Morph: Onslaught’s New Ability
The rules and interactions

Paul Barclay
TCG Rules Manager

Normally, the job of the rules team is to protect the unsuspecting
public from the crazy schemes of designers such as Mike Elliott,
Bill Rose, Mark Rosewater, and Brian Tinsman. But now we’ve created
a work of evil genius of our very own. It’s an ability called 
“morph,” which allows you to play creatures with the ability face
down. The card text for morph looks like this: 

  Morph {R}{R}(You may play this face down as a 2/2 creature 
  for {3}.  Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)

When you play a creature card with morph face down, you pay
{3} to play it. Don’t show it to your opponent – he or she 
doesn’t get to know what it is. It goes on the stack like any 
other spell, so your opponent can respond to or counter it, again, 
without knowing what it is.

When the spell resolves, it comes into play as a face-down 
creature. All face-down creatures are exactly the same. They’re 
2/2 colorless, nameless, typeless creatures with no abilities. 
Their mana cost is {0}. And, your opponent has no idea what
your face-down creatures are.

Who can look at face-down creatures?

You can look at any face-down creatures you control. You can’t
look at any your opponents control. Also, whenever a face-down
creature leaves play, it’s revealed to everyone. At the end of the
game, any face-down creatures in play are revealed to everyone. 
This prevents people cheating by playing cards without morph face
down.

Once you have a face-down creature in play, you have the option to
turn it face up. You can do this any time you have priority. Just
pay the morph cost, and turn it face up. This isn’t an activated
ability, and doesn’t use the stack, so your opponent can’t respond
to it or counter it.

Why can’t my opponent respond to me turning a creature face up?

Partly because it would suck if you paid {4}{G}{G}{G} to turn your
creature face up, and your opponent responded with a Shock to kill
the 2/2 face-down creature. Partly because it would be difficult
to confirm that you had paid the correct amount of mana without
turning the card face up to prove it. Your 6/6 creature will
always survive your opponent’s Shock, as long as you have enough
mana.

So now you know the basics. Read on to find out answers to all
your questions, and to see the official rules for morph.

Common Questions

What happens if there’s more than one face-down creature in play?
You have to make sure that your opponent knows what order they came
into play. The best way to do this is to mark them with dice. You 
can’t shuffle them around, or do anything else to try to confuse
your opponent. No "Three-Card Monte before blockers are declared."
Such actions are punishable quite heavily in sanctioned events, 
and I expect all head judges to go over the floor rules with the 
players on Prerelease day.

Can I give my face-down creature a creature type or a color with 
Unnatural Selection or Tidal Visionary?
Yes. You can do both. Normally, face-down creatures don’t have 
either, but you can do anything to them that you can do to a 
regular creature. When you turn the creature face-up, any changes 
you’ve made to it still apply. If you turned it red, it’s still 
red. If you turned it into a Zombie, it’s still a Zombie. If you 
put a +1/+1 counter or an enchantment on it, they’re still there 
too.

What happens if I gave my face-down creature +3/+3 before turning 
it face up?
The +3/+3 will apply to the new power and toughness. So, if the 
face-up creature is naturally a 4/3, the result will be a 7/6 
creature.

If I turn a creature face up, does it have “summoning sickness”?
Not unless it was “sick” when it was face-down. Turning a creature
face-up doesn’t change when it came into play. It also doesn’t 
change whether it’s tapped or untapped.

I gain control of my opponent’s face-down creature. Can I turn it
face up?
Yes. As long as you control it, you can look at it (because you 
control it), and you can turn it face up by paying its morph cost.

What happens if I return my opponent’s face-down creature to his 
hand?
Whenever a face-down creature leaves play, it’s revealed to 
everyone. Also, at the end of the game, any face-down creatures 
in play are revealed to everyone. This helps to prevent cheating.

What happens if I use Faceless Butcher to remove a face-down 
creature from the game?
The creature will be removed and turned face-up, so you’ll see 
what it is. When the Butcher leaves play, the face-up creature 
will return to play. Face up. So, if it’s a 6/6, your opponent’s 
going to be sorry she played the Butcher.

How will morph work on Magic: The Gathering Online?
It’ll work just like it does in real life. The computer will even 
help you a little by keeping track of your different face-down 
creatures for you.

Can I turn a creature spell face up while it’s on the stack?
No, you can't turn face-down spells on the stack face up.

What happens if I turn a creature face up while combat damage is 
on the stack?
It will still do 2 damage (because the damage is locked in 
already). But if that creature has an ability which triggers 
"whenever this creature deals combat damage," that ability will 
trigger when the combat damage resolves.

What happens if I turn my creature face up in response to a spell
that targets it?
If a face-down creature is targeted by a spell or ability on the
stack and the creature is turned face up, the spell or ability
targets the face-up creature. Check to see if the creature is a
legal target when the spell or ability resolves.

Can I counter a face-down creature spell?
Yes. A face-down creature spell can be countered just like any
other creature spell.

Uncommon Questions

Does a face-down creature have the “morph” ability?
Face-down creatures don't have any abilities, so they aren't
considered to have the morph ability. They just have an effect
on them that allows you to pay their morph cost to turn them 
face up. Face-up creatures with morph do have the ability.

What happens if I try to copy a face-down creature?
You get a face-up 2/2 colorless, nameless, typeless creature. 
It does not have morph and cannot be turned into something else. 
What the original card is when it's face-up is irrelevant.

Will a Meddling Mage set to "Blistering Firecat" prevent me from
playing the Firecat face down?
No. You can play the spell face down, but not face up. A face-down
spell has no name, and isn't affected by the Mage.

If I have Yawgmoth's Agenda in play, can I play a morph creature
from my graveyard face down?
Yes. Of course, your opponent will know what it is.

What happens when a face-down creature phases out?
If a face-down creature phases out, it stays face down, and it 
stays face down when it phases back in. But we won’t mention 
anything more about Phasing here.

How do Illusionary Mask and Camouflage work now?
At the moment, they don’t work very well. We’re releasing errata
for both these cards in the next Oracle update, in less than
three weeks time.

The Official Rules for Morph

502.26. Morph

502.26a Morph is a static ability that functions any time you could
play the card it's on, and the morph effect works until you turn
the card face up. The phrase "Morph [cost]" means "You may play this
card as a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name, no 
subtypes, no expansion symbol, and a mana cost of {0}, by paying {3}
rather than its mana cost." Any time you could play an instant, you
may show all players the morph cost of any face-down permanent you
control, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. This action
does not use the stack.

502.26b To play a spell using its morph ability, turn it face down.
It becomes a 2/2 face-down creature spell, with no text, no name,
no subtypes, no expansion symbol, and a mana cost of {0}. Put it 
onto the stack (it stays face-down with the same characteristics), 
and pay {3} rather than pay its mana cost. You can use morph to play
a spell from any zone from which you could normally play that spell.
When the spell resolves, it comes into play with the same
characteristics the spell had. The morph effect continues until the
permanent is turned face up.

502.26c You can't play a card face down if it doesn't have morph.

502.26d Any time you could play an instant, you may turn a 
face-down permanent you control face up. To do this, show all 
players the permanent's morph cost, pay that cost, then turn the 
permanent face up. The morph effect on it ends, and it regains the
card's normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the
permanent coming into play don't trigger when it's turned face up
and don't have any effect, because the permanent has already come
into play.

502.26e If a face-up permanent is turned face down by a spell or
ability, it becomes a 2/2 face-down creature, with no text, no name,
no subtypes, no expansion symbol, a mana cost of {0}. The rules for
morph and face-down spells and permanents apply to it normally

502.26f See rule 504, "Face-Down Spells and Permanents," for more 
information on how to play cards with morph.

504. Face-Down Spells and Permanents

504.1. Two old cards (Camouflage and Illusionary Mask) and the
morph ability (see rule 502.26), allow spells and permanents to be
face down.

504.2. Face-down cards on the stack and face-down cards and tokens
in play have no characteristics other than those listed by the card
or rules that allow the card or token to be face down. Any listed
characteristics are that card or token's initial characteristics.
Permanents that are put into play face down are turned face down
before they come into play, so the permanent's comes-into-play
abilities won't trigger (if triggered) or have any effect (if 
static). Spells that are played face down are turned face down 
before they are put onto the stack, so effects that care about the 
characteristics of a spell will see only the face-down spell's 
characteristics. The cards remain face down as long as they are on 
the stack or in the in-play zone.

504.3. You may look at a face-down spell you control on the stack 
or a face-down permanent you control at any time. You can't look 
at face-down cards in any other zone or face-down spells or 
permanents controlled by another player. The card or rules that 
allow a permanent to be face down may also allow the permanent's 
controller to turn it face up. Spells normally can't be turned face
up.

504.4. If you control multiple face-down spells on the stack or 
face-down permanents in play, you must ensure at all times that 
your face-down spells and permanents can be easily differentiated
from each other. This includes, but is not limited to, knowing 
the order spells were played, the order that face-down permanents
came into play, which creature attacked last turn, and any other
differences between face-down spells or permanents. Common methods
for distinguishing between face-down cards include using counters
or dice to mark the different permanents, or clearly placing those
permanents in order on the table.

504.5. As a face-down permanent is turned face up, its initial
characteristics revert to its normal initial characteristics. Any
effects that have been applied to the face-down permanent still 
apply to the face-up permanent. Any abilities relating to the 
permanent coming into play don't trigger and don't have any 
effect, because the permanent has already come into play.

504.6. If a face-down permanent moves from the in-play zone to 
any zone other than the phased-out zone, its owner must reveal it
to all players as he or she moves it. If a face-down spell moves
from the stack to any zone other than the in-play zone, its owner
must reveal it to all players as he or she moves it. At the end of
each game, all face-down spells and permanents must be revealed to
all players.