correctly with the current continuous-effect rules. The new wording corrects that problem by splitting "all Goblins are Zombies" and "all Goblins get +1/+1 and are black."
The new Oracle wording of Dralnu's Crusade is as follows:
Dralnu's Crusade
{1}{B}{R}
Enchantment
All Goblins are Zombies in addition to their creature types.
All Goblins get +1/+1 and are black.
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* Thran Forge
Thran Forge's most recent Oracle wording didn't interact correctly with the current continuous-effect rules. The new wording corrects that problem by splitting "becomes an artifact creature" and "gets +1/+0."
The new Oracle wording of Thran Forge is as follows:
Thran Forge
{3}
Artifact
{2}: Target nonartifact creature becomes an artifact creature until end of turn. That creature gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
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* Volrath's Shapeshifter
Volrath's Shapeshifter's most recent Oracle wording didn't interact correctly with the current continuous-effect rules. The new wording corrects that problem by making the effect a text-changing effect, rather than a type-changing effect, so that it interacts intuitively with other text-changing effects.
Volrath's Shapeshifter
{1}{U}{U}
Creature -- Shapeshifter
0/1
As long as Volrath’s Shapeshifter is in play and the top card of your graveyard is a creature card, Volrath's Shapeshifter has the full text of that card and has "{o2}: Discard a card from your hand." (Volrath's Shapeshifter has that card's name, mana cost, color, types, subtypes, supertypes, abilities, power, and toughness.)
{o2}: Discard a card from your hand.
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CARD-SPECIFIC RULINGS
1) If there are multiple Shared Fates in play, you keep track of which cards were removed for each Shared Fate. If one of the Shared Fates leaves play, you can't play the cards removed from the game by it anymore. You can still play cards removed from the game by the Shared Fates that remain in play.
Shared Fate
{4}{U}
Enchantment
If a player would draw a card, that player removes the top card of an opponent's library from the game face down instead.
Each player may look at and play cards he or she removed from the game with Shared Fate as though they were in his or her hand.
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2) If you control Krark's Thumb and you play Mana Clash, you'll flip two coins and your opponent will flip one coin in each step of Mana Clash's resolution. You see the results of those three flips before you choose which of your coins counts for your flip.
Krark's Thumb
{2}
Legendary Artifact
If you would flip a coin, instead flip two coins and ignore one.
Mana Clash
{R}
Sorcery
You and target opponent each flip a coin. Mana Clash deals 1 damage to each player whose coin comes up tails. Repeat this process until both players' coins come up heads on the same flip.
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3) The interaction of Platinum Angel with the state-based effect that causes you to lose the game due to drawing more cards than were in your library has been clarified. If Platinum Angel leaves play, you only look back as far as the last time a player had priority to see whether you lost the game; this means that you can't lose the game because you failed to draw a card, say, on your last turn. The new state-based effect is as follows:
420.5g A player who was required to draw more cards than were in his or her library since the last time state-based effects were checked loses the game.
Platinum Angel
{7}
Artifact Creature -- Angel
4/4
Flying
You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game.
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4) If the target of a Licid's ability is a legal target for that ability but that creature can't be enchanted, the Licid will turn into an enchant creature but will be unable to move onto the creature. So it will be put into the graveyard the next time state-based effects are checked.
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GENERAL RULINGS
1) If a mana ability can't produce any mana, it's still legal to play the ability, but no mana will be produced on resolution. If you control no lands, an effect that reads "add to your mana pool one mana of any type that a land you control could produce" will not make any mana.
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2) Imprinting a card onto a permanent with the imprint ability is a one-shot effect. Once the ability has resolved, the card is imprinted on the permanent until the card leaves the removed-from-the-game zone.
An ability that uses information about "the imprinted [type] card" works only if a card of the appropriate type is imprinted, regardless of how that card came to be imprinted on that permanent. Imprinted cards of other types remain imprinted but have no effect.
If a permanent gains a new ability that refers to an imprinted [type] card, the ability refers to any card imprinted on the permanent that has that type.
If a permanent that has a card imprinted on it is copied, the copy doesn't have that card imprinted on it (although it may be able to imprint a new card).
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3) Cards in a player's graveyard don't have a controller, just an owner. But if anything could ask for the controller of an object that doesn't have a controller, use that object's owner instead.
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4) The rules in sections 100 and 101 of the Comprehensive Rules are "metarules" about the game. Those rules are not subject to the general rule that if a card overrides the rules, the card takes precedence. This means that it is still possible to concede when you control Platinum Angel, even though the Angel states that you can't lose the game.
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5) Turning a face-down permanent face up requires that you show all players what the permanent's morph cost will be when the effect ends.
* If Humility is in play, it's not possible to turn face-down creatures face up using the morph ability. Humility removes the morph cost when it removes the morph ability, and so it prevents you from doing this.
* Quicksilver Elemental can gain Wall of Deceit's "Turn Wall of Deceit face down" ability. If you use this ability to turn Quicksilver Elemental face down, you won't be able to turn it face up, as it does not have the morph ability.
Humility
{2}{W}{W}
Enchantment
All creatures lose all abilities and are 1/1.
Wall of Deceit
{1}{U}
Creature -- Wall
0/5
(Walls can't attack.)
{3}: Turn Wall of Deceit face down.
Morph {U} (You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
Quicksilver Elemental
{3}{U}{U}
Creature -- Elemental
3/4
{U}: Quicksilver Elemental gains all activated abilities of target creature until end of turn. (If any of the abilities use that creature's name, use this creature's name instead.)
You may spend blue mana as though it were mana of any color to pay the activation costs of Quicksilver Elemental's abilities.
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6) The rules team has continued to clarify the continuous-effect rules. Rules 418.5a-b have been changed to clarify exactly how effects that could be applied in different layers are handled. The new rules are as follows:
418.5a The values of an object's characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object, then applying continuous effects in a series of layers in the following order: (1) copy effects (see rule 503, "Copying Objects"), (2) control-changing effects, (3) text-changing effects, (4) type-, subtype-, and supertype-changing effects, (5) all other continuous effects, except those that change power or toughness, and (6) power- or toughness-changing effects.
Inside each layer, apply effects from characteristic-setting abilities first, then effects from all other abilities. For power- or toughness-changing effects, apply changes from counters after changes from characteristic-setting abilities. See also the rules for timestamp order and dependency (rules 418.5b–418.5g).
418.5b If an effect other than a type-, subtype-, and supertype-changing effect should be applied in different layers, the parts of the effect each apply in their appropriate layers. If a type-, subtype-, and supertype-changing effect should be applied in different layers, all are applied only in layer four (type-, subtype- and supertype changing effects).
These rules cover cards such as Humility, which needs to remove a creature's abilities before it makes that creature 1/1. The exception in 418.5b for type-changing effects (and subtype- and supertype-changing effects) is to ensure that when a noncreature permanent is turned into a creature, its power and toughness are set before any changes from other continuous effects are applied.
Example: A player plays an ability that reads "{o2}: Until end of turn, Chimeric Sphere becomes a 3/2 artifact creature," which is a both a type-changing effect and a power- and toughness-changing effect. Since it's a type-changing effect, the entire effect is applied when type-changing effects are applied, in layer four, even though power- and toughness-changing effects are normally applied in layer six. Later in the turn, Chimeric Sphere is affected by an ability that reads "Target creature becomes 0/2 until end of turn," which is applied only in layer six since it's solely a power- and toughness-changing effect. At this point, playing Chimeric Sphere's (layer-four) ability again won't do anything, as the layer-six effect will always be applied after it. The artifact creature remains 0/2.
Example: An effect that reads "Wild Mongrel gets +1/+1 and becomes the color of your choice until end of turn" is both a power- and toughness-changing effect and an "other" kind of effect. The "becomes the color of your choice" part is applied in layer five, and then the "gets +1/+1" part is applied in layer six.
Example: Grab the Reins has an effect that reads "Until end of turn, you gain control of target creature and it gains haste." This is both a control-changing effect and an "other" effect. The "you gain control" part is applied in layer two, and then the "it gains haste" part is applied in layer five.
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7) Rules 409.1g-h and rule 411.1 in the Comprehensive Rules have been updated to clarify how mana abilities are played.
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8) The rules team is currently looking into the following issues:
* replacement effects that replace a single event with an event that has multiple parts;
* simultaneous and nonsimultaneous effects from spells and abilities.
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